The incredible sci-fi innovations developed by DARPA — America’s most secretive government lab

A controversial US army research lab is behind a raft of shocking futuristic weapons — and many of them already exist.

Bullets that never miss, super soldiers with extreme strength and robot warriors capable of rising up against humans may sound like the stuff of science fiction… but the truth is that they have all already been developed.

A top-secret US government body called the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is behind these space-age innovations, which it has developed as part of its mission to revolutionise the way America fights the wars of the future.

Ever since it was established in 1958, DARPA has been the subject of conspiracy theories claiming — among other things — that the agency was covering up UFO landings, trying to develop mind control and working on Earth-shattering super-weapons like death rays.

However, as far-fetched as these claims may be, the truth is that DARPA has already developed new technologies which are just as fantastical and which are just as likely to change the world — perhaps beyond recognition.

Meanwhile, the quest to give the US military an unbeatable edge has also led to DARPA developing a number of practical technologies which we now use every day: GPS, Google Maps and even the internet all have their origins in DARPA’s secretive labs.

But with DARPA’s current controversial projects including unchecked AI software and the potential for weaponised insects, there’s no doubt that these innovations of the future can be just as influential.

MAKING SUPERHUMAN SOLDIERS

Coming soon to a battlefield near you: DARPA has developed an incredible exoskeleton — a wearable mobile machine — which transforms any infantryman into a super soldier.

Made with help from researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, DARPA’s Soft Exosuit is a lightweight skeleton frame which saves soldiers’ energy when going about their battlefield business.

US serviceman undertakes biochemical testing of the Lockheed Martin HUTC Exoskeleton at the US Army's Natick Soldier Systems Centre in Massachusetts.

Exoskeletons can be used to improve a soldier’s physical capacity and strengths.

The sci-fi exoskeleton can augment its wearer’s strength and endurance by assisting with movements and taking on some of the physical burdens of walking over long distances and carrying heavy objects, using in-built sensors and a microcomputer to intelligently match the requirements of its user.

A new study, where the suit was tested by seven soldiers on a 19 kilometre cross-country hike in Maryland, showed it reduced energy consumption by around 15 per cent, making troops more efficient and able to cover more ground.

TURNING INSECTS INTO WEAPONS

One of DARPA’s most controversial recent projects, Insect Allies, is designed to stop insects from being pests and harness their powers for good.

The idea is that leafhoppers, white flies and aphids can be used to protect the nation’s food supply in the face of threats caused by drought, crop disease and bioterrorism.

DARPA aims to achieve this by deliberately infecting insects with engineered viruses and mutations which can then be passed on to plants to make them hardier or resistant to biological attacks.

DARPA reportedly aims to use leafhoppers to spread viruses and other mutations between crops.

However, to some people the idea of using insects as farming tools isn’t as innocent as it sounds.

Blake Bextine, who runs the project, acknowledged that Insect Allies involves new technologies that potentially could be used, in theory, as a novel weapon (in this case, using infected insects to cripple a rival’s crop supply).

But the program manager told the Washington Post that almost all new technologies are capable of being weaponised. “I don’t think that the public needs to be worried,” he added. “I don’t think that the international community needs to be worried.”

HUMAN EXPERIMENTS TO CREATE BETTER BRAINS

Some of DARPA’s most incredible military research centres on the deadliest of weapons: the human mind.

Under Justin Sanchez, head of the Biological Technologies Office at DARPA, the organisation has funded human experiments at Wake Forest, the University of Southern California, and the University of Pennsylvania, with the aim of giving individuals a memory “boost.”

Researchers implanted electrodes into one person’s brain to record mental activity associated with recognising patterns and memorising word lists.

Then they reinforced that person’s memory by playing back the recorded brain activity through the circuits, significantly improving their memory.

Some have questioned these experiments.

However, many people have questioned these findings, including former DARPA program manager Doug Weber.

He explained to The Atlantic that when scientists put electrodes in the brain, those devices eventually fail — after a few months or a few years, mainly because of blood leakage.

TERMINATOR ROBOTS WHICH COULD DESTROY HUMANITY

One of DARPA’s big interests is the baffling world of artificial intelligence — smart computers which are capable of thinking in a similar way to humans.

Dr Steven Walker, the director at the head of the controversial agency, is currently funnelling a US$2 billion investment into exploring how machines can be taught to communicate and reason in the same way we do.

The aim is to create lightning-fast military computers which can adapt to new situations, analyse battlefield data and ultimately advise soldiers and planners in the heat of a conflict, where every second counts.

However, AI has its critics, who warn that turning over the work of military analysis to machines creates the risk of a Skynet-style computer which could turn its considerable knowledge and power against humanity.

The military focused organisation is exploring how machines can be taught to communicate and reason in the same way we do.

AI expert Professor Michael Horowitz, from the University of Pennsylvania, has said in interviews: “There’s a lot of concern about AI safety — [about] algorithms that are unable to adapt to complex reality and thus malfunction in unpredictable ways.

“It’s one thing if what you’re talking about is a Google search, but it’s another thing if what you’re talking about is a weapons system.”

THE PHANTOM SPACE PLANE

The Phantom Express — or XS-1 — is a next-generation space craft which will allow secret missions to the final frontier to be launched on a daily basis.

Set to take off for the first time in 2020, the mysterious plane is thought to be powered only by electricity, and is expected to have the ability to land and take off vertically.

It will take off like a rocket, boost itself beyond the atmosphere and release an expendable second-stage rocket and satellite before turning around and landing like an aeroplane on a runway.

DARPA spokesman Jared Adams said the goal of the XS-1 program is to fly 10 flights within ten days.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission.