text: If you've always wanted a high-tech suit of armor that will make you nearly invincible — à la Tony Stark of "Iron Man" — your long wait may soon be over. 
   
   Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) and other groups from business and academia are joining forces to create a Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit, or TALOS, that "promises to provide superhuman strength with greater ballistic protection," according to a statement released by the U.S. Army. 
   
   The most amazing features of the suit include integrated 360-degree cameras not unlike Google Glass (but with night vision capabilities), sensors that can detect injuries and apply a wound-sealing foam, and — get ready for this — a bulletproof exoskeleton made of magnetorheological fluids that can change from liquid to solid in milliseconds when a magnetic field or electrical current is applied. [Bionic Humans: Top 10 Technologies] 
   
   If it all reminds you of the liquid-metal shapeshifter T-1000 from "Terminator" or some other sci-fi character, you're not alone. "It sounds exactly like 'Iron Man,'" Gareth McKinley, a professor at MIT, told NPR. "The other kind of things that you see in the movies I think that would be more realistic at the moment would be the kind of external suit that Sigourney Weaver wears in 'Aliens,' where it's a large robot that amplifies the motions and lifting capability of a human." 
   
   The developers from RDECOM, MIT and elsewhere are researching "every aspect making up this combat armor suit," Lt. Col. Karl Borjes, a RDECOM science adviser, said in the U.S. Army statement. "It's advanced armor. It's communications, antennas. It's cognitive performance. It's sensors, miniature-type circuits. That's all going to fit in here, too." 
   
   Not everyone, however, is enamored with the super-advanced gizmos being proposed for the soldiers of tomorrow. "My sense is it is an up-armored Pinocchio," Scott Neil, a retired special forces master sergeant and Silver Star recipient, told the Tampa Tribune. "Now the commander can shove a monkey in a suit and ask us to survive a machine gun, IED [improvised explosive device] and poor intelligence all on the same objective. And when you die in it, as it melds to your body, you can bury them in it." 
   
   Even believers in the TALOS suit acknowledge its limitations. "The acronym TALOS was chosen deliberately," McKinley said. "It's the name of the bronze armored giant from 'Jason and the Argonauts.' Like all good superheroes, Talos has one weakness. For the Army's TALOS, the weak spot is either the need to carry around a heavy pump for a hydraulic system, or lots of heavy batteries. We don't have Iron Man's power source yet." 
   
   For would-be sci-fi superheroes who are ready for their very own TALOS, the wait may prove excruciating: Though various components of the suit are currently in development, the Army hopes to have a prototype ready next year, and an advanced model won't be developed until at least two years after that. 
   
   Follow Marc Lallanilla on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience. ||||| Special Ops Envisions 'Iron Man'-Like Suit To Protect Troops 
   
   i itoggle caption Raytheon via YouTube Raytheon via YouTube 
   
   In the Iron Man movie series, Robert Downey Jr. plays a billionaire working with his trusty robot to build a protective suit that will help him battle evil. 
   
   Now, the U.S. Special Operations Command is teaming up with industry, universities and laboratories to see if such a suit can be created for the real world of combat. 
   
   Adm. Bill McRaven, who unveiled the idea at a conference in May, says it was inspired by the death of one of his troops in Afghanistan. 
   
   "One of our folks going through the door was killed by the Taliban on the other side in an attempt to rescue a hostage," McRaven, the command's top officer, says. 
   
   So McRaven challenged those at the conference to come up with better body armor. And he posed this question: "Why haven't we put effort into ensuring particularly that guy going through the door ... is protected to the maximum capability that we can provide him, as a nation?" 
   
   That effort is now underway. The Special Operations Command held something of a science fair last month in Tampa, says Jim Geurts, who buys high-tech equipment for the command. At the conference, dozens of technologies were shown off, he says, including "advanced body armor, advance power supply, practical exoskeletons ... [and] different display technologies." 
   
   It's all just a concept now, Geurts says. But it's a concept with a name: TALOS, short for tactical assault light operator suit. It will take a year to even select which technologies to use. 
   
   "We're not at the Iron Man flying suit, you know, flying at 50,000 feet level," he says. 
   
   So, a flying suit is not part of the plan. But the first challenge is to come up with stronger body armor so a commando can survive once he kicks in a door. 
   
   Norman Wagner, a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Delaware, is working the problem. He's looking to nanotechnology to create a solution that contains particles smaller than a single red blood cell. 
   
   "We're starting with the material that's almost a liquid ceramic," he says. 
   
   A liquid that can be dipped in Kevlar fabric — the current building block of body armor and helmets — and make it even tougher, literally the moment a bullet strikes. 
   
   "It transitions when you hit it hard," Wagner says. "These particles organize themselves quickly, locally in a way that they can't flow anymore and they become like a solid." 
   
   So a liquid becomes a solid to make better armor protection. But the military wants to do more. It wants to make the soldier faster and stronger. 
   
   Gareth McKinley, a professor at MIT, works on liquid armor, among other things. He says the suit could include attachable frames on the arms and legs that use hydraulics to greatly increase strength and speed. 
   
   "They typically consist of an external skeleton that's attached or bolted onto the human's either upper torso or lower torso," McKinley says. 
   
   Sounds a bit like Iron Man, doesn't it? 
   
   "It sounds exactly like Iron Man," McKinley says. "The other kind of things that you see in the movies I think that would be more realistic at the moment would be the kind of external suit that Sigourney Weaver wears in Aliens, where it's a large robot that amplifies the motions and lifting capability of a human." 
   
   Another function: The commandos need a more complete picture of the battlefield. 
   
   So, the suit will likely include a wearable computer, like Google Glass, says Geurts of the Special Operations Command. Instead of a handheld display, commandos could simply look into the corner of their glasses and get updates on things like the location of enemy forces. 
   
   But, Geurts cautions people not to expect any of this anytime soon, 
   
   "The hope is that we would have some working full-up prototypes in the two- to three-year time frame," he says. 
   
   In the meantime, that kind of suit can only be seen at a theater near you.
target: – If you've ever dreamed of being a superhero, there may soon be reason to join the Army. It's developing a "revolutionary" armor that "promises to provide superhuman strength with greater ballistic protection," LiveScience reports. The Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit would include a bulletproof exoskeleton frame; sensors to monitor heart rate and hydration, detect injuries, and even apply foam to seal wounds; and a computer that includes 360-degree night-vision cameras. The Army is calling on multiple industries, government labs, and research organizations to make it happen, reports the BBC. If it sounds to you like the stuff of movies, or perhaps comic books, you're not alone. "It sounds exactly like Iron Man," a professor at MIT told NPR for an earlier story, noting the use of hydraulics on the arms and legs to increase strength and speed. Like most superheroes, however, TALOS has a weakness. "For the Army's TALOS, the weak spot is either the need to carry around a heavy pump for a hydraulic system, or lots of heavy batteries," says the prof. "We don't have Iron Man's power source yet." The Army hopes a prototype will be ready by next year, though an advanced model could be a few years off.