A U.S. Army soldier carries more than 100 pounds of gear into battle. What can be done to lighten the load, while still providing maximum protection? Edwin Thomas, Director of MIT’s new Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, describes an alternative to the past practice of “dressing up a soldier like a Christmas tree”. He describes instead, a dynamic battle suit that wards off bullets and biochemical threats while providing real-time data on the soldier’s medical condition. Thomas, who spent time training for this project at Fort Polk, explains how interdisciplinary teams are exploring nanomaterial designs that could also benefit civilian emergency responders.