Word: natick
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American soldiers preparing for a possible war with Iraq face plenty of dangers, but at least one has been eased: fat-filled mess-hall rations. Scientists at the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Mass., have just finished a three-year mission to cut the fat from the military's 1,700 mess-hall recipes. The changes were made to deal with an uncomfortable reality: like many other Americans, too many soldiers are paunchy, despite weight requirements and physical training. Many military personnel hold tedious, stressful and sedentary jobs, and as a result, 54% of all military personnel...
...battle the flab, food technologists in Natick sliced in half the fat and cholesterol in most recipes, says program head Elizabeth Painter. Oil in banana cake was replaced with applesauce; butter in brownies, with pureed prunes. Some recipes had to be abandoned, like perch filets breaded with crushed potato chips, doused in melted cheddar cheese and Thousand Island dressing. "That," says Painter, "is just gross." Now catfish is rolled around spinach and glazed with red-pepper sauce. The menu also features healthier grab-and-go meals like lime-chicken wraps to better compete with off-base Taco Bell and McDonald...
...Director of the Natick Comets’ girl’s hockey program, the elder MacDonald had brought the Comets to the Harvard game to meet some potential role models. His daughter became one herself far sooner than he ever imagined...
Increasingly, the military is spreading around its R.-and-D. prowess in exchange for the commercial sector's speedy production and ability to make the research pay for itself. To rush the creation of clothing suitable for Afghan winters, for instance, Natick came up with a way to weatherproof even the thinnest fabric by baking silicone into it, then collaborated with the design house for North Face to create battle gear as light as a nylon jogging suit. The new technology should someday help civilians achieve a sleeker winter silhouette...
Drawing boards at Natick currently feature chameleon-like camouflage clothes that change colors to match the environment, vests and glasses with embedded computers, and electrospun clothing. The last involves a process in which a solution is charged with high-voltage electricity and spun, like cotton candy, onto a form. Military scientists want to use the process to custom-make instant haz-mat suits by spraying sealants onto clothing. But the prospects for nonwoven, seamless civilian clothing are tantalizing...