Military Helmets Don't Protect from Blasts
According to researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, today's standard-issue military helmet doesn't do much to protect the brains of soldiers from shock due to explosions. Click here for the story.
While today's helmets can help delay the shock wave from hitting the skull, this isn't enough to prevent brain injury. And they offer no protection when a soldier meets an explosion head on.
However, computer simulations indicated that the helmets could help if they had face shields. By adding face shields, researchers believe helmets could lower the impact of a frontal explosion on the soldier's brain.
This is a very significant finding, given that brain trauma is the most common debilitating injury to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
