Starcraft 2 - The Science of Space Marines

There's tons of science in the StarCraft universe,				realistic! Don't believe me? Just take a look at a
both from the original games and in Starcraft 2, that				modern assembly line, with dozens of specialized
I can't wait to talk about, but I thought a good place				robots that work together to construct the cars.
to start would be the StarCraft 2 teaser cinematic,				They actually look strikingly similar to the robots
which shows a Space Marine being outfitted in his				shown in the video.
armored suit. (If you haven't seen the video, follow				The idea of an armored suit is also not nearly as
link 1 provided at the bottom of this article.)				science fictional as you might think! Various robotic
You've gotta love the space marines. They're the				suits are being developed by the military and robotics
first armed boots on the ground when you start a				researchers, though nothing quite equivalent to the
game, they're in the thick of even the most epic				marine power armor exists. Most of the suits in
battles, and they're the last resort when your base is				development are intended to allow the user to lift
crumbling around you. So it's great to learn more				heavier loads and are not armored or pressurized, but
about how they work!				it's only a matter of time before we see those. Still,
This video actually tells us a lot about the technology				the amplified strength provided by exoskeleton suits
involved in building a marine, and about the level of				that already exist will be extremely useful on the
Terran technology overall. Marines are about as basic				battlefield, in construction work, and for the disabled.
as it comes for terran units, but there's some pretty				If you look closely during the video, you can see that
high-tech stuff going on here, so we can only imagine				there is actually hardware embedded in the marine's
what goes into, say, a battle cruiser!				flesh. None of the current powered suits are quite so
Let's jump right in and start dissecting this video to				intimately merged with their wearer. Some, such as
see what we can learn.				the Hybrid Assistive Limb do measure electrical nerve
The opening shot shows the lights coming on and				impulses via a patch on the skin, which actually
flickering. That tells us that even though we're in the				seems like a more elegant solution than having to rely
future, it's not so high-tech that they don't use				on implanted hardware.
recognizable technology like a good old fashioned				The last thing I'll mention about the marine's suit is
fluorescent light bulb. But it's clearly futuristic. This is a				the power source. In the video, there's a shot of a
room brimming with technology and a lot of the				cylinder of some sort being locked into place, and a
suspense of the early part of the video is in				few seconds later we see two vents on the top of
wondering what it is all for.				the suit flare up like miniature jet engines. I'm
Next, we see a ridiculously thick set of blast doors.				guessing the cylinder is meant to be some sort of
Are they so thick to keep something in this room or				power source for the suit. If the jet engines are
to keep something out? Do the marines have a				supposed to be heat vents for the power source,
power source in their suit that could explode or				then I would guess it is either fusion or fission-based.
something? Or maybe these doors are how a				That's the only way I could imagine justifying wasting
barracks can keep churning out units even as a				so much heat (and therefore energy). If that's true,
swarm of zerglings are tearing down the walls. Or				then of all the cool stuff shown on the video, the
maybe they're just cool.				suit's power source is the most advanced in terms of
We finally meet our marine, and I was interested to				technology.
see that he's a convict. And also: this dude has some				The smallest modern fission power plants are still
muscles! Superhuman, grotesquely huge muscles! If				about the size of a small shed, and fusion plants still
you look really closely when the computer screen				can't make enough power to break even, let alone
shows his information, there's a line at the lower right				be miniaturized to fit into a backpack-sized unit.
that says "Genetic Alteration", so that might be part				There's a lot more to be said about the marines: how
of it. But, the whole "shoulders larger than the head"				do their Gauss rifles work? What's in their
thing is also sort of the Blizzard style so we'll bypass				stim-packs? What does the U238 upgrade in the
that and get to the suit.				original Starcraft really do? But that will have to wait
The machinery that emerges from the walls of the				for a future post.
chamber is undeniably awesome, but it's also quite				1. Starcraft 2 Teaser Video.