University of Portsmouth scientists are currently testing new and high-tech thermal vests that could be used by soldiers to cope with the heat of the battle in the almost four-year-old Second Gulf War. The vests use a combination of air, liquid, and new applications of older technologies. One of those older technologies is the convertion of paraffin wax into liquid in chambers within the vest to absorb body heat.

These thermal vests are manufactured by an undisclosed U.S.-based military contractor and are expected to be used within two years. Soldiers stationed in Iraq do not wear thermal cooling vests and that may be a problem as temperatures there could reach as high as 50 degrees Celsius. Heat-illness could seriously impair decision making and could even result to death. Mark Newton, a University of Portsmouth thermal physiology said,

I can't reveal too much as we don't own the vests - they belong to an undisclosed military contractor. But what I can say is that the cooling power generated by these garments will make a difference for soldiers operating in extreme climates such as those experienced in Iraq.