The ‘Wearable’ Piece of Technology That Aims to Give Soldiers Superhuman Running Speeds

A jetpack developed by researchers at Arizona State University aims to allow American soldiers to run a mile in approximately four minutes.

The project, called 4MM or 4 Minute Mile, is headed by Jason Kerestes and charged with the goal of creating a "wearable jetpack that enhances speed and agility," ASU said in a short post on their website.

Thus far, the 11-pound device has successfully shaved times off the times of runners.

"They have seen encouraging results so far,” Nancy Owano of Phys.org said. "In trials over a 200-metre distance, with the jetpack, they saw a decrease in time and decrease in metabolic cost, the amount of energy required for a person to run at high speeds. In a test, a subject with the jetpack on a sprint ran three seconds faster, and that was with carrying an extra 11.2 pounds (5 kg) of weight, the jetpack."

ASU researchers are working in partnership with the Defense Advanced Research Project to refine the design to make it as "effective as possible."

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