Through some high-tech magic, the water becomes an agent that can purify a canteenful of water. What is most interesting about this is that it not only kills all the normal things chlorine tablets can, but also things that are chlorine resistant. Researchers are also working on a reverse-osmosis device that makes sea water potable. Water is a big problem everywhere, Goldblatt noted, because disease and nonbattle injuries often incapacitate more people than ballistic injuries. Officials are working to identify people exposed to a biological agent before they become sick.
Some people get sick much quicker than others.
Still others might not get sick for a long period of time. Determining who was sufficiently exposed to become sick is another concern. The terrorist Sarin gas attack in Tokyo's subway is a good example of this problem, he said. Some people died. Some were ill.