DARPA, the Pentagon's way-out science arm wants to make soldiers stronger, faster, and generally "kill proof." The key, the agency believes: Getting humans to act more like animals.

For years, DARPA has been pushing to boost soldier performance. Today, at the opening of DARPATech, the agency's bi-annual conference, program manager Michael Callahan just announced a new effort to take that research even further. He calls it "Inner Armor."

The project has two main thrusts. The first is to enable soldiers to work better in extremes -- high altitudes, brutal heat, and undersea depths. In each of these conditions, Callahan notes, there are animals that handle these environments well. The bar-headed goose, for instance, can fly for days at Himalayan heights without taking a break. Certain microorganisms thrive in steam vents, despite the Venutian conditions. Then there's the sea lion, which redirects blood flow and slows its heart rate, to stay underwater for hours.