'Make-up' that can help soldiers avoid burns from bomb blasts

The heat-resistant face paint, developed for the US military, has been described as one of the most fundamental changes in thousands of years to camouflage, the Daily Mail reported.

Researchers from the University of Southern Mississippi developed a material from silicone powerful enough to protect against a thermal blast that can reach 600 degrees Celsius (1,112 degrees Fahrenheit), as hot as a burning cigarette.

"The thermal blast lasts only two seconds, but it can literally cook the face, hands and other exposed skin," lead scientist Dr Robert Lochhead, said.

Lochhead and colleagues set out to find a material that soldiers could smear on their faces like suntan lotion yet protects against heat far hotter than the rays that normally reach the skin.

The formulation they discovered lasts far longer than a normal two second blast, generally providing protection for up to 15 second