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io9MoviesSounds Like the Snake Eyes Movie (Wisely) Puts G.I. Joe on the Back-Burner
There were a lot of things wrong with the 2009 movie G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra—a lot of things. But it seems like the upcoming film G.I. Joe Origins: Snake Eyes has figured out to avoid them, and thus create the G.I. Joe movie franchise the previous films failed to do. First and foremost on … Continued
By Rob Bricken -
Tech NewsGadgetsThe French Army Is Testing Spot the Robot on the Battlefield
Boston Robotic’s Spot quadruped robot seems to be hitting the battlefield with a group of French Army trainees in a series of drills and simulations that explore how these currently unarmed robots could work side-by-side with humans. The soldiers-in-training used Spot for various reconnaissance tasks during a two-day trial of the technology. As reported by … Continued
By John Biggs -
ScienceSpace & SpaceflightSpace Force Personnel Will Be Called ‘Guardians’ Because Sure, Whatever
Outbound Vice President/gynophobe-in-chief Mike Pence announced at a press conference on Friday that enlisted personnel in the Space Force will be referred to as “Guardians.” I have a lot of questions here. Pence apparently means “guardians” in the sense that Army troops are called soldiers, Naval enlisted are called sailors, Air Force personnel are called … Continued
By Tom McKay -
io9Disney Security’s Unofficial Challenge Coins Are a Different Sort of Collector’s Item
As the owner of a substantial portion of the world’s most popular pieces of intellectual property, the Walt Disney Company is more than used to seeing its characters and branding pop up in unofficial, unlicensed places. In some instances, like when the family of a recently deceased child attempted to feature Spider-Man’s likeness on his … Continued
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Tech NewsPoliticsTrump’s DOJ Clears the Path for Voter Fraud Fearmongering
The Department of Justice is reminding U.S. attorneys that they are free to break with nearly 40 years of precedent and publicly air unproven claims of voter fraud before the 2020 elections on Nov. 3. Donald Trump is obsessed with voter fraud, and particularly voting fraud by mail. That’s not because there’s any evidence that … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsPoliticsPentagon Got $1 Billion to Fight Coronavirus, Bought Drones, Jet Parts, and Body Armor Instead: Report
The Pentagon has spent the $1 billion it received through the CARES Act on personal protective equipment, medical gear, and other emergency response supplies to support the nation’s teetering healthcare system. Just kidding, it spent it on fighter jets and body armor. Mask boring; loud thing go boom. Per the Washington Post, the Defense Department … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsChinese Propaganda Video Rips Off Hollywood Movies to Fake Bombing of U.S. Base
The Chinese military has published a new propaganda video on the social media platform Weibo that appears to show Chinese bombers attacking a U.S. military base in Guam. The video is an unexceptional piece of digital saber-rattling between China and the U.S., but the new video might seem oddly familiar to Americans. That’s because the … Continued
By Matt Novak -
ScienceSpace & SpaceflightThe Space Force Unveils ‘Spacepower,’ Its Plan to Conquer Space
The Space Force has released a 64-page military doctrine, explaining why the United States needs to flex its muscles in space and how the nascent military branch will seek to maintain dominance in a domain so far untouched by warfare. Humans have fought on land and water for millennia and in the air for over … Continued
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Tech NewsHey, It Happens: Iran Just Sunk Its Own Fake Aircraft Carrier
The Iranian military accidentally sunk a target barge used as a mockup U.S. aircraft carrier in recent exercises while towing it back to port, according to a report by Forbes, causing a major sea-lane hazard. The barge in question was built around six years ago and originally explained as a prop for Airbus, a never-released … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsU.S. Military Releases New Video of What Trump Calls ‘Super Duper Missile’
The U.S. Army aired new video of its secretive hypersonic missile on Tuesday, a rare look at what President Donald Trump has previously described as America’s “super duper missile.” And while we still don’t know much about the missile’s specs, hypersonic missiles are almost certainly the future of military posturing during the New Cold War, … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsAOC’s Measure to Kill U.S. Military Twitch Streams Fails House Vote
An amendment proposed by U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that would stop the military from recruiting on platforms like Twitch failed a House vote on Thursday. Had it passed, it would have added a provision to the House Committee on Appropriations Bill to bar the U.S. military from using federal funds to maintain “a presence on … Continued
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Tech NewsLocal Police Are Looking to Tech Companies for ‘Less Lethal’ Crowd Control Devices
Local police forces across the U.S. are turning to tech companies for “less lethal” means of subduing individuals that are even “less lethal” than what they have already been using. Instead of rubber bullets, tear gas, or pepper spray, police are looking into sound cannons, directed energy weapons, and projectile Kevlar cords, according to CNBC, … Continued
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Tech NewsNew York Times Casually Drops Another Story About How Aliens Are Probably Real
The New York Times published a story Thursday night about the likelihood that aliens have visited Earth. The main takeaway? Aliens could be real and the U.S. government has been conducting classified briefings in recent years about things left behind by “off-world vehicles.” Naturally, the new article appears on the 17th page of today’s paper … Continued
By Matt Novak -
ScienceSpace & SpaceflightChina Launches Country’s First Independent Mission to Mars, Complete With Rover
China successfully launched its first independent mission to Mars, dubbed Tianwen-1, from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan Province on Thursday. China’s “Long March-5” rocket is carrying an orbiter, lander, and even an uncrewed rover that will explore the surface of Mars in 2021, provided everything goes according to plan. China first attempted a … Continued
By Matt Novak -
EartherA New York Primary Challenger Shows Why the Green New Deal Has to Take on the Military
The U.S. military is the world’s largest institutional consumer of fossil fuels. Yet the carbon footprint of warfare hasn’t been a central focus of the U.S. climate movement. Even the game-changing Green New Deal resolution that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey introduced last year—the most comprehensive climate platform to ever hit Capitol Hill—makes … Continued
By Dharna Noor -
ScienceSpace & SpaceflightThe U.S. Space Force Is Losing a Trademark Battle With Netflix’s Space Force
The real Space Force may be going down in flames against the fictional Space Force: According to the Hollywood Reporter, the newly founded military branch appears to be losing a trademark battle with the Netflix comedy show of the same name. Netflix “has outmaneuvered the U.S. government to secure trademark rights to ‘Space Force’ in … Continued
By Tom McKay
