Archive for the 'War' Category
Real Headline: “Marines Test Google’s Latest Military Robot”
September 21st, 2015Via: PC World: The latest version of a walking, quadruped battlefield robot from Boston Dynamics, the military robotics maker owned by Google X, was tested by U.S. Marines last week. Spot weighs about 70kgs, is electrically operated and walks on four hydraulically-actuated legs. It’s controlled via wireless by an operator who can be up to […]
Artificial Leaf Harnesses Sunlight for Efficient Fuel Production
September 20th, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — I like reading the artificial leaf news, even though there are always tall hurdles ahead of the technology becoming practical. In this iteration of the artificial leaf, for example, the system only works for about 40 hours. I wondered how much money was being spent […]
Japan Curtails Its Pacifist Stance
September 19th, 2015Via: The Atlantic: Seven decades after its surrender ended World War II, Japan took its most significant step away from the pacifist foreign policy that shaped 70 years of its post-war history. … The bill passed on Friday does not change Article 9’s language. That would require a constitutional amendment and two-thirds support in both […]
Cyborg Insects
September 19th, 2015Via: Vice: I asked Anthes why she thought the military was so keen to work with insects. “I’d imagine there are several reasons,” she said. “Firstly those creatures are simpler to work with, biologically speaking. It’s much easier to commandeer an insect’s nervous system than a dog’s or a human’s. But also, for the specific […]
Watch 50 Drones Controlled at Once in a Record-Breaking Swarm
September 16th, 2015Via: New Scientist: A team at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, has succeeded in launching 50 drones that were all controlled by a single person. “To our knowledge, this is a world record for the number of UAVs under single operator control, by quite a long way,” says project lead Kevin Jones. The […]
Another Attack on Bay Area Fiber Optic Cables
September 16th, 2015Via: USA Today: Someone deliberately severed two AT&T fiber optic cables in the Livermore, Calif., Monday night, the latest in a string of attacks against the Internet’s privately run backbone. AT&T is offering a $250,000 reward in connection with the latest attacks. AT&T’s fiber optic network is legally considered a critical piece of the nation’s […]
U.S. Training Helped Mold Top Islamic State Military Commander
September 15th, 2015Via: McClatchy: Ethnic Chechens are thought to be one of the largest groups of foreign fighters in the Islamic State. Now 30, Batirashvili is a key figure, reportedly a member of the group’s governing council, is said to be the Islamic State’s supreme military leader in northern Syria and Aleppo, and is perhaps the group’s […]
U.S. and Russian Forces in Syria Aren’t Talking to Each Other
September 14th, 2015Via: Defense One: In Syria, where the U.S. is leading an air campaign against Islamic State targets and Russian military advisors are arriving to help the Assad regime, the two militaries aren’t talking to each other.
Russian Troops Join Combat in Syria
September 9th, 2015Via: Reuters: Russian forces have begun participating in military operations in Syria in support of government troops, three Lebanese sources familiar with the political and military situation there said on Wednesday. The sources, speaking to Reuters on condition they not be identified, gave the most forthright account yet from the region of what U.S. officials […]
New Teflon Coating Renders Drones Nearly Invisible
September 8th, 2015Via: Inverse: Just as we’re getting used to the idea of drones flying overhead, the University of California-San Diego has figured out how to make them invisible. While making a drone literally invisible isn’t possible, covering it in a sheet that reflects its surroundings — like a fluid mirror — has a similar effect. The […]
