Archive for the 'War' Category
Autonomous Weapons: An Open Letter from AI & Robotics Researchers
July 27th, 2015Via: Future of Life Institute: Autonomous weapons select and engage targets without human intervention. They might include, for example, armed quadcopters that can search for and eliminate people meeting certain pre-defined criteria, but do not include cruise missiles or remotely piloted drones for which humans make all targeting decisions. Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology has reached […]
Lockheed Martin Buying Sikorsky for $9 Billion
July 20th, 2015Via: Reuters: Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) has agreed to buy United Technologies Corp’s (UTX.N) Sikorsky Aircraft for over $8 billion, two sources said on Sunday, cementing a deal that would confirm Lockheed’s dominance in weapons making and giving the Black Hawk helicopter to the maker of the F-35 fighter jet. The deal will add further […]
The Military Built Another Multimillion-Dollar Building in Afghanistan That No One Used
July 20th, 2015Via: ProPublica: Unlike many buildings commissioned by the U.S. in Afghanistan, the new military warehouse facility in Kandahar was well built, an inspector general investigation concluded. There was, however, one glaring problem: no one was around to use the gleaming, $14.7 million complex. The four warehouses and an administration building were empty, because the intended […]
Nearly One-Third Of 847,000 Veterans In Backlog For VA Health Care Already Died
July 15th, 2015Via: Huffington Post: More than 238,000 of the 847,000 veterans in the pending backlog for health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs have already died, according to an internal VA document provided to The Huffington Post.
Blood & Fog: The Military’s Germ Warfare Tests in San Francisco
July 10th, 2015Via: Discover: The Nuremberg Code was drafted in 1947 following the appalling revelations of human experimentation committed in Nazi concentration camps. The overarching goal of the Code was to establish a set of rules for the ethical conduct of research using human subjects, guaranteeing that the rights and welfare of such participants would be protected. […]
Jade Helm: No Media Allowed
July 9th, 2015Via: Washington Post: Jade Helm 15, the controversial Special Operations exercise that spawned a wave of conspiracy theories about a government takeover, will open next week without any media allowed to observe it, a military spokesman said. Embedded reporters won’t be permitted at any point during the exercise, in which military officials say that secretive […]
Heroin Overdose Deaths in the U.S. Nearly Quadrupled Between 2002 and 2013
July 8th, 2015One more for your herniating Mission Accomplished file folder. Via: Reuters: Heroin overdose deaths in the United States nearly quadrupled between 2002 and 2013, fueled by lower costs as well as increased abuse of prescription opiate painkillers, U.S. health officials said on Tuesday. The report found that heroin use increased by 63 percent from 2002 […]
FBI Investigating 11 Attacks on San Francisco-Area Internet Lines
June 30th, 2015Via: USA Today: The FBI is investigating at least 11 physical attacks on high-capacity Internet cables in California’s San Francisco Bay Area dating back a year, including one early Tuesday morning. Agents confirm the latest attack disrupted Internet service for businesses and residential customers in and around Sacramento, the state’s capital. FBI agents declined to […]
F-35 Gets Its Clock Cleaned by 1970s Era Fighter
June 30th, 2015Meanwhile, in Russia: Sukhoi PAK FA. Via: Medium: The test pilot’s report is the latest evidence of fundamental problems with the design of the F-35?—?which, at a total program cost of more than a trillion dollars, is history’s most expensive weapon. … The F-35 was flying “clean,” with no weapons in its bomb bay or […]
DARPA: Engineering Organisms That Will Terraform Mars [???]
June 28th, 2015Via: Vice: The goal of terraforming Mars would be to warm up and potentially thicken its atmosphere by growing green, photosynthesizing plants, bacteria, and algae on the barren Martian surface. It’s a goal that even perpetual techno-optimists like Elon Musk think isn’t going to happen anytime soon, but it’s a goal that DARPA apparently already […]
