U.S. Air Force Testing Reaper Drones for Air-to-Air Combat
September 20th, 2018Via: Military.com:
An MQ-9 Reaper drone has bagged its first air-to-air kill of another small, aerial vehicle in a controlled simulation, an official revealed to Military.com this week.
The successful test late last year showed the U.S. Air Force that an unmanned vehicle like the MQ-9 has the ability to conduct air-to-air combat, much like its manned fighter brethren such as an F-15 Eagle or F-22 Raptor, according to Col. Julian Cheater, commander of the 432nd Wing at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada.
“Something that’s unclassified but not well known, we recently in November … launched an air-to-air missile against a maneuvering target that scored a direct hit,” Cheater said. Military.com sat down with Cheater here at the Air Force Association Air, Space and Cyber conference outside Washington, D.C.
“It was an MQ-9 versus a drone with a heat-seeking air-to-air missile, and it was direct hit … during a test,” he said of the first-of-its-kind kill.
“We develop those tactics, techniques and procedures to make us survivable in those types of environments and, if we do this correctly, we can survive against some serious threats against normal air players out there,” Cheater said Monday. “We will go participate in ‘Red Flag’ exercises, and we will drop weapons in testing environments to make sure that we can fight against those type of adversaries.”
New Mexico Observatory Closure Stemmed from FBI Child Porn Probe
September 20th, 2018Mmm hmm.
Via: Reuters:
The mysterious 11-day closure of a New Mexico solar observatory stemmed from an FBI investigation of a janitor suspected of using the facility’s wireless internet service to send and receive child pornography, federal court documents showed on Wednesday.
The National Solar Observatory in Sunspot, New Mexico, was evacuated without public explanation on Sept. 6, leading to a swirl of social media speculation and rumors driven by its proximity to two U.S. military installations and the town of Roswell.
…
The FBI affidavit identified the suspect as a janitor under contract to clean the facility, whose laptop was found to have been used to connect to the observatory’s wireless system.
According to the affidavit, observatory officials made the decision to close and evacuate the site out of concern that the suspect might pose a danger to other personnel.
The observatory was reopened on Monday.
The person has not been arrested or charged, and no arrest warrant has been issued, according to the FBI.
New Zealand: State of Collapse in Northland’s Public Schools
September 19th, 2018Our Playcentre is located on the school grounds, so I hear the stories and see the police cars in the parking lot. The teachers look like death camp survivors.
At this point, I’m pretty sure that the purpose of the Ministry of Education is to destroy the minds of as many children as possible. Premeditated. On purpose. By design. The policy of releasing the maniacs into the general population is part of that.
Oh well, just throw some more Chromebooks at the situation.
Via: New Zealand Herald:
A Far North principals’ association president was hoping a Ministry of Education meeting in Wellington on Friday to review guidelines on the restraint of children, would result in change. He was disappointed.
“The Mad Hatters are now in control of our classrooms,” said Te Tai Tokerau Principal’s’ Association president Pat Newman.
He had advised his members to hope and pray that those making the decisions would “actually apply common sense for once” to they had been facing since the guidelines were imposed.
“A teacher is not even allowed to lift a five-year-old up and carry them out [of the classroom] when they throw things in the middle of a tantrum.
“Instead, we are supposed to leave them and remove all the other children,” he said.
Guadalajara: Trailer Full of Decomposing Corpses
September 19th, 2018In other news: Mexican Street Dogs Fight for Discarded Human Head in Tijuana.
Via: Guardian:
Mexicans have reacted with outrage after authorities in the western state of Jalisco left a trailer full of decomposing corpses on the outskirts of Mexico’s second-largest city following a wave of violence which overwhelmed local morgues.
Locals in the Guadalajara suburb of Tlajomulco complained to police after they were alerted to the presence of the trailer by the stench.
Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi Tap Google to Power In-Car Systems
September 18th, 2018What’s next? New homes with Google hardware and software embedded in the walls?
Via: Engadget:
This week, the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance, the world’s largest maker of cars, signed a deal with Alphabet’s Google to be able to use Google Maps, Google Assistant and the Android OS in its vehicles. The new systems will debut starting in 2021.
“Our ambition is to offer the same customer experience inside the car as on a mobile phone,” Hadi Zablit, the head of business development at the Alliance, told The Financial Times. “It is becoming an important feature when people choose their cars. It’s a competitive advantage.”
Self-Driving Cars Can Handle Neither Rain nor Sleet nor Snow
September 18th, 2018Via: Bloomberg:
As things stand today, the driverless car of the future can’t handle more than a dusting of snow.
It’s a known problem in the field, and vaguely embarrassing when the end result is supposed to be robots sophisticated enough to navigate the uncertainties of traffic and improve on lackluster human perception. In Boston, where NuTonomy has been road testing autonomous vehicles in cooperation with city planning officials, snow and seagulls have emerged as two of the biggest obstacles. “Snow not only alters the vehicle’s traction but also changes how the vehicle’s cameras and sensors perceive the street,” concluded a study by the World Economic Forum and the Boston Consulting Group.
For the local breed of unflappable seagulls—which can stop autonomous cars by simply standing on the street, unbothered by NuTonomy’s quiet electric cars—engineers programmed the machines to creep forward slightly to startle the birds. There’s not yet a solution for Boston snow.
Weird Coincidence: “The First” and Yusaku Maezawa
September 18th, 2018A few days ago, I was trying to get through a new and excruciatingly boring TV show called, The First:
The First is an American-British drama web television series created by Beau Willimon and starring Sean Penn and Natascha McElhone. The show portrays members of a team of astronauts as they become the first humans to visit Mars. The series, a co-production between American streaming service Hulu and British television network Channel 4, debuted on September 14, 2018 in the United States.
In episode one, the CEO of a fictional private space exploration company walks into her living room. A picture of what looks like a skull painted by a graffiti artist is prominently displayed above the fireplace.
Here’s a partial screenshot:
I thought, “WTF is that grotesque thing? The set designer had a bit of fun there!”
Flash forward to yesterday and SpaceX announcing that Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa will travel around the moon in the company’s Big Falcon Rocket (BFR).
I had never heard of Yusaku Maezawa, so I did a few searches. Within a few seconds, I saw this:
[???]
Trump Hits China with Fresh Tariffs
September 17th, 2018Via: Reuters:
U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his trade war with Beijing, imposing 10 percent tariffs on about $200 billion worth of imports in a move one senior Chinese regulator said “poisoned” the atmosphere for negotiations.
Trump also warned in a statement on Monday that if China takes retaliatory action against U.S. farmers or industries, “we will immediately pursue phase three, which is tariffs on approximately $267 billion of additional imports.”
Tesla’s Most Credible Rival Raises $1 Billion from Saudi Arabia
September 17th, 2018Via: Ars Technica:
Lucid Motors, the electric car startup we described as Tesla’s most credible rival last year, got a shot in the arm on Monday as Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund announced a $1 billion investment. The company aims to bring its first car to market in 2020.
Japanese Billionaire Yusaku Maezawa to Fly Around Moon on SpaceX BFR
September 17th, 2018Via: The Verge:
This evening, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk revealed that Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese billionaire and founder of Zozotown, Japan’s largest online clothing retailer, will be the first private customer to ride around the Moon on the company’s future massive rocket, the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR). Maezawa plans to fly on the trip as early as 2023, and he wants to take artists with him to turn the entire ride into an art project called #dearMoon.
