The Doppler-based Pocket Radar has the same degree of accuracy as traditional, bulky radar guns (within 1 mph to be exact) in a unit that's small enough to fit in a shirt pocket. It can also take up to 10,000 speed measurements on one set of AAA batteries. In other words, it's a lot more sophisticated than that cheap Hot Wheels radar gun you have been playing with. Of course, it's probably going to be a lot more expensive for makers to tinker with when it arrives in the Spring of 2010. [Pocket Radar via BusinessWire via Gadget Lab]

Supposedly, the radar will be able to see through fog and dust—even walls. It's also compact enough to be practical—no more than 2.5 pounds with less than a pound of hardware actually mounted to the helmet. Sounds like an awesome tool to keep our soldiers safe, but there are a few problems that would need to be addressed. Outside of possible health issues, the radar helmet would need to be able to distinguish enemies from friends and woodland creatures. Plus, the power supply feeding the device would need to be compact and powerful. That's easier said than done of course, so I wouldn't expect this technology to see action anytime soon. [Danger Room Image via Flickr]

The mechanism involves a complicated math algorithm that tracks and predicts the ball's trajectory in real time, only 400 milliseconds after being hit. To get the data needed for the calculation, ESPN uses a 2000Hz Doppler radar which follows the ball's speed, location and spin, given precise data of distance travelled, something that before took seconds or even minutes to calculate. After calculation, the path is shown overlaid on screen in real time, chasing the ball precisely.

The results are quite cool, even while they fail (again) at making baseball exciting to me. [Popular Science]

And yes, I hereby declare today Gizmodo's Official Ball Celebration Day.

Amazingly enough, the system worked flawlessly in Jalopnik's test. The savings in speed tickets alone means that this car will pay for itself in time. Well...maybe not. Hit up Jalopnik to get the full test-drive details. [Jalopnik]

Seattle-Tacoma airport has a wildlife biologist on staff (and has for the last 30 years) and a team of 20 assistants who take every measure to prevent birds from occupying the airspace around the runway.

At the center of their arsenal is the radar, made by Accipital, which is used to detect any flocks of birds that may be on a collision course with the airport. Using this technology, they can detect the altitude the birds are flying at, and by analyzing behavioral flight patterns, what kind of birds they're dealing with.

If they do detect any birds, the wildlife team will shine lasers (pew pew!) in the eyes of birds to mimic a predator, hopefully causing the bird to fly away.If that isn't enough, the team will ramp up their strategy with a more disruptive solution: explosive shells. What they refer to as "pyrotechnics," the shells are shot into the air and cause a considerable amount noise when they explode (one goes 1200 feet into the air and creates a thunderclap). This generally does the trick in scaring birds away.

And before you get all worked up and start emailing PETA in a panic, none of this does any harm to the birds. [CNN]

Now finishing its testing phase as it gets ready to enter action next action, the EA-18G will replace the current and aging EA-6B Prowler. With its two F414-GE-400 engines, totalling 44,000-pound of trust, it's a much more powerful beast than the 4-seater Prowler.

The EA-18G's mission is to jam the enemy networks from the air, using a variety of systems installed on a pallet in the gun bay and in two wingtip pods. The remaining nine weapons stations are available for other pods containing the electronics necessary for standoff jamming, escort jamming, time critical strike, and communications countermeasures.

In the cockpit, it has an active electronically scanned array radar, which is capable of pinpointing the targets that need to be jammed (or destroyed using specialized radio-bound missiles) with greater accuracy than ever before. In other words, to give mess with the Wi-Fi network of all those terrorist living in their desert caves.

A switch to GPS could save carriers $10 billion a year in fuel and it would also increase efficiency—allowing more planes to fly on more routes at the same time. In other words, it could be a financial windfall that would help the airline industry get back on its feet. Yes, making the switch would be extremely complex, but this is really a question about priorities. We simply cannot continue to bail out the airlines every time things go south. Unfortunately, the government does not believe they can get planes flying in a straight line until at least 2020. [USA Today via Digg]

Sometimes, when a warm layer of air rolls in up above the surface, the beam from the Doppler radar can be deflected towards the ground—picking up traffic and other objects much like a police radar gun. The weather service alluded to the fact that the "speeder" could have been nothing more than noise, but it still makes you wonder how long it will be before they figure out how to bust motorists from space. [NWS via Jalopnik]

Top Speed tested out the parking sensors that come with Laser Star, and in a word they worked perfectly. The tester was able to detect cars and other objects at roughly 20 feet, and after some tweaking got the system tracking objects within a few inches. Good to know if you're evading the police and have to park in an alley in a hurry.

Lastly, some wise words from the testers themselves:

Laser jammers are built to jam police laser guns, but they're not built for you to be stupid about it. If you're targeted by a police officer the buzzer inside the car will alert. Slow down, drop to the posted speed limit, and then shut off jammer. Once you turn off the jammer the officer will instantly get a reading. He will then see you're driving at the posted speed limit. No suspicion will arise if you use a laser jammer correctly. Never jam a police officer all the way to the gun. Slow down to the speed limit, then turn off the jammer.

[Laser Jammer Tests]

When the system detects an accident, it deploys the bridge bar in 70 milliseconds using a high-power spring, which is being held by a coil. The coil is made of an special alloy that recovers its original shape instantly when it receives an electric impulse, releasing the spring just before the impact. The resulting structure decreases the penetration of the incoming object by as much as 3 inches, as well as reducing the speed and violence of the crash.

Side impacts are almost impossible to avoid even at very low speeds, like 20-30 mph. They are also very dangerous, not only because they can kill you straight away, but also because it's very easy to suffer permanent brain damage from the lateral forces involved. The system may avoid this, transferring these energies through the car structure. [New Scientist]

The inventor's story is an interesting one, involving thousands of hours of lab trial and error, as well as international military interest in his product...that far outshined the response from his own country's military.

But apparently the most promising and equitable use for such a paint could be civilian. Airport towers and buildings have a long history of interfering with flight control radars. And to simply make them disappear would be quite useful—as opposed to calling hangar 12 in for a landing or something. [Spiegel Online via NewLaunches][image]

Chris Lavers, a senior lecturer in remote sensing and sensors technology at the college believes that nanomaterials could help render the next generation of ships invisible to the naked eye, radar, and even heat seeking missiles—all while being completely quiet and impossible to detect based on their impact on the Earth's magnetic field. This isn't the first time we have heard about invisibility cloaking using similar methods, so here's hoping that something actually comes of it in the near future. [Physics World via Gizmag]

• After Warner's announcement, HD DVD won't be attending CES this week, a fact that only looks worse after they put their logo on the press bags. Adding insult to HD DVD's injury, New Line Cinema also joined the Blu-ray exclusive crew.

• WowWee showed us three robots aiming to attack AIBOs, Robosapiens and autonomous helicopters everywhere. The only thing missing was a robot to bring us beer. Luckily, Inter Active Toy covered that with the RC Cooler.

• Other good finds included the Celestron SkyScout Scope, Cobra's OLED radar detectors, and an in-dash CD player for audiophiles. On the GPS front, Magellan's 5340 with built-in Google local search and Garmin's 880 with voice recognition stood out the most. Finally, Logitech unveiled a whole bunch of stuff, including a networked music player, a sleek set of speakers, and an IR remote with capacitive touch.

So far, so good, CES. We'll be looking forward to the press conferences today, and the floor opening on Monday. Until then, keep up with all of our CES 2008 coverage to date.

New Maximum Performance Detectors—A Dashboard "Must-Have" Cobra Electronics Announces Newly Designed 2008 Line of Maximum Performance, Full-Color Radar Detectors

LAS VEGAS (January 4, 2008) — Chicago-based Cobra Electronics (NASDAQ: COBR) today announced the launch of its new Super-Xtreme Range Superheterodyne™ Maximum Performance 12 Band™ 2008 radar line. Following the success of the wireless remote controlled XRS R9G, the new line once again offers drivers detection of the fastest radar and laser guns—including POP Mode and KU-Band—high-resolution full-color displays and other Cobra radar mainstay features drivers have come to rely on. Cobra's 2008 radar products offer maximum performance at prices that challenge competitors' products with less features and higher prices.

The XRS 9950 and 9940 feature the ExtremeBright DataGrafix™ full-color display with alert screens and icons such as car battery voltage, signal strength and eight-point digital compass. The products feature a 1.5-inch and 1-inch OLED display, respectively, and a sleek new industrial design.

The new XRS 9950 includes the added benefit of an optional GPS locator. The locator, also available in Cobra's XRS R9G, alerts drivers of dangerous speed and red light camera locations in North America.

"In a category that's been around for more than 20 years, Cobra continues to innovate," said Tony Mirabelli, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Cobra. "Whether it's our speed and red light camera alerts, our full-color video displays or our S-XRS™ maximum performance, Cobra has transformed the radar detector from a 'nice-to-have' to a 'must have' in today's car."

In addition to the products' enhanced performance and added benefits, the 9950 and 9940 offer Cobra firsts such as Voice Alert™, which clearly annunciates signals and alerts being detected; IntelliMute®, a programmable speed sensing auto mute system that reduces false alerts; SmartPower™ to automatically shut off the unit when the vehicle's ignition is turned off; and Safety Alert® and Strobe Alert®, which alert the driver of approaching emergency vehicles and select road hazards.
The XRS 9950 has an MRSP of $259.95 and the XRS 9940 has an MSRP of $229.95. Both will be available at major retailers starting in April 2008.

Beyond the flagship XRS 9950 and 9940, Cobra is also introducing upgrades to its existing line of detectors with price points ranging from $209.95 to $99.95 to suit every driver's need.
Along with its maximum performance XRS radar line, Cobra's 2008 mobile navigation, two-way radio, citizens band and marine products will be on display at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, January 7-10 in the Central Hall, booth # 9841, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Cobra's radar, mobile navigation and two-way radio products will also be on display at CES Unveiled, January 5 in the Sands Expo and Convention Center.

The court case represented the first time that anyone had contested a ticket based on the data obtained by a GPS tracking device, and it appears that the failure of the defense was due largely to the inability of either side to accurately determine when the radar gun clocked him and where the GPS tracker marked him at 45 mph. Apparently, the system took readings every 30 seconds —if these readings were more frequent, there would have been a much better case for raising reasonable doubt. My guess is that we will see a lot more of these cases turn up as the technology progresses. So all hope is not lost. [Press Democrat]