military

This DNA Gun Will Tag Felons for Weeks

This startlingly orange gun isn’t something from a sci-fi film set. Instead, it’s a new firearm, from UK-based Selectamark, that fires non-lethal pellets—and marks its targets with DNA for later identification. Designed for use by police and military, the gun fires soft little green pellets, pictured below. Weighing just one gram, when they hit a…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Jan 24

Twin F35 Fighters Suckling on the Sweet Milk of Freedom

Aerial refueling is an invaluable technique, not only extending a jet’s operational endurance, it allows for more and heavier equipment to be carried than would otherwise be possible. Since its inception in the biplane era, this technology has developed into what you see here: two F-35C Lightning II jets attached to the business end of…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Jan 22

This Is Probably the Best Look You’ll Ever Get at the Stealth Choppers Used to Kill Bin Laden

The Navy definitely has some sort of super secret stealth copter, but given that it’s a secret, we can’t hope to know that much about it. It’s no stack of schematics, but this clip from Zero Dark Thirty is probably the best look any of us civilians will ever get at it, at least until…

Tech News Eric Limer Jan 18

Chinese Dude Pleads Guilty to Pirating $100 Million Worth of Military Software

Yesterday a Chinese businessman pleaded guilty to selling pirated software—used by defense, space technology and engineering businesses—worth a retail value of over $100 million. A plethora of sophisticated software was stolen from an estimated 200 American manufacturers and sold onto 325 black market buyers in 61 countries between 2008 and 2011, according to Reuters. Software…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Jan 8

How America’s First Delta Wing Fighter Prevented WWIII

Despite the general incompetence of Soviet long-range nuclear bombers, the US couldn’t allow a single such plane to reach American airspace. Its response—a new breed of fighter jet with an unprecedented wing design and handling. https://gizmodo.com/the-ussrs-first-supersonic-bomber-failed-harder-than-so-5966072 The Convair F-102 “interceptor” was the first fighter to incorporate a tailless delta wing design anywhere in the world.…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Dec 28

The F-35B Stealth Fighter Descends Like a Wrathful God of War

Sure, the F-35 Lightning II program comes with a trillion-dollar price tag. Sure, it’s been beset by numerous production delays, system bugs, and fleet groundings. But damn if its vertical night landings don’t put the Harrier to shame. https://gizmodo.com/the-most-expensive-plane-of-all-time-takes-its-first-go-5877539 [Image: Lockheed Martin / Flickr]

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Dec 20

This Automated Land Mine Hunter Finds Its Explosive Quarry by Flailing About

Afghan roads routinely used by American forces are popular targets for IED mining—so much so that demining patrols have become routine. But what to do when an IED is discovered? Sure, you could send in an EOD officer to carefully (and slowly) defuse that IED at great risk to his life—hello, Hurt Locker!—or you could…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Dec 20

Non-Lethal “Pain Rays” Recommended for US Embassies

A commission looking into the Benghazi embassy incident has levied its opinion: Everyone’s incompetent, and to counteract this, high tech “non-lethal” crowd control like heat rays should be put into place. Well then. Here are the paragraphs detailing suggested tech improvements: 19. There have been technological advancements in non-lethal deterrents, and the State Department should…

Tech News Kyle Wagner Dec 19

I wrote a science fiction story, and parts of it came true by the time it got published

My story “Intestate” is up now at Tor.com — it’s one of the weirdest things I’ve ever written, sort of an attempt to do something like The Royal Tenenbaums except with mad science. But perhaps the strangest part is how much has changed since I was writing “Intestate,” back in the heady days of 2011.…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders Dec 19

This Laser Weapon Got Five Times More Powerful in Just One Year

The pace of High Energy Laser (HEL) technology has become a sprint with nations and defense firms alike racing to develop more and more powerful systems. Nowhere is this breakneck pace clearer than at Rheinmetall’s Ochsenboden Proving Ground, especially during a recent test of the company’s shiny, new, 500-percent improved HEL anti-artillery platform. This past…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Dec 19

This Conversation Between Two Drone Pilots Is Really Sad

Spiegel’s Nicola Abé wrote a very interesting story on The Woes of an American Drone Operator. It includes the conversation between two drone pilots, right after firing a Hellfire missile only to see a kid appear on their targeting screens a second before impact: “Did we just kill a kid?” he asked the man sitting…

Tech News Jesus Diaz Dec 17

The USSR’s First Supersonic Bomber Failed Harder than Soviet Communism

In the early 1960s, when ICBMs were still in their developmental infancy, the Soviet Union figured its best option for delivering a nuclear strike was to build an intercontinental supersonic bomber. Fortunately, they only got the second half right. The Tu-22 “Blinder” was the first supersonic bomber ever produced by the USSR and was built…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Dec 14

The Rocket North Korea Launched Last Night Can Fly as Far as LA

North Korea’s aerospace industry can be called a lot of things—”successful” is not one of them. So far, the Hermit Kingdom has failed to put any of its first four rocket-launched payloads into orbit but it looks as though fifth time was the charm. https://gizmodo.com/north-korea-says-it-just-put-a-satellite-in-space-upda-5967710 North Korea says it put a satellite in space last…

Space & Spaceflight Andrew Tarantola Dec 12

How the US Air Force Wasted $1 Billion on a Failed Software Plan

The US Military makes its fair share of mistakes when it comes to technology—but over the weekend, the New York Times revealed that even upgrading a single software system can go horribly wrong for it. https://gizmodo.com/the-6-billion-military-software-project-that-came-to-n-5919824 The New York Times describes the situation: Last month, [the Air Force] canceled a six-year-old modernization effort that had…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Dec 10

Syrian Rebels Built This Tank Using Old Cars and Games Consoles

Necessity, so they say, is the mother of invention—and if you need a tank but don’t have one to hand, it’s time to get creative. Like these Syrian rebels, who threw together this tank after a trip to a junk yard. Called the Sham Il, it’s built around an old car chassis but has some…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Dec 10

Aaaaand SpaceX just scored its very first military contracts

Elon Musk (the billionaire genius who helped inspire RDJ’s Tony Stark) and his space transport company SpaceX just lined up their very first military contracts with the US Air Force. Oh, privatized aerospace — you’re growing up so fast! https://gizmodo.com/the-billionaire-genius-who-tony-stark-is-based-on-wants-5932837 Reuters’ Irene Klotz has the fiscal, Falcon-filled details: The U.S. Air Force will pay $97…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Dec 6

Iran Just Captured Another US Drone

Iranian media is reporting that its country’s military has captured a US ScanEagle drone that was flying in its airspace. Reuters explains that a ScanEagle drone—a small, endurance UAV commonly used for reconnaissance—was gathering infromation over Gulf waters when it entered Iranian air space. It was then, apparently, captured by the naval unit of the…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Dec 4

These Super-Light Polymer Lenses May Eventually Replace Human Corneas

A new artificial lens that mimics the one found in human eyes is set to dramatically lower the weight of night-vision goggles, laser rangefinders and cameras aboard micro unmanned aerial vehicles that soldiers and marines must carry in the field. Optics and materials engineers have been working for a decade on a process that places…

Tech News Michael Keller - Txchnologist Nov 29

The Military Has Enlisted a Laser-Wielding, Paint-Stripping Robot

Anyone who’s ever done any home renovation knows what a messy job removing paint can be. But imagine that instead of a flat wall you were tasked with stripping a curvy streamlined fighter plane. And the paint you were removing was designed to endure the stresses of supersonic flight. It’s a daunting task, which is…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Nov 27

DARPA’s Falcon HTV-2 Can Deliver Its Payload Faster Than Domino’s

ICBMs are great and all, but since they are used almost exclusively for nuclear strikes, launching one would practically guarantee WWIII. So, to get non-nuclear ordnance anywhere in the world in under an hour, DARPA is developing the reusable, hypersonic Falcon delivery system. The Falcon (Force Application and Launch from CONtinental United States) Project is…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Nov 19

This DNA Gun Will Tag Felons for Weeks

Twin F35 Fighters Suckling on the Sweet Milk of Freedom

This Is Probably the Best Look You’ll Ever Get at the Stealth Choppers Used to Kill Bin Laden

Chinese Dude Pleads Guilty to Pirating $100 Million Worth of Military Software

How America’s First Delta Wing Fighter Prevented WWIII

The F-35B Stealth Fighter Descends Like a Wrathful God of War

This Automated Land Mine Hunter Finds Its Explosive Quarry by Flailing About

Non-Lethal “Pain Rays” Recommended for US Embassies

I wrote a science fiction story, and parts of it came true by the time it got published

This Laser Weapon Got Five Times More Powerful in Just One Year

This Conversation Between Two Drone Pilots Is Really Sad

The USSR’s First Supersonic Bomber Failed Harder than Soviet Communism

The Rocket North Korea Launched Last Night Can Fly as Far as LA

How the US Air Force Wasted $1 Billion on a Failed Software Plan

Syrian Rebels Built This Tank Using Old Cars and Games Consoles

Aaaaand SpaceX just scored its very first military contracts

Iran Just Captured Another US Drone

These Super-Light Polymer Lenses May Eventually Replace Human Corneas

The Military Has Enlisted a Laser-Wielding, Paint-Stripping Robot

DARPA’s Falcon HTV-2 Can Deliver Its Payload Faster Than Domino’s

The World Is Basically Begging for Another iPod

Anker’s EufyMake E1 Finally Brings Printers Out of the Dark Ages

OpenAI Says Elon Musk Is ‘Injecting Chaos’ with Recent Legal Maneuver

Google Displayed Polymarket Bets as News ‘In Error,’ Google Says

‘Marvel Rivals’ Wants to Start Being More Than Just a Hero Shooter

‘How Do We Make Sure That Claude Behaves Itself?’: Anthropic Invited 15 Christians for a Summit

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Indie Animation Is Having a Moment on YouTube

This Loud-Ass Party Speaker Almost Got Me High AF

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