These Teched-Out Catamarans Will Guard the Great Barrier Reef

These Teched-Out Catamarans Will Guard the Great Barrier Reef

Simply naming an area like Australia’s Great Barrier Reef as a World Heritage Site isn’t going to protect its delicate ecosystem. To prevent poachers, fisheries, and inconsiderate tourists from damaging the reefs and disturbing its residents, Australia is building a fleet of solar-powered shepherd ships.

Read more…

    

The New Fastest Helicopter on Earth Can Fly at an Insane 300MPH

The New Fastest Helicopter on Earth Can Fly at an Insane 300MPH

Most helicopters are built for hovering, not for speed. But the Eurocopter X3 is built for both. The demonstrator tilt-rotor aircraft proved as much when it set a pair of air speed records earlier this month.

Read more…

    

China Has the World’s Fastest Supercomputer (And It’s 2x Fast as Ours)

China Has the World's Fastest Supercomputer (And It's 2x Fast as Ours)

Watson may have been able to trounce a pair of Jeopardy champs, but it can’t hold a candle to the new king of number crunching, the 3.12 million-core Tianhe-2.

Read more…

    

Who Built This Mysterious Spy Drone Captured By Syrian Rebels?

Who Built This Mysterious Spy Drone Captured By Syrian Rebels?

The situation in Syria is getting worse by the hour. France and the UK have both confirmed Assad’s use of Sarin gas against rebel-held towns, Hezbollah fighters have jumped in to the regime’s defense, and drones are falling out of the sky at an alarming pace. Including this one.

Read more…

    

How to Inspect Windmill Blades Without Ever Leaving the Ground

Getting to the top of a wind turbine is no small feat—akin to summiting the Washington Monument—and even more difficult when the wind farm is at sea. So rather than force human inspectors to make the perilous climb, Helical Robotics has developed a magnetic turtle to do it for us. More »

Crooks Don’t Stand a Chance Against the SWAT Bot

With so much crazy going around these days, its a hairy time to be in law enforcement. But with this door-breaching, bullet-stopping, car-towing robo-tank in front of them, SWAT units will be unstoppable. More »

This Is the Camera That Found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Law enforcement didn’t pull any punches during its manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombers, going so far as to lock down an entire metropolis while they searched. Even when officers thought they had the second suspect cornered in Watertown boat, they confirmed their suspicions with a camera that can spot people from up to 10 miles away. Just to be sure. More »

CUTLASS Supreme: How the Next-Gen Police-Bot Picks Bombs Apart in Record Time

The Wheelbarrow EOD robot has dutifully served the British Army since Lt. Col. Peter Mille first put one to work disarming IRA bombs in 1972. But these days, the 400 or so units currently deployed in the UK and abroad are quickly becoming legacy hardware. The British Ministry of Defence’s replacement: a state-of-the-art bomb-bot that can disable an IED four times faster than its predecessor. More »

Now You Can Watch Your Unborn Child in Ultra-Creepy HD

Ultrasound has revolutionized prenatal medicine but its monochromatic images can be difficult to interpret—even for trained operators. But with the help of next-gen rendering algorithms, doctors and expectant parents alike are getting an unprecedented real-time peek inside the womb. More »

The Tech That Helped Take Down Marathon Bombing Suspect Dzhokar Tsarnaev

The second suspect in the brutal Boston Marathon bombings has been apprehended, after five days of uncertainty and fear. And while all credit for Dzhokar Tsarnaev’s capture goes to the men and women of the many, many agencies that spent the last week tracking him down, technology played as prominent a role as it ever has in a time of national crisis. More »