To ensure the safety of America’s 730 million annual air travelers, all new jet engines must undergo arduous FAA safety testing—including a grueling series of static ground tests subjecting them to everything from gale force winds to simulated bird strikes. But how does one reproduce the identical test conditions needed for accurate performance measurements? You use a 32-foot wide wind baffle, of course. More »
While UAVs have joined spy satellites as an indispensable part of America’s military operations—especially in delivering timely, accurate intel to troops on the ground—they are not the end-all-be-all perfect solution, even in coordination. That’s why DARPA plans to supplement these unmanned intelligence gathering platforms with jet-deployed constellations of micro-satellites. Soon, every grunt will have access to a real-time battlefield mini-map just in like video games. More »
Snipers are among the most valuable assets a military can deploy in battle and have become a pillar of modern US counterinsurgency tactics. While mile-and-a-half-long shots are possible, they’re not all that common. But with DARPA’s new One Shot XG scope system, any ol’ Killroy will be able to accurately fire an M24 up to a mile. More »
You won’t have any trouble finding this Marco Polo in the pool—even with your eyes closed. Five Airbus a380s lined up nose-to-tail still wouldn’t match the length, much less the overwhelming mass, of the world’s largest container ship. More »
In the nearly two years since the start of the Syrian Civil War, the international community has steadfastly refused to directly intervene—despite reports of atrocities ranging from horrific detainee abuse to indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling against civilians. However, the Assad regime may have finally crossed the “red line” by unleashing a deadly nerve agent against residents of Homs. In doing so, the government may be courting a full-scale NATO retribution. More »
While Russia’s submarine fleet remains a formidable force in the 21st Century, the country still relies on craft built before the Iron Curtain lifted. Today, a lot of the subs are getting long in the tooth. However, the new SSBN Yury Dolgoruky will provide Mother Russia with a fresh set of nuclear fangs. More »
During the Cold War, it wasn’t hard to determine who could have been behind an airborne nuclear strike—just check behind the Iron Curtain. But in the modern era of nuclear proliferation, figuring out who set off a bomb would be more akin to crime scene investigation. More »
Distributed, crowd-sourced computing platforms—doesn’t matter if it’s Indigogo or SETI@home—are only as useful as the individual systems connected to them. And for IBM’s World Community Grid, a single system can do a lot, especially when it’s a purpose-built 4.5GHz calculation-crushing super computer. More »
Our solar system is positioned near the edge of the Milky Way. It’s a nice part of town, sure, but it doesn’t allow for a very clear view of the rest of the galaxy. That’s prevented us from studying many of the Milky Way’s fundamental aspects, like whether it has two arms or four, how big it is, how fast it’s moving, and whether we’re someday going to ram headfirst into the Andromeda galaxy. More »
Exploring micro-gravity climates like Mars, which has just 38 percent of the Earth’s force, or its moon, Phobos, which has 1000 times less gravity than that, can be a challenge for rovers that rely on wheels or skittering legs for traction. That’s why Stanford researchers plan to survey the Martian moon with an fleet of bounding, spiked spheres. More »
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