Hasta La Gadget!

Last April archaeologists left for a very interesting dig in Burma. The archaeologists were out to find a number of British Spitfire fighter aircraft that were allegedly buried as surplus after World War II. The story went that in 1945 a number of aircraft were shipped from the manufacturer to Burma in their standard shipping crates.

The aircraft were said to have been waxed, wrapped grease paper, and tarred to protect them against the elements. When the aircraft arrived at their final destination, the war had ended leaving the aircraft unneeded. As the story goes, British commanders ordered soldiers to bury the aircraft in their shipping crates because it was cheaper than shipping them back to England.

Archaeologists have been digging at the site of Rangoon airport in Burma where eyewitnesses have said that the aircraft were buried at the end of World War II. The archaeologists believe that as many as 124 spitfires were buried and an initial survey of the Rangoon site revealed large concentrations of metal under the ground supporting the idea that as many as 36 of the Spitfire aircraft were buried there.

However, the archaeologists are now stating that the evidence gathered so far does not support the original claim that Spitfire aircraft were buried at Rangoon. Interestingly, a buried crate was discovered in the Kachin state capital Myitkyina earlier this month that could be associated with the allegedly buried Spitfire aircraft, but muddy water prevented immediate identification of the crate’s contents. That city was rumored to be another site where surplus aircraft were buried after World War II.

[via BBC]

Archaeologists find no buried World War II surplus Spitfires in Burma is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Still don’t believe in global warming? It’s certainly a debatable topic that can lead to some heated discussions, as proven yesterday. However, climate scientists at NASA have discovered that 2012 was the 9th-warmest year on record since the 1880s. They also note that the last year the Earth showed cooler-than-normal temperatures was 1976.

What’s more shocking is that NASA’s findings show that the ten hottest years ever recorded since the 1880s have all occurred after 1998. The report was published by the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), and it notes that the average temperature has risen by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit, with most of the increase happening within the last four decades.

This may not seem like a huge increase at all, but NASA scientists warn that seasons, like the summer of 2012, which was hotter-than-average, should serve as a wake-up call for citizens. NASA GISS director James E. Hansen says that some seasons will obviously still “be cooler than the long-term average, but the perceptive person should notice that the frequency of unusually warm extremes is increasing.”

Data from various satellites, spacecrafts, and multiple scientific experiments all point to climate changes, according to NASA, and although the topic of global warming and climate change is still controversial, a good number of Americans believe global warming, odd weather changes, and climate shifting are a reality.

NASA says 2012 was 9th-warmest year on record is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Along with birthdays, names of pets and ascending number sequences, add one more thing to the list of password no-nos: good grammar. More »

Sales of smart wearable devices will reach nearly 70m by 2017, new research claims, though not all of the body-worn gadgets will be augmented reality eyewear such as Google’s Project Glass. Smart glasses will only make up a part of the overall smart wearable industry, Juniper Research predicts, with health and fitness devices such as Jawbone’s UP and Fitbit’s Flex dominating the segment until the price of more advanced technology falls to consumer-friendly points.

Even by 2017, activity monitors will continue to represent the lion’s share of the wearable’s market, Juniper expects. Fitness and sports wearables, combined with healthcare devices, will together hold more than 80-percent of the share, with health commanding a higher overall value despite lower sales, thanks to greater individual prices.

While Google has already shown its hand in the wearables space, other big names are expected to weigh in within the next 4-5 years. “Juniper envisages significant adoption towards the end of the forecast period, driven by the launch of augmented reality glasses and similar products from Google, Microsoft and Apple” it’s suggested; both Microsoft and Apple have flirted with AR research, at least going by recent patent applications (such as Microsoft’s live event AR and Apple’s head-mounted displays) but neither has publicly declared intentions.

Just as apps have accelerated the smartphone marketplace, so Juniper predicts the same happening in the wearables space. “The development of the smartphone/app store model has opened up new avenues for other segments within the market, such as the wearable device market, by combining mobility with an efficient method of software delivery” analyst Nitin Bhas suggests. “The simultaneous development of app-ecosystem and wearable devices will integrate technologies, such as augmented reality, into human life more seamlessly.”

That market will be worth over $1.5bn by 2014, Bhas claims, roughly double what it is today. Advanced activity trackers have already begun to edge under the $100 barrier, though wearable displays are likely to cost significantly more for some time, given the challenges of distilling compact phone technology into a body-worn device. Google’s initial Glass Explorer Edition devices, targeting developers, are priced at $1,500 apiece, for instance, while Vuzix’s Smart Glasses M100, shown off at CES last week are expected to come in at “under $500″ when they launch this year.

Wearables surge by 2017 predicted as Google Glass and more weigh in is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

DARPA launches projects that sound incredibly unrealistic from time to time. However, DARPA has also created actual working items that started out as incredibly unrealistic sounding plans. That means you can never discount DARPA when it puts out brief on a plan that sounds far-fetched at first glance.

DARPA’s most recent plan is one such far-fetched sounding project that may be just crazy enough to work. The latest plan is called the Upward Falling Payloads project and is aimed at developing storage capsules for military assets that would allow devices, such as drones, to be stored at the bottom of the ocean for years at a time until needed. The idea is that capsules can be dropped at strategic locations holding drones or other items and the capsules could release their payload when needed.

The plan calls for unmanned, distributed systems to provide the military with operational support including situational awareness, disruption, deception, and rescue. One of the potential payloads for these capsules are small aerial drones that can launch to the surface in capsules, take off, and provide observation or act as decoys. DARPA is calling for input on finding ways of extending survival of capsules under extreme ocean pressure.

DARPA also wants to find methods of waking up these underwater nodes after years of inactivity. The plan also calls for input on ways to efficiently launch payloads to the surface. That last part doesn’t seem too complex since submarines have been launching payloads to the surface of the ocean for a long time. DARPA is pointing out that this is not a weapons project and that the risk of losing any single node in the system is minimal.

[via Wired]

DARPA wants to stash drones on the bottom of the ocean is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.