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A new vision system for tank crews promises to cure one of the worst problems of armored warfare: poor visibility. The Multifunction Vehicle Protection (MVP) Sensor by BAE systems rings the exterior of a tank with high definition cameras, giving crews an all-around view of their surroundings. This will allow tankers to identify and deal with threats faster than ever before, increasing overall vehicle effectiveness and battling crew fatigue. Tank visibility has been a problem since the invention of the tank in the early 20th century....

Sooner or later, time will claim us all. But while you or I might still have a few decades left in us, the $10,000 version of the Apple Watch, first released in 2015, is not so lucky. After three years of software updates (that is, roughly $3,333.33 per year), the Apple Watch Edition has reached its end of life and will no longer be receiving software upgrades. As spotted by Andrew Cunningham, the next version of Apple’s watchOS operating system announced yesterday at the kickoff of the WWDC developers conference, will not be compatible with first generation Apple Watches....

This week, we’ve celebrated the long-awaited answer to a decades-old math problem, and now we’re one step closer to an even older numbers puzzle that has stumped the world’s brightest minds. But many mathematicians, including the one responsible for this newest breakthrough, think a complete answer to the 82-year-old riddle is still far away. Terence Tao is one of the greatest mathematicians of our time. At age 21, he got his Ph....

The U.S. Air Force’s fleet of B-1B bombers is undergoing a readiness crises that has resulted in less than ten of 62 bombers capable of carrying out all missions. The low readiness rating is almost certainly the worst among the U.S. military’s combat aircraft and reduces the overall number of bombers by almost a third. Air Force Times, which broke the news, reports that the number of fully capable B-1Bs is currently in the “single digits....

Yes, our pocket supercomputers can take pictures and play games, but when we got away from landlines we also lost something that was truly terrific: Caller ID. But maybe now, after a decade or so of smartphones, we’re starting to get it back. Take Google’s Phone app for instance, which will now warn you if an incoming caller is suspected to be a robocall or other spam. The new update simply works by lighting up your phone with a red banner if the app suspects the call is junk, and while you can still pick up, you can also just not....

The Terrestrial Robotics Engineering and Controls team at Virginia Tech is working on a firefighting robot named SAFFiR (pronounced “safer”). Specifically designed to fight fires on naval vessels, the bot has been equipped to navigate narrow passageways, climb ladders, and overcome obstacles. It must be able to see through flames, smart enough to identify the source of a shipboard fire, and have hands sensitive enough to retrieve and operate a firehose....

Media Platforms Design TeamCAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait, June 20 — A strong, thick-shouldered man runs across the sandy, hard-packed ground, looking back over his shoulder at the big dog racing after him. From yards out the dog launches itself at the man and clamps, snarling, onto his left arm. As the dog’s handler comes quickly forward, he gives the command to release the man. Instantly obedient, the dog drops away and sits staring intently—first at his handler, then at his captive....

A bill has been introduced to the Senate that would require tech companies like Facebook and Twitter to keep an eye out and report terrorist activity when they find it. The bill, Requiring Reporting of Online Terrorist Activity Act, does not require companies to take any additional steps to seek it out, or to do anything other than report instances to law enforcement. A press release about the bill from its sponsors Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif....

An abandoned passenger plane has been sitting dormant at a Madrid airport for years, and now officials want the owner to come forward and claim their cadaver of an aircraft. Except there’s one problem: Authorities haven’t been able to identify an owner, and might have a very hard time doing so. CNN reports that the plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-87, has become weathered after sitting idle at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport for years....

Media Platforms Design TeamMedia Platforms Design TeamWhen the Samsung’s Galaxy S5 made its appearance at the Mobile World Congress in February, the company’s flagship appeared to be business as usual. Aside from its IP67 water-resistant rating, the S5 still donned an unapologetic plastic design and faux-chrome siding. Critics weren’t impressed and neither were consumers. Now, it appears the eventual S6 could be much different.Reuters reports that Chang Dong-hoon, the head of the Galaxy design team, resigned to make way for new leadership, in the person of former vice president of mobile design Lee Min-hyouk....

Imagine a campfire. Maybe you’re picturing a classic teepee design or maybe you’re already hearing the rhythmic chik chik of your trusty fire starter. Despite all its inconveniences and false starts, it’s really the only way to set up your campfire, right?No. There is another. Here’s how to build the ultimate campfire in four easy steps:FreshOffTheGrid.comFresh Off The GridA No-Brainer Build: Find a log at least 8 inches in diameter and 16 inches long (make sure both ends are flat) and stand it upright....

Always wanted a survival bunker, but don’t want to give up the creature comforts of your multi-million dollar home? Then the $17,500,000, 2-story, 12-bedroom bunker for sale in Tifton, Georgia might be just what you’re looking for. In addition to apartments that sleep 13 (and 5 bedrooms for staff because how could we leave Alfred behind) the bunker has a conference room, computer room, commercial kitchen, library, home theater, recreation room, “great room,” and a workshop....

The combination asteroid/volcano one-two that knocked out the dinosaurs forever 65.5 million years ago was devastating to Earth, but life survived, and eventually thrived again. Now, paleontologists have identified one of the largest survivors of the era. “Large” in terms of survivors anyway; the rodent-like mammal, called Kimbetopsalis simmonsae, was only about three feet long and lived its life a bit like a beaver, according to Sarah Kaplan at the Washington Post....

Space junk is a huge problem. In fact, if we don’t do something about the more than 20,000 objects—from defunct satellites to paint chips—that are orbiting Earth, we may one day be unable to leave the planet at all. Luckily, scientists are on the case. In the UK, a team at Airbus is developing a charmingly lo-fi method of removing large pieces of junk from orbit: a giant harpoon. The harpoon, which is about a meter long, would be attached via a strong tether to a spacecraft which would follow it as it punctured space trash....

How do the machines work?There are two kinds of scanning devices­, back-scatter and millimeter wave. Back-scatter scanning machines send narrow, low-density X-ray beams over the subject, front and back, at high speeds, which just barely penetrate the clothing. The X-ray radiation reflects off the body—and off of any objects hidden on that person. The process takes between 6 and 8 seconds. Millimeter-wave (mmw) machines are typically composed of twin vertical arrays of extremely high-frequency transmitters that circle the passenger and create a three-dimensional image....

The first astronauts to visit Mars will make scientific history, and not just by stepping foot on the Red Planet. These explorers will be the first humans to spend hundreds of days outside the protection of Earth’s magnetic field—a shield that protects humans (even though in the International Space Station) from the harsh, ambient radiation of space.This radiation is so strong that we can’t yet fully shield astronauts from it, and so scientists have spent years trying to define the cancer risk for humanity’s first interplanetary explorers....

The skies over Southern California saw an impressive display of air power on last week as the U.S. Marine Corps’ Marine Aircraft Group 16 staged a mass sortie, launching 43 aircraft into the air at once. On June 6, the service put 27 MV-22 Osprey and 16 CH-53E Sea Stallion helicopters on the tarmac at the same time, then sent them airborne. The show of force, known as an “elephant walk,” is meant to show the might of the U....

In the heart of blueberry season, Billy-bodega, a user on Physics Stack Exchange, posed the question: “Supposing that the entire Earth was instantaneously replaced with an equal volume of closely packed, but uncompressed blueberries, what would happen from the perspective of a person on the surface?” the question got promptly deleted. But it didn’t stop Anders Sandberg, a researcher at Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute, to seriously tackle the idea, explaining the development of this blueberry planet (and even publishing the comprehensive answer in a paper)....

A U.S. Navy attack submarine capable of carrying out top-secret undersea missions recently returned home flying the Jolly Roger—that skull and crossbones pirate flag. But why?The question was on the minds of many this week after Canada-based defense journalist Ian Keddie posted on Twitter the photo of the nuclear attack submarine USS Jimmy Carter. The photo, uploaded to the Defense Video Imagery Distribution System, or DVIDS for short, shows the commanding officer of the Jimmy Carter, Commander Melvin Smith, looking on as the submarine returns to its home at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor....

Apple is putting on of its big events this coming Monday, March 25. But if you’re holding your breath for new gadgets, then you can exhale—they’re already here.Throughout this week, Apple has announced new iMacs, iPads, and AirPods unceremoniously via press release, clearing the big stage for something less tangible: a rumored new streaming service. Hardware has been relegated to second fiddle, which marks a sea change for a tech giant in transition and watershed moment for Apple events, which had generally made phones and laptops and watches the stars of the show....