The Pentagon has confirmed at least three attacks by the Islamic State (ISIS) using drones as explosives in kamikaze-style tactics.The tactic was suspected as early as 2015, when a Facebook page for “Friends of the YPG YPJ,” a Kurdish defense force fighting ISIS in the Syrian Civil War, posted a picture of destroyed drones with the title “YPG Shoots Down 2 ISIS Drones.” ISIS has now used the tactic against the Iraqi Army....
Once every four years, we get an extra day in February, bringing the Gregorian calendar from 365 days per year to 366. But why?Why Does Leap Year Exist?This extra day, which falls on February 29 and is called Leap Day or Leap Year Day, exists to keep the calendar year in synchrony with the astronomical year, or the time it takes Earth to make a full rotation around the sun. Because seasons and astronomical events aren’t uniform on a global scale, a calendar that has a set number of days—like our traditional 365-day year (which, crucially, is closer to 365....
The USS Freedom is rejoining the fleet more than two years after an engine breakdown sidelined the vessel. That’s good news for the Freedom, sure, but the lengthy repair only underscores the multitude of problems the U.S. Navy has experienced with this new breed of ships—ships that might be functionally obsolete before they really even get going. When it was commissioned in 2008, USS Freedom was meant to be the first of a new type of ship, the littoral combat ship (LCS)....
When land slides on Mars, it does it in a big damn hurry. A new study says landslides on Mars could reach 450 Mph, much faster than their Earthly counterparts.The depth and length of landslide runout is crucial to understanding a its power: the longer a landslide goes, the more powerful it gets. Martian landslides typically have a very long runout, from 2 to 25 miles. Lubricated with ice and given a high enough drop point at the top of a place like the Valles Marineris canyon means that a large Martian landslide can occur with a tremendous fury, hitting speeds like 198 meters per second, which works out to 448 ph....
One of the Russian Army’s newest ground vehicles is also its smallest. The TTM-1901 “Berkut” snowmobile is designed to support Russian forces operating north of the Arctic Circle. The snowmobile will have a starring role in Russia’s upcoming annual Victory in Europe Day parade as Moscow shows off new cold weather weapons and vehicles.View full post on YoutubeIn the city of Nizhny Novgorod, east of Moscow, is a company called NPO Transport....
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is set to receive a series of upgrades designed to keep the jet ahead of the emerging fifth-generation pack. Known as Block 4, the upgrades include the ability to control drones and robotic wingmen, more fuel tanks to extend range, an anti-ground collision system, and classified upgrades we couldn’t even guess.The F-35 was conceived in the late 1990s and has spent more than two decades in development....
Researchers have created the most advanced artificial cornea ever using 3D printing and human stem cells. The technology, if successfully developed, could help millions of people around the world see a clearer future. The cornea is the protective, clear outer layer covering the eye. When it’s damage, it creates serious vision problems or can cause blindness. Currently, people with damaged corneas hope for healthy corneas transplants from deceased donors, but the need far exceeds the supply....
FrigidaireA window air conditioning unit is, in many ways, a terrible technology. It’s inefficient. It blasts cool air from only one location, as opposed to the many vents of central air. These heavy hunks of metal hang precariously over sidewalks—something I think about whenever I walk the streets of New York, look up at the many window ACs, and ponder the fact that they were installed by amateurs. But when summer comes and your apartment has no central air, the alternative is suffering (or a bunch of big, dust-collecting fans)....
Media Platforms Design TeamOriginally published in 2006.Soldiers and police are supposed to be different. Soldiers are aimed at enemies from outside the country. They are trained to kill those enemies, and their supporters. In fact, “killing people and breaking things” are their main reasons for existence.Police look inward. They’re supposed to protect their fellow citizens from criminals, and to maintain order with a minimum of force.It’s the difference between Audie Murphy and Andy Griffith....
In 1962, Glen Bell opened the first Taco Bell restaurant, a little walk-up taco shack in Downey, California. The store—known as “Numero Uno” by Taco Bell staff—stayed open until 1986, after which several other independent taco shops took up residence in its shell. But now that the site’s owners are planning to redevelop the site, Taco Bell corporate has stepped in to save the building by hoisting the whole thing up on blocks and driving it 45 miles to a new home....
When a giant asteroid or comet crashed into the ocean floor off the coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula 66 million years ago, the world ended. The event quickly killed off 75 of all life on Earth. For the first time, scientists have found a graveyard that offers evidence of how quickly it all happened. In North Dakota, the unique site is filled with a wide variety of plant and animal species—fish, burned tree trunks, conifer branches, dead mammals, mosasaur bones, insects, the partial carcass of a Triceratops, marine microorganisms called dinoflagellates and snail-like marine cephalopods called ammonite—that all died at once....
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is getting a new and important capability: the ability to recognize when it is in danger of flying into the ground and taking corrective action if necessary. The Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System, first deployed on the F-16 fighter, is headed to the F-35 seven years early. The system would have likely prevented an April 2019 crash of a Japanese F-35 into the Pacific Ocean, which resulted in the loss of the pilot....
The FCC already voted to repeal net neutrality protections but they are, technically, still in place. As Congress scrambles for a solution that might preserve them, the actual date of final, effective repeal looms just about two months in the distance though some of the biggest changes are delayed a little further and are as yet unscheduled. As Ars Technica notes, the date of effective repeal doesn’t stem from the day the FCC voted on the matter, December 14th, but rather the day the decision is published in the Federal Register, the official journal that posts rules for government agencies and other notices....
Dr. Manhattan might be the only true superhero among them, but Rorschach is the real face of Watchmen–or at least his ever-shifting mask is. So director Zack Snyder and visual-effects supervisor John “DJ” DesJardin made sure to nail the look of the last masked vigilante standing. Although Manhattan’s artistic creation was by the book–DesJardin estimates he used the graphic novel as a reference at least “a million times”–Snyder had something different in mind for Rorschach....
Using data from the New Horizons space probe, researchers have created the first ever comprehensive maps of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon. The new maps help to complete New Horizons official mission: a better understanding of the dwarf planet at the far reaches of the solar system. To create them, scientists at NASA used data from New Horizons instruments like the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), a telescope with an 8....
A man in Birmingham, U.K. was arrested Wednesday night after he tried to leave a rock concert with 38 phones stuffed down his pants, according to The Guardian. The local police are encouraging anyone who had a phone go missing while at the Libertines concert at the Barclaycard Arena to contact them.According to the police, the 30-year-old man and an accomplice had taped the bottoms of their pants closed so they could shove smartphones down into their pant legs....
A new self-propelled howitzer system meets a Humvee—or a Ford F-250 pickup truck—with a 105-millimeter howitzer for an artillery system capable of rapidly moving from one firing position to another. The result is the Hawkeye,a new artillery system that can not only keep up with fast-moving friendly forces but dodge attempts by enemy forces to shut it down.Howitzers are artillery pieces designed to engage targets out of sight. Like other so-called “indirect fire” systems such as mortars, howitzers fire a heavy projectile at targets miles away....
To get something out of the way, this video is amazing.Created by FXitinPost, a new YouTube site dedicated to recreating iconic scenes with modern FX magic, the creators did an incredible job updating Star Wars: A New Hope’s Scene 38. Weaving in original footage with FX magic, Obi-Wan and Darth Vader’s epic standoff aboard the Death Star, ultimately ending in Obi-Wan’s demise, is an A+ fan creation.But it also makes me kind of sad, because this short six-minute scene is actually a perfect expression of what Star Wars films have lost since the original arrived on the big screen more than 40 years ago....
Shiva Vencat is finding it hard to escape from under the dome.He owns an unusual looking 14-foot-wide wooden dome home in New Paltz, NY, that is resistant to the elements, energy efficient—oh, and it spins. The New York Times describes it as a “cross between a giant paper lantern and an igloo” in a new profile. You would think an engineering marvel like that would be an easy sell, but not so much....
This new seven-fingered robotic hand developed by Cambridge Consultants can adjust its grip on the fly to pick up all kinds of strange objects. Unlike your typical robotic system, which is designed to perform the exact same task time and again, this bot can actually make basic decisions about how best to grip a weird target.“Traditional robots struggle when it comes to adapting to deal with uncertainty,” says Chris Roberts, head of industrial robotics at Cambridge Consultants....
