DARPA has its hands and, more importantly, its money in just about everything. Weapons, robots,thermal sensors — it’s a staple of the scientific community. But, it’s also a military agency with basic needs, like internet access.
via Engadget
Read … Read More → "DARPA planning high-speed wireless for soldiers in the field"
Space junk is getting to be more and more of a problem, but while there have been plenty of serious talks on the subject, the first country to actually go and do something about it may be the Swiss. By 2016, Switzerland plans to launch a “janitor satellite” to start fighting the the space junk problem directly while the rest of us keep twiddling our thumbs.
…
CleanSpace One is, as … Read More → "Swiss to launch ‘janitor satellite’ to clean up space junk"
In the racing game, shedding weight is key towards going faster. A new technology has been developed that essentially turns carbon fiber and glass reinforced plastics into a power source — that means turning the car’s frame into a battery instead of relying on hefty batteries.
British defense firm BAE Systems is working on the technology that essentially creates “structural batteries.” According to a press release, the … Read More → "Race car’s carbon fiber frame also acts as a battery"
Bubble Soccer is a soccer variant with two key differences: it is full contact, and players must compete while wearing giant plastic bubbles.
via Laughing Squid
Even if you think you’re pretty handy with a chisel, often all it takes is one wrong angle or strike of the hammer to ruin an entire sculpting project. MIT’s media lab has a solution – the FreeD is a handheld smart milling device that gives the artist creative control, but won’t let you totally screw up your project with one wrong move.
The FreeD basically functions the same as any … Read More → "Digital handheld milling device lets you sculpt anything without screwing it up"
The Man Who Prints Houses is a documentary about Enrico Dini, an Italian roboticist who switched tracks to design and build enormous 3D printers capable of outputting houses.
via Boing Boing
NASA 911, one of two Boeing 747 jetliners modified to carry the old space shuttle fleet across country, made its last flight on Wednesday, Feb. 8. It flew from NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB to Drydens’s Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, California.
NASA 911 started its life in 1973 as a jet for Japan Airlines, but was purchased by NASA in 1990 and made its … Read More → "Space shuttle’s carrier aircraft makes final flight"
The newest trend in corporate marketing magic is showing off a video of how amazing the future will look because of your products. But sometimes these futuristic videos are more reality than sci-fi, as is the case with a new look at our medical future.
via DVICE
… Read More → "Healthcare concept shows a future that’s closer than you think"
Are musicians born or made? What is the line between skill and talent in any domain, and can we acquire either later in life? That’s exactly what neuroscientist Gary Marcus explores in Guitar Zero: The New Musician and the Science of Learning — a fascinating journey into the limits of human reinvention.
< … Read More → "Guitar Zero: a neuroscientist debunks the myth of “music instinct” and learns to play"
Phillip Torrone of Adafruit and Make wrote a piece on the culture of ethics in open source hardware:
“I spend most of my days working on open source hardware in some way, and I wanted to talk about some of the {unspoken} rules we all, well, many, seem to follow. Why? Because the core group of people who’ve been doing what we’ve collectively called “open source hardware” know each other — we’re friends, we overlap and compete in some ways, but we … Read More → "A culture of ethics in open source hardware?"
