eric adams

Paintball has become the perfect way for gadget geeks to unleash their inner Rambo. The latest carbon-dioxide- or compressed-air-powered guns, known as “markers,” have computerized controls and electronic firing mechanisms that can blast out 1,200 balls a minute at speeds of up to 300 feet per second. Add in a quick reloader and a sneaky scope, and your buddies won’t stand a chance.

AstroTech’s ultra-compact telescope is priced for amateurs, yet it rivals larger, more expensive models. By packing in three glass lenses, it focuses red, green and blue light all at a single point. This eliminates the blurry, bluish halo in two-lens amateur scopes, which focus blue light in a different spot than red and green.

We reported last week on how feebly powered, fuel-sipping 1990s-vintage hatchbacks have been lighting up the used car market recently due to skyrocketing gas prices. In an interesting twist to this phenomenon, I actually benefited myself somewhat from this hysteria when I had to sell my beloved natural-gas-powered 2006 Honda Civic GX last week on eBay, turning it into one of the smarter investments I made all year.

It's about time the folks in economy class got some lovin'. For years we've seen the likes of Virgin Atlantic, Emirates Air, and Singapore Airlines pamper their first-class passengers (Virgin calls tham "Upper Class," the snobs) with obscenely luxurious seats that stretch out to full length beds, huge television screens everywhere, fluffy slippers, and smokin' hot flight attendants.

Last April, we dissected the worlds most advanced fighter jet, the F-35B Lightning II, in the pages of our annual How It Works issue. Now military contractor Lockheed Martin is firing up the jets 40,000-pound-thrust engine (the most powerful ever built for a fighter jet) in preparation for flight tests. The jet can soar at supersonic speeds (1,000 mph) and deflect radar signals, but by the end of the month, pilots are expected to show off its most highly anticipated feature: the ability to stop mid-flight and touch down virtually anywhere.

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/travel_places/American_Airlines_Own_Pilots_Protest';
I don't know about you, but when airline pilots organize themselves enough to protest their employer's overall poor performance—not, I'd like to point out, merely their crappy pay—that gets my attention. That's precisely what hundreds of American Airlines pilots intend to do tomorrow in nine cities around the country. They'll be demonstrating at major airports to "encourage passengers to help AA employees get management's attention" to fix problems relating to performance and customer service. Specifically, American has the worst on-time performance among network carriers. The pilots are also, naturally, not particularly amused about the nose-gear-wiring fiasco that grounded hundreds of aircraft and caused countless traveler delays last week.

Rip open a Pleo, get the run down on hybrids, and learn about the military's futuristic flying laser gun as Chuck Cage and the editors of PopSci take a behind-the-scenes tour of the third annual How it Works issue. Learn the stories behind the stories of some of the world's most sophisticated machines.

Creating a laser that can melt a soda can in a lab is a finicky enough task. Later this year, scientists will put a 40,000-pound chemical laser in the belly of a gunship flying at 300 mph and take aim at targets as far away as five miles. And we’re not talking aluminum cans. Boeing’s new Advanced Tactical Laser will cook trucks, tanks, radio stations—the kinds of things hit with missiles and rockets today. Whereas conventional projectiles can lose sight of their target and be shot down or deflected, the ATL moves at the speed of light and can strike several targets in rapid succession.

By now you've probably heard the strange story of USA 193, the out-of-control military satellite slated to be shot out of the sky this evening. Amidst controversy over the safety and necessity of the mission, the U.S. Navy is planning to launch a $10-million missile from the USS Lake Erie somewhere west of Hawaii as early as 9:30pm EST and take the school-bus-sized sat down.

Launched in December 2006 by the ultra hush-hush National Reconnaissance Organization, the rogue satellite sported a powerful imaging sensor and a central computer that failed almost immediately. Its orbit began to decay, gradually and then suddenly. And when it became clear that the satellite would plummet to Earth this week, the government grew concerned that its 1,000 pounds of onboard fuel would survive the plunge and pose a health risk to anyone who came in contact with the hydrazine gas. That's their side, anyway—and their explanation for preparing three SM3 anti-ballistic missile interceptors to shoot the bugger down from an Aegis destroyer.

Picking your favorite non-lethal weapon can be tough. I'm partial to the microwave-based Active Denial System that former PopSci editor Eric Adams had the, er, courage to stand in front of a few years ago. (An experience described in detail here.) Or I might give a nod to the paralyzing, hardening foam that momentarily holds down The Hulk in the 2003 movie, and has been used by the U.S. military with mixed results.

But a California company may be developing the real winner, an LED-based flashlight that shoots out incredibly bright pulses of light, and can potentially induce vomiting. The Department of Homeland Security is funding the study, and Penn State will begin testing it this fall at the Institute of Nonlethal Defense Technology. Any volunteers?—Gregory Mone