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QIII

Technology

Smart Armor Knows Its Own Strength, As Well As The Enemy's

By Clay Dillow Posted on 11.25.2009 8 Comments
While weapons continue to grow smarter and smarter, the U.S. Army is developing armor to match the arms. A new 'intelligent' armor under development at the Army's Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center can evaluate its own condition, identify the type of round being shot at it, and even generate electrical power from bullet strikes.

11.27.2009 at 12:48am - Comment by QIII

Which lessons to learn from the other Services? How to make a vehicle survivable in a point blank engagement like during the PGW? Iraqi tank rounds fired from less than 300m bounced off the glacis plate or turret face of more than one Abrams without scoring even an M Kill. The crews returned fire on the Iraqi tanks and scored K Kills. There are reasons why modern tanks are angular. One is to keep tank crews alive. It seems another is to provide the opportunity for the ignorant to make fools of themselves. See your recruiter. Tell him the MOS you are interested in is 19K.
Science

Man Diagnosed 'Comatose' For 23 Years Was Actually Conscious All Along

By Clay Dillow Posted on 11.24.2009 9 Comments
In what can only be described as a harrowing instance of misdiagnosis, a Belgian man presumed comatose for 23 years after a near-fatal car crash was actually conscious and paralyzed the entire time. Rom Houben, whose real state was discovered three years ago but only now made public, could be one of many falsely diagnosed coma cases, raising serious questions about those diagnosed as "vegetative" and, even more frighteningly, the process by which vegetative people are removed from life support.

11.24.2009 at 12:15am - Comment by QIII

I have often said that if I could LIVE to 100, I would be happy. If I had to SURVIVE, I would not. If my family had to go through such heartache, I would not be able to bear it. While I am happy for this man if he is happy to have survived, I would not choose to. I have had a good, full life. Pull the plug. Donate my organs to a young person who still has a life to live. I don't fear death. It's the dying that terrifies me.
Science

Toyota Engineers Two New Flower Species to Offset Manufacturing Carbon

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 10.28.2009 6 Comments
Toyota's rivals have long complained that the popular Prius hybrid has a less-than-green legacy due to its manufacturing process. Now the car maker has flashed its green thumb by creating two new species of flower that help offset the carbon emissions from the Prius plant in Japan. The new version of the cherry sage plant can absorb harmful greenhouse gases, such as nitrogen oxide, through its leaves. And Toyota's variant of the gardenia acts as a natural humidifier by creating water vapor in the air, to help cool the factory grounds, reducing the energy required for air conditioners.

10.28.2009 at 10:55pm - Comment by QIII

If they could bioengineer some type of grass to rapidly absorb the dog bombs in my back yard ...
Technology

Fastest Supercomputer in the World Models Dark Matter, HIV Family Tree Simultaneously

By Stuart Fox Posted on 10.30.2009 20 Comments
In November of last year, scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory switched on Roadrunner, the world's fastest computer. IBM and the Department of Energy built the machine to model nuclear explosions, but two new studies, both released today, are proof that the computer's massive power has been at least as devoted to peaceful science as to simulating thermonuclear weapons.

10.28.2009 at 10:53pm - Comment by QIII

Sure, sure. But could it ever understand my wife?
Science

NASA Scientist to Distraught Dupes: The World Won't End in 2012

By Clay Dillow Posted on 10.20.2009 31 Comments
As it turns out, the end is not near after all. While you can't keep a good doomsday rumor down, NASA Senior Scientist David Morrison is trying to dispel widely circulated rumors that cosmic events will lead to the end of life on Earth, if not outright destroy the planet, on Dec. 21, 2012.

10.25.2009 at 01:12am - Comment by QIII

God could decide to destroy us tomorrow. She's fickle that way, like all women...
DIY

Mesmerizing Tube Bender Looks Like It's Pooping Steel

By Vin Marshall Posted on 10.23.2009 5 Comments
Bent tubing is key. Roll cages need it. Tube frame chassis need it. Even the storage arrangement for my welding clamps needed it. There are a number of ways to go about bending tubing. Rotary draw benders like the Hossfeld Universal bender make a tight bend at one point. Three-roll benders create more gradual curves. But none of them compare to this automated CNC tube bender that just spits out steel in any shape you want. I could watch it all day.

10.25.2009 at 01:01am - Comment by QIII

Do they wipe it with steel wool when it's done dumping a load? Does in have to wear a steel diaper when they are training it?
Science

Physicists Calculate Exact Number of Alternate Universes

By Stuart Fox Posted on 10.16.2009 32 Comments
For some time, physicists have theorized about the existence of alternate universes. In fact, some models of physics require multiple universes, to explain some rarely observed phenomena. But, other than obvious ones like The Man In The High Castle Universe where the Nazis won WWII, the Earth-295 Age of Apocalypse Universe, and the Terran Empire "Mirror Mirror" Universe, just how many alternate universes are there? Well, some Stanford University physicists have answered that question, and the magic number is: 10^10^16 other realities.

10.18.2009 at 10:21pm - Comment by QIII

I'm just trying to figure out what "otherwise unreasonable probabilities of evolutionary science" we are talking about. And just which god it is that really is real...
Technology

Recently Discovered Exoplanet Evidently Has Rains of Pebbles

By Clay Dillow Posted on 10.1.2009 10 Comments
Humans tend to imagine things we don't fully understand in our own image: for instance, we anthropomorphize God, most sci-fi movie aliens are some variation of a biped with two eyes, a nose and a mouth, and every planet Captain Kirk visits has an atmosphere just ripe for human respiration. But science tells us things are rarely so neat and tidy out in the great unknown, and just to prove how weird things can be out there, scientists at Washington University St.

10.8.2009 at 01:08am - Comment by QIII

Creating gods is a difficult matter. Sometimes it takes whole cultures millenia to get something they can generally agree on, if ever at all. Often the task is so difficult that they eventually come up with a whole menagerie of gods -- and then bicker among themselves about which is the more powerful. I want a personal god. But I've created mine and started over a number of times. I just can't seem to get all the features I want without the drawbacks I don't want.
Science

Nasal Spray for Better Memory

By Susannah F. Locke Posted on 10.2.2009 4 Comments
Snort your way to perfect health? Just last week, we heard that snorting stem cells might be the best way to get them into your noggin. And this week, scientists have declared that a nasal spray can help your memory.

10.8.2009 at 12:57am - Comment by QIII

For many, a suppository form might be a more direct route to the brain.
Technology

U.S. Cyber Command Now Fully Online, and Seeking a Few Good Geeks

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 10.6.2009 5 Comments
Patriotic geeks might want to brush off those resumes, because the long-awaited U.S. Cyber Command officially went live last Thursday, and hopes to recruit at least 1,000 cyber security experts over the next few years. But the newly formed group faces questions about its mission and responsibilities, as well as competition for recruits from U.S. intelligence agencies. The announcement by the Department of Homeland Security also coincided with the kickoff of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, which infuses the usual trick-or-treat spirit of October with additional meaning.

10.8.2009 at 12:51am - Comment by QIII

This just in... Cyber Command's servers have been hacked and compromised by 13 year old Norman Frizzle of Des Moines, IA. Story at 10:00...