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Technology

Sea Lions Help U.S. Navy Handcuff Enemy Divers and Sweep Mines

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 11.25.2009 5 Comments
Californian sea lions have become U.S. Navy recruits alongside dolphins and human divers, as seen in this amazing picture. The Daily Telegraph reports that this particular fellow put on a display for officials at the NATO Underwater Research Center in La Spezia Bay, Italy.

11.28.2009 at 09:16am - Comment by dipap

to read more go to http://www.spawar.navy.mil/sandiego/technology/mammals/animals.html It appears they use (or try to)a great number of species including killer whales. Makes sense to me: Why cuff the diver's legs when you can eat them.
Technology

Sea Lions Help U.S. Navy Handcuff Enemy Divers and Sweep Mines

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 11.25.2009 5 Comments
Californian sea lions have become U.S. Navy recruits alongside dolphins and human divers, as seen in this amazing picture. The Daily Telegraph reports that this particular fellow put on a display for officials at the NATO Underwater Research Center in La Spezia Bay, Italy.

11.26.2009 at 01:39pm - Comment by dipap

to read more go to: http://www.spawar.navy.mil/sandiego/technology/mammals/index.html Looks like the Navy has been using all kinds of sea mammals, tough dolphins were first (Vietnam). Killer whales apparently are or can be used: why cuff the diver's legs when you can eat them.
Technology

Sea Lions Help U.S. Navy Handcuff Enemy Divers and Sweep Mines

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 11.25.2009 5 Comments
Californian sea lions have become U.S. Navy recruits alongside dolphins and human divers, as seen in this amazing picture. The Daily Telegraph reports that this particular fellow put on a display for officials at the NATO Underwater Research Center in La Spezia Bay, Italy.

11.26.2009 at 01:36pm - Comment by dipap

to read more, go to http://www.spawar.navy.mil/sandiego/technology/mammals/index.html Seems like they have been using seals for a long time, tough dolphins were first(Vietnam) Also Killer Whales are used: why cuff the diver's legs when you can eat them.
DIY

How To Make Ferrofluid

By Mikey Sklar Posted on 9.22.2009 14 Comments
Ferrofluids are made up of tiny magnetic fragments of iron suspended in oil (often kerosene) with a surfactant to prevent clumping (usually oleic acid). The fluid is relatively easy to make at home yet extremely expensive to buy on-line. How does $165 a liter sound? Pretty bad, right? Read on to learn how to make ferrofluids on the cheap.

10.3.2009 at 05:22am - Comment by dipap

Question 1: doesn't the Ferrari 599 gtb Fiorano have something like this in its active suspensions as well? Question 2: It's cool that we can with little effort make some of this substance in the comfort of our home, but for what purpose? the appliances that need some already have it,so besides bragging rights(?) what can it be used for? moving sculptures maybe? Seriously, I wonder. Thanks
Technology

Construction Begins on Spaceport America

By Posted on 6.19.2009 39 Comments
For everyone looking to hop the next commercial flight to space, your departure gate has finally been announced. Almost two years after the first plans were announced, construction has finally begun on Spaceport America. The spaceport, which will serve as the launch and landing pad for Virgin Galactic flights, is the first of its kind anywhere in the world, and represents the first serious commitment of infrastructure to manned commercial spaceflight.

6.20.2009 at 06:37am - Comment by dipap

Economically viable? Hardly Really pushing development? Don't think so. Space flight for the masses? No way. PR? Yeees. this is just like a roller coaster. You go there, pay a fortune, get your ride, your picture,your wings your cap and go back home. Everybody's happy. That doesn't make you an astronaut more than going to a race makes you a horse. So, let's say it like it is: There will always be people willing to pay vast sums of money to play with the latest toy but calling it the future of space flight is really far fetch. Still i like Mr. Branson a lot for all he has done and how. As for me, I'd rather use a few grand to "fly" MIGs in Russia.
Entertainment & Gaming

Shades of the Future

By Brett Zarda Posted on 4.2.2009 9 Comments
Looks like Lance Armstrong might have a new pair of sunglasses for his comeback tour. The blogs lit up in the past few weeks with attention surrounding a pair of Nike sunglasses that increase a rider's peripheral vision from the standard 180 degrees to up to 240. Given Lance's pension for wearing yellow, the new specs could come in handy. Only problem is that Nike isn't actually making the glasses. Confused? We dug into the mystery.

5.18.2009 at 05:52am - Comment by dipap

could be propension(inclination, disposition)-although a mispell- and the yellow is the color worn by the leader of tour de france which, being the leader, could gain advantage in detecting competitor's moves behind him. Better now? By the way cool idea. We'll see where it goes from here!
Science

Just Press "Save"

By Posted on 5.14.2009 2 Comments
No, it’s not a robot uprising. This is the Tokyo Fire Department's Rescue Robot, also known as RoboCue, taking a mock patient to safety as part of a training exercise for dirty-bomb containment and casualty rescue, held late last year in Tokyo.

5.14.2009 at 11:21am - Comment by dipap

The idea is clever but nothing new. We don't see the whole vehicle in the picture but i have a hunch it'd be bulky. Also on those shopping cart-wheels it won't be able to clear the smallest obstacle, much less entering a burning house or driving over debris and rubble. I guess this partially functioning prototypes are just steps along the way to something that really works. I think the ability of dashing in and out of a burning structure carrying a person on his/her shoulders is still a prerogative of human firefighters and rescue personnel. However, robots are here to stay and i "love" them; I'd just like to see them (the robots) doing robot-like stuff. Think of a sturdy robot capable of entering a building, clearing flights of stairs, knocking down doors while unleashing the power of its hardware to extinguish the fire so that human firefighters can safely follow and rescue people. That would probably make risk a little safer.
Science

Totally Tubular

By Brooke Borel Posted on 2.25.2009 5 Comments
Ever since the fish's discovery in 1939, scientists have believed that the tube-shaped eyes of Macropinna microstoma, commonly called the "barreleye," were fixed in place, limiting its vision to whatever was directly overhead. Recent research from Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) proves this theory wrong: in reality, this crazy fish can rotate its eyes from an overhead view, which helps it locate prey swimming above, to the front of its face. This helps explain how the fish is able to actually capture the prey with its tiny mouth.

2.26.2009 at 12:20pm - Comment by dipap

This is really far out! My first reaction, i have to admit was " cryptozoology hoax" but i don't know... it does look very impractical from an evolutionary point of view, even in the depths. Either way, nature never stops to amaze anyway and it doesn't give a damn about what i think is practical. Love to see some more videos though.
Envirofit Clean Cookstove

By Posted on 11.9.2008 Comments
More than half the world’s population cooks over open fires or small charcoal or biomass stoves. These burn fuel incompletely, producing carbon monoxide and smoke that cause 1.5 million deaths a year. Envirofit’s Cookstove burns the same easily found wood but does so more completely to cut emissions by more than 80 percent and use half as much fuel. The can-shaped stove has a precisely measured opening that lets in enough air to fan the flames, yet not enough to cool it and slow down combustion.

1.3.2009 at 10:08am - Comment by dipap

great idea and noble cause. is 15$ the retail price at dealers in rural Africa or India?? and if we gave it to them, they would just sell it as scrap iron(understandably). Let's teach them the technology behind this; they might come up with something that suits them even better.
Mariah Power Windspire

By Posted on 11.9.2008 Comments
Zoning laws often forbid tall wind turbines. The Windspire captures breezes at 30 feet and below with a design in which blades run up a pole’s length and spin around it. Contoured airfoils make the Windspire the first vertical-axis turbine that can start in slow winds without help from a motor or inefficient scoops or wings. $5,000; mariahpower.com

1.3.2009 at 09:14am - Comment by dipap

turbulent air is per definition difficult to harness energy from. Moreover we need to think cost: include cost and installation of thousands of turbine, maintainance, traffic delays, potential hazard posed to vehicles and people(stormy winds), I think the price per Watt will be pretty high and not comparable to other systems even if you got a decent output. When it comes to create cheap and reliable energy, a centralized system that serves a widespread grid is the way to go.Always have and probably always will. We can reduce our "dependency" with novelty appliances sometimes designed more to vex our neighbors and that is very smart and useful(don't get me wrong!) indeed but let's not fool ourselves; How soon and how well the big "switch"(fossil to renewable, that is) is going to happen depends almost entirely on the will of governments around the globe.