Terrible it might be, but with advances years ahead of other ‘industries’, war is the crucible of technology. Look at the future of warfare, from robot drones to battlefield lasers to non-lethal weaponry.
- Firescout MQ8B
Unmanned heli, first vertical take-off UAV to fire a missile with success
- Com-bat
A six-inch robot spy plane modelled on a bat. Gather data from sights, sounds and smells!
- NLOS Cannon
Non Line Of Sight (NLOS) cannon fire Excalibur shells that steer in the same way as guided missiles.
- HULC (Human Universal Load Carrier)
Lockheed Martin’s HULC is an exoskeleton – mechanical external skeleton carry loads up to 200lb and speeds os up to 10mph.
But before getting too carried away with talk of ray guns, robot armies and ‘virtual’ war, let’s name some weapons that changes the face of modern warfare:
- Machine gun – notably the ‘Maxim gun’
- Chemical warfare – used in WWI (mustard gas, phosgene & chlorine)
- Tank – first used in WWI (1916)
- Atomic bomb – WWII (Hiroshima; killed 140k ppl & Nagasaki; killed 80k ppl)
Even Discovery has a dedicated programme on future weapons:
Discovery Channel – Future Weapons
Zone 1
Zone 2
Weapons that changed the world
A note to future soldiers, polices, criminals & terrorist:
‘The US military predicts by 2030, knowledge will be delivered direct to the brain in seconds, increasing the destructive capability of individuals’
WTF! Matrix?
Popularity: 3% [?]
Ahhhh~~ my dream chair!
PostureFit tech and that all-time classic combination of metal, plastic and taut fabric.
And, it doesn’t come cheap. Retail price at Xtra Gardens – a whopping RM4750!
For bulk price (RM4,038; 15% off), read here.
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NeuroSky’s MindSet brainwave-controlled gaming headset has teamed with Square Enix to produce a “mind-blowing” demo. NeuroSky has been pushing its unique brand of mind-controlled gaming since way back in 2005, but it appears the technology has become increasingly attractive to notable game-makers as of late.
From what I’ve read about using ‘thoughts’ to control things, it’s as much about training your brain to do it as it is about the quality of the interface you use. You couldn’t expect to just hop into a mind-control equipped car and take off. You’d need to train your brain in a simulator first, then the controlling software could interpret signals from your brain and make the decisions you’re aiming for.
If output from the brain was simple and common amongst all individuals, we’d all be using our minds to control all of our devices.
Sounds like what my colleague always wish for – ‘telekinetic‘ skills eh?
(via Engadget)
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That’s one mouthful title. What you’re going to read-on later might entices you – only if you’re a fans of new/future techs and minority report. One of the science advisors from the said movie together with his visionary buddies created a real world implementation of the system; named g-speak.
The revolutionary system combines “gestural i/o, recombinant networking, and real-world pixels,” to deliver what the creators call “the first major step in computer interface since 1984.” These radical spatial operating environment operates on multiple individual interfaces and computers. One can control (through hands gesture) any information/content from any computers and interfaces configured to the system. Having said that, IMHO, I think it still need at least another 5-10 years to commercialise it (reasonably priced and useful features/functions).
While waiting for the ‘future’ to happen, let’s feast upon the demo video:
(via Engadget)
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I always manage to be entertained by weird news from around the world. Hence, this article ‘Chimps: Not Human, But Are They People?’ is one of the many.
Knowing is half of the hassle, is it? or isn’t it?
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contributed craps