DailyDirt: Alternatives To Projectile Weapons

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Ray guns have been exclusive to science fiction for quite some time now. So far, hurling bits of metal is pretty effective, but it seems so barbaric. Even Tasers aren't wireless. Here are just a few examples of some impressive directed energy weapons that are getting close to becoming actual tools of war.

• The Russians are working on electromagnetic radiation guns that can attack a target's organs or central nervous system. Such electromagnetic weapons could burn people's skin from a distance or lobotomize crowds of people with a sweeping zap. [url]
• Boeing and the US Air Force have tested a high power microwave weapon that can fry electronics and disable the electrical systems of an entire building. This weapon wouldn't kill anyone directly, but it could be useful for knocking out infrastructure in a prelude to a conventional military attack. [url]
• A Laser-Induced Plasma Channel (LIPC) can direct an artificial bolt of lightning at a conductive target. A laser pulse shot directed at a bad guy can zap him by creating plasma from the air that is synchronized with extremely high voltage. But what if the enemy has a lightning rod? [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: emp, lightning, lipc, microwave, plasma, weapons
Companies: boeing, usaf

DailyDirt: Crazy Weapons...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Military technology is improving in a lot of ways. Armies all of over the world are constructing better robots and bombs. Considering the pace of progress for these weapons, we might need another pass at international treaties for using them. Here are a few links discussing some newer weapons of warfare.

• The ethics of using robots for military operations is getting some attention. Usually, military robots have been assigned to dull, dirty or dangerous jobs -- but now they're being assigned to dispassionate tasks... (aka Terminator-like killing) [url]
• A hypersonic vehicle could hit a target anywhere on the planet in under an hour. The aerodynamics of hypersonic flight is being studied with real rockets flying through the atmosphere at thousands of miles per hour. [url]
• US Air Force pilots who control drones are burning out at a concerning rate. Almost 30% of these pilots are showing signs of "clinical distress" as drone patrols increased from 10-15 missions at any given time in 2007 to over 60 now. [url]
• To discover more interesting tech-related content, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: drones, hypersonic vehicles, pilots, robots, rockets, weapons
Companies: usaf

DailyDirt: More Manned Spaceflight

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Manned spaceflight has obviously seen better days. There aren't that many ambitious spaceflights that actually have solid funding these days, but there are still a lot of plans and desire for manned space exploration to resume again. Here are just a few projects that might get off the ground.

• DARPA has $500,000 in seed money to get folks thinking about interstellar space travel. The 100-Year Starship Study will encourage discussion about what it would take to make a trip to another star system, and a lot of the proposals will be science fiction for a very long time. [url]
• The US Air Force has a "secret" mini space shuttle that might be able to take astronauts into space, and return them just like the retired space shuttle used to. The X-37B space plane could spawn a larger X-37C model that is twice a long, but the budget for producing these vehicles isn't exactly guaranteed. [url]
• The concept of using nuclear reactions isn't a particularly new idea for space propulsion, but NASA engineers are designing aneutronic fusion reactor schemes that could be useful for shooting satellites across our solar system more efficiently. Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup. They slither while they pass they slip away across the universe... [url]
• To discover more links on space exploration, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: fusion, space, spaceflight, spaceplane, starship, x-37b, x-37c
Companies: darpa, nasa, usaf