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The Military

The Future of Battle Tech 122

Posted by Soulskill from the i-wouldn't-bet-the-farm-on-lightsabers dept.
PolygamousRanchKid tips a story about research into futuristic military technology currently being funded by DARPA. The Disc-Rotor Compound Helicopter 'is propelled by rotor blades that extend from a central disc, letting it take off and land like a helicopter. But those blades can also retract into the disc, minimizing drag and letting the Disc-Rotor fly like a plane, powered by engines beneath each wing.' The Vulture program aims to keep a plane in the sky for five years or more, and 'LANdroids' are pocket-sized robots which soldiers can scatter around urban areas to seed a communications network. FastRunner is a 'two-legged robot that can cover a moderately rough terrain as fast as the best human sprinters.' The article mentions the flying humvees we've discussed in the past, as well as projects for 'smart' binoculars and a method for recycling space junk.
ISS

How 3D Printing Could Help Keep the ISS In Orbit 200

Posted by timothy from the extension-by-extrusion dept.
Despite all the best intentions and meticulous overengineering, some of the equipment on spacecraft like the ISS inevitably breaks. An anonymous reader poses the question "Why carry out a very expensive launch into space to resupply the ISS, when astronauts could just manufacture replacement parts themselves?" Startup Made in Space is working on a space-oriented 3D printing system to make it easy to transmit the information needed to pop out complex shapes (as might be in delicate mechanical systems), but the founders are also talking about using 3D printers to jump-start construction if humans extend their presence from the Earth to other planets (or revisit the moon).
Power

Russia Set To Extend Life of Nuclear Reactors Past Engineered Life Span 215

Posted by Soulskill from the tempting-fate dept.
Harperdog writes "Yikes! Russia is extending the lifetime of nuclear power reactors beyond their engineered life span of 30 years, including the nation's oldest reactors: first-generation VVERs and RBMKs, the Chernobyl-type reactors. This goes against existing Russian law, because the projects have not undergone environmental assessments. 'Many of the country's experts and non-governmental organizations maintain that this decision is economically unjustifiable and environmentally dangerous — to say nothing of illegal. The Russian nuclear industry, however, argues that lifetime extensions are justified because the original estimate of a 30-year life span was conservative; the plants have been significantly upgraded; and extensions cost significantly less than constructing new reactors.'"

Comment Re:In other words (Score 1) 323

by LoP_XTC (#37460096) Attached to: A Fifth of Telecommuters Work Less Than An Hour Per Day

For companies to do it right, it means there is a web cam that your manager can turn on and off at different times as well view your screen

Unless of course like me they have a spare docking station at home for their work laptops and use it when working from home. So the whole web cam point becomes pretty much invalid.

Comment Re:Cheese = No Issue. (Score 1) 214

by LoP_XTC (#37276610) Attached to: Domino's Plans Pizza On the Moon

1. Get some dust from the moon
2. Filter it, sanitize it, make it not kill someone who ingests it.
3. Put a microscopic amount into some of their cheese.
4. Market this topping as "moon cheese" at a premium price.
5. Profit!

(Probably best that they don't make it obvious what the process is behind this.)

Ah so thats what Cave Johnson did wrong ... he skipped step #2 ...

Comment Re:observatory (Score 5, Insightful) 225

by LoP_XTC (#36989104) Attached to: Saudi Arabia Constructing World's Tallest Building

The most prominent ruin-to-be from the height of the empire, the days of peak oil. Give it 50 years and the few rag-clad scavengers populating the lower levels will wonder what the fuck anyone thought when they built this....

Brings to mind the Aztechnology building from Shadowrun. C*O's and filthy rich at the top, and the just plain filthy at the bottom.

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