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Submission + - Army researchers patent self-destructing bullet designed to save lives (networkworld.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Researchers from the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center recently patented a new type of bullet capable of self-destructing after traveling over a predetermined distance.

The idea behind the new and advanced projectile is that it might help limit the extent of collateral damage (read: innocents dying) during battle or in other operational settings and environments.

As for how it all works, the U.S. Army explains that when one of these limited-range projectiles is fired, a pyrotechnical material is ignited at the same time and reacts with a special coating on the bullet.

"The pyrotechnic material ignites the reactive material, and if the projectile reaches a maximum desired range prior to impact with a target," the Army writes, "the ignited reactive material transforms the projectile into an aerodynamically unstable object."

The researchers add that the desired range of its limited-range projectile can be adjusted by switching up the reactive materials used. Put simply, the Army has come up with what effectively amounts to a self-destructing bullet that is rendered ineffective over certain distances.

Submission + - Next Gen ATLAS Robot from Boston Dynamics is Incredible (roboticstrends.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Boston Dynamics just posted a video of its next generation ATLAS robot, and it’s absolutely incredible. The video shows ATLAS walk, open a door, maintain its balance while it walks through snow and semi-rough terrain, squat and pick up 10-pound boxes and much more. And it does everything without a tether.

The new version is electrically powered and hydraulically actuated. It uses sensors in its body and legs to balance and LIDAR and stereo sensors in its head to avoid obstacles, assess the terrain and help with navigation. This version of Atlas is about 5’ 9” tall (about a head shorter than the DRC Atlas) and weighs 180 lbs.

Submission + - Researchers Prove Connected Cars Can Be Tracked (ieee.org)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: In an experiment undertaken on the campus of the University of Twente in The Netherlands, two wireless sensing stations were able to pinpoint a target vehicle nearly half the time, according to Jonathan Petit, Principal Scientist at Security Innovation, a software security company.

"You can build a real-time tracking system using off-the-shelf devices with minimum sophistication," says Petit. In a paper to be presented at the Black Hat Europe security conference in November, he describes being able to place a security vehicle within either the residential or the business zones of the campus with 78 percent accuracy, and even locate it on individual roads 40 percent of the time.

Submission + - Getting More Women Coders Into Open Source (dice.com)

Submitted by Nerval's Lobster
Nerval's Lobster writes: Diversity remains an issue in tech firms across the nation, with executives and project managers publicly upset over a lack of women in engineering and programming roles. While all that's happening on the corporate side, a handful of people and groups are trying to get more women involved in the open source community, whether Women of OpenStack, Outreachy, which geared toward people from underrepresented groups in free software, and others. But does something actually need to be done about diversity among programmers? Can anything be done to shift the demographics, considering the issues that even large, coordinated companies have with altering the collective mix of their employees?

Submission + - Here's a Perfect Example of Why We Need More Consumer Drone Regulation (roboticstrends.com)

Submitted by stowie
stowie writes: In the last week, state and federal firefighters have fought more than 270 wildfires in California. Here’s the problem: firefighters are seeing more unauthorized consumer drones flying over active wildfires. Maybe the drone owners don’t know or maybe they don’t care, but temporary flight restrictions are placed over wildfire areas due to the aircraft used to help contain the fires. Aircraft is used to knock down flames and survey the burn area. Some of the drones will get up in the air, and if their drone is in the air, the aircraft actually has to cease its operations.

Submission + - Near Misses Lead to More Consumer Drone Legislation (roboticstrends.com)

Submitted by stowie
stowie writes: Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has introduced the Consumer Drone Safety Act that looks to shore up safety features on consumer drones and the federal laws that govern them. This bill has nothing to do with the FAA’s proposed rules on small commercial drones, this is all about hobbyist drones. It’s looking to regulate the maximum height for flight, the weather and time-of-day conditions for flight, and any areas where flights may be prohibited.

If passed, the act would require manufacturers to update existing consumer drones to meet these requirements, potentially through an automatic software update. The bill would require safety features for new consumer drones such as Geo-fencing to govern the altitude and location of flights, collision-avoidance software, and more.

Submission + - Why So Many Robots Struggled with the DARPA Challenge (roboticstrends.com)

Submitted by stowie
stowie writes: DARPA deliberately degraded communications (low bandwidth, high latency, intermittent connection) during the challenge to truly see how a human-robot team could collaborate in a Fukushima-type disaster. And there was no standard set for how a human-robot interface would work. So, some worked better than others. The winning DRC-Hubo robot used custom software designed by Team KAIST that was engineered to perform in an environment with low bandwidth. It also used the Xenomai real-time operating system for Linux and a customized motion control framework. The second-place finisher, Team IHMC, used a sliding scale of autonomy that allowed a human operator to take control when the robot seemed stumped or if the robot knew it would run into problems.

Submission + - Fracking Safe, Says EPA

Submitted by sycodon
sycodon writes: A long-awaited EPA report on hydraulic fracturing concludes that the extraction process has “not led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources.”

Submission + - GoPro Drone Coming in 2016, Will Sync to Cloud (roboticstrends.com)

Submitted by stowie
stowie writes: Rumors have been swirling for some time that GoPro was developing a drone. Well, now it's official. Speaking at the Code Conference, GoPro CEO Nick Woodman announced the company’s plans to come out with a quadcopter in the first half of 2016. Woodman said “the quad is in some ways the ultimate GoPro accessory,” adding that the company is testing software that will wirelessly sync up GoPro footage to the cloud.

Submission + - How Tesla Batteries Will Force Home Wiring To Go Low Voltage (cepro.com)

Submitted by CIStud
CIStud writes: The advent of solar power and home batteries from companies like Tesla will force the reinvention of home wiring from primarily AC high voltage to DC home-run low voltage to reduce power conversion loss. To avoid the 20% to 40% power loss when converting from DC to AC, home wiring will have to convert to home-run low-voltage, and eventually eliminate the need for high-voltage 110V electrical wiring.

Submission + - Al-Qaeda's Job Application Form Revealed

Submitted by HughPickens.com
HughPickens.com writes: ABC News reports that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has released a list of English-language material recovered during the raid the killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan in 2011 including one document dubbed “Instructions to Applicants,” that would not be entirely out of place for an entry-level position at any American company – except for questions like the one about the applicant’s willingness to blow themselves up. The questionnaire includes basic personal details, family history, marital status, and education level. It asks that applicants "answer the required information accurately and truthfully" and, "Please write clearly and legibly." Questions include: Is the applicant expert in chemistry, communications or any other field? Do they have a family member in the government who would cooperate with al Qaeda? Have they received any military training? Finally, it asks what the would-be jihadist would like to accomplish and, “Do you wish to execute a suicide operation?” For the final question, the application asks would-be killers that if they were to become martyrs, who should al Qaeda contact?

The corporate tone of the application is jarringly amusing, writes Amanda Taub, but it also hints at a larger truth: a terrorist organization like al-Qaeda is a large bureaucratic organization, albeit one in the "business" of mass-murdering innocent people. Jon Sopel, the North American editor from BBC News, joked that the application “looks like it has been written by someone who has spent too long working for Deloitte or Accenture, but bureaucracy exists in every walk of life – so why not on the path to violent jihad?”

Submission + - Hacked Adult FriendFinder database reveals extramarital affairs of millions (thestack.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Casual adult dating website FriendFinder has been hacked with details of millions of users leaked online, according to a report from British broadcaster Channel 4 News. The website, which lists over 63 million global users, is one of the largest dating and casual hook-up platforms online – Tinder trails the service with an estimated 50 million users worldwide. An investigation has now found that an approximate 3.9 million members’ accounts had been hacked more than two months ago, and leaked online. The data continues to diffuse in spreadsheets across internet forums. The breached data includes information on the users’ sexual preferences, email addresses, sexual orientation, dates of birth, addresses, usernames, and whether the member is seeking extramarital relationships – all of which paints an extremely clear picture of the victim and is potentially highly sensitive and embarrassing.

Submission + - Hydrogen-Powered Drone Flies for 4 Hours (roboticstrends.com)

Submitted by stowie
stowie writes: Hycopter uses its frame to store energy in the form of hydrogen instead of air. With less lift power required, Hycopter’s fuel cell turns the hydrogen in its frame into electricity to power its rotors. Hycopter can fly for four hours at a time and 2.5 hours when carrying a 2.2-pound payload. "By removing the design silos that typically separate the energy storage component from UAV frame development — we opened up a whole new category in the drone market, in-between battery and combustion engine systems."

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