In “Back to the Future II,” Marty and Doc traveled to the far distant era of October 21, 2015. So, yeah, about that… (slightly NSFW audio)
Oct 142015
Oct 142015
Almost certainly not. Still, the data from the Kepler spacecraft suggests that a Dyson swarm (a *vast* number of spacecraft, space colonies and solar power satellites surrounding a star, so numerous that they intercept a measurable fraction of the light emitted from the star) *may* surround the main sequence F3 star KIC 8462852. This star is 1480 light-years away in the constellation Lyra.
The less interesting explanation is that the star is surrounded by a substantial cloud of comets. The problem here is that it is an old star, and shouldn’t have such a cloud; in order to have a cloud like that at this age, it would have to have been gravitationally disturbed by a passing nearby star within the last few millenia or so. Not impossible, just statistically unlikely. Sadly, thought, probably a more likely explanation than an alien megastructure.
The official paper (which, perhaps wisely, doesn’t mention the idea of aliens) is available HERE.
The Popular Science article on the subject:
Have We Detected Megastructures Built By Aliens Around A Distant Star?
Oct 142015
Today I stopped at one of the gas stations on the way to Logan to get some chicken (why a gas station? Because their chicken is friggen’ awesome, that’s why) and saw this vehicle in the parking lot. The lack of doors was a modest attention getter, but what really attracted my attention was what was left just sitting in it. There are three things visible here that might be of interest.
I suspect this sort of thing wouldn’t be seen too often in less civilized regions like New York City or LA.
Oct 142015
Let’s say you randomly stumble across a flash drive out in the wild. What do you do? Well, if’n yer an idjit, you plug it into your computer to see what’s on it. If you are a supremely lucky idjit, there will be nothing of interest on the drive. If you are an unlucky idjit, the drive will have some form of malware on it that will invade your computer and either delete your files or steal your identity. And now, if youa re a supremely unlucky idjit, you’ll get *this* little nugget of joy:
This Treacherous 220-Volt Flash Drive Can Fry Your Computer In Seconds
The drive is packed with not just electronics but also capacitors. Plug it in and it automatically charges up the capacitors, which then discharge back into your computer until the motherboard is *physically* fried. The hard drive and your data aren’t destroyed, but, hey, shouldn’t be too hard to load some malware on the drive that will encrypt all your files and *then* trash your motherboard. So you take your burned-out computer to get fixed, only to find all your data unrecoverable. Wasting your time, money and resources.
Now, what would be *really* evil would be a setup that doesn’t just use the little capacitors in the flash drive to damage your computer, but somehow attacks the battery. In the early days of laptops there were a number of celebrated incidents of the lithium ion batteries bursting into flames, not only destroying the computer but potentially destroying the building or vehicle they were in, with the added potential of causing injuries and death. I don’t know if a virus or a set of capacitors (or a combo) could actually cause a modern laptop battery to eat itself; I expect it’s most likely not feasible. But if you own a computer, or work with computers, or run a business that has employees who use computers, perhaps it would be best to *assume* that any random USB flash drive you come across will, at the very least, physically destroy the innards of your computer, and could even burn your house down and summon up angry elder gods from some dark dimension.
That said… imagine the fun *you* can have with one of these. I would not suggest leaving one in a location where a random schmoe would get hold of it, but instead leave it somewhere – a desk drawer, perhaps – where the only person who would access it would be someone stealing from you.
Oct 132015
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (whoever said commies don’t have a sense of irony) tried to pass off (presumably American) hunters as Chinese soldiers, due to the impressively effective camo. However, you’d think the fact that the “soldiers” are armed with hunting shotguns and compound bows might be a tipoff that something is amiss.
PLA gets caught posting pictures of ‘Chinese soldiers’ in camouflage snatched from US hunting magazine
Particularly well skilled and equipped modern hunters should be able to play hell with foreign invaders (see, for example, the famed documentary “Red Dawn”)… until the military whips out some modern tech. Camo generally doesn’t do diddly to hide you from IR sensors, millimeter-wave radar and acoustic detectors.
Oct 122015
Someone took a number of NASA still photos from the Apollo program and animated them, creating a short movie. It’s not one hundred percent effective… no matter what tricks you play, a still photo of a human is going to remain unconvincing as “video,” since humans are always in some form of chaotic motion. But on the whole it’s interesting.
Oct 122015
Those of you old enough… remember when parents just *had* to procure a Cabbage Patch Doll, or a Furby, or a Tickle Me Elmo? Well, just in time for Christmas 2015, Raytheon presents the “Pike.”
Miniaturized, Laser-Guided Munition
Pike™ is a 17-inch-long, semi-active laser-guided precision weapon, measuring 40 mm in diameter and weighing two pounds. It’s the world’s only hand-launched precision-guided munition. Fired from a rifle-mounted grenade launcher, the miniaturized munition can travel one and a half miles and hit within five yards or less of a target, minimizing collateral damage.
The laser-guided munition is nearly as narrow as some large-caliber ammunition and can fit in the palm of a hand. A lightweight precision weapon, the Pike munition doesn’t tether ground troops to a vehicle launcher. Using a laser designator that resembles a pistol, one soldier points at a target, while another fires the munition.
Powered by a rocket motor, the Pike munition can be fired from the new family of Enhanced Grenade Launcher Modules (EGLM), specifically the H&K M320 and the FNH Mk13. The munition travels to its target using a high-tech guidance system that brings the same pinpoint accuracy once found only in mammoth missiles and hulking bombs.
The Pike munition can be mounted on multiple platforms, including Class 1 and II, unmanned aircraft systems, all-terrain vehicles, ground mobility vehicles, Common Remotely-Operated Weapons Station and small boats.
I know *I* want a twelve pack.
A mile and a half is pretty good range, but the within-five-yards-of-the-target accuracy seems like it could be better. The size of the warhead doesn’t seem to be given, but it looks like it can’t be much bigger than that of a standard 40mm grenade. I wonder if it would have the ability to nail something like an attack chopper.
It also seems like it might be possible to make a variant that trades the solid rocket motor with more explosive, or even just dead weight. Dropped from an aircraft (a drone, say), if the system is accurate enough it could be used to bullseye womprats from your T-16 take out individual targets with either minimal or maximal collateral damage.
Oct 122015
Pretty obvious what this cats opinion of flute music is…
Oct 122015
I think it’s fair to ask where this kids invite to the White House is, and whether he’s going to get piles of swag from the clothing industry.
Oregon eighth-grader suspended from school for wearing patriotic shirt showing gun
Oct 112015
Recent photos of the HL-20 lifting body spaceplane mockup on display at the Wings Over the Rockies aviation museum near Denver. An attempt at art on the photographers part, I suppose.
