Science and Technology MEGA THREAD

[David Hingtgen]

I'm not sure if this has been posted before, but here's the live webcam for the Large Hadron Collider:

http://www.cyriak.co.uk/lhc/lhc-webcams.html

[Einherjar]

Stephen Hawking thinks we're screwed if we make contact with aliens.

http://io9.com/5524727/stephen-hawking-adm...ably-fart-us-up

[Ghost Train]

Don't worry... Will Smith now equipped with Super-Hornet will defend "Earf" with our vast array of shield-disabling computer viruses.

[Einherjar]

The recent iPhone debacle.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/194590/appl...a_timeline.html

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

Next gen Air Hog: Quad Rotors

[David Hingtgen]

Old tech but awesome---musical Tesla coils.

::edit:: Better vids:

Airwolf Theme:

Imperial March:

[EXO]

So the questions begs... who will be the first one to become a valk?

http://gizmodo.com/5563120/this-toaster-is-actually-a-dead-person

[ron5864]

Some of you might have read about this earlier. Raytheon's 50 kilowatt Laser Close-In Weapon System sucessfully shot down an un-manned aircraft from a ship. The laser was tied to the ship's Phalanx defense system. (See BBC article/video below)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10682693

There are pros and cons to this technology.

So the question, will this eventually replace bullets in future combat like how bullets replaced arrows and stones?

Will we see some kind of massive energy weapon(gigawatt range), like the Macross Cannon, in our lifetime?

Will this mean the end of gunpods for future fighter jets?

[sketchley]

No, the prime reason is that there are already anti-laser defences that have been created. The most relevant in this situation is a light-polarization material that blocks and/or reflects the laser light.

On the other hand, there are some theories about using lasers themselves as a kind of force field. Basically a single beam is bounced off of a bunch of mirrors causing a fine net to form over the surface of a craft. Said net will vaporize things like missiles and bullets, but won't stop other lasers.

So, in summary: they will be deployed, but in tandem with bullets.

Macross has also built on these real-world sciences: both laser/beam and bullet weapons, as well as anti-laser materials covering the fuselage and PPB. The last one is quite interesting, as the VFMF:VF-19 explanation of it is extremely similar to a real-world explanation of how a force-field could be created. The difference being that the PPB uses microwaves (obviously of OT origin), and not lasers (with the aforementioned limitations).

[rifleguy]

From my past experience in the Navy, I can easily see a place for both laser and rounds. One aspect I can see lasers doing is in a missile defence system. When an anti ship missile is speeding its way towards a ship, guns can shoot it down BUT the speed and relatively short range of the gun, allows that explosion to come a bit too close for comfort. Now a laser could strike further away and nullify that effect. With that in mind guns will have a place far into at least this century as they can still do what missiles and lasers can not do such as fire warning shots, shore bombarded and rapid close range strike. I also feel that the Navy brass may be a bit cautious about replacing guns outright looking at the Air Force's experience with gunless F-4s in Vietnam.

[Ghost Train]

lol can't you deflect lasers with mirrors?

I think ballistics will never be replaced. There are also developments in the fields of rail guns, which seems like the next evolution to current munitions.

[miles316]

lol can't you deflect lasers with mirrors?

I think ballistics will never be replaced. There are also developments in the fields of rail guns, which seems like the next evolution to current munitions.

It will be the same problem with Armor designed to defeat Bullets but only as long as they can stay ahead of the Gun makers.

probably the only Viable way to defend against a LASER is to use a ablative material that will draw away heat even that might only be viable/cost effective on maned vehicles.

From what I have read about Laser's is the power and the ability to shift the frequency/Wavelength is the main changing constant in their development like a ship mounted LASER will need to alter their wave length in order to have a swing role rather than being a single use weapon (AntiMissle, or AntiShip).

[RedWolf]

Speaking of mirrors.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100...wpphu-container

Swanky new Vegas hotel’s ‘death ray’ proves inconvenient for some guests

By Brett Michael Dykes brett Michael Dykes Wed Sep 29, 12:00 pm ET

And here you thought bedbugs were the biggest source of anxiety for hotel guests.

Yes, guests at Vdara hotel in Las Vegas now have something else to worry about: being burned alive by the glare of the building's "death ray."

What the heck's a "death ray," you ask? Well, first off, it's not as deadly as it sounds, since no one has actually died from it -- at least not yet. But according to the U.K. Daily Mail, the powerful beams of Nevada sunlight reflecting off the glass hotel onto sections of the hotel's swimming pool area have burned some guests and have melted plastic bags.

The building's concave design creates a sort of magnifying-glass effect. The hotel's designers reportedly anticipated that ill-situated humans might experience some discomfort courtesy of the building's blinding glare, so they placed a film over the glass panes of its many windows. Obviously that didn't quite do the trick. So for now the hotel is placing larger umbrellas in the pool area while designers try to come up with another remedy.

[Related: Treehouses, schools, undersea lodges among craziest hotels]

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the hotel's employees coined the term "death ray" to describe the intense reflection. Reports of the glare have also enhanced the hotel's public profile, though almost certainly not in the way its owners would like; Yahoo! searches for Vdara have spiked by nearly 19,000 percent in the past 24 hours.

It turns out that Vdara isn't the only building out there creating intense heat and glare for hapless passersby. Gordon Absher, a spokesman for MGM Resorts International, which owns Vdara, told the Review-Journal that in Las Vegas, the AdventureDome at Circus Circus and the Mandalay Bay produce "hot spots" that some guests have actually sought out, believing the spots will aid tanning regimens. In Los Angeles, the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall produced such a harsh glare that it heated nearby homes, forcing residents to blast their air conditioners high above their customary capacities in order for the residents to keep cool.

[build your own death ray -- and a dozen more mad-scientist devices you can make at home]

Bill Pintas, a Chicago attorney, told the Daily Mail that he experienced the harsh glare of the death ray firsthand during a recent Vdara stay. Pintas reported that as he lounged out by the pool, his head suffered a sensation he likened to a "chemical burn." He added, "Within 30 seconds, the back of my legs were burning."

[Even more on death rays: The mystery of Nikola Tesla's missing weapon]

In another interview, Pintas said: "I was effectively being cooked." Thankfully, he returned home alive. Still, his skin was burned and his hair was singed -- disproving the old saying that whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

[David Hingtgen]

Robo-Ranka:

[eugimon]

Robo-Ranka:

omg, that poor little girl has revoltech limbs~

[EXO]

super creepy, especially with the freaky big hands.

[badboy00z]

Pretty sure the Japanese will be the first ones to create killer androids that would take over the world. Lol

[Vepariga]

Pretty sure the Japanese will be the first ones to create killer androids that would take over the world. Lol

either that or they will go rouge and become rouge boomers,maybe in 2032-2040 era.

[shiroikaze]

Hey look, it's a cypher from MGS2!

Japan's Ministry of Defense's Recon UAV

Edited November 13, 2010 by shiroikaze

[Gui]

Link = 404

[shiroikaze]

Fixed!

I like how the comma in the address actually breaks the entire thing.

A couple of articles of mention:

Japan's newest most life-like Gynoid is part of a play.

Zombie virus spreads all over China.

[edit]ffffuuuu- it did it again!

Edited November 13, 2010 by shiroikaze

[grss1982]

No, the prime reason is that there are already anti-laser defences that have been created. The most relevant in this situation is a light-polarization material that blocks and/or reflects the laser light.

On the other hand, there are some theories about using lasers themselves as a kind of force field. Basically a single beam is bounced off of a bunch of mirrors causing a fine net to form over the surface of a craft. Said net will vaporize things like missiles and bullets, but won't stop other lasers.

So, in summary: they will be deployed, but in tandem with bullets.

Macross has also built on these real-world sciences: both laser/beam and bullet weapons, as well as anti-laser materials covering the fuselage and PPB. The last one is quite interesting, as the VFMF:VF-19 explanation of it is extremely similar to a real-world explanation of how a force-field could be created. The difference being that the PPB uses microwaves (obviously of OT origin), and not lasers (with the aforementioned limitations).

So we're going to have I-Fields and PBB's soon then?

On another note:

http://theweek.com/article/index/209301/japans-holographic-pop-star

ZOMG!!!

So are we gonna have Sharon Apple in the near future?

BUT what about valks and the SDF-1? Does this mean no one will save us when Sharon takes over?

[Gui]

They talked about this in a live TV broadcast in my country a few weeks ago: what I recall is that it is not a "true" 3D hologram; it looks 3D only when you look at it from the front or from behind, but if you walk around it you see it is actually flat...

Nice technical performance though, but only for shows

Edited November 23, 2010 by Gui

[Vespaeda]

So, just as I leave Japan, they whip out a singing, dancing android and an actress-droid that both push the 'Uncanny Valley'-bar another few notches. Top it off with a holographic J-pop idol......

If they can make the dancing Gyndroid sing the "Fruity-Nutty Bar" song from FireFly/'Serenity', all is well. But if not...

"THIS IS NOT THE DeCulture WE ARE LOOKING FOR...CHARGE ALL CONVERGENT CANNONS AND PREPARE TO FIRE; YOUR TARGETS: THE MELTR'LAMIS FLEET AND THE PROTOCULTURE CONCERT!"

[grss1982]

This recently by someone here:

http://edition.cnn.com/video/?/video/tech/2010/02/04/sr.baldwin.mind.control.cnn#

Now combine that with this:

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2010/11/12/lawrence.iron.man.suit.cnn?iref=allsearch

and Over Technology, we may be on our way Earth's first valk or gundam.

[azrael]

This came to my attention via another forum:

Navy Launches Pilot With an Electromagnetic Shove

Linear catapults any one?

[JB0]

A little late, but...

Apollo 17 launched on December 7, 1972. The lander module Challenger touched down on the moon the 11th, left and returned to the orbiting America on the 14th, and America splashed down onm the 19th.

Eugene Cernan became the last man to walk on the moon.

Him, Harrison Schmitt, and command module pilot Ronald Evans were the last men to ever leave Earth orbit. Schmitt remains the only scientist to have ever left.

In 4 years we put twelve men on the moon. We've not returned once since then.

It's been thirty-eight years since man last left the Earth.

No, I don't consider mucking about in low Earth orbit to be "leaving" the Earth. You're still in the Earth's atmosphere. The International Space Station is the most common destination these days, and that's well inside the thermosphere. The soon-to-be-retired space shuttle can only BARELY reach the exosphere.

To this day the moon remains the only frontier we've ever reached, then packed our bags and went home.

Not space, as calling the moon "space" is a lot the same as calling some of the dust in your floorboard a car. We've never even scratched the surface of THAT frontier.

But on a brighter note, as of December 13, Voyager 1 is no longer seeing an outward motion of solar wind. It is on the threshold of interstellar space, and expected to cross that border in the next 4 years.

[atomicscissors]

Holy crap, I want to visit this place so badly: a cave in Vietnam so large you could put a half-mile block of 40-story buildings in a section of it.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/01/largest-cave/peter-photography

[Gui]

Impressive

And some nice photos too...

[shiroikaze]

Impressive

And some nice photos too...

Indeed, those pictures are breath-taking.

[Ghost Train]

January 1st 2011: 5,000 birds fall dead from the skies of Arkansas.

100,000 fish wash up dead near the Arkansas river.

January 5th 2011: 500 dead birds found in Sweden.

January 6th 2011: Jersey Shore S3 begins.

January 10th: Invasion begins?

[shiroikaze]

Someday, we'll be able to shoot down missiles with our eyes.

http://ces.cnet.com/8301-32254_1-20027718-283.html?tag=mncol;cnetRiver

[shiroikaze]

Gorilla glass is pretty neat,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0dUXaHo8xc

This is what Sony will be putting on their 2011 TVs.

http://ces.cnet.com/8301-32254_1-20026989-283.html

[shiroikaze]

Video of Navy railgun launch (EMALS) in action:

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/emals-railgun-jet-launcher,news-9775.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euLsg_viWW0&hd=1

Edited January 24, 2011 by shiroikaze

[Gui]

Not a horror movie but a new way to repair burnt skin; pretty impressive:

Although this looks like a huge fake, I couldn't find any evidence of dishonnesty...