Scientific Operations

Russia prepares to Robot warfare

January 4, 2013

Source: RBTH It is difficult to judge the validity of the opinion that the very idea of using robotics in the field is criminal and conjures up images of “terminators” — cold-blooded killing machines intent on wiping out mankind. These days, however, countries at the forefront of defense technology make active use of automated military [...]

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Science Brings Us One Step Closer to Implanting False Memories

March 22, 2012

Researchers say they’ve succeeded in giving mice a “hybrid” memory that blurs the lines between fantasy and reality. They forced the mice to recall memories while they were already busy forming new ones, by reactivating specific neurons in their brains. This could even represent a step towards implanting full-blown false memories. And this could mean [...]

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The NSA Is Building the Country’s Biggest Spy Center (Watch What You Say)

March 15, 2012

The spring air in the small, sand-dusted town has a soft haze to it, and clumps of green-gray sagebrush rustle in the breeze. Bluffdale sits in a bowl-shaped valley in the shadow of Utah’s Wasatch Range to the east and the Oquirrh Mountains to the west. It’s the heart of Mormon country, where religious pioneers [...]

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Super-Secret Google Builds Servers in the Dark

March 15, 2012

ust how far will Google go to hide its custom-built data-center hardware from the rest of the world? In one Silicon Valley data center, the company is apparently so paranoid about competitors catching a glimpse of its gear, it’s been known to keep its server cages in complete darkness, outfitting its technical staff like miners [...]

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US Military Seeks Sixth Sense Training

March 11, 2012

Source: Innovation News Daily Ordinary soldiers have sometimes shown a battlefield sixth sense that has saved lives in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now the U.S. military wants to better understand that “spidey sense” and train troops to tap their inner superhero instincts. The U.S. Office of Naval Research pointed to sixth sense research about how “humans [...]

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The Vortex Gun Coming Soon To a Protest Near You

March 4, 2012

Source: Slashdot   An anonymous reader writes “Vortex technology has been used in everything from rocket-powered fire extinguishers to Nerf guns, but neither of those things are capable of giving the beat-down to hapless protesters. By giving spinning vortices an electric charge, though, pepper spray can be sent over 150 feet at between 60 and [...]

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New Video Shows Japanese Speech-Jamming Gun in Action

March 2, 2012

Source: Wired     Two Japanese researchers recently introduced a prototype for a device they call a SpeechJammer that can literally “jam” someone’s voice — effectively stopping them from talking. Now they’ve released a video of the device in action. “We have to establish and obey rules for proper turn-taking,” write Kazutaka Kurihara and Koji [...]

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