This weapon, made by BAE Systems, is targeting a range of 50 to 100 nautical miles to start with and the Navy plans to increase the range 220 nautical miles. The railgun uses 32-megajoules of electromagnetic energy to fling a projectile down a pair of rails at anywhere from 4500 to 5600 mph. That is seriously hellafast.

In fact, it is so fast that explosives aren’t needed to destroy a target. No gunpowder, or high explosives, just pure raw speed and momentum will obliterate whatever that projectile hits. The Navy said to be in testing the new prototype this month while it waits for a second prototype to be delivered that is constructed by a different contractor, General Atomics. The day I can deer hunt with a railgun, will be the day I kill my first Bambi.

Tesla has unveiled a third model for its all-electric line of cars and it is dubbed the Model X. This new vehicle is actually an SUV that borrows much of the Model S’ drivetrain with tweaks to make it all-wheel-drive. As big as this SUV is, Tesla claims it will scoot from 0 to 60 mph in only 4.4 seconds – impressive for a sports car, let alone an SUV. Especially one that can seat seven.

Anyone that grew up in the 80s will see those gull wing doors on the Model X and immediately think about the DeLorean and Back to the Future. I happen to know for a fact, that the doors on one of those DeLorean’s are very far from friendly in a crowded parking lot. As a kid I watched a local man that owned a DeLorean standing at the grocery store waiting for the person parked next to him to move their car so he could get in his stainless steel ride and drive home. The “falcon-wing” doors on the Model X shouldn’t have that problem; Tesla says they actually need less space to open than conventional doors. They also arc high enough that an adult can stand underneath them.

Production versions of the vehicle won’t arrive until 2014 and when they do hit dealer lots, they should sell for $50,000-$70,000. I would expect the car to have a driving range on a single charge in the 200 to 300 mile range, much like the Tesla Roadster and Model S, though that might go lower when fully loaded with passengers and cargo.

To see the reveal of the Model X for yourself, jump to about 13:30 in the video below:

[via Engadget]

For example, as it is right now, Alpha Dog is really loud. That could give away troops positions to the enemy. This is one area where it could be improved before the live field tests, which are scheduled 18 months from now.

So, from now until then, Boston Dynamics has several goals, like making the robot capable of traveling 20-miles in a 24-hour period without refueling. They will also add voice recognition so that Marines can give audible commands to Alpha Dog. I can’t wait to see what happens when this thing gets even more capable.

[DARPA via IEEE Spectrum via Geek]

An 83-year-old woman needed a new lower jawbone last year for transplant and instead of a traditional implant, the medical team used a 3D printed jawbone manufactured by LayerWise. The transplant was carried out in the Netherlands last June and it has just now been announced. The implant was printed out of a titanium powder using a laser, layer-by-layer until the finished product was completed. The implant is a complicated part with articulated joints and cavities to provoke muscle attachment along with grooves to direct the regrowth of nerves and veins.

According to the team, it took 33 layers of titanium melted using the laser for 1 mm of height. That means that the finished jawbone had many thousands of laser passes. One of the interesting parts of the 3D printed jawbone is that it has a special double bridge that was attached and false teeth screwed in the that dental bridge. Also interesting is that the finished titanium jawbone weighs 107g, which is about one-third heavier than the replaced bone.

[via BBC]

Gymbot is a concept robot was designed by Massimo Battaglia of givingshape. The robot will basically be on your case 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Think of him as more of a drill Sergeant overseeing your life. This humanoid robot features articulated joints that mimic human movement, speed and precision. It is equipped with a 3D video camera with a scanner and thermal camera and using a microphone, it will measure your heart rate and blood pressure, while it ignores your pleas for a rest.

This personal trainer ‘bot will also calculate your body fat index, which is just what none of us want to hear about. The touchscreen on Gymbot’s chest will show you the exercises to do. It seems like a lot of trouble and a huge expense to get you to exercise, but it will probably make some company rich someday.

[via Tuvie]

Perhaps if the iDesk is ever produced, it will be more affordable than Surface, but I have my doubts. Regardless, operating a multitouch display desk like this sounds pretty sweet, since it would be capable of not only running apps of its own, but providing you with virtual input devices for your laptop and mobile devices, including keyboards and touch-input surfaces.

Will Apple ever make something like the iDesk? There are certainly rumors that the next version of the iMac might have a touchscreen, but that’s not been confirmed. If they do, maybe they’ll be able to scale touchscreens successfully larger screens in time, and eventually drive the prices down to make something like this affordable. For now. We just get to look at a pretty concept.

[via MacLife]

The process of using roaches to create power has something to do with an enzyme roaches have that can be turned into a cockroach biofuel cell. The enzyme from the roach is able to break down sugars in the digestive tract into simpler sugars called monosaccharides. A second enzyme is introduced that oxidizes the monosaccharides and results in the release of electrons or creation of power.

So far, the system only produces around 100 µW of power, which admittedly isn’t much. Who knows what be done with that little bit of power in the future, perhaps something along the lines of little remote-control roaches to invade roach strongholds and disperse bug killer. According to the researchers, hailing from Case Western Reserve University, the little bugs aren’t harmed in any way. The electronics that are used to create power can be removed from the insects with no lasting effects.

[via medGadget via OhGizmo!]

I prefer to be in control of my own car, so I don’t want this kind of stuff to be mandatory, but I vote we come up with some sort of idiot test and should you actually be an idiot you’re would be forced to have a highly-automated motor vehicle. BMWs idea isn’t like the fully-autonomous Google cars that drive with no human interaction, though. With BMW’s system, at any point along the way, you can take control and drive normally, but the car can handle many driving situations all on its own.

Built into a modified BMW Series 5, highly-automated mode is more along the lines of a fancy cruise control system that has radar, sonar, ultrasound, and other sensors built that can recognize when another vehicle is ahead of you and pass the other vehicle safely. The car will also recognize speed limits and not exceed that speed. Check out the video above to see highly-automated mode in action.

At this point, BMW has no plans to commercialize this capability, but will use the learnings from their research to help develop other improvements for vehicle safety systems.

[via Yahoo News]

But just like our increasingly powerful mobile devices, the Erascan doesn’t just have two functions. It can also recognize the information it scans, such as handwriting, URLs or email addresses. You can also share and delete – for a second time! – the stored data from the Erascan itself.

There are already whiteboards that can save what’s scrawled on them (among other things), but a device like the Erascan is a bit more useful simply because it’s portable. Although if we’re going to make stuff up anyway why don’t we go wild and imagine an eraser that can un-erase – i.e. re-write or re-draw – whatever it erases?

[via Yanko Design]

The 4 inch-long bullet was invented by Red Jones and Brian Kast, who aside from being engineers are also hunters. So if you hate this tech, blame the game that they couldn’t hit. Although to say that this is overcompensating would be an understatement: the high-tech ammo has an optical sensor, an 8-bit CPU that handles “guidance and control electronics” and electromagnetic actuators that control its fins.

The bullet is meant to be used with smooth-bore firearms, i.e. ones that don’t have grooves inside their barrels. The grooves give spin to normal bullets to help them fly straight, but since this bullet literally has a mind of its own it doesn’t need the spin. The screenshot above shows the path left by a prototype fitted with an LED, proving that its electronics and battery are not destroyed when the bullet is fired. That is one weird trajectory.

Sandia’s press release also said that the bullet’s flight gets steadier with distance, so it’s better suited for long-range targets. The current prototype isn’t up to the U.S. military’s standards in terms of velocity, but its inventors are confident that they can make it go faster by using customized gunpowder. Or they could invent bullet time. Check the link below for more details.

[via Sandia National Labs via BBC News]

We’ve already seen what augmented reality mirrors can do to our faces, and while they can be used to correct or modify certain features, they can’t change our faces completely.

However, artist Karolina Sobecka wants to change that, and change it she has. Sobecka has come up with a new 3D visualization tool that replaces your face with a three dimensional image of an animal. What the mirror does is show a reflection of the person in front of it complete with real-time expressions and movements, albeit with an animal for a face.

She calls her project “All the Universe is Full of the Lives of Perfect Creatures,” which is pretty appropriate, if you think about it. Sobecka programmed her mirror by using FaceTracker, Unity3d, openFrameworks, Blender3d, and ofxFaceTracker.

[via Dvice]

The coolest of the projects that received grant money is one proposed by a team of scientists at Boston University that want to figure out if you can grow brown fat cells and then inject them into the human body as a way to boost metabolism and burn fat, leading to weight loss. The human body has both brown adipose tissue and white adipose tissue. The white fat cells make people obese, yet the brown fat cells help burn calories.

In fact, a recent study showed that a pockets of brown fat cells can burn as much as 250 calories in a three-hour time span. Those brown fat cells can even steal energy from white fat cells, further stunting obesity. The researchers hope to develop a method of growing those brown fat cells and injecting them into the body with the goal of helping overweight soldiers lose weight. You can bet that if the team is successful, this will also be highly profitable in the private sector with obese people looking for a way to lose weight.

[via Wired: Danger Room]

That’s what I initially thought of Tokyoflash Design Studio’s Sudoku Puzzle Watch Concept, but you don’t actually have to solve the entire puzzle from scratch with the watch – just a small portion of it.

The design itself is easy to understand enough: the face of the watch is actually a digital display showing a Sudoku puzzle grid. At least two grids from each column will have two blank spaces each. Just fill each grid up with the missing digit from 1 to 9, and you’ve got your answer. Once you figure it out, read the figures from left to right to figure out what time it is.

The Sudoku Watch Concept seems pretty complicated at first glance, but it’s a whole lot simpler than you think – especially if you’re used to solving Sudoku puzzles. And if it gets made, I’d definitely want to get my hands on one.

[via Tokyoflash]

Designed by Matheus de Luca, Moreira Pinto, and Porto Alegre, Sólo basically a traffic light and emergency light system in one. It’s a modular device that can be disassembled easily and converted from a traffic light to a portable warning system.

One sample use is when there’s an accident and traffic would need to be redirected to another route. Or there could be road repairs being done, and the lights could be taken down and used to signal where the incoming traffic should pass.

It’s a neat idea that lets technicians and designated personnel spring into action quickly without needing additional tools or supplies when they’re already on location, though it might make traffic signals more susceptible to vandalism or theft.

[via Yanko Design]

Most drones in the military arsenal have a pilot, even if that pilot is half a world away. The X-47B will be able to take off, find its target, attack, and return home and land all on its own using internal systems. While it’s still years away from being used in the field, the X-47B would be the first fully-unmanned aircraft system in the military.

Humans would still program flight plans and targets, but Northrop program manger Carl Johnson said, “It will do its own math and decide what it should do next.” Let’s hope the math is does comes up with an answer other than humans are a risk to its survival. While it is currently illegal for a machine to make its own military decisions, I don’t think Skynet really cares about such rules.

[via TheAtlanticWire]

The console rumors also point to a significantly faster CPU/GPA/APU system-on-a-chip package called “Oban“, plus a switch to Blu-ray for the internal drive. Besides downloaded HD content, the only HD media the Xbox 360 ever supported was HD DVD back during the format wars, and that was through an add-on drive. The final new rumor says that when the next gen Xbox lands, a next-gen Kinect will be built into the unit.

One of the more unusual rumors floating around is disturbing to those out there that enjoy buying used games. According to a source cited by Kotaku, the Xbox 720 will in some way block the play of used games. Not only would that really hurt businesses like Gamestop, but it would force gamers to buy new or nothing – presumably in order to encourage new game sales.

I can believe most of these rumors, but I really hope the no used games one is false.

[via Kotaku]

Then there’s also those who post news updates, talk about breaking news or events as they occur, and post updates on the current temperature and humidity. But only those people who have the Tweeting Sensor can do the latter.

The Tweeting Sensor was developed by UC Technology. Basically, it’s a device that detects the current temperature, humidity, and amount of sunshine through its wireless sensor. It will then post the readings on Twitter. UC Technology explains: “You connect this device to the Internet and plug in the AC adapter. You can also connect a slave unit, so you have a wireless sensor that measures temperature, humidity, and sunshine. This sensor makes the wireless connection automatically, and sends its data each time.”

You could also elect to connect the Tweeting Sensor to a radiation meter. When enough information is gathered from a particular area, then the data can be used to generate a radiation map. Now that’s using the power of the Internet and social media to the fullest.

The Tweeting Sensor will be priced at around ¥40,000 (~$520 USD). With a little work, you can probably do the same (other than the radiation part) with the new Twine sensor for a lot less money.

[via Diginfo]

I certainly don’t blame students for jumping on and trying it out. If I could have used digital books rather than carry a bag stuffed with 60 pounds of textbooks in college I certainly would have.

We do have to take that download count with a grain of salt though. Apple has been offering a free download textbook called E.O. Wilson’s Life on Earth, and there is no indication of how many times that free title was downloaded. There is a chance that the free textbook might make up a significant number of those downloads. Still, it shows an interest in the app’s updated interactive and note-taking features.

In the same three-day period, there were 90,000 downloads of the iBooks Author app that lets people make free textbooks themselves, so that’s a good sign for an increased volume of publications hitting the shelves.

[via AllThingsD]

Demonstrated in the video below – albeit on a very small fire – their system manages to snuff out a flame by destabilizing the fire by playing with electromagnetism and acoustics. While the DARPA program that drove the experiment aims to extinguish fires instantly, this technique does take a few seconds to kill these small methane flames.

It’s unclear exactly how it works, and there’s no evidence that they could scale it up to put out larger fires with the same technique. Still, it’s kind of magical how they just wave that little wand over the flames, and it puts them out for good.

[DARPA via Geekosystem]

The project is aimed at making a roof for a car that would allow the people inside to see out at during the day and capture solar energy as well. Then at night, the roof turns into a glowing OLED light. I think the windows of homes could someday use this technology too. They could capture solar power during the day to power the house and then turn into room lighting at night.

The OLED light is only 1.8mm thick and provides a uniform and soft glow across the entire surface. By combining this with an invisible solar panel, you get power and light in one device without blocking your view. Apparently, the technology is being developed for the sunroof of Daimler’s unusual Smart Forvision concept EV, shown below:

[via TG Daily and OLED-Info]