Recent Warfare Technologies

[dimsum]

X-47B Taxiing Trials Onboard USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75)

http://www.businessinsider.com/this-video-of-the-navys-x-47b-aboard-an-aircraft-carrier-is-like-a-glimpse-into-the-future-2012-12

The sheer size of the "demonstrator" still boggles my mind.  The thing is wider and not much shorter than a Super Hornet.

 

[BernDawg]

DARPA announces something new on the medical front, a means of stabilizing injured soldiers to give them a better chance of surviving the "golden hour" before being delivered to advanced treatment facilities. Eerily, the foam seems to resemble the stuff you buy at Home Depot to inject into small cavities in your house (only not so sticky):

http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2012/12/10.aspx

HALO 3-ODST any one??

 

[a_majoor]

This is very interesting. The technique is related to "quantum cryptography", so in theory this would provide a means to transmit information without compromise and detect threats without too much regard to jamming and countermeasures. The only ways to minimize detection is to employ "stealth" technology to reduce your cross section, or use metamaterials to direct active systems "around" the item being scanned:

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/508826/quantum-imaging-technique-heralds-unjammable-aircraft-detection/

Quantum Imaging Technique Heralds Unjammable Aircraft Detection

Physicists have exploited the quantum properties of photons to create the first imaging system that is unjammable

Jamming radar signals is an increasingly sophisticated affair. There are various techniques such as drowning the radar frequency with noise or dropping chaff to create a false reflection. But the most advanced radar systems can get around these ruses.

So a more sophisticated idea is to intercept the radar signal and modify it in a way that gives false information about the target before sending it back. That’s much harder to outsmart.

But today, Mehul Malik and pals at the University of Rochester in New York state demonstrate a way to do it.

These guys base their technique on the quantum properties of photons and in particular on the fact that any attempt to measure a photon always destroys its quantum properties.

So their idea is to use polarised photons to detect and image objects. Reflected photons can of course be used to build up an image of the object. But an adversary could intercept these photons and resend them in a way that disguises the object’s shape or makes it look as if it is elsewhere.

However, such a process would always change the quantum properties of the photons such as their polarisation. And so it should always be possible to detect such interference. “In order to jam our imaging system, the object must disturb the delicate quantum state of the imaging photons, thus introducing statistical errors that reveal its activity,” say Malik and co.

That’s more or less exactly how quantum key distribution for cryptography works. The idea here is that any eavesdropper would change the quantum properties of the key and so reveal his or her presence. The only difference in the quantum imaging scenario is that the “message” is sent and received by the same person.

Malik and co have tested their idea by bouncing photons off an aeroplane-shaped target and measuring the polarisation error rate in the return signal. Without any eavesdropping the system easily imaged the aeroplane.

But when an adversary intercepted the photons and modified them to send back an image of a bird, the interference was easy to spot, say Malik and co.

That’s an impressive demonstration of the first imaging system that is unjammable thanks to quantum mechanics.

That’s not to say the technique is perfect. It suffers from the same limitations that plague early quantum cryptographic systems, which are theoretically secure but crackable in practice.

For example, instead of sending single photons, the quantum imaging system sends photon pulses which contain several photons. One or more of these can easily be siphoned away and analysed by an adversary without anybody else being any the wiser.

However, there are an increasingly wide range of fixes for these problems for quantum key distribution that could help make this quantum imaging system more secure.

Perhaps best of all, this kind of system could easily be put to work now. The techniques are well known and widely used in optics labs all over the world. So there’s no reason, this security cannot be added relatively quickly and cheaply to existing imaging systems.

Interesting stuff!

Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1212.2605: Quantum-Secured Imaging

 

[a_majoor]

Passing data at fantastic speeds will change the battlefield,  from allowing live streaming of video and sensor data from multiple platforms, "triangulating" objects. friendlies and targets using distributed meshes of hundreds or thousands of sensors, sending real time logistics data like the fuel consumption and tire wear of every vehicle and so on. On the civilian side WiFi networks running at those speeds will allow for the sort of traffic generated by "the internet of things", where devices send and receive data to each other in order to optimize their own and their networks performance.

The challenge is to manage all that data and convert it into something usable, and to do so in real time:

http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2012/12/14.aspx

Deployable Radio Frequency Data Backbone To Match Fiber Optic Capacity

December 14, 2012

100-Gigabit per second RF communications link envisioned between airborne and ground assets

Fiber optic cables provide the core backbone for military and civilian networks, enabling Internet, phone, video and other data to move at super-high speeds with virtually no degradation over long distances. In deployed environments, where a fiber optic backbone doesn’t exist, other communications modes are used resulting in reduced data-rate capacity for the warfighter.

DARPA’s 100 Gb/s RF Backbone (100G) intends to develop a fiber-optic-equivalent communications backbone that can be deployed worldwide. The goal is to create a 100 Gb/s data link that achieves a range greater than 200 kilometers between airborne assets and a range greater than 100 kilometers between an airborne asset (at 60,000 feet) and the ground.  The 100G program goal is to meet the weight and power metrics of the Common Data Link (CDL) deployed by Forces today for high-capacity data streaming from platforms.

A major challenge to providing 100 Gb/s from an airborne asset to the ground is cloud cover. Free-space optical links won’t propagate through the cloud layer, which means RF is the only option. The system will be designed to provide all-weather capability enabling tactically relevant data throughput and link ranges through clouds, fog or rain. Technical advances in modulation of millimeter-wave frequencies open the door to achieving 100G’s goals.

“Providing fiber-optic-equivalent capacity on a radio frequency carrier will require spectrally efficient use of available RF spectrum,” said Dick Ridgway, DARPA program manager. “100G plans to demonstrate how high-order modulation and spatial multiplexing can be synergistically combined to achieve 100 Gigabits per second with the size, weight and power needed for a deployable system. We believe that to achieve the program’s goals requires the convergence of telecommunications system providers and the defense communications tech base.”

DARPA will host a proposers’ day on Jan. 9, 2013, in Arlington, Va. For details, visit: http://go.usa.gov/gVnB 

 

[a_majoor]

More advances in robotics. Robots that can follow the leader, obey verbal commands and are otherwise self sufficient will be a great help to servicemembers everywhere. While this is designed in the context of an assistent for dismounted infantry sections, you can probably imagine lots of ways devices like this could help other branches and trades, or even the other services (robotic tool caddies and parts carriers for aircraft maintainers, or devices that can explore nooks and crannies of ships for the Navy come to mind):

http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2012/12/19.aspx

LS3 FOUR-LEGGED ROBOT PLAYS FOLLOW THE LEADER

December 19, 2012

Testing shows advances in robot’s autonomy, maneuverability and recovery

For the past two weeks, in the woods of central Virginia around Fort Pickett, the Legged Squad Support System (LS3) four-legged robot has been showing off its capabilities during field testing. Working with the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory (MCWL), researchers from DARPA’s LS3 program demonstrated new advances in the robot’s control, stability and maneuverability, including "Leader Follow" decision making, enhanced roll recovery, exact foot placement over rough terrain, the ability to maneuver in an urban environment, and verbal command capability.

The LS3 program seeks to demonstrate that a highly mobile, semi-autonomous legged robot can carry 400 lbs of a squad’s equipment, follow squad members through rugged terrain and interact with troops in a natural way similar to a trained animal with its handler. The robot could also be able to maneuver at night and serve as a mobile auxiliary power source to the squad, so troops can recharge batteries for radios and handheld devices while on patrol.

“This was the first time DARPA and MCWL were able to get LS3 out on the testing grounds together to simulate military-relevant training conditions,” said Lt. Col. Joseph Hitt, DARPA program manager. “The robot’s performance in the field expanded on our expectations, demonstrating, for example, how voice commands and “follow the leader” capability would enhance the robot’s ability to interact with warfighters. We were able to put the robot through difficult natural terrain and test its ability to right itself with minimal interaction from humans.”

Video from the testing shows the robot negotiating diverse terrain including ditches, streams, wooded slopes and simulated urban environments. The video also shows the map the LS3 perception system creates to determine the path it takes.

The December testing at Fort Pickett is the first in a series of planned demonstrations that will test the robot’s capabilities across different environments as development continues through the first half of 2014.

The DARPA platform developer for the LS3 system is Boston Dynamics of Waltham, Mass.

MEDIA QUERIES

Please direct all media queries to Outreach@DARPA.mil

IMAGES

Click for High-Resolution Image

ADDITIONAL INFO

Legged Squad Support System (LS3) 

 

 

[a_majoor]

Using robotics for logistical purposes. This inverts the usual way of doing things in a warehouse, and the productivity gains are pretty fantastic (almost 5X faster than humans picking and packing). Considering the use we make of "super bases" and centralized logistics, this sort of technology coupled to the sort of ordering and distribution software that companies like Amazon use would certainly improve our logistics system:

http://www.everything-robotic.com/2012/10/distribution-centers-emerging-robotics.html

Distribution Centers: An Emerging Robotics Frontier

Distribution centers (DCs) are massive warehouses that receive, inspect and store goods for later picking, packing and shipping to end-users, re-distributors or retail outlets. Products can be everything from books, pharmacy goods, clothing, office goods, food, drinks, shoes, produce, household items and pet supplies to diapers. And quantities can be one or two individual units to 20-100+ cases.

Driving the expansion and change in DCs are (1) online sales and consumer expectations of speedy delivery, (2) enhanced data manipulation capabilities, multidimensional processing and integration of new-tech mobile robotics into material handling, (3) proof that goods-to-man methods saves money, reduces labor and increases productivity, and (4) a current need to develop more cost-efficient centers (caused by delays and skittishness to make capital investments during the economic crisis). E-commerce sales are growing at an annual compounded growth rate of 8.5% - double that of supercenters, club and dollar stores. Supermarkets and convenience stores are growing as well. The quantity of materials that are moved daily through DCs is staggering as are the streams of data and algorithm considerations. [Source: Nielsen TDLinx & Nielsen Analytics]

The immensity and complexity of the supply process can be seen in this video showing how a Giant Eagle supermarket is resupplied from its regional distribution center:

Amazon has and continues to lead e-commerce-driven distribution with their pick-to-cart method (otherwise known as man-to-goods) and their promise of speedy economical delivery. Workers run around and fill carts and deliver them to conveyors where they are transported to packing stations where individual shipments are processed and staged for pickup by FedEx, UPS, etc.. The metrics for this are 160 picks per hour. The video below shows that process.

Kiva Systems disrupted those metrics and increased worker productivity by reversing the man-to-goods process. This method brings the goods to the packer (goods-to-man). As Kiva's success became proven in the field, Amazon acquired Kiva for $775 million and is beginning to install Kiva systems in their new warehouses. It is estimated that the new Kiva metric for Amazon consumer goods is 600 items per hour.

These metrics translate into fewer employees and lower warehouse costs, which include not only the structure but the inside storage and material handling equipment as well. Steve Banker, a consultant at ARC Advisory Group, recently wrote in Logistics Viewpoints:

    If you conduct a Google search on “Amazon distribution center,” you come across announcements over the past year for DCs in Virginia, New Jersey, and South Carolina. According to these articles, warehouses costing roughly $50-65 million will employ 1,500 to 2,000 workers.

    But then I came across an article about a new Indiana DC. This DC is costing $150 million and the company is only promising 1,000 new workers. Could this be one of the new warehouses that will be using Kiva? The employment numbers seem to add up. This DC will employ at least one third fewer workers.

European DCs tend to be smaller than those in the US where massive centers for Wallmart and Amazon often exceed 1 million sq ft. Amazon has said that it will be filling its new 1 million sq ft distribution centers with Kiva robots. According to their financial reports, they are opening 12 new Kiva-equipped centers in 2012 with more planned for 2013. That is a lot of Kiva mobile robots, and this demand will surely keep them busy building and integrating those devices and their related software systems into Amazon's distribution scheme. In fact, Kiva has already laid off most of their sales and marketing staff but has increased their support staff to assist their new owner (and biggest client). As Amazon leads the consumer products industry to same day delivery, Kiva robots help give them that flexibility. [One-day turnaround isn't unique to Amazon; it is often a necessity. Think produce: vegetables, fruits, baked goods. These goods regularly move in and out of DCs within 24 hours.]

Kiva's acquisition by Amazon has created a void in innovative material handling technology just at the time when companies that had put off building or improving their DCs because of the economic crisis are now ready to invest again. Kiva's low cost for warehouse shelving and speed of installation in bare-boned facilities are far cheaper and faster than any other method offered.

However, Kiva-equipped distribution centers aren't the only methods available for handling robotic-assisted fulfillment. There are many new technologies as well as older-style methods now augmented with various robotics to handle the myriad types of warehoused goods. Amazon, Zappos and other consumer sales companies warehouse and ship small-quantity consumer items. Food distribution and intra-company distribution centers process on the case level. One east coast DC for a chain of groceries regularly processes 20 million cases per week. DCs not only focus on getting their goods in and out of the system but also concentrate on maximizing productivity and keeping their labor costs as low as possible.

Handling, distribution, transport and delivery - and the amortization of DC setup charges - often represent more cost than raw materials and manufacturing combined.  Consequently, warehousing and material handling are a big business for hundreds of different types of companies: conveyors, rollers, racks, vision systems, hoists, shelving, electric motors, slides, barcode readers, printers, ladders, gantries, tugs, forklifts, autonomous lifts and tugs, skids, totes, carts, and software systems of all types, to name just a few. Big players in the field include Intelligrated, Egemin Automation, Fromm, Daifuku Webb, Adept, Frog AGV Systems, Seegrid, Fuji, Edict, Omega Lift, Nordock, Interlake Mecalux, Automated Packaging, Itoh Denki, etc. Most of these vendors augment the man-to-goods model.

There are three companies transitioning to offer goods-to-man functionality: Symbotic, Swisslog and Dematic. The latter two have been in the material handling business for quite some time and have introduced many new robotic solutions. Swisslog is publicly-traded (SLOG:SW); the other two are privately held. All three of these vendors emphasize maximizing warehouse density which can be seen by level upon level (multiple vertical rows) of floor to ceiling racks.

Symbotic
Symbotic's Matrix Rover travels along shelf rows picking and restocking as required but can also operate autonomously on warehouse floors.

Symbotic, previously named CasePick Systems, is a recent spin-off from C&S Wholesale Grocers, the largest grocery supply company in the US. For the past seven years C&S has been the test bed for the development of Symbotic's line of products which include floor to ceiling high-density shelving and racks, storage and retrieval software, hardware systems, palletizer robots and robotic rovers. Now, as a separate company, they are a provider to C&S as well as other companies.

Symbotic focuses on handling skids and cases rather than on open-box or individual items. In an automated case/pallet warehouse, utilizing available storage area, including height as efficiently as possible, is the goal. Symbotic attempts to maximize usable space by providing and/or integrating all of the shelving, conveyors, stackers, robotic systems, robotic rovers and software, often reaching 17 rows high with the number of aisles limited only by the square footage of the warehouse. It's like multi-level chess except on 17 levels!

Guided by extraordinarily complex software, rovers speed along their row to pick or replenish cases of goods. Once a case is grabbed, the rovers take their goods to a Symbotic-invented device which enables the transfer of cases from multiple rovers at all levels of the shelving structure simultaneously, to a device for getting them down to floor level and then to a conveyor/tug system. The material is then moved to a station where Symbotic integrates heavy-duty Fanuc robotic arms in a palletizing process which then stacks the goods for shipment.

Swisslog
Left to right: Swisslog's AutoStore drop-down rovers, Tornado lifts and SmartCarriers.

Swisslog builds modularized conveyors, stacker cranes, row rovers (called carriers) and autonomous tugs as well as their new AutoStore robots. Swisslog can handle open-case light goods and pallet/case systems. Swisslog provides European style material handling often characterized by high capital and operating costs and lots of mechanical devices. They enjoy very high productivity and space utilization in return.

Swisslog's new AutoStore rovers race along the top of modular aluminum storage racks which are located just below ceiling level. The rovers reach down to get bins of targeted goods which are vertically stacked on top of each other. Then they race to a lift/crane which drops the goods down and conveys them to pick and pack stations and/or pallets for shipment. Once the bins have been picked, they are returned to the stack in the same manner.

Swisslog, as its name implies, is European and as such, must always be able to handle unique existing space considerations, often having to adapt to some very unique building configurations. Swisslog claims that their methods maximizes both vertical and horizontal space enabling them to process up to 1,000 picks per hour.

Dematic
Dematic goods-to-person shuttles are located at every level in all aisles and are
serviced by high-speed elevators where material is lowered down to processing stations.
Dematic, headquartered in Luxembourg, is an established European style provider and integrator of logistics and material handling solutions. They offer almost every type of storage solution imaginable and provide distribution and handling for B2B and B2C as well as grocery, apparel, food and beverage and general merchandise.

Dematic provides conveyors, tugs, sorters, lifts and a variety of software for warehouse management, order fulfillment, RFID and SAP solutions and transport maximization. They use all of the different picking methods: pick by voice, pick by light, RF picking, etc.

Their most recent product addition is their row Multishuttle, a robotic rover that travels each row in each aisle in the warehouse picking orders and delivering them to a lift which sends them onward to a packing station.

Software
As is the case in most robotics, smart software is critical to its success. Imagine the algorithms involved in resource allocation to determine which product goes in which bin; which order gets assigned to which station; which pod comes to which station; which robot should get which pod. Then compound that with the problems of integrating that solution into a SAP, IBM, Oracle, Manhattan Associates, or Red Prairie fulfillment system. Then add customized delivery optimization solutions (such as sequencing skids in a truck to delivery routes and sequencing the contents of skids to how they are offloaded in the store) to the mix and you have some really complex software packages.

All of the companies mentioned in this article (Amazon, Kiva, Symbotic, C&S, Dematic and Swisslog) blend techniques from AI, controls systems, machine learning, operations research and other software and engineering disciplines into their mobile robotic platform. All are focused on transforming fulfillment to the goods-to-man methodology because of the increased productivity gains and all are pioneering as they go because goods-to-man is new territory, software-wise.

Summary
This article originated as a profile of one company as they began to robotically augment distribution centers. But, as I gathered information, the story has morphed into a review of why Kiva Systems' innovative methods - the goods-to-man methodology - is far superior to other older styles of fulfillment. These older style man-to-goods methods are characterized by serious labor costs, heavy turnover, high cost shelving, conveyors, lifts, and transport and other systems to get targeted materials to a picker/packer or palletizing operation. Robotics, if used at all, is used to augment the worker's reach, mobility and lifting. The new-tech companies profiled above (Swisslog, Symbotic and Dematic) have begun to implement goods-to-man systems incorporating old and new style racks and shelving and all seem to be doing the same thing:
building multi-layer shelving upon which rovers troll the levels and aisles picking their stuff and shuttling it off to an elevator which sends it via conveyors or otherwise to pick/pack or palletizing stations, all controlled by colossally-complex proprietary software.

Posted by Frank Tobe at 9:46 PM

 

[a_majoor]

Germany demonstrates a laser weapon prototype:

http://www.rheinmetall-defence.com/en/rheinmetall_defence/public_relations/news/latest_news/details_2368.php

Flying colours: Rheinmetall successfully tests 50kW high-energy laser weapon

Rheinmetall has successfully tested its new 50kW high-energy weapon technology demonstrator. Conducted at the end of November, the test encompassed the entire operational sequence from target detection and tracking to target engagement. Building on a 123-year heritage, the Düsseldorf, Germany-based Group has once again made good its claim to be the global leader in high-energy laser (HEL) technology.

The test was conducted at Rheinmetall’s Ochsenboden Proving Groud (EZO) in Switzerland, in snowy conditions and blinding sunlight, and was initially supposed to show the increase in efficiency of the 50kW HEL weapon compared with the 10kW version demonstrated last year. A five-fold increase in laser power was thus available for the individual scenarios, which included Air Defence, Counter Rocket, Artillery, Mortar/C-RAM, and Asymmetric Warfare operations. Furthermore, the tests were intended to prove that separately located HEL weapon stations using Rheinmetall’s existing Beam Superimposing Technology (BST) are able to irradiate a single target in a superimposed, cumulative manner. This modular technology approach makes it possible to maintain the very good beam quality of the individual laser modules, increasing overall performance several times over. Thus, from the technical stand-point, nothing stands in the way of a future HEL weapon system with a 100kW output.

The 50kW HEL weapon technology demonstrator consisted of two functional models: a 30kW weapon station integrated into an Oerlikon Revolver Gun air defence turret for static and dynamic tests, coupled with an Oerlikon Skyguard fire control unit; and a 20kW weapon station integrated into a Revolver Gun turret of the first-generation, patched in for static tests. There were also additional modules for supplying power.

Witnessed by leading experts, the demonstration delivered compelling evidence for the 50kW HEL weapon technology demonstrator’s high stability: a massive, 15mm-thick steel girder was cut through at a distance of 1,000 metres. The successful shooting down of several nose-diving target drones at a range of two kilometres formed the second major highlight. Though they were flying at over 50 metres a second, the Skyguard radar had no trouble detecting the incoming unmanned aerial vehicles at a distance of three kilometres. Then the 30kW weapon station used the Skyguard data to carry out rough tracking mechanically. The optical tracking system in the Beam Forming Units (BFU’s) in the individual leaser weapon modules performed fine tracking of the UAVs. After reaching the programmed fire sector the laser weapon modules engaged the UAV’s immediately and destroyed the incoming UAVs within a few seconds.

The third highlight: detection, pursuit and successful engagement of an extremely small ballistic target. A steel ball measuring 82 mm in diameter and travelling at approximately 50 m/sec, the target replicated a mortar round. The Skyguard fire control unit immediately detected the target, followed by mechanical tracking with the 30kW laser weapon station. At this point, the BFU of the laser weapon module took over, optically tracking the target, which was then engaged and destroyed in flight, leaving no doubt as to the tactical viability of using laser weapons in future C-RAM scenarios. Moreover, the test makes clear that the time necessary for engaging mortar rounds at long ranges can be substantially reduced. Today, the required engagement time is already low enough to be in the region needed for C-RAM applications – even when adverse weather conditions make targets difficult to detect.

These tests have silenced the sceptics, proving that Rheinmetall’s HEL weapon technology demonstrators can neutralize targets even under the most difficult weather conditions, including snow, dazzling sunlight, ice and rain. Furthermore, the tests provide compelling proof that Rheinmetall leads the way in matching the energy and cooling requirements of a future HEL weapon system to the operational scenario requirements. Compared to last year, Rheinmetall has significantly increased the power density (kW/m3) of the technology demonstrator, enabling it produce twice the laser output within the same volume.

Outlook

Rheinmetall plans to set up a company-financed 60kW technology demonstrator in 2013 with greater laser output. Besides laser weapon stations, the plan calls for integrating 35mm Ahead Revolver Guns into the system. This will enable Rheinmetall engineers to identify and study possible synergies between laser weapons and automatic cannon.

Finally, the concept for a mobile HEL weapon, which was successfully implemented with 1kW functional model mounted on a special TM170 vehicle, will also be pursued, this time with different mobile platforms. The objective here is to explore the parameters for integrating an HEL weapon on vehicles operating in the open.

 

[Nemo888]

3D printed 30 round AR mags. Also works with a vast array of NATO 5.56 weapons.
Download unlimited 30 round mags for your AR today!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=q10Jz2qIog8

I said a year ago this would be big.  Now a USB stick or VPN connection could be a terrorist downloading weapons.

 

[Nemo888]

Literally download your 30 round mag and other AR parts here.

 

[Nemo888]

(This is getting really annoying. Why is the edit function broken for me? Add the last tow post to the first one please.)
The cad for the part is here. I already have a copy at home. Better send the RCMP.
http://defcad.org/mega-pack/

 

[a_majoor]

While I am very interested in 3D printer technology, I think for many uses this is more of a niche capability. Production items like magazines can be made far more quickly and cheaply via conventional means, and (as events have sadly demonstrated) criminals and terrorists can easily access weaponry from the vast array available world wide. (Of course stupid media tricks like providing interactive maps of gun owners to guide criminals does not help in the least).

The other factor working against "printing" guns is materials technology is still about a generation behind. You might be able to print parts, but they will be of low quality materials at best, and even current generations of metal printers need the parts to be extensively treated to make them strong and durable for use. I do not believe that functional receiver groups or barrels can be printed using currently available technology.

That said, if you are looking to make a "one shot" weapon, or print parts to modify a weapon for a very limited use, this is one avenue of approach.

 

[a_majoor]

Lots of good stuff today. This article shows off some new building technology that can be adapted to create strong, lightweight shelters. The ability to make floating shelters is interesting, and could be adaptable to such things as floating support bases and refugee shelters by shorelines. While the article gerflunkts to the great church of global warming, the technical aspects can be exploited for most terrain and climates (in the Arctic, you would build a smaller dome inside the larger one for insulation):

http://earthtechling.com/2013/01/hollands-floating-pavilion-designed-for-rising-seas/
http://nextbigfuture.com/2013/01/holland-makes-efte-domed-floating.html

Holland makes EFTE domed floating buildings that cover 4 tennis court area and plans 13000 floating buildings by 2040

In the Rijnhaven in Rotterdam, a new, eye-catching structure has been erected: a complex consisting of three floating half-spheres. The structure is 12 metres tall, with a total floor area the size of four tennis courts, and is fully relocatable.

The floating pavilion is remarkable not only because of the spheres floating on the water, but also because of its climate-proof, innovative, sustainable and flexible qualities. The floating pavilion is a pilot and a catalyst for floating construction in Rotterdam. The pavilion consists of three connected spheres, the largest of which has a radius of 12 meters. The floor area of the pavilion island is over 46 by 24 meters. It will be moored in the Rijnhaven until 2015: after that, it will be shipped off to another part of Stadshavens. The Rijnhaven is a suitable location for the pavilion due to the limited beating of the waves. Furthermore, fewer and fewer inland vessels will use the harbour. Moreover, the Rijnhaven is easily accessible by public transport, also over water.

The innovative pavilion responds to the objectives of Rotterdam to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gas CO2 by 50% and to ensure that the city remains climate-proof also in the future.

The round canopy, built by Dura Vermeer, is made up of dozens of hexagonal panels made of corrosion-resistant ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) plastic, which is 100 times lighter than glass. The weight savings from the ETFE allowed the designers to reduce the materials needed for the buoyant foundation, which is only about 7 feet thick and made of sandwiched expanded polystyrene sheets and concrete slabs.

Rotterdam plans to build floating urban districts. The blueprint calls for 13,000 climate-proof houses in the Stadshavens area by 2040 – of which around 1,200 would be built on top of the water. People will live, shop, work and recreate on the water.

 

[Dissident]

I can't read Swedish, but the video sold me:

http://www.fmv.se/sv/Nyheter-och-press/Nyheter-fran-FMV/Hoppande-handgranat/

Airburst (bouncing) hand grenade!

 

[Fishbone Jones]

I can't read Swedish, but the video sold me:

http://www.fmv.se/sv/Nyheter-och-press/Nyheter-fran-FMV/Hoppande-handgranat/

Airburst (bouncing) hand grenade!

Pete Townsend is selling hand grenades? Are the Who not getting royalties? ;D

 

[a_majoor]

Cool; a hand thrown "bouncing betty" mine. You know that had to hurt....

 

[a_majoor]

More esoteric devices with weapons potential. So called neutral partical beam accelerators were proposed many years ago for the Strategic Defense Initiative (AKA "Star Wars"), with the goal of having a beam weapon with the engagement speed close to that of a laser but capabul of punching through metal and composite shielding to damage internal parts (like computers, explosives, nuclear materials and so on). For many reasons, partical beam devices and especially neutral partical beam generators are massive, power hungry devices, so the practical application of partical beams as weapons has been nil.

This discovery suggests that "table top" particle beam genertors are now possible, so ganging multiple units together could create a compact, high power beam weapon with all the attributes desired back in the 1980's. Aircraft and ships in particular would be good candidates for such devices:

http://www.tifr.res.in/~uphill/neutral-atom-accelerators.html

NEUTRAL-ATOM ACCELERATORS - SCALING MEV ENERGIES!

Accelerating neutral atoms, contrary to laser-based as well as conventional particle accelerators, is a formidable feat, given the inert, ‘neutral’ response of these atoms to accelerating fields. Our recent studies provide a crucial breakthrough in the generation of accelerated neutral atoms, with energies as large as an MeV, as a result of the interaction of intense lasers with nanoclusters.

The recent hysteria, deservedly so, on the landmark historic discovery of a ‘new Higgs-boson-like particle’ of mass 125 giga-electron-volts (GeV) at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in CERN probably highlights the gargantuan heights scaled by conventional particle accelerators in recent times, routinely accelerating particles to even tera-electron-volt (TeV) energies. Laser-based plasma accelerators, on the contrary, follow radically different acceleration schemes and can produce GeV electron bunches (W. P. Leemans et al., Nature Phys. 2, 696 (2006)) in a ‘wakefield-accelerator’ as well as proton energies of 60 mega-electron-volts (MeV) in a so-called ‘target-normal sheath acceleration’ (TNSA) scheme (R. A. Snavely et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 2945 (2000)) – energies which sound mundane in comparison with conventionally accelerated particle energies, until one realizes that they have been achieved on compact inexpensive table-top accelerators, as opposed to kilometer-long tunnels across nations.

The basic underlying physics of accelerating a particle, however, hinges on an accelerating electric field, both in conventional as well as in laser-based particle accelerators, occasionally coupled with magnetic fields that steer the particle beam. Thus, while it is the electric field in a radiofrequency (RF) cavity in a conventional accelerator, in TNSA it is the electrostatic ‘sheath field’ produced at the target rear, whereas in an electron accelerator, it is the ‘wakefield’ in the plasma wave travelling in the ‘wake’ of the laser pulse. However diverse the acceleration scheme, they are all based on accelerating a charged particle – an electron, proton or an ion – by an electric field. Consequently, all the aforesaid acceleration schemes are rendered completely ineffective in the face of the challenging prospect of accelerating a neutral particle, which does not respond to electric or magnetic fields – precisely the reason why neutral particles can often penetrate deeper, into regions which are otherwise inaccessible to charged particles.

Previous experiments (U. Eichmann et al., Nature 461, 1261 (2009) and C. Maher-McWilliams et al., Nature Photonics 6, 386 (2012)) have reported milli-electron-volt (meV) neutral atoms by various laser-induced acceleration mechanisms.

Our recent studies (R. Rajeev et al., Nature Phys. DOI: 10.1038/NPHYS2526) provide a crucial breakthrough in the generation of accelerated neutral atoms, with energies as large as a mega-electron volt (MeV), nearly six orders of magnitude higher compared to previous results.

Inert gases like argon can conglomerate to clusters, each cluster being an aggregate of a few tens of thousands of atoms. The interaction of an intense (~1016 W/cm2) laser pulse with an argon cluster can remove as many as eight electrons from each atom in the cluster, which typically comprises about 40,000 atoms on an average. The swarm of electrons released from this laser-excited region loosely attach themselves to the clusters in the vicinity, forming a halo around them, and giving rise to so-called Rydberg-excited clusters.
On the other hand, the clusters which have been ionized by the laser (thereby generating the swarm of electrons) are reduced to assemblages of ions, bursting with their nascent charge, and exploding under their own self-charge Coulomb repulsion. This spews out mega-electron-volt ions, which then traverse through the sheath of Rydberg-excited clusters surrounding the laser-focus. A highly effective electron transfer happens from the Rydberg-excited cluster to the energetic ion, thereby engendering highly energetic neutral atoms.
Hence, in summary, the modus operandi of the acceleration mechanism may be envisaged in a scheme comprising laser-ionization, followed by acceleration of the ions and their subsequent neutralization via electron-recapture. Our experiments show that under optimum conditions, the conversion of ions to neutral atoms can be nearly 100%, thereby resulting in the first compact table-top laser-based MeV neutral atom source. 

With new-age technologies foraying into probing extremes of matter, accelerated mega-electron-volt neutral atoms have a distinct advantage over their charged counterparts. Unaffected by electric or magnetic fields, these neutral atoms penetrate deeper in solids than electrons or ions and thereby create high-finesse microstructures for novel electronics and optical devices. Fast atoms are also used both as diagnostics and heating sources in magnetic fusion devices called tokomaks, the most notable example being the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in France, the world’s most expensive scientific venture, aimed at alternative eco-friendly schemes of harnessing sustained nuclear power

Figure - Energy spectrum of neutral atoms generated with argon clusters. The spectrum for ions and neutrals is not too different from that for neutrals alone, thereby indicating a near-100% conversion efficiency even at energies of mega-electron-volts

 

[cupper]

Alternate airlift potential:

'First float' of Aeroscraft's futuristic transport

http://news.cnet.com/2300-11386_3-10015616.html

In a large warehouse in Southern California, a futuristic-looking metallic airship that looks more like an Area 51 UFO is set to revolutionize the cargo transport industry.

"First float" maneuvers, performed in a controlled in-hanger exercise earlier this month, were the first lift-off of the Aeroscraft prototype model ML866, the world's only Rigid Variable Buoyancy Air Vehicle.

The lighter-than-air vertical takeoff air transport vehicle is designed for oversized freight transportation, and someday possibly luxury travel. With a planned 20-ton lifting capacity, several U.S. agencies including DARPA, NASA, and the U.S. Department of Defense are betting that the Aeroscraft will modernize the world's mega-projects, facilitating movement of heavy equipment and supplies in urban, remote, and ecologically sensitive locations.

Made of aluminum and carbon fiber and filled with pressurized helium, the 230-foot Aeroscraft is covered in a reflective Mylar skin which makes it appear as though it's just arrived from a Hollywood back lot of the latest J.J. Abrams film.

A slide show of images:

http://news.cnet.com/2300-11386_3-10015616.html

 

[a_majoor]

A Japanese compay develops a software patch that can boost the speed of traffic over the Internet 30X. This seems like a relatively ow cost way to free up bandwidth in the DWAN (although for the most part it means I will be getting more internal communications, notices from the MFRC and spam from the mess....) Every technology is a two edged sword:

http://www.fujitsu.com/global/news/pr/archives/month/2013/20130129-02.html

Fujitsu Develops New Data Transfer Protocol Enabling Improved Transmissions Speeds

Software-only approach enables over 30 times improvement in file transfer speeds between Japan and the US, reduces virtual desktop operating latency to less than 1/6 of previous levels

Kawasaki, Japan, January 29, 2013 — Fujitsu Laboratories Limited today announced the development of a new data transfer protocol that, by taking a software-only approach, can significantly improve the performance of file transfers, virtual desktops and other various communications applications.

Conventionally, when using transmission control protocol (TCP)(1)—the standard protocol employed in communications applications—in a low-quality communications environment, such as when connected to a wireless network or during times of line congestion, data loss (packet loss) can occur, leading to significant drops in transmission performance due to increased latency from having to retransmit data.

To address this problem, Fujitsu Laboratories has succeeded at a software-only approach, developing: 1) A new protocol that incorporates an efficient proprietarily developed retransmission method based on user datagram protocol (UDP)(2), an optimized way to deliver streaming media able to reduce latency resulting from data retransmission when packet loss occurs; 2) Control technology that addresses the problem of UDP transmissions consuming excess bandwidth by performing a real-time measurement of available network bandwidth and securing an optimal amount of communications bandwidth without overwhelming TCP's share of the bandwidth; and 3) Technology that, by employing the new protocol, makes it possible to easily speed up existing TCP applications without having to modify them.

Through a simple software installation, the new technology will make it possible to speed up TCP applications that previously required costly specialized hardware, and it can also be easily incorporated into mobile devices and other kinds of equipment. Moreover, compared with TCP, the technology enables a greater than 30 times improvement in file transfer speeds between Japan and the US, in addition to reducing virtual desktop operating latency to less than 1/6 of previous levels. This, in turn, is expected to make it easier to take advantage of various applications employing international communication lines and wireless networks which are anticipated to become increasingly widespread.

Background

With the increased popularity of mobile devices and cloud services in recent years, a wide range of applications have begun to utilize communications capabilities. In many applications, such as file transfer, virtual desktop, and other communications applications, TCP is employed as a standard communications protocol. One issue with TCP is that data loss (packet loss) can occur in low-quality communications environments, resulting in significant drops in transmission performance (reduced throughput and higher latency) due to increased latency from having to retransmit data. In the future, it is expected that there will be greater opportunities to take advantage of international communications lines and wireless networks, making it necessary to ensure that transmission performance does not drop even when connected to a low-quality communications environment.

Technological Challenges

Currently, one well-known method of speeding up application transmission speeds in low-quality communications environments is to employ specialized acceleration hardware. This kind of specialized equipment, however, is expensive and bulky, making it difficult to incorporate into mobile devices. High-speed transmission methods for transferring files using software-based acceleration also exist, but to support a variety of existing TCP applications using these methods, it has been necessary to make modifications to the traffic processing components of each application.

Newly Developed Technology

By developing a proprietary software-based transfer protocol, Fujitsu Laboratories has succeeded in significantly improving the throughput and operating latency of existing TCP applications.

Key features of the new technology are as follows:

1) New protocol improves throughput and latency in low-quality communications environments

Fujitsu has developed a new protocol that incorporates a proprietarily developed and efficient retransmission method based on UDP, a protocol optimized for delivering streaming media. As a result, the new protocol is able to reduce latency resulting from data retransmission when packet loss occurs. The protocol can quickly distinguish between lost packets and packets that have not yet arrived at their destination, thereby preventing unnecessary retransmissions and latency from occurring. By incorporating the new protocol as a software add-on to UDP, it is possible to maintain the high speeds typical of UDP while avoiding packet loss and packets being sent in reverse order, UDP's main weaknesses. This, in turn, has enabled improvements in packet delivery and latency. In a comparison with standard TCP, the new protocol achieved a throughput increase of over 30 times during a simulated file transfer between Japan and the US, and operating packet delivery latency was reduced to less than 1/6 of previous levels.


Figure 1 Effects of the Newly Developed Protocol
2) Communications bandwidth control technology using real-time measurement of available network bandwidth

Fujitsu Laboratories developed a control technology that, by performing real-time measurement of available network bandwidth, can secure an optimal amount of communications bandwidth without overwhelming the share of bandwidth used by other TCP communications in a mixed TCP environment. For example, when other TCP communications are using relatively little bandwidth, the bandwidth share for the new protocol will increase, and when other TCP communications are taking up a higher percentage of bandwidth, the new protocol will use a smaller share.

3) Technology for accelerating existing TCP applications without any modifications

Fujitsu Laboratories has developed a technology that automatically converts TCP traffic standard for a wide variety of applications into the new protocol described in (1) above. This makes it possible to significantly improve the speed of a host of existing applications, including file transfer applications, virtual desktop applications, and web browsing applications, all without the need for any modifications.

Results

The use of the new technology is expected to speed up the performance of a wide range of communications applications employing international communication lines and wireless networks which are anticipated to become widely used more and more. For instance, the technology can help speed up web browsing and file download speeds in mobile communications environments where there is deterioration due to building obstructions or movement. In addition, the technology can improve data transfer speeds between datacenters in Japan and the US. It is also expected to help improve the usability of virtual desktops when accessing a virtual desktop located on a remote server using a low-quality communications environment (Figure 2).


Figure 2 Applications of the New Technology
Future Development

During fiscal 2013, Fujitsu Laboratories aims to commercialize the new technology as a communications middleware solution for improving communications speeds without having to modify existing TCP applications.

 

[a_majoor]

Interesting use of Metamaterial technology. From "earthquake proofing" this could also be adapted to protect military structures from the effects of near misses by explosive ordinance (although a separate "fence" would have to be erected around the structure to mitigate shockwaves travelling through air, since they are moving at different speeds and frequencies):

http://nextbigfuture.com/2013/02/france-has-constructed-earthquake.html#more

France has constructed earthquake cloaking for protecting hospitals, nuclear power plants and other structures

A group from the Institut Fresnel in Marseille and the ground improvement specialist company, Menard, both in France, say they’ve built and tested a seismic invisibility cloak in an alluvial basin in southern France. That’s the first time such a device has been constructed.

Future versions of this system could be used to protect hospital, nuclear power plants and other key facilities.

The secret of invisibility cloaks lies in engineering a material on a scale smaller than the wavelength of the waves it needs to manipulate. The appropriate sub-wavelength structures can then be arranged in a way that steers waves.

The French team created its so-called metamaterial by drilling three lines of empty boreholes 5 metres deep in a basin of silted clay up to 200 metres deep. They then monitored the area with acoustic sensors.

The experiment consisted of creating waves with a frequency of 50 Hertz and a horizontal displacement of 14 mm from a source on one side of the array. They then measured the way the waves propagated across it.

The French team say its metamaterial strongly reflected the seismic waves, which barely penetrated beyond the second line of boreholes.

One problem with this kind of array is that the reflected waves could end up doing more damage to buildings nearby. That’s why some groups are looking at metamaterials that absorb energy rather than steer or reflect it.

 

[a_majoor]

More medical technological innovation. A sort of one shot injection to deal with a wide variety of medical problems. Predeployment can be a lot faster if you don't have to get dozens of vaccinations and shots (especially if you deploy to exotic places like Harrington Lake  :rage. This could also provide quick and effective treatment to disease picked up in theater.

Faster, please:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130207093006.htm

Unique Peptide Has Therapeutic Potential Against Cancers, Neurological Disorders, and Infectious Diseases

Feb. 7, 2013 — UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists have synthesized a peptide that shows potential for pharmaceutical development into agents for treating infections, neurodegenerative disorders, and cancer through an ability to induce a cell-recycling process called autophagy.

Autophagy is a fundamental recycling process in which intracellular enzymes digest unneeded and broken parts of the cell into their individual building blocks, which are then reassembled into new parts. The role of autophagy is crucial both in keeping cells healthy and in enabling them to fight different diseases. Physician scientists in UT Southwestern's Center for Autophagy Research are deciphering how to manipulate the autophagy process in an effort to disrupt the progression of disease and promote health.

In their latest findings reported online in the journal Nature, Center researchers were able to synthesize a peptide called Tat-beclin 1, which induces the autophagy process. Mice treated with Tat-beclin-1 were resistant to several infectious diseases, including West Nile virus and another mosquito-borne virus called chikungunya that is common to Asia, Africa, and India. In additional experiments, the team demonstrated that human cells treated with the peptide were resistant to HIV infection in a laboratory setting.

"Because autophagy plays such a crucial role in regulating disease, autophagy-inducing agents such as the Tat-beclin 1 peptide may have potential for pharmaceutical development and the subsequent prevention and treatment of a broad range of human diseases," said Dr. Beth Levine, Director of the Center for Autophagy Research and senior author of the study. Dr. Levine, Professor of Internal Medicine and Microbiology, is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at UT Southwestern.

Disruption of the autophagy process is implicated in a wide variety of conditions including aging, and diseases, including cancers, neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, and infectious diseases such as those caused by West Nile and HIV viruses.

UT Southwestern has applied for a patent on Tat-beclin-1. Peptides are strings of amino acids found in proteins. The Tat-beclin 1 peptide was derived from sequences in beclin 1, one of the first known proteins in mammals found to be essential for autophagy, a finding that was made by Dr. Levine's laboratory. Her research has since demonstrated that defects in beclin 1 contribute to many types of disease. Conversely, beclin 1 activity and the autophagy pathway appear to be important for protection against breast, lung, and ovarian cancers, as well as for fighting off viral and bacterial infections, and for protecting individuals from neurodegenerative diseases and aging.

The study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the HHMI, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research-Earth and Life Sciences Open Program, Cancer Research United Kingdom, and a Robert A. Welch Foundation Award.

Other UT Southwestern scientists involved include Dr. Sanae Shoji-Kawata, first author and former postdoctoral researcher now in Japan; Dr. Rhea Sumpter Jr., an instructor of internal medicine and member of the autophagy center; Dr. Matthew Leveno, assistant professor of internal medicine and autophagy center member; Dr. Carlos Huerta, former postdoctoral researcher of biochemistry now at Reata Pharmaceuticals; Dr. Nick Grishin, professor of biochemistry and HHMI investigator; Dr. Lisa Kinch, bioinformatics scientist; Zhongju Zou, research specialist; and Quhua Sun, computational biologist.

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego; Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego; Baylor College of Medicine in Houston; Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis; Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Cancer Research UK, London; Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School; the Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; the HHMI; and University of California, Berkeley, also participated in the study.