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| CATAPULTING MATHS TO A NEW HEIGHT |
| People who made ancient catapults combined mathematics and engineering skills to create the most powerful weapons of their time, according to a new report. |
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| US DEVELOPS LETHAL NEW VIRUSES |
| A scientist funded by the US government has deliberately created an extremely deadly form of mousepox, a relative of the smallpox virus, through genetic engineering. The new virus kills all mice even if they have been given antiviral drugs as well as a vaccine that would normally protect them. |
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| ABRUPT WING STALL |
| When a fighter pilot engages an enemy at near sonic speeds, abrupt wing stall is definitely not part of his flight plan. Yet for the past 50 years, all aircraft that can operate at velocities near the speed of sound, and angles of attack near maximum lift, have experienced some form of uncommanded lateral motion – where the aircraft undergoes a one-sided or side-to-side upset from the intended direction of flight. At the very least, it causes loss of advantage. At its worst, it could result in a loss of the aircraft. |
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| MEDIEVAL WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION |
| Medieval recipes for gunpowder produce nearly the same firepower as today's manufactured equivalent, according to recent weapons tests, providing clues as to how the British fleet became one of the largest fighting forces in the world. |
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| U.S. ARMY SELECTS NORTHROP GRUMMAN DESIGN CONCEPT FOR MOBILE HIGH-ENERGY LASER WEAPON FOR TACTICAL MISSILE DEFENSE |
| The U.S. Army and the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMoD) have selected a Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) design concept for the Mobile Tactical High-Energy Laser (MTHEL) prototype, a laser weapon capable of shooting down short-range rockets and artillery projectiles in flight. |
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| GAMMA-RAY WEAPONS |
| AN EXOTIC kind of nuclear explosive being developed by the US Department of Defense could blur the critical distinction between conventional and nuclear weapons. The work has also raised fears that weapons based on this technology could trigger the next arms race. |
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| CHINA, RUSSIA CALL FOR BAN ON SPACE WEAPONS |
| China and Russia, with the United States plans in their sights, called for a quick start to talks on a treaty to ban weapons in space. |
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| NEW LIGHTWEIGHT MATERIALS MAY YIELD SAFER BUILDINGS, LONGER-LASTING TIRES |
| Researchers say they have developed the world's strongest, lightest solids. Called aerogels, the sturdy materials are a high-tech amalgam of highly porous glass and plastic that is as light as air. |
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| THE INDESTRUCTIBLE SANDWICH |
| First came the atom bomb, the stealth bomber and the airborne laser. Now comes the US military's latest fearsome weapon: the indestructible sandwich. |
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| FLYING HIGH |
| What do the hawkmoth, the fruit fly, and the bird-wrasse fish all have in common? Over millions of years, each of these animals seems to have figured out how to achieve high-lift in their respective medium…. quickly, and with more stability and less heave, pitch, yaw, torque, drag and cavitation than man-made machines have yet been able to approach. |
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| STICKY FINGERPRINTS. EVEN A PRINT SMUDGED BEYOND RECOGNITION CAN NAIL A CRIMINAL. |
| THE sweaty, greasy residue that forms a fingerprint might one day reveal the identity of a criminal as surely as the pattern of whorls and ridges.
Whenever we touch something, we leave behind a minute residue of proteins, salts and fatty acids. Because the exact proportions of these components vary between individuals, some forensic scientists suspect that a chemical fingerprint could be as unique as a physical one. |
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| FROM SILKWORM SILK, CORNELL RESEARCHERS PRODUCED HYBRID MATERIALS THAT ONE DAY COULD HEAL WOUNDS AND MAKE BULLETPROOF VESTS |
| Imagine a material that could expand by three to six times in size while remaining strong and stiff, and also could be biodegradable and biocompatible. Such a material would be invaluable as a wound-healing bandage or possibly a drug-delivery mechanism. |
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| FUTURE ARMY COULD RUN ON ALTERNATIVE FUELS, PHOTOSYNTHESIS |
| Getting fuel to soldiers in the field has been a problem since machines replaced horses.
But according to a new report, by 2025 soldiers could make fuel and electricity where they are, instead of relying on long supply chains to transport energy to them. |
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| A NEW ARTIFICIAL MINE DETECTOR WILL ONE DAY SUBSTITUTE A DOG |
| Anti-personnel mines annually kill or injure 260,000 people worldwide. Mine clearance is a difficult and dangerous task, especially when it concerns plastic mines which can’t be recognized by typical metal detectors. Specially-trained mine searching dogs are able to find mines by specific odor. Since dogs’ sense of smell is 23 times as strong as that of human being, they can smell specific odor of explosives even under the ground. Unfortunately, dogs can only concentrate for only 10 to 20 minutes and then they need a break to recover. As a result, a group of miners advances very slowly. |
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| US EFFORTS TO DEVELOP A SUPER-PLANE ARE BELOW EXPECTATIONS |
| Mass media have recently informed about the development of a new type of combat and attack planes; according to it, the new plane looks more like a disk-shaped UFO, rather than today's typical plane. The information announced seems to be just another misinformation in its nature. Analogous situation had already happened many years ago when untruly information about the Star Wars project was thrown in and made the USSR waste billions of dollars invested in the development of its own similar projects. |
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Military engineering and weapon
