While we don’t like the idea of devastating nuclear weapons any more than anyone else, we have to admit that the tests conducted with them in the 50s were pretty spectacular. AtomCentral.com recently released remastered HD footage of several of the Operation Teapot tests which took place in 1955.

The explosions are vivid, violent…and kind of beautiful. In a sad, deadly way, of course. There are several blasts in the video below, and there are a couple of painfully bright flashes – so we don’t recommend watching in a dark room.

This footage was previously unreleased from tests conducted on the Nevada test grounds. These were some seriously massive bombs that created incredible explosions. The detonations are definitely amazing to watch…from the safety of 60 years away.

The post And…Boom: Amazing HD Footage of Atomic Bomb Testing first appeared on Gajitz.

A stabilized sphere, this remarkable new drone being developed in conjunction with the United States Marine Corps can swim upstream or roll uphills, able to tackle difficult terrain both by land and sea, including “paved road, off-road, sand, snow, sloped surfaces and water.”

Using nine-axis stabilization and“pendulum motion” propulsion system, the bot moves by shifting the center of gravity back and forth and a variety of steering algorithms. Its 360-degree capabilities mean it can rotate and turn quite literally on a dime.

The size can be scaled as needed, with models as small as a few inches to ones as wide as ten feet. Able to operate for 8 hours on a single charge, the robust design features extended batteries, redundant systems and multiple payload bays that can be used for accessories like imaging devices, sonar and radiation detection – no offensive capabilities to report (at least, not as yet). “GuardBot Inc. is focused on the design and development of spherical unmanned amphibious vehicle systems. The current GuardBot design has two payload bays and is used for military, homeland security and commercial applications. Conceived in 2004 for a space planetary mission on Mars, GuardBot remains unique with no known competition. GuardBot, Inc. owns an exclusive license for this technology which is protected by multiple US and foreign patents.”

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The horrors of the war-torn regions of Sudan are unimaginable. In 2012, Daniel Omar lost both of his arms from a bomb dropped by his own country. First reported by Time magazine, his plight got the attention of the CEO of Not Impossible Labs, who want to use their 3D printing technology to give Daniel new hope.

In South Sudan, 50,000 amputees, including Daniel, are receiving 3D-printed extremities. It sounds like a big order for a guy, a laptop and a 3D printer – which is why CEO Mick Ebeling set up a lab at a nearby hospital dedicated to building affordable 3D-printed prosthesis. Locals are being trained to help build the prosthesis, and the cost for each one is an incredibly low $100.

Of course a $100 prosthetic isn’t going to be the same as a $5000 one. The 3D printed Ebeling prosthetic can’t lift as much, and the hands, with limited mobility, require special attachments to eat with utensils. But the independence is insurmountable. They allowed Daniel the pleasure of feeding himself for the first time in two years.

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War is often more terrifying in hindsight. This is especially apparent in the Cold War-era mega-artillery cannon aseptically named “Atomic Annie.” Created during those especially paranoid years of the Eisenhower administration, it was a weapon capable of “wiping out an enemy division.”

That disturbing quote is pulled from a commemorative plaque embedded in a rock that sits beside Atomic Annie, the only weapon of its kind to fire a nuclear round, at Fort Sill. (In a macabre and bizarre side story, the Atomic Annie that fired the shot was first lost, then during transport across Germany, it tumbled down a cliff and killed two soldiers.) The gun is an 85 ton, 84 foot long monolith with a 10 foot, 280mm barrel. It was capable of firing its nuclear artillery 20 miles.

On May 25, 1953, the first and only shot was fired and “exploded on target with a roaring violence equal to 15,000 tons of TNT.” Twenty of the cannons were produced but luckily none were used. The rhetoric used on the plaque beside Atomic Annie at Fort Sill best exemplifies the machismo-laced arrogance of war: “[the] milestone in military history and in the advancement of nuclear weaponry erupted in a churning mass of heat and flame that surrounded the core of the atomic fireball.” It’s a perfect example of how grandiose the ego of man can become.

(via Atlas Obscura/Allison Meier)

The post Atomic Annie: The Terrifying Little-Known Nuclear Cannon first appeared on Gajitz.

Aircraft anti-detection systems have gotten incredibly complex. So complex, in fact, that they can intercept a radar signal and send back a picture of something other than the aircraft (see the images below). Researchers at the University of Rochester in New York have figured out a better way to outsmart the outsmarters by exploiting the quantum properties of photons. Attempting to measure a photon always destroys its quantum properties, so the team posited that they could shoot polarized photons at aircraft to create images of the craft.

If an enemy were to intercept those photons and send them back in a deceptive pattern to indicate that the measured object is a different shape or in a different location, it would be immediately obvious. This is because the act of manipulating the photons would always change their delicate quantum properties. As seen in the sample images above, a manipulated image is simple to detect thanks to the high rate of polarization errors in the returned signal. The system isn’t flawless as there are still ways for very savvy adversaries to crack it – but there are also ways to fix those vulnerabilities.

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