As drones become more and more common among the military, regular folks, and bad guys alike, security fears about unmanned aircraft systems continue to mount. It’s just about impossible to tell whether an in-flight UAS is friendly – and when a drone is headed toward a restricted area like the White House or a prison yard, there’s no time to ask questions.

Battelle, a tech-development company that seems to have its hand in just about every industry imaginable, has developed the DroneDefender to easily secure sensitive areas from drones. It’s a shoulder-mounted anti-drone weapon that kills the flying machines with invisible bullets made of radio waves.

The ten-pound device can swat drones out of the sky from up to 400 meters away. Its shot jams up most GPS and ISM frequencies to disable the device and prevent it from spying, carrying weapons, detonating, or whatever else its goal (or rather, its operator’s goal) might have been. The DroneDefender doesn’t actually physically harm the drone – it just quickly and effectively neutralizes the potential threat.

The post Sound of the Fury? Radio Wave Gun Shoots Down Drones first appeared on Gajitz.

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.

These antique cutlery sets may have come in handy the last time someone told you your mashed potatoes were a little on the lumpy side. The set above dates back to 1715 and the scenarios in which it would have been useful are probably lost to time. But using the weapons would require at least a few seconds of forethought since the barrels actually point directly toward the user. To fire them, the user would have to flip them around and aim the handle of the utensil at the intended adversary.

Another set of deadly cutlery ups the stakes (steaks?) a bit by sporting double barrels. One trigger on each meant that both barrels would fire at once, essentially giving the cutlery-holder the ability to fire four bullets in a second’s time. Although the date and place of origin are unknown, this set does at least keep its barrels pointed away from the user at all times. We are loathe to point out the obvious, but aren’t knives and spear-like forks like these deadly enough on their own?

(via: Douglas Self’s Museum of Retro Technology)

The post Dinner to Die For: Antique Guns Disguised as Silverware first appeared on Gajitz.

The novelty of 3D printing is getting yet more novel. In an attempt to legitimize the convenience the technology brings, an American (who else?) additive manufacturing firm has printed a working metal handgun that is the first of its kind.

Solid Concepts, a California-based 3D printing company, created all of the more than 30 parts to their handgun with stainless steel and a custom-made alloy. The laser-sintered firearm was based on a classic model from 1911, the 45ACP.

Building each part entailed powdered metals interacting with a high-intensity laser. According to a spokesperson for the firm, the gun “functions beautifully and has already handled 50 rounds of successful firing.” Technological advances aside, hopefully this won’t throw any kinks into the vital realm of gun control reform.

The post Additive Tech Company Prints Fully-Functioning Weaponry first appeared on Gajitz.

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.