Author: John

Approach – The Navy and Marine Corps Aviation Safety Magazine

ApproachI was browsing the Internet today for random stuff and happened across this. It’s the online version of the Naval Safety Center’s publication  ‘Approach’.  All sorts of astounding stories about mid air collisions, shattered canopies, and others tails of how things can go bad and what can be learned from them. I’m sure that most people will never be in a position where they are running through an emergency checklist because they have lost their starboard flight side hydraulics and most of their port stab, but the lessons about keeping a cool composure and the value of training are ones that we can all use.

Approach – The Navy and Marine Corps Aviation Safety Magazine

A Hot Dog Vending Machine

Hot Menu - photo by James Hart
Once again, I’m impressed with Japanese vending machine technology. This time it’s hot food for a few bucks, er, yen.

We all heard about the wacky vending machines before coming to Japan, but this still surprised me. Hot dogs, noodles, french fries, etc microwaved from frozen, 400Yen each.

There is a close up of the selections here.
[via metroblog tokyo]

1 GB, Then and Now

1GB in 1987 and 1GB in 2007When people say that things just keep getting smaller sure aren’t kidding. Seen here is a photo comparing 1GB of storage in 1987 and same amount in 2007. Wow! (click on the image for a larger version) I once owned a Burroughs B-20 computer system. It’s hard drive was the bigger than a shoe box and fit in the bottom of this wheeled cabinet that the keyboard, monitor, and communications box sat on. I was amazed at just how big a 5MB drive was. I’m so grateful for the miniaturization of technology.

[via gizmologia, digg]

Atomic Rocket – Mini-Mag Orion

Mini-Mag OrionOh cool, Mars in six months? Nice…

Andrews Space & Technology (AS&T) introduced an innovative propulsion system that could significantly shorten round trips from Earth to Mars (from two years to only six months!) and enable our spaceships to reach Jupiter after one year of space traveling. The system, which may dramatically affect interplanetary space travel is called the Miniature Magnetic Orion (Mini-Mag Orion for short), and is an optimization of the 1958 Orion interplanetary propulsion concept.

[via slashdot ]
Mini-Mag Orion Will Reach for the Stars

You Too Can Be Daredevil With Haptic RADAR

The Haptic Radar / Extended Skin ProjectWell, its not quite the super sensory perception you see in comic books, a group of researchers utilizing  Sharp IR sensors created what could be called a ‘second skin’. Think of how something gently touching the fine hairs on your arm instantly tells you that something is going on. Very handy if your moving around in the dark, you get a millisecond warning before you run into the wall. It might be enough warning to make you start slowing down before maximum damage can be done. Now imagine that you can do the same thing but with objects that are inches or even feet away from you. With enough sensors you could navigate through a room in the dark and not bump into anything. The possibilities here are almost endless.
[via Hack a Day]
The Haptic Radar / Extended Skin Project