Monday, 1 December 2008

Boeing’s ABL Ray-Gun Fires First Full-Power Blast

Remember Boeing’s Airborne Laser (ABL) which was designed to annihilate nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)? Well, its first shots were fired through a calorimeter back in September and now, as Boeing announced today, has completed its first full-intensity ground test with the weapon integrated in its entirety inside a Boeing 747-400F aircraft.

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Friday, 14 November 2008

FIRESTRIKE: Northrop Unveils Weaponized Solid-State Laser

Weapons contractor Northrop Grumman have announced a breakthrough in battlefield tech with the creation of the world’s first weaponized solid-state laser. Called FIRESTRIKE, the ruggedized, high-energy, 15kW laser powers-up in less than half a second and is fully-developed, ready for action now.

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Friday, 17 October 2008

FlashPoint ES: Microwave Torch Cooks Food, Heats Drinks.

Here’s a neat gadget that’s equally as useful for a regular day at the office as it is for survival in the deepest, darkest wilderness. Called the FlashPoint ES, it is a mini-microwave “Exo-Stove” in the slim shape of a torch, that can be used for everything from cooking up that rabbit you caught with your bare hands to simply re-heating your coffee at work.

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Tuesday, 30 September 2008

Ponoko Photomake: Create Real 3D Objects From Simple Sketches

Ponoko have developed a great new laser-cutting service called Photomake that lets you transform your drawings into real objects without even leaving the house. The web-based service requires you to upload a clear photo of your drawing for the system to scan, the design will then be laser-cut from a material of your choosing and shipped to your door.

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Wednesday, 25 June 2008

Mitsubishi Laser TV: LaserVue 65-Inch & 73-Inch Due In Autumn

Mitsubishi has announced an autumn / fall launch for its new laser TV technology called LaserVue. The sets will be available in 65-inch and 73-inch models and could prove to be the most energy efficient displays on the market.


Mitsubishi is being very quiet about how the technology works but have been quick to point out its advantages over competing technologies.


The displays run at 120Hz with 500cd/m² of brightness and have a 200 percent color gamut which is more than double that of traditional HDTVs.

Another plus is that these Laser TVs draw less than 200 watts which is a third of that used by plasma sets and half that used by LCD displays.

Pricing is expected to be similar to that of Plasma and LCD sets so keep an eye out.

Source:
Engadget

Thursday, 19 June 2008

Laser-Cut Scarfs: Wrap Yourself In Typography

A little company called LittleFactory has designed a range of scarfs that utilize interference typography, not as an addition to a design, but as the design itself.


A laser makes precision cuts through the micro-fiber suede to form the design in a single length of 62 x 4-inch material.


You can get these interesting numbers (no pun intended) in numbers, upper case or lower case letters.

Don’t know how warm they’ll be or if you can get them customized with your own personal typographic concoction. I do know, however, that you can get yourself one for $52.

Sources:
LittleFactory
Gizmodo