How small is the world’s smallest hard drive? Smaller than you’d believe.
Read more
How to Pack for the Apocalypse
Posted in business, innovation
Bug-out bags/survival kits are a controversial topic. Everybody has a different philosophy about what makes a good one. This is Brent’s. While bigger and heavier than a lot of the bags you’ll see online, you can keep it in the closet by your front door or the trunk of your car, and you’ll be prepared for an emergency that could last many days. Brent’s kit doubles as a slick backpacking setup, so you’ll get to know your gear extremely well, and you get to have fun with it, too.
Still haven’t subscribed to WIRED on YouTube? ►► http://wrd.cm/15fP7B7
CONNECT WITH WIRED
Web: http://wired.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WIRED
Facebook: https://facebook.com/WIRED
Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/wired
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+WIRED
Instagram: http://instagram.com/WIRED
Tumblr: http://WIRED.tumblr.com
Want even more? Subscribe to The Scene: http://bit.ly/subthescene
Roboticists frequently turn to nature for inspiration for their inventions, reverse engineering the traits that evolution has developed over millennia. Others are taking a shortcut by simply integrating modern technology with living animals.
The idea may seem crazy, but animals and machines are not so different. Just as a network of wires carry electrical signals between a robot’s sensors, processing units and motors, the flow of action potentials around our nervous system connects our sensory organs, brain and muscles.
But while there are similarities, the natural world has come up with some intricate solutions to problems that engineers are nowhere near replicating in silicon. That has prompted some scientists to try and piggyback on evolution’s innovations by building part-animal, part-machine cyborgs. Here’s a rundown of some of the most eye-catching examples.
Read more
The Office of Naval Research and Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, conduct the first shot of the Railgun at the terminal range November 17, 2016.
There are also current tests of with an Army Howitzer is now firing a super high-speed, high-tech, electromagnetic Hyper Velocity Projectile.
Hypervelocity projectiles from regular howitzers and navy 5 inch guns would be mach 3 and have 60 to 100 mile range.
Read more
In a bid to get around terrestrial height restrictions, Clouds Architecture Office has proposed suspending the world’s tallest skyscraper from an asteroid, leaving residents to parachute to earth.
New York-based Clouds Architecture Office drew up plans for Analemma Tower to “overturn the established skyscraper typology” by building not up from the ground but down from the sky by affixing the foundations to an orbiting asteroid.
“Harnessing the power of planetary design thinking, it taps into the desire for extreme height, seclusion and constant mobility,” said the architects, who have previously drawn up proposals for space transportation and a 3D-printed ice house on Mars.
Read more
UNSW researchers have identified a critical step in the molecular process that allows cells to repair damaged DNA – and it could mean big things for the future of anti-ageing drugs, childhood cancer survivors and even astronauts. It could lead to a revolutionary drug that actually reverses ageing, improves DNA repair and could even help NASA get its astronauts to Mars.
Their experiments in mice suggest a treatment is possible for DNA damage from ageing and radiation. It is so promising it has attracted the attention of NASA, which believes the treatment can help its Mars mission.
While our cells have an innate capability to repair DNA damage − which happens every time we go out into the sun, for example – their ability to do this declines as we age.
Read more
Some parts of the body – including the tissues of the brain and testes – have long been considered to be completely hidden from our immune system.
Last year scientists made the amazing discovery that a set of previously unseen channels connected the brain to our immune system; now, it appears we might also need to rethink the immune system’s relationship with the testes, potentially explaining why some men are infertile and how some cancer vaccines fail to provide immunity.
Researchers from University of Virginia School of Medicine discovered a ‘very small door’ which allows the testes to expose some of its antigens to the immune system without letting it inside.
Read more