Science and Technology

Saturday, 05 November 2022 06:19

Russia’s cheap homemade drones bring Ukrainian counter offensive to a halt

Since October 10, 2022, when Russia retaliated fiercely against the Ukrainian intelligence-masterminded terrorist attack on the Kerch bridge, world attention has been riveted on the Russian use of inexpensive Geran-2 drones. Russia has used the Iranian-designed drones, which reportedly cost under $20,000/- a pop, to effortlessly knock out 40% of Ukraine’s power generation infrastructure, despite Western-supplied MANPADS and AWACS support. Even as Ukraine and its Western curators are struggling to put together an effective counter to the Geran 2 drone, Russia has escalated its use of inexpensive drones, this time all along the frontline where Russian forces have brought the…

Friday, 04 November 2022 06:11

WhatsApp Groups can now upgrade to Communities with larger membership. This is how the new feature works

WhatsApp today is officially launching Communities, the new feature offering larger, more structured discussion groups that first entered into testing earlier this year. Designed to help organizations, clubs, schools and other private groups better communicate and stay organized, Communities bring a number of new features to the messaging platform, including admin controls, support for sub-groups and announcement groups, 32-person voice and video calls, larger-file sharing, emoji reactions and polls. Communities themselves can support groups of up to 1,024 users and offer end-to-end encryption. Some of the features developed for Communities, like emoji reactions, large-file sharing (up to 2GB) and the…

Thursday, 27 October 2022 06:47

US-supplied AGM-88 HARM missiles are failing to breach Russian defenses in Ukraine

According to this Russian Telegram channel, Ukraine struck Russia’s Belgorod region with HARM missiles last night. It’s claimed all the missiles were brought down. Citizens have posted photographs of the wreckage with markings indicative of HARM. The AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missiles (ARM), which the US plugged into Ukraine as a game-changing weapon system, hasn’t been a stellar performer, going by the frequency with which RuMoD claims to be downing the missile. The missile’s use against civilian targets would corroborate that assessment. HARM was built for carriage by NATO aircraft. Ukraine modified its MiG-29 fighters with US help to carry and…

Wednesday, 26 October 2022 06:27

Iran’s Shahed-136 drone vs US’ Switchblade 300s drone: Which is more combat efficient?

Ukrainians say the drones buzz like flying mopeds or chainsaws. In recent days Russia has unleashed a deadly wave of drone attacks on Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, the capital. Most of the drones appear to have been the Iranian-made Shahed-136, a “kamikaze” model that detonates on impact. They have only recently made an appearance in Ukraine but quickly left their mark. Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, claims that Russia has ordered 2,400 Iranian drones. What impact might they have on the war? Kamikaze drones, also known as loitering munitions or “suicide” drones, have proliferated in recent years. Their effectiveness varies. Switchblade…

Tuesday, 25 October 2022 06:17

Germany’s defense system used in Ukraine clashes with Russian missiles

Germany announced earlier this month that it was rushing to deliver the first IRIS-T SLM system in the wake of a massive Russian attack on Ukraine’s capital. Over a week later, the first photographic evidence of the system is flooding the internet. The German government had received severe criticism for the slow transfer of advanced weaponry to Ukraine. While the US promised to expedite the delivery of NASAMS in the wake of Russia’s air raid, Berlin rushed to deliver the first unit of IRIS-T. The wreckage of an IRIS-T SLM missile was photographed on October 19, reportedly in or close…

Monday, 24 October 2022 06:06

NATO just deployed its first killer ground robot

The Netherlands has deployed several armed and unmanned ground vehicles (UGV), making it the first NATO country to do so — setting an alarming precedent for the use of killer robots on the battlefield by the West. As Vice reports, the AI-powered robots dubbed the Tracked Hybrid Modular Infantry Systems (THeMIS) were developed by Estonian defense company Milrem Robotics and were dispatched to Lithuania on September 12. Armed with tank treads, they can host a number of different weapons. Pictures published by the Dutch military show the tank-like machines outfitted with machine guns. "We have deployed four weaponized [unmanned] machines…

Saturday, 22 October 2022 06:06

Startup turns desert sand into fertile soil in just 7 hours

Norwegian startup Desert Control claims that it can fight desertification efficiently by spraying sand with Liquid NanoClay (LNC) and turning it into soil in a matter of hours. In the past, we’ve featured many ‘green heroes‘ who have been fighting desertification for decades, using all sorts of techniques, from draught-resistant shrubbery to tree barriers, but now a startup claims to obtain much better results in the same harsh conditions in just seven hours. Invented in the early 2000s by Norwegian scientist Kristian Olesen, Liquid NanoClay is the secret behind Desert Control’s amazing achievements. When sprayed onto sand, this amazing invention…

Friday, 21 October 2022 06:15

Russia upgrades Iranian Kamikaze drones to make them more accurate, deadly

Russia has allegedly upgraded the Iranian Shahed-136 kamikaze drone’s guiding system, enhancing its lethality and accuracy against Ukrainian targets, reported the Odesa Journal, citing a military expert. Iranian drone attacks are already wreaking havoc on Ukrainian cities. These attacks highlighted how Russia is aggressively using Iranian-made attack drones to support its military effort in Ukraine. Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military expert, disclosed that Russian drones produced in Iran had their inertial guidance systems replaced by GLONASS control units, Russia’s satellite navigation system. The Kamikaze Shahed-136 UAVs, according to Kovalenko, have been modified by Russian engineers. He underlined that Moscow has now…

Thursday, 20 October 2022 06:19

Microsoft's $22bn worth smart goggles failed in US Army tests - Report

In 2021, the U.S. Army awarded a $22 billion dollar contract to Microsoft to build HoloLens-like smart goggles for its soldiers. Over a year later, the smart goggles program has been plagued with delays as well as performance issues and failed four of six elements in a test conducted by the U.S. Army, Business Insider has reported. The U.S. Army first awarded Microsoft a $480 million contract in 2018 to create a prototype of the advanced smart goggles, dubbed Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS). Although the smart goggles look much like Microsoft's commercially available HoloLens Augmented Reality (AR) headsets, the…

Wednesday, 19 October 2022 06:18

US AbramsX, Russian Armata next-gen tanks come out in open as Moscow intensifies attack on Ukraine

Videos of Russia’s next-gen Main Battle Tank (MBT), the T-14 Armata, have surfaced online, with some speculating that the tank has been deployed in Ukraine. The US, meanwhile, has officially unveiled its AbramsX tank. Certain Russian media outlets had earlier reported that the T-14 was spotted near the village of Midginskaya in Luhansk. However, according to experts, the video of the tank was reportedly filmed at a training ground in Kazan, the capital of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan. A single T-14 was reportedly sighted on October 8 near the village of Midginskaya in Luhansk. Armata’s deployment comes at a…

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Monday, 17 October 2022 06:12

The big battle of UAVs – not Russia, not Ukraine, Kamikaze drones are winning the war

Russia’s ‘special military operation’ (SMO) in Ukraine has spurred the development of counter-drone systems in the country. Recently, the Russian Military Academy of the Strategic Missile Forces patented a new UAV to counter drones. Russia was already ahead of the game in developing counter-weapon systems. The proliferation of battlefield drones and the future advent of drone swarms are spurring the development of counter-drone systems. Battlefield drones vary extensively in size, operating altitude, and flight trajectory posing challenges in devising a standard way of detection, tracking, and engagement. Being small and slow-moving makes them very difficult to detect and track. The…

Friday, 14 October 2022 05:37

Russia deploys ‘cutting edge’ electronic warfare helicopters to jam Ukrainian air defenses

In the course of its protracted conflict with Ukraine, Russia has employed a range of lethal weapons. However, the Mi-8MTPR-1 electronic warfare (EW) helicopter, which is thought to be a key element of Russia’s strategy against Ukrainian air defenses, has received little attention. The Mi-8MTPR-1 helicopter is an upgraded version of the standard Mi-8MTV-5-1 outfitted with the Richag-AV EW system. Moscow is believed to have employed this helicopter to conduct electronic warfare against Ukrainian air defense systems. The Kazan Helicopters plant manufactures the helicopter, known internally by the manufacturer as Mi-8MTV-5PR. PR refers to Pomekhovyi Rychag, a helicopter jammer equipped…

Sunday, 25 September 2022 06:38

Your immune system can shift your priorities and affect your decision-making

If you often find yourself facing the consequences of impulsive decisions, you may pin the blame on a number of different factors. Perhaps you have a hard time regaining self-control. Maybe your willpower is not as strong as it once was. Knowing how to delay gratification, deny urges and resist cravings can lead to more success in the long run and reduce guilt and regret. And, as Emma Young writes for the British Psychological Society, "being able to forego a reward now in favor of gaining something better later is known to be important in determining all kinds of desirable…

Saturday, 24 September 2022 06:47

Against all evolutionary odds, humans are getting older and older. But why?

Why do we get old? This question has been troubling humans for thousands of years. Sadly, there is no definite answer yet — but here's what we know so far. System breakdown As we age, many of the systems in our bodies begin to deteriorate: Our vision gets worse, our joints weaker and our skin thinner. The older we get, the more likely we are to become ill, break bones and — eventually — die. Our reproductive success, which describes an individual's production of offspring per lifetime, also declines as we age, Thomas Flatt, a professor of evolutionary biology at…

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