Wired's Danger Room blog is spot on in comparing Northrop Grumman's upcoming solid state laser system to the Death Star. Promised to arrive before the end of 2008, and far earlier than Boeing's 25kW laser, it's supposed to have 100 kilowatts of power (SERIOUS pew pew action) and make use of multiple, less powerful lasers to form one giant one (see also: Voltron).

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Yes, DARPA does have a reputation for coming up with some seriously far-fetched gadgets, but their Super-Resolution Vision System (SRVS) is not one of them. This project challenges designers to come up with an optics system that utilises heat haze to see further and clearer than ever before. Basically, it takes advantage of an atmospheric phenomenon that occurs whereby images can be magnified for fleeting moments behind the haze.

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After a test satellite launch (Iran: success! USA: failure!) this past weekend carried out with one of their many, many missiles, Iran is rolling with the momentum and announcing plans to put a man in space within 10 years. While the feasibility of such a plan remains up in the air, it of course isn't the first time such an audacious goal has been set.

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So, you have a army-sized stockpile of weapons in your basement for protection against the coming apocalypse. That's good, being prepared is key. But what happens when you are overrun with zombies in the aftermath? They may be slow, but they can still get you in a swarm. That means you need an more efficient way to reload--and the FAST (Fast And Smooth Transition) system can help you do just that. Basically, it is a magazine for your magazines.

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As anyone who has seen the Matrix will tell you, an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) can wreak havoc on electronics. You may also know that an EMP is a byproduct of a nuclear blast--which is why the Navy has handed over US$7.5 million to L-3 Services, Inc. to build an EMP generator. The device is not going to be used as a weapon, instead it will be used to test the resistance of military systems to specific EMP levels as a preventative measure in the event that a nuclear weapon is detonated in US airspace.

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We have seen a lot of UAV news come down the pipeline in recent years, mostly because the military realises that they can be a safe, effective and cost efficient way to kill, spy, and kill some more. But is the US military ready to shell out around US$2 million for a flying knife that can stab the enemy from great distances?

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The next version of the DevilRay unmanned aerial vehicle will feature the ability to dock to and recharge from power lines. Made by Defence Research Associates, the UAV uses down-curled wingtips to make such a low-speed manoeuvre possible. The four-foot wide, propeller-driven flying wing will use "inverse capped helix winglets" to take advantage of the wingtip wind vortexes that form during flight, providing stabilisation in lieu of a tail.

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How does one design a propulsion system that combines a full-scale turbine engine and a Constant Volume Combustion (CVC) engine that is capable of delivering 12,000 pounds of payload up to 9,000 nautical miles from the continental United States in less than two hours? DARPA has released new details on how they plan on tackling this issue with their Vulcan engine--a ramjet / scramjet hybrid that will take an aircraft like the Falcon HTV-3X from 0 to Mach 4 with a traditional turbine engine, then kick in the CVC to push it to Mach 6 and beyond.

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The U.S. military has been running two prototype generators that run on leftovers, shredded documents and ammunition wrappers at their headquarters in Iraq. The Tactical Garbage to Energy Refinery (TGER) works by breaking down garbage into small bits and then heating it up until it becomes a synthetic gas and then combining it with the ethanol produced from the fermenting of foods and liquids. The result is a fuel capable of running the generators.

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Last year DARPA began the search for a company that could develop robots capable of squeezing through small openings and returning to their original size, shape, and functionality on the other side. Like most of DARPA's projects, the idea was way-out there. However, it appears that iRobot (the guys behind practical home robots like the Roomba vacuum and the Looj Gutter cleaner) have answered the call.

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