When alien archeologists dig up the remains of 2009, they will discover one accomplishment that stands above all others. It won’t be some new iPhone or even the LHC. It will be the Nerf Tank.

What started as a stock Nerf Vulcan—more than enough foam killage for most of us—was modified with four wheels, a turret, webcam and laser sight. And then, as you see in this clip, the tank turned on humans, hunting modders’ girlfriends everywhere as if the violence were some sort of game.

It’s with some irony that the Nerf Tank, the same invention that will directly lead to Man’s demise, will be heralded by generations of other beings to come. So at least we have that little academic point to comfort us as the world melts into a sea of childproof yellow lava. [Instructables via MAKE]

Each tank can be controlled within a radius of 7.5 metres using a USB radio transmitter and the included PC software. Throw in the 3.5m range of the foam dart warheads and anything within 11 metres of your computer is a potential target. In fact, as many as four of these tanks can be controlled from a single PC interface, so you could conceivably create your own tank battalion to take out several targets at once—or lay down some serious firepower on a single high-value target. [RED5 via Toyology via OhGizmo]

It’s going to be convenient because the Ripsaw MS1, an unmanned ground vehicle that is designed to be easily fixed and replaced. Make them cheap, don’t worry about armour–there are no soldiers inside, so who cares–, and just put them on the battlefield by the truckload, ready to destroy and be destroyed. The philosophy is terrifying.

Developed with just $US1 million by the Howe brothers in Maine, the light tank is controlled from a modular station that can be fitted in other army vehicles located out of the battlefield. The Ripsaw MS1 is all-terrain, and as you can see in the video, it can jump through obstacles made of concrete at full speed.

Needless to say, the military are excited: Gen. Peter Chiarelli, Army’s vice chief of staff, called it “an amazing piece of gear” when it was presented yesterday at the Army Science Conference in Orlando. You can rejoice too, because soon there will be no soldiers killed in wars. Just the usual collateral damage of innocent civilians. [Howe and Howe via Defense Tech]

Which is, of course, interestingly ironic since the Abrams M1 typically doesn’t use reactive armour, neither does its UK equivalent main battle tank the Challenger 2—they rely on advanced solid armour instead. And you’d need either a very lucky strike, or many impacts to seriously damage one of these beasts with any type of RPG. Russian tanks, like the T72 and T80, on the other hand, do rely on reactive armour and sometimes employ active defence systems like Arena. Would be interesting to see the RPG-30 pitted against the Future Combat System’s Quick Kill defenses, don’t you think?

Still, makers Bazalt got some military chaps to demonstrate the system recently on TV:[Wired]

The extensive set of onboard scientific equipment (it’s called a laboratory, after all) will allow scientists to more closely analyse soil and rock samples, which can be zapped and disintegrated with the rover’s powerful lasers. A note to NASA: fitting your landing craft with terrifying death rays might make your “We Come in Peace” script sound slightly disingenuous. [NASA via The Register]

Catalogs schmatalogs and newspapers ads. A good metaphor of the brutality and power of marketing. Maybe the killing nature of consumers markets getting into recession. Or the need for war economy these days. Whatever it is, it looks pretty. [The Contaminated]