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The military's newest digital training system is gonna open a can of whoop-ass on new recruits. And maybe a sonic blaster, too. More »
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You thought laptop glare was murder on your eyes? Try sending a fleet of wheeled robots down into the horrors of battle using nothing but your icy stare. More »
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In movies humans fight off alien occupation forces, explode alien ships, and mind-control aliens with the power of love. How on earth can we think that would happen? More »
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The nuclear cannon dubbed "Atomic Annie" fires a 280 millimeter nuclear artillery shell packing 15 kilotons of explosive force, in this breathtaking image from 1953's Operation Upshot-Knothole in Nevada. Check out more images from our only nuclear artillery test. More »
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Airplanes that don't have to carry a pilot are sleeker, and yet more sinister-looking, than regular planes. The U.S. has started deploying drones to scout for Somali pirates, as the drone flotilla comes into its own. More cool images below. More »
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In 1924, Earth saw its closest Mars opposition in over a century, and some thought our Martian neighbors might use the event to attempt contact. So for one night, US Naval and Army stations scanned the skies for extraterrestrial transmissions. More »
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What's the future of warfare? Factions within the U.S. military are battling over this very question. Some military leaders believe that after Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. will avoid ever getting embroiled in another "assymetrical" ground wars against an enemy that uses "irregular" methods. They believe the United States' next war will be against an equally powerful enemy, who uses similarly advanced technology and weaponry. But others, led by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, want to prepare for more battles against local insurgencies. At issue is the larger question: will the U.S. be occupying more unwilling host countries in the years, and decades, to come? Image by Mark Gallagher. [Los Angeles Times] More »
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Being a member of the US military in Afghanistan takes it's toll after a few years. So last week, Sergeant First Class William Ruth of the Army's 101st Airborne Division proposed an alternative mission for his soldiers: let them be the first humans to colonize another planet. In his letter (below) to an editor at LiveScience, Ruth says his unit's role as advanced scouts and reconnaissance soldiers makes them ideally suited to the rough, lonely life in the cold, barren wastes that await them on Mars, the Moon, or elsewhere. More »
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The aliens are invading and you want to assemble a crack squad of commandos to fight the tough battles and serve as human meatshields. But where can you find the best commandos in the galaxy? It's time to mine science fiction history for some of the steeliest break-your-face soliders so you can sleep easy when the invasion comes. Who really is tougher? Master Chief from Halo or Jango Fett from Star Wars? Find out in our list of the best space-age commandos, with a portrait gallery of course. More »
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By now you've probably seen the trailer a hundred times where a bleeding man comes stumbling into a grocery store screaming, "There's something in the mist!" The same guy could have stumbled onto a boat in Jaws and said, "There's something in the water!" So yes, The Mist isn't exactly breaking into new territory plot-wise: it's a monster movie at heart, although unlike classic monster fare like Jaws or The Thing, The Mist shows us a lot more of the monster(s). More »
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