Pigeons are among the most naturally gifted navigators in the animal kingdom. And while we've only recently begun to shed light on why this is, humans have been using pigeon's innate homing abilities to our advantage for ages - and often in very unusual ways.

The Mayans used a short shaft of wood like a gun in battle, sending darts toward incoming attackers at amazing speeds. It may not have been powered by gunpowder, but it was still an effective killing tool.

The US Navy is introducing a new kind of missile. Instead of taking explosives to the target, the missile will be a chemical reaction held in readiness until it hits the target. The navy says it will reduce the deaths of innocent bystanders while increasing the effect of the explosion.

Here's something that might make you feel a little bit better about the world. NASA just successfully launched the Juno spacecraft, a solar-powered vehicle which will reach Jupiter five years from now. And NASA used an Atlas V rocket to do so. That's right — a former ICBM is being used to carry a peaceful scientific…

New Scientist is reporting that the strange spiral of light that Norwegians saw in the sky two nights ago was in fact a failed Russian missile launch.

Missile replicas look menacingly barbed, at the Korea War Memorial Museum in Seoul. North Korea will fire a satellite into space next month, but observers suspect the launch'll actually test missile technology. More images below.