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Posts Tagged “

Weapon

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triviagasm

The Secret Origin of the Ray Gun in Science Fiction

We've told you all about our favorite rayguns, blasters, flechette pistols, and laser guns before, but where did they all come from? Laser pistols are as identifiable with science fiction as rocketships, aliens, and robots, even though the first laser wasn't invented until 1960. So what spurred science fiction writers to start arming their characters with atomic blasters and disintegrator rays? More »

2:00 PM on Mon Mar 24 2008
By Kevin Kelly
3,997 views, 21 comments

Latest by ndgmtlcd: You forgot professor Calculus' sonic disintegrator weapon in "The Calculus Affair" and on a more realistic level you forgot about the 60s research by the French army on the use of infrasonic waves as man-killing weapons which leave buildings and more »

robots

Israeli Bomb Disposal Robot Has a Terrible Job Cleaning Up After Humans

Yesterday in Israel, a bomb disposal robot inspected the scene of a suicide bombing at a shopping mall in the town of Dimona. The bot is remote controlled, and used an articulated arm to remove the jacket of the alleged bomber to be sure he doesn't have more explosives on his body. Want to see what else the robot does as it finishes its inspection of the area? (Warning: Images of a corpse may be disturbing.) More »

7:00 AM on Tue Feb 5 2008
By Annalee Newitz
7,542 views, 143 comments

Latest by antimatty: @ManchuCandidate: i am not at all disturbed by this. this is war. this is life, and this has been happening since the dawn of humanity. corpses are just a part of life. more »