I was wondering when the US started the military branch named "YVAN"...

ABL is far from being the only "directed energy" weapon development platform, it was just one of the oldest still in operation. Even with these defense cuts, there is tons of money being spent on developing laser technology. Including development of new/lighter/more powerful airborne platforms.

Please change the picture that headlines this post. Very misleading - 3 month free trial is not the standard, and I would love to have someone show me how you can get ahold of that deal. If you click the links through the Wii website, you apparently can get a 2-week free trial, and the standard free trial is 1-week.…

Man, I love me some Gizmodo, but Jesus, your articles are the worst. Consistently. Bad grammar - okay no big deal, but it kills the flow when reading through the post. Bad spell checking - just plain lazy. Misleading post title - lame ("those air force drones" tends to imply "all air force drones"). Weak content - I…

Seriously. 121 pounds in this test means nothing without knowing the area that it is actually contacting the glass. Is it as big as the black circles, which differs between plates? Is it a sharp point? It's only good for relative comparison to the other samples, which is still impressive.

Seemingly simple, but to add to what some others are saying, you capture nothing of the actual manufacturing tolerances required for even mildly important parts to mate or function properly within an assembly, etc. 3D scanning may capture general dimensions with some known accuracy based on the machine specs, but you…

I thought my wife was the only one who watched Ancient Aliens. Or maybe I was just hoping...

FYI: $9.99

I was going to tout this as well, but I thought you could only keep it going for up to one year for free (we're going on about 6-8 months). Some Amazon Prime-eligible items are even more highly discounted, AND the other awesome component is the "subscribe and save" - for stuff you are almost guaranteed to need in…

Mac SE. Then a IIGS. Then multiple Performas. Then my mom and dad started getting iMacs, of which my mom now has a new one.

I had a feeling that I was just ignorant to that fact. Regardless, it sure looks cool on video!

I am more impressed by the fact that they had a jet pacing it at "high subsonic" speeds, and some dude taking video from the cockpit. I can't say that I remember ever seeing that done.

All you need now is little kids in a wheelchairs selling Chicharrones or an old lady selling a big ceramic tortoise, and it'll be JUST like trying to cross the border coming back from Tijuana or Mexicali.

It just goes to show you that you don't have to have any clue how to fabricate a chassis that makes any sense, as long as it has lots of tubing (painted like it was 1993?), lots of displacement, lots of suspension travel, lots of rubber, and lots of throttle, it will create youtube fanfare.

i bet if I owned a shuttle, I could somehow exploit it, and with a little business sense, make money from the shear fact that I owned it, all the while still taking chicks (okay, or just my wife and her friends, grumble) into space (pending acquisition of rockets and a shit ton of rocket fuel). And...okay dammit. I…

Considering that the space shuttle Endeavour cost $1.7 billion, I think I'd rather sue for a space shuttle! If I live 60 more years (optimistic), that would leave me $28.3 million/year. Or precisely way the fuck more than I live on now. Like, hard to even understand how much more that reeally is. Now that I actaully…

THANK YOU. So much whining in here, my head hurts. Your comments are very reasonable. I for one, have a Nexus S with NFC, and want to try all this wallet and key stuff out! Because sometimes tech is more convenient or just fun. I honestly don't like carrying any more than I have to in my pockets. Seems pretty…

Inconceivable!

The dashed lights were a helicopter, if I remember right. The colored light is a little LED light that my wife was attempting to "write" with. It slowly changes colors, but in 15 seconds, it made it through 3 colors, and looked pretty neat! Makes me wish I had a better camera...

I have a few. No tripod, but had the camera setting on something. 15 seconds is a long time to keep it still! I did find some pretty good shots across Flickr. Let's see if my personal Flickr link works: