Welcome to the future, kids. DARPA has just released video of its first actual test of EXACT (Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordinance) 50 caliber bullet.

Big deal, right?

Read that acronym again. Mainly the part that says ‘Tasked Ordinance’. EXACTO bullets are bullets that’ve been given instructions. Bullets that will come find their targets.

Here’s the write-up from DARPA’s site:

For military snipers, acquiring moving targets in unfavorable conditions, such as high winds and dusty terrain commonly found in Afghanistan, is extremely challenging with current technology. It is critical that snipers be able to engage targets faster, and with better accuracy, since any shot that doesn’t hit a target also risks the safety of troops by indicating their presence and potentially exposing their location.

The Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance (EXACTO) system seeks to improve sniper effectiveness and enhance troop safety by allowing greater shooter standoff range and reduction in target engagement timelines. The objective of the EXACTO program is to revolutionize rifle accuracy and range by developing the first ever guided small-caliber bullet. The EXACTO 50- caliber round and optical sighting technology expects to greatly extend the day and nighttime range over current state-of-the-art sniper systems. The system combines a maneuverable bullet and a real-time guidance system to track and deliver the projectile to the target, allowing the bullet to change path during flight to compensate for any unexpected factors that may drive it off course.

Technology development in Phase II included the design, integration and demonstration of aero-actuation controls, power sources, optical guidance systems, and sensors. The program’s next phase includes a system-level live-fire test and technology refinement to enhance and improve performance.

That just about covers it.

The phrase ‘Dodged a bullet” is about to become a thing of the past.

[Topless Robot]

Meet Otonoroid (the more stately female android on the right) and Kodomoroid (the awkward android on the left).

Unveiled in Japan as part of a future museum exhibit asking, “What is human?”, these two androids are accessing news stories in real time and delivering them to the audience. Not only can Kodomoroid ‘read’ the incoming news reports, she can translate them from various languages and read them aloud in other languages.

Who needs live human newscasters who require bathroom breaks, hair and make-up and can only work for a measly few hours before they get tired and need rest? Networks who buy news-reading androids and have a labor budget to swing under…that’s who.

As awkward as this demonstration is, it’s an interesting sign as to how robots are slowly becoming more and more integrated into our public lives.

While it all seems innocent and even a ‘cute’ demonstration of some oddly moving animatronics, it’s when Kodomoroid says something that should illicit a little, “Aw, Hell no!” from many of us human folk that we’re reminded of the possibility of a frightening robot-run future:

“My dream, when I grow older, is to have my own TV program. If you hear about a newscaster job, please, let me know.”

[DesignBoom]

Goblins terrorize Africa in the most rockin’ way possible. Anthrax is loose, how could this happen! Chick Pox lollipops are all the rage. Who were the first Americans? Why are we tribal? It’s all explained in a new Weird Things podcast.

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Picks:

Brian:

The Story of the Human Body

Andrew:

Beyond Amazing Science Pop Up Book

Justin:

World Cup / June 17th 1994

A couple from Birmingham, England were visiting the infamous Alcatraz in San Francisco when something strange caught their attention.

“Whilst doing an audio-tour of the place, I casually stopped to take a snap of the empty visitation block window on my iPhone. When I glanced at the photo on my mobile, I saw this dark female figure in the picture. I looked at the window again and there was no-one in the room. I knew straight away that the woman in the photo was a ghost and showed the snap to Paul.”

Paul, the woman’s companion during the visit, was also a little weirded out by the image:

“I have no logical explanation for the girl in the picture – I’m baffled by her! It’s funny because she’s staring right at the camera, with a knowing look. I was really skeptical about ghosts before but I’m a bit more of a believer now. I do think that the woman in the photo is a ghost.”

[SFGate.com]

Most people won’t ever go skydiving because the idea of tossing yourself from a plan at the ground is terrifying to those people. For those people, the added notion that someone is going to beat them senseless on the way down is even more of an incentive to just scratch it from their bucket list forever.

Urijah Faber, a UFC fight star, has become the main character behind Full Contact Skydiving.

And it’s just like it sounds. Two people jump out of a plane and beat one another as they plummet toward the ground.

Sounds like a good time, right?

Most people seem to think it’s a viral marketing campaign for…um….something. The videos have been around for almost a year but there’s no evidence supporting the fact that it’s an ad campaign of any type.

Everything seems to be just like it claims.

You fly up in a plane, trash talk your opponent on the way, jump out and back up your claims on the way to the ground like a couple of superheroes…or complete idiots.

[Complex]

Did we just invent a warp drive? The boys discover the oldest civilizational site on Earth while contemplating the possibility of a new home for humanity beyond the stars. Also: chimpanzee fossils and much more!

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Picks:

Brian:

The Poisoner’s Handbook and Thunderf00t

Andrew:

The Most Amazing Science Pop Up Book & The Beyond Amazing Science Pop Up Book

Justin:

Game of Thrones

Elon Musk has a spaceship that he would like to show you and he’s done it like every one does awesome stuff: failing his face off. Learn the tricks of the trade with Brian and Andrew while Justin takes the week off in Hawaii.

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Brian’s daughter reviews Godzilla. The Boys take down the idea of solar roads. Are we defending science or scoring touchdowns? You decide! Also, did a cat shut down LAX?

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Picks:

Brian:

Traveling in Space

Andrew:

Game of Thrones Pop Up Book

Justin:

X-Men Days of Future Past

Andrew prepares to get dragged through a lake of blood. But he might not be alone. The largest dinosaur ever ID’d. This giant mammal will blow your brain off your head. The amazing Fritz Zwicky explains the universe. A new board member might reshape the way corporations are run.

Andrew will be at Book Expo in New York City at the end of May!

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Picks:

Brian:

Lucky Planet

Andrew:

Godzilla

Justin:

Third Eye Crime

Sinkholes are swallowing boys! UFOs are attacking the Taliban!
Correlation will never be the same after you realize what the marriage rate in Arkansas is causing. It’s all part of a new Weird Things!

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Picks:

Brian:

Rick and Morty

Andrew:

Defiance

Justin:

Silicon Valley

Natasha Blasick, an actress from Paranormal Activity 2, is claiming she’s shacked up with a being from the afterlife.

Nope. Really.

This isn’t tabloid fodder, kids. It’s right up there in that video. Straight from the horse’s mouth.

What’s even more interesting is that this isn’t her first romantic encounter with a ghostly lover.

Nope. It’s the SECOND time this has happened to her.

“I felt something entered the room. I couldn’t see anybody. Suddenly I could feel that somebody touching me. Their hands were pushing me against my will and then I could feel the weight of their body on top of me but I couldn’t see anybody. At first I was very confused then I decided to relax and it was really pleasurable, I really enjoyed it. You don’t see anybody but it’s very pleasant and it made me feel warm and fuzzy. …It gave me comfort and support and love, and it did answer questions for me that there is something else out there.”

This will make for one of the weirdest paternity test episodes Maury Povich has ever had.

[Entertainment Tonight Online]

A video shot almost two years ago by hikers and recently posted to YouTube is rapidly going viral as the usual debate of another poor quality video-sighting of an alleged Bigfoot hits the internet.

This time everybody’s favorite cryptid is roaming the Squamish mountains of British Columbia.

While the interested parties of the internet sling mud at one another, the one thing you can’t deny about the mysterious figure is that it really is in the middle of nowhere, by itself and covering a lot of ground in a very short amount of time. So fast that the hikers continually comment on its animal-like ability to jaunt through the deep snow.

As the comments section of the video continues to grow exponentially with arguments for and against, the mysterious and lonely figure moving through the isolated mountains will be the only one to ever provide a definite answer…

[New York Daily News]

Using nanotechnology, a chemist has created an incredible book that straddles the line between magic and science.

[DesignBoom]

With Dawn of the Planet of the Apes just around the corner, this couldn’t be a more timely reminder of how things can change.

Remember how dramatic of a moment it was when Caesar from Rise of the Planet of the Apes stands up and yells “NO!” to the treatment of his kind and then mankind gets whipped into submission by their primal cousins?

That moment has already happened in a much more relaxed and quiet way.

Kanzi, a famous Bonobo who’s met Oprah and communicates very comfortably with humans via sign language, has quietly signaled the clock is ticking not by tossing us out by windows or spearing us with broken broom handles. Nope.

He’s roasting marshmallows…

And flipping burgers.

No. Really. He flips burgers too.

[Gawker]

If you asked around what peoples’ greatest fears are there’s a good chance that one or two would pop up more than the others…

Fear of deep water and the fear of drowning.

Thanks to the ‘magic’ that’s the internet and a company trying to drive home the message that everyone who takes to the ocean should be sporting the proper safety gear, namely a life-jacket, you can experience both in a “game”.

Created by an interactive design company and a yacht-wear manufacturer, the site that hosts the game wants to use those fears to get you to make a simple purchase that could save the life of anyone at sea.

What starts out as an ideal jaunt in a boat on a beautiful day does exactly what you’d expect it to…

It goes horribly wrong.

We won’t spoil anything with how this whole “game” plays out, so we’ll just suggest that you go give it a spin.

Two things are going to happen…

You’re going to have an even greater fear of the ocean and drowning and the first thing you’ll ask if you, for whatever reason, find yourself heading out to sea is, “Where are the life-jackets?”

[Sortie En Mer]

Video of a weird figure quickly traveling through the stands during a game at the Hernando Siles Stadium in La Paz, Bolivia has hit the internet in the last couple of days.

Quickly going viral, the clip has split viewers. Some, like many of the commentators who witnessed it in-camera, believe it’s some kind of apparition and have openly admitted to being a little freaked out. Skeptics are claiming it’s a reflection of some kind.

There’s no doubt that some weird figure is rapidly moving through the stadium. But what is it?

Post your theories below.

[Telegraph UK]