Some of you probably live in a neighborhood that’s got a small population of lawn gnomes or a colony of flamingos. The only message that those ridiculous, overdone pieces of plastic and resin are going to send your neighbors is that you’re friendly, sweet and that you’ve gone soft.

For a measly $300 you can send a message to everyone in the neighborhood and your HOA to just take a step back. For about $1200 you can have a small army and some piece and quiet.

[Technobob]

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]

Because there’s not enough tension already in North and South Korea, a company has now developed what’s being hailed as a ‘super gun’ to help keep an eyeball on the demilitarized zone between the Hatfield/McCoy-style rivalry amongst the two countries.

The Super aEgis II is one of the most intimidating weapons ever to back up someone’s ‘No Trespassing’ policies. Featuring a thermal camera, a laser range-finder and can nail and destroy a human-sized target from almost 2 miles away. Because it’s designed as a modular system, the aEgis II’s ‘gun pod’ can be replaced and fitted with various other life-destroying joys like surface-to-air missiles or similar goodies yet to be revealed by its manufacturer.

What’s disturbing about the Super aEgis II isn’t that it can destroy a target before the target’s even aware it’s being destroyed…it’s that once Skynet takes over or some 12 year-old hacker decides to add them to their toybox? We’re all in a lot of trouble.

[Reuters]

It’s late. It’s dark. You’re out in a cemetery with a buddy looking to snag some swag off a couple corpses and hoist it on the local pawn shop in the morning.

You and your buddy unearth a casket, begin to pry it open and BLAM! You realize that something from inside the coffin has just shot you in the face!

Sounds like the opening scene of a Sam Raimi film. It’s not. It’s an absolutely real thing called a ‘grave gun’ or more commonly a ‘set gun’.

Originally the guns were used to protect a particular area around a campsite to prevent any kind of intruders from entering the camp. The gun’s business end was typically very wide and one to three trip-wires were then strung from the trigger of the gun and anchored at the other end to trees. When someone entering the area hit any of the trip-wires, the gun would fire effectively disabling hte intruder.

Around 1700, the original set-gun design went through a little redesign and began turning up inside the coffins of the more important individuals who’d died.

Once word spread about the ‘grave guns’ being inside random caskets? Grave robbing saw a drastic decline.

One of the last, and quite possibly, the most in your face version of the grave gun was created in the late 1880s. Called a ‘Coffin Torpedo’, the next-gen grave gun was basically a sawed-off shotgun attached to the underside of the coffin’s lid. Once you opened the casket to peer inside? SUPER-BLAM! as a sideways rain of 36-caliber lead balls raced to kiss your face.
[GUNS.COM]

When you think of something called a torpedo, you generally think of something that looks like a missile…but in the water.

The word torpedo has morphed over the years. During the Civil War most booby traps or incendiary devices were called a torpedo….even the lumpy, meteorite-looking thing in this picture.

Surprise! That’s not actually a meteorite. It’s a coal torpedo…used by the…get ready for awesomely potential book material…Civil War Secret Service!

The thing is actually a hollow iron ball filled with gun powder, musket balls then its hole is sealed with beeswax and the entire thing is covered in coal dust. In order to sabotage the enemy’s steam-powered boats, trains and other vehicles that would make current steampunks grin like children at Willy Wonka’s place, operatives would sneak this primitive IED into the coalbox of those particular vehicles. Once shoveled into the boiler, it was only a minute or two before the explosives hidden inside ignited and things got ugly.

These things were apparently no joke when they went off either. The equivalent of four Civil War-era hand grenades, these deadly 4 inch balls of unhappiness contained around 24 musket balls nestled in gunpowder. When it went off, the shell of the coal torpedo would become deadly flying shrapnel as well. Secondary explosions caused by these things were even more disastrous once the boiler blew.

Because of their camouflaged appearance and the resulting damage caused to the original torpedo, evidence of what caused an incident completely disappeared.

[TYWKIWDBI]

Here’s your ‘Hell Yeah!’ moment of the week!

If you enjoy phrases like “a device that shoots laser bolts” or “50 billion watts of optical power” you may want to continue reading about how the military is weaponizing lightning with a device called the Laser-Induced Plasma Channel, or LIPC.

Picatinny Arsenal scientists and engineers in New Jersey have developed a lightning bolt weapon by sending a ridiculously fast laser pulse that basically rips the air apart causing a narrow, electromagnetic channel. Immediately following this moment of scientific awesomeness, a lightning bolt is sent along that channel straight to the unfortunate target.

George Fischer, lead scientist on the project gave one of our favorite statements about a developing military weapon. Fischer stated, “We never got tired of the lightning bolts zapping our simulated (targets).”

Can’t really argue with that.

[Army.Mil]

A couple of week ago we told you about Wicked Laser’s Spyder III Pro laser, a ‘real-life light saber’ that can also potentially blind you and give you cancer.

Well, it turns out George Lucas noticed the resemblance to the powerful Jedi weapon and issued a cease & desist to Wicked Lasers. It comes in the form of a press release posted on Business Wire:

“It has come to our attention that a company called Wicked Lasers is selling a highly dangerous product out of Hong Kong that is designed to look like a lightsaber from Star Wars. This product is not licensed or approved by Lucasfilm in any way. We have demanded that Wicked Lasers immediately cease and desist their infringing activities. As Wicked Lasers itself admits, this product can cause serious injury to the user and other people. We strongly discourage consumers from purchasing it.”

The Spyder III is still available for about $200, but with the legal department of LucasFilm involved it’s likely to go the way of the Death Star at any time.

Aspiring Jedis the world over are rejoicing with the release of the new Spyder III Pro Artic Laser which is billed by the maker (WikedLasers.com) as “the most dangerous laser ever created.”

Obviously modeled on the Skywalker Family’s favorite accessory, the laser produces an “ultra high power 1W beam” that is 1,000 times more powerful than the sun. It can instantly blind anyone within 700 feet after powering on for a 1/4 second and can easily cause skin burns as well as cancer. Even staring at the dot it produces when shined on a wall can cause permanent retinal damage.

This laser is every Star Wars fan’s dream come true, but it is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND POTENTIALLY DEADLY. So please please please don’t buy it.

Here’s where you can buy it.

[Sky News]