We had fun tonight - out in the “toolies” with the “mulies” watching the IFOs fly by. Here’s some video. It doesn’t quite capture how cool it was though.

It was another beautiful pass. Should be even better tomorrow night. Both should fly directly overAamrillo starting from the southwest to the NE with the flight path going slightly west of town.

Time for next pass is from 6:42 PM - peak: 6:48 PM - end 6:52 PM.

Communications Squeeze: “

Researchers here are developing new, handheld, wireless radios fitted with a single processor chip that is embedded with algorithms for compressing as many as 5 simultaneous, stealthy conversations into the same time and frequency slot and then, on arrival, untangling them.

Equally importantly, while in transit messages and data packages are seemingly hopelessly mixed - to the point of sounding like static. The chance of intercepting even the digital gibberish is unlikely since foes or potential adversaries don’t have the receiver technology to sort through such high levels of interferences.

BAE Systems’ demonstration is part of the research for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Interference Multiple Access (DIMA) communications program. In addition to massively increasing communications density, new BAE Systems algorithms can clear interference from allied communications or pluck enemy transmission and networks from the electronically polluted environment of a Baghdad battlefield, for example.

Researchers are rethinking something called the ‘interference avoidance’ paradigm. Roughly, when two or more messages or data packets using the same frequency collide, both are ‘killed’. A standard receiver can’t pull the two messages apart, so they are discarded and have to be retransmitted, thereby slowing transmission rates. Another way to avoid interference is to use frequency allocation, however that bans use of the assigned frequency by anyone else, even if there is very little traffic, and ‘creates a logistics nightmare,’ says Joshua Niedzwiedcki, manager of BAE System’s communications and signal exploitation R&D group.

Those limits to frequency use create huge problems when operating with coalition forces because there isn’t enough bandwidth to go around. Often, much of the spectrum remains off limits to our allies because the U.S. has already taken it which leaves them using marginal channels with lots of interference. (AW&ST, Oct. 13, p.62)

Here’s BAE’s promotional video:

‘

‘

‘

Communication specialists want to develop ‘small UAVs that broadcast streaming video of an area to everybody,’ Niedzwiedcki says. ‘The guy on the ground can get that picture in real time on his hand-held radio. He then knows what’s over the hill or around the corner. The biggest challenge to that scenario is that today UAVs can’t talk to each other because there’s not enough spectrum to hear one another because their signals interfere with each other. But with DIMA, we can probably triple the number of UAVs that can operate near each other in situational support missions.’

Researchers expect to reduce the radio to brick size using three Field Programmable Gate Array processor chips that will allow them to transmit up to 4-5 times the volume of voice, data and video in a 20 node network. Added processing capability will allow the identification of more advanced signals - by recognizing protocols, software and firmware - as well as the ability to pull apart signals in a higher interference environment.

They also are working to discover what’s necessary and what’s not, allowing them to take computing short cuts and use new techniques to increase performance and efficiency. Such advances in signal processing have allowed researchers to reduce the amount of ‘overhead’ or needless digital instruction in the protocol that is not voice traffic. ‘Protocol overhead’ as part of the total message has decreased to 20% from 50%. That is a key strategy for freeing room for more transmissions. Phase three is to conclude in June with demonstration of up to a 20-radio network. By the end of 2010, researchers expect to have completed design and implementation of a full-waveform protocol and hardware for a brick-size radio.

“

(Via Ares.)

NASA tests ‘interplanetary internet’: “NASA has successfuly conducted a first test of a deep space communications network modeled on the internet. ‘This is the first step in creating a totally new space communications capability, an interplanetary internet,” Adrian Hooke, NASA’s manager of space-networking architecture, technology and standards, said.

“

(Via digg.com: Stories / Popular.)

JTRipper writes “Monty Python seems to have done the right thing. Instead of issuing take down notices of their videos on YouTube, they are doing it better themselves with their own YouTube channel. They are putting all their clips (including snips from their movies) up in a decent resolution, with the only caveat being a link to buying the movies and TV episodes from Amazon.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

New Israeli Airborne Area Control Surveillance Systems: “

The IDF recently acquired an advanced system capable of pinpointing rocket-launching crews and hitting them, Israel Radio reported Monday. The system, an airborne observation blimp, hovers at a height of up to one kilometer and can work during daylight and during the night. It is equipped with both cameras and radars and is operated from the ground.

It is capable of acquiring short-term intelligence, such as the location of terrorists and rocket launchers in a short time, which can then be delivered to combat troops almost in real time. It is also capable of following troop movements thus alerting them to dangers within their radius.

Rafael, Israel’s Armaments Development Authority produces such aerostat-borne systems designated Tactical Aerostat Observation System (TAOS). A new Mini-TAOS version carrying a stabilized payload can detect and recognize a walking person at a range of 3.8 - 4.5 km in day and night. It uses a helium filled aerostat, a two way communication fiber optic data link, payloads (CCD-TV, IR sensors and radar, laser rangefinder and laser illuminator are optional) and ground segment aerostat-borne systems designated Tactical Aerostat Observation System (TAOS). In other reports, Controp Precision Technologies has delivered its ‘Speed-A’ automated image processing, stabilized electro-optical payload system which has already been deployed with IDF units along the Gaza border. The ‘Speed-A’ sensor payload includes a daylight color and thermal imager (FLIR), both equipped with continuous zoom, a laser rangefinder and laser target marker.

Photo’ Rafael

“

(Via Ares.)

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, the Republican lawmaker convicted on felony corruption charges in October, was defeated in his bid for re-election by Democrat Mark Begich, according to a release from Begich’s campaign and unofficial results from state officials.

Filed under: Gaming, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Just hours before the Xbox 360’s newest dashboard update hits tomorrow morning (10:00 a.m. GMT), our friends at Joystiq noticed the list of movies available for Netflix Watch Instantly streaming has suddenly dropped. The culprit? Sony Pictures Home Entertainment subsidiary Columbia Pictures, flicking previously available titles like Superbad, Bad Boys, and We Own the Night over to “Not available on Xbox” status (curiously, SPHE movies are still available to all.) Word from the official Netflix blog cites “the ebb and flow” of what is available on license at any given time causing a few hundred titles to be “temporarily” unavailable on the console, while still open for streaming for other devices, with an eye towards licensing them for the Xbox 360 soon. There’s no way to know what movies won’t work until adding them to your queue, so when you find your Karate Kid trilogy watching time suddenly wide open for more Gears of War 2 or Left 4 Dead action, just remember you have Sony to thank.

[Via Joystiq & Multiplayer]

Sony Pictures celebrates NXE eve by… blocking Xbox 360 Netflix movie streaming originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Gaming, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Laptops

Man, you just can’t win these days. So Apple offers up an energy-efficient, forward-thinking Mini DisplayPort on its latest MacBook / MacBook Pro, and now users that are still rocking displays sans HDCP-compliant HDMI / DVI ports are up fecal’s creek without a paddle. Apparently select content in the iTunes Store is laced in HDCP, which isn’t all that unexpected in and of itself; the problem comes in when you realize that the new unibody machines don’t offer a VGA / VGA-to-component output, meaning that you have to connect it to an HDCP-compliant display if you want to see anything. We know, one word in particular keeps coming to mind to describe this fiasco: awesome.

Apple iTunes content throwing HDCP flags on new MacBook / MacBook Pro originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tonight just before 7:30 we had a fly over of the Space Shuttle/International Space Station. I shot some (a bit shaky) video of it as it flew from the SW to the N.

Tonight just before 7:30 we had a fly over of the Space Shuttle/International Space Station. I shot some (a bit shaky) video of it as it flew from the SW to the N.

U.S. man admits aiding China space program: “A Chinese-born U.S. physicist and businessman pleaded guilty Monday to bribing Chinese space program officials and illegally providing U.S. space launch data to the Beijing government.

“

(Via CNN.com.)

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

Gamasutra

Ah, attach rates. We know how much you love them. Gamasutra has compiled a fascinating and pleasingly colorful set of graphs highlighting the latest known tie ratios, both for first- and third-party titles, of the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii. As the article notes, tie ratio can used to gauge the “health” of a system, with a higher number indicating more games being sold for every system escaping its retail self.

Comparing each system within their first 23 months on sale, the Xbox 360 had the highest third-party software tie ratio at 5.2, followed by the PS3 with 4.4 and the Wii with 3.1. The Xbox 360 has since gone on to establish a combined first- and third-party ratio of 8.1 after 35 months on the market. Interestingly, the Wii’s ratio has remained quite consistent throughout 2008 — certainly a positive result in the face of continued success in the hardware arena. Remember, a high attach ratio may sometimes indicate diminishing hardware sales, with consumers spending more on software as a system matures.

100 comments at least: Console attach rates originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The warning lights are blinking, and that can mean only one thing — another publisher is saying some very worrying things about how the digital age can help them nickel n’ dime consumers. Take-Two is doing the honors, suggesting that its "triple A titles" could go the way of the MMO.

After chatting bollocks about how great downloadable content is at the BMO Capital Market’s conference, T2 CEO Strauss Zelnick moved onto what he called the "Holy Grail" — the MMO model that publishers have pathetically tried to grasp at without realizing that they’ll never make as much money off it as Blizzard.

"The holy grail is taking a business, already a very large and successful business that’s focused on packaged goods that you sell once and then are occasionally resold by others with new benefit to us, and turning that into a subscription business or a semi subscription business where we have an ongoing relationship with consumers, giving them products that they want," Zelnick explained. "Who’s better positioned to do that than the company that has the top franchises?

"It’s our view that you won’t be able to apply a subscription model to mid-tier titles. The triple A titles that people really want to have that are really must have are in the best position for this business model."

The triple A titles? We heard suggestions of a Bioshock MMO once before, and it seems Zelnick and pals are still hypnotized by the lure of subscription-based gaming. Could we be seeing incremental, sustained payment models for BioShock and Grand Theft Auto in the future? As I say, those warning lights are blinking.

Shuttle crew boards space station: “Space shuttle Endeavour docked today with the international space station, where the shuttle crew will help install more living space. The shuttle and station crews greeted each other with hugs soon after opening their vehicles’ hatches. ‘Welcome to space,’ said station chief Mike Fincke.

“

(Via CNN.com.)

Do not take this as precedent, that Kotaku is going to get involved in every level taken down on LittleBigPlanet. But the demise of Azure Palace seems newsworthy for a few reasons — one, it’s well made (a little too fly-and-grab for me, but still a good level); two, there seems to be no apparent reason for it; and three, it’s the big stink in any forum now discussing the heavy-handed moderation on LittleBigPlanet.

Azure Palace’s creator is understandably pissed about the whole thing, posting his email to Media Molecule in a GameFaqs forum. He defies someone to show how the level violated the terms of service and, frankly, I do too. A couple of statues’ heads resemble Pac-Man (depicted above) but come on, that cannot possibly be it. There also are some bloodstain stickers (you can’t really tell in the YouTube video) but likewise, that seems extremely petty for it to possibly be a defensible reason.

If, on the other hand, this and anything else made with care is being flagged by lulz-seeking griefers and moderators are blindly taking down levels with zero investigation, then they’re just being manipulated by the worst members of the community, and the business consequences there are obvious enough.

Here is the video of the level:

Writes the level creator:

I invested a huge amount of time making The Azure Palace to not only be original, but to shift the gameplay of this wonderful game you guys made. Besides similarities to underwater stages in general, there is nothing directly taken from any game/movie/etc. If there so happened to be one, the terms of moderation are by far extremely irrational. The user is given no chance to change certain aspects of his creation to conform to said rules above. WE’RE NOT EVEN GIVEN A FREAKING REASON AS TO WHY IT HAPPENED!!!

Sony has to understand that in this case, doing something without giving any reason is akin to doing something for no reason. Sure, some plainly egregious levels don’t need a moderator telling the creator what he or she did wrong. If they’re going to be completely arbitrary about what gets deep sixed, anyway, they can also be arbitrary about who gets an explanation and who doesn’t. But they need to start giving some, and Azure Palace’s creator is owed one.

Update: I made changes to this story that removed direct references to Media Molecule, as I am not certain who exactly is responsible for the moderation of this game, be they MM or Sony employees. I put that back on Sony, as the publisher, in the above paragraph.

Further update: It is indeed Sony who handles the moderation. My apologies to Media Molecule for the misunderstanding.

Also, there is a petition circulating now demanding changes to the whole moderation system. You may view it here.

Wow … The Azure Palace Got Moderated [GameFaqs Forums, registration required, thanks Patryk, Paul and others]
The Azure Palace - Speed Walkthrough [LittleBigWorkshop]

NASA keeping eye on two shuttle problems: “NASA said Saturday that a piece of thermal blanket came loose from the shuttle shortly after Friday night’s launch, and a balky antenna could affect radar and communications. However, officials said the day-old mission of space shuttle Endeavour, which is carrying seven astronauts to the international space station, is going smoothly.

“

(Via CNN.com.)

• Illegal Downlaoding : Bender style
• Hard drives vs DVDs for data archiving
  • VANTEC NexStar Hard Drive Dock
  • WiebeTech - Why Hard Drives make more sense than CDs or DVDs.
• Paramount’s Blu-Ray servers go down - Prevents users from watching Iron Man Blu-Ray disc on release day
• New Xbox Experience supports Netflix and Netflix HD
  • Microsoft offers free and cheap memory storage solutions for arcade and core system owners

Have you seen the Wii Speak microphone in action? I haven’t. So let’s watch, as this sweet, innocent Japanese teenager “meets up” with a friend in Animal Crossing and “does stuff”. Can’t understand much, but it’s clear they both recognise a lobster when they see one, one of them is very insistent they eat chicken for dinner, and they both find the whole experience overwhelmingly cute. If there were a hell for Xbox Live users, surely this would be it.

An anonymous reader writes “As previously discussed, Microsoft’s attempt to shield itself from further discovery over the Windows Vista Capable debacle has failed and more internal emails have been released. Although Microsoft has successfully kept CEO Steve Ballmer away from the witness stand on grounds the he ‘has no unique knowledge of the facts in this case,’ emails suggest otherwise. An email was released in which Intel CEO Paul Otellini thanks Ballmer for listening and making changes to the program allowing their 915 chipset to pass the grade: ‘I know you did it.’”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Protoclown writes “The National Center for Computational Sciences (NCCS), located at Oak Ridge National Labs (ORNL) in Tennessee, has upgraded the Jaguar supercomputer to 1.64-petaflops for use by scientists and engineers working in areas such as climate modeling, renewable energy, materials science, fusion and combustion. The current upgrade is the result of an addition of 200 cabinets of the Cray XT5 to the existing 84 cabinets of the XT4 Jaguar system. Jaguar is now the world’s most powerful supercomputer available for open scientific research.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

At this point I am convinced the guys at Criterion have just gone completely batshit insane. They’ve introduced motorcycles into Burnout Paradise; they’re introducing movie-themed cars and a party mode, and now this. Tiny little collectible cars, based on classic burnout vehicles. There will be 9 vehicles in this range in total, with the the Carson GT Concept P12, the Kreiger Racing WTR, the Hunter Takedown 4×4 and the Hunter Manhatten represented in the screenshot.

The tiny cars will be released next year as part of Criterion’s continuing efforts to work themselves to death. Not sure if they’ll be drivable, but then what else would you do with them? Until they announce the “Putting Things Into Your Orifices” pack, it’s probably safe to assume.

Criterion Announces Burnout Paradise Toy Cars [Criterion Blog]

Shuttle on its way to beef up space station: “Riding a brilliant ball of flaming liquid rocket fuel into the sky, the space shuttle Endeavour left Earth tonight, carrying seven astronauts on a 15-day mission to the international space station. While there, the astronauts will increase the station’s living space with room for six instead of the current three.

“

(Via CNN.com.)

JSF breaks sound barrier for first time: “The F-35 Lightning II broke the sound barrier for the first time during a test flight Thursday over northern Texas.”

(Via Air Force Times - News.)

Bush Spy Revelations Anticipated When Obama Is Sworn In: “When Barack Obama takes the oath of office on January 20, Americans won’t just get a new president; they might finally learn the full extent of George W. Bush’s warrantless domestic wiretapping. Since NY Times first revealed in 2005 that the NSA was eavesdropping on citizens’ overseas phone calls and e-mail, few additional details have emerged.“

(Via digg.com: Stories / Popular.)

tsa writes “The European Department of Justice has decided that the Danish company Lego does not have exclusive rights to the lego building block anymore (sorry, it’s in Dutch). Lego went to court after a Canadian firm had made blocks that were so like lego blocks that they even fit the real blocks made by Lego. The European judge decided that the design of the lego blocks is not protected by European trademarks and so anyone can make the blocks.” If true, hopefully this will open doors for people interested in inexpensive bulk purchase of bricks of specific sizes and colors. Perhaps at long last I can build a life-sized Hemos statue for my office.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Regardless of how Mirror’s Edge will be received by critics — though it seems to be doing pretty well so far — it has certainly struck a chord with gamers. The first level from Mirror’s Edge recreated in Portal likely took a hell of a lot more work, but its counterpart creation in LittleBigPlanet is still charmingly impressive. As soon as EA releases a Faith Sackboy costume — which we’re sure will be “premium” — the whole experience will be more complete.

Obama to be told U.S. missile defense capable: “The outgoing head of the U.S. missile defense agency said he’ll tell President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team that missile defenses are workable and working.

“

(Via CNN.com.)

Broken Arrow - 40 Years On: “

New details of a ‘Broken Arrow’ incident in which a nuclear weapon was allegedly abandoned in the icy waters of a fjord near the US Air Force base at Thule, Greenland, have been unearthed by the BBC. The controversial January 1968 incident involved a B-52 which was carrying four B58 thermonuclear bombs while on airborne alert. During the mission a fire broke out beneath the cockpit and, when it began to get out of control, the crew issued a mayday and diverted towards Thule. With just a few miles to go before getting to the base, the fire became’too intense and the commander ordered the crew to abandon the B-52. The BBC story includes interesting interviews with two of the original crew as well as some of the Danish personnel on the ground who helped clean up the debris. A far more detailed account of the incident can also be found here.

Is there a lost bomb down there? Greenland’s west coast, 2008

(pic: Guy Norris)’

There is much speculation as to whether the B58 weapons, or significant parts of them,’could have possibly remained intact after the impact. Archive footage’shows the aircraft had disintegrated into small pieces which were scattered over a wide area. Six of the crew ejected and were recovered safely whilst a seventh was killed in the crash.

However, previously declassified materials obtained by the BBC appear to indicate that only sufficient debris was recovered to account for three of the four weapons.

Whatever the result of the latest revelations, if any, there was a more immediate and positive outcome from the original accident. Following the crash, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara ordered the removal of nuclear weapons from airborne alert to the relief of’many USAF bomber crews these tedious missions were later suspended altogether.

“

(Via Ares.)

Obama’s Iraq plan about to meet reality: “BAGHDAD — Saad Eskander, the director of Iraq’s National Library and Archive, will never forget Nov. 20, 2006. That was the day Barack Obama declared Iraq was ‘descending into chaos’ and called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops, in a speech that would define the war policy Obama carried into his historic run for president.”

(Via Air Force Times - News.)

Malmstrom missile wing fails nuke inspection: “The 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., failed its nuclear surety inspection after inspectors found problems with the wing’s weapons storage area and its personnel reliability program, which monitors who can work with nuclear weapons, an Air Force official said.”

(Via Air Force Times - News.)

Iran tests new surface-to-surface missile: “TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has successfully test-fired a new generation of surface-to-surface missile that uses solid fuel, making it more accurate than its predecessors, the defense minister announced Wednesday.”

(Via Air Force Times - News.)

X-Plane Crashes: “

Aviation historians Peter Merlin and Tony Moore have joined forces to produce a tour-de-force of’the aerospace archaeology of California’s high desert and its unique X-plane heritage. The book is inspired by their collaborative work as the ‘X-Hunters’, a group dedicated to re-discovering long lost crash sites of historic (and some not-so-famous) research and development aircraft. Lavishly illustrated throughout with archive and contemporary photos, graphics and some maps, the book takes the reader on a detailed journey through the background to the flights, the accidents and the detective work to find wreckage. Though journeying far and wide to Texas, and the fringes of Nevada’s Area 51, the bulk of the crashes covered are around Edwards AFB, California’s hallowed flight test site for more than 60 years.

Highlights include chapters on the Northrop flying wings and particularly the crash of the YB-49, finding tell-tale remains of the X-1, X-2 and X-15, as well as the awesome XB-70 which gets its own chapter ‘The blackest day in the history of Edwards.’

Disaster strikes as a F-104N Starfighter’in the formation explodes in a fireball after hitting the tails of the’XB-70. (all photos: USAF)

Within seconds, doomed and out of control, the XB-70 goes inverted.

Fuel starts to stream from the broken wing as the XB-70 plummets earthward. Test pilot Al White would eject, but his colleague Maj. Carl Cross remained trapped and died in the crash.

Black world accidents also get their own section which includes fascinating accounts of early U-2, A-12, YF-12A and F-117A crash site discoveries. The chapter also includes finding the remains of a particularly rare D-21 reconnaissance UAV developed in the 1960s to piggy-back on the M-21, a variant of the A-12.

Also included is a potpourri of crash sites including the Hughes XF-11 reconnaissance aircraft which came down, with Howard Hughes at the controls, in the plush suburb of Beverly Hills, the X-10 drone and XB-51 prototype bomber. One of the most unusual is the story of finding traces of an F6F-5K Hellcat drone which caused havoc when it went out of control over the Pacific and flew inland over Los Angeles in 1956. The ensuing failed attempts by USAF F-89D Scorpions to shoot it down sent salvoes of Mighty Mouse rockets raining down over open countryside, the town of Newhall and even Palmdale itself. Amazingly no one was killed, but it took 500 firefighters two days to bring the subsequent wildfires under control.

Publishers: Specialty Press (www.specialtypress.com).

Price: .95. ISBN 978-1-58007-121-5

“

(Via Ares.)

Maybe not, Herr Obama: “U.S.president-elect Barack Obama has made it clear he’wants Europe to do more to help out in Afghanistan, and, while still campaigning, used a visit to Berlin to call on Germany in particular to step up its efforts. ‘But German defense minister Franz Josef Jung now signals that the Obama should not be expecting too much, or much more at all.’Jung told German television that German troops would continue to be deployed only in northern Afghanistan.‘

‘(credit: Bundeswehr)‘Although Germany has suffered combat losses, the northern region is considered far safer than the south. ‘

The one area Germany may do more is increasing its effort to build up the Afghan National Army. Jung also suggests Europe may together find areas to do more.’

‘

There’s another reason Obama shouldn’t expect Germany to do much more, something he should understand only too well: election politics. Germany is due for’a general election next year and deploying more troops isn’t a vote winner in the country.

“

(Via Ares.)

It’s an Airplane. It’s a Submarine. It’s Possible?: “

Why DARPA thinks a submersible aircraft could be feasible has become’a little clearer with the posting of a presentation on the agency’s website. Basically DARPA believes that, rather than’asking for’a flying submarine, by specifying an aircraft that can submerge to shallow depths for short periods it might be possible to reconcile the diametrically opposed design requirements. So it won’t look like this…

SkyDiver, from Gerry Anderson’s UFO

DARPA is seeking concepts for an aircraft that can clandestinely insert and extract an eight-person special-forces team.’The mission’is to’take off from a runway, fly 1,000nm as a conventional aircraft, fly another 100nm close to the surface, then’travel the final 12nm to the coast underwater. Transit’should’take less than 8′hours, including any time required to land on water and reconfigure’from aircraft’to submarine -’and the vehicle should be able to loiter near the coastline - on or under the surface - for three days in sea state 5. Then return the same way…

(The observant among you might recognise the submersible aircraft in’DARPA’s mission profile - it’s the Flying Sub from the TV series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.)

DARPA identifies five technical challenges. First is the’diametrically opposed’weight requirements’between an aircraft that needs to be light to fly and a submarine than needs to be heavy to submerge. DARPA believes it should be possible to meet these requirements by controlling lift and volume - potentially by generating downforce on the wing and flooding spaces in the airframe to submerge.

The second challenge is to design a shape that works in air and water despite the difference in density. Here the key is that flows are similar in both fluids if something called the Reynolds Number (Re) is the same. DARPA believes it is possible to design a platform that operates at the same Re, airborne and submerged, but at radically different speeds: 100-400kt in air and 5-18kt in water.

1934 - Ushakov’s LPL (photo: Unicraft Models‘- and check out’this video)

Challenge three is structural - aircraft are pressure vessels with thin skins; submarines have thick skins to withstand crushing loads: the forces are applied in opposite directions. But DARPA believes this problem is dramatically reduced by limiting operating depth to the minimum required to avoid perturbing the surface.

Fourth is wing location. Traditionally seaplane wings are placed high to avoid the waves and shield the engines. Lowering the wing’increases ground effect‘while sea-skimming. But the wing’needs to be below the water to generate the downforce required to submerge. DARPA sees a range of possibilities ranging from two separate wings, one for air and’one for water, to a single morphing wing able to change its height, area and airfoil.

1958 - Reid’s Flying Submarine (US Patent & Trademark Office)

The final (?)’challenge is the powerplant, which must work submerged as’well as’airborne. Aircraft engines are light; submarine powerplants are heavy. One option is a single engine with air-independent and air-breathing modes. Another is dual powerplants, one breathing air and one running off batteries, fuel cells or DARPA’s Aluminum Combustor. The agency believes the shallow depth required will allow use of a snorkel’to provide air to the engine when submerged.

Bidders for the Submersible Aircraft program face related challenges: they must provide not only a detailed description of their proposed concept, but a plan for computational or experimental work that will demonstrate the feasibility of their design in the areas of weight and volume, operation in air and water, structural design, wing geometry and power generation/energy storage. Sounds ‘DARPA-hard’ to me.

1962 - Convair’s subplane (thanks to secretprojects.co.uk)

“

(Via Ares.)

Calspan Retires USAF’s Last C-131: “

A unique aircraft has just retired -’the NC-131H Total In-Flight Simulator (TIFS) owned by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and operated by Calspan. With its unmistakable profile, the heavily modified Convair 580 made its last flight on Nov. 7 from’Niagara Falls’to the Air Force museum at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.

TIFS as it first flew (1000aircraftphotos.com, Van Tilborg collection)

It’s hard to understate the contribution the TIFS has made to aircraft design. With the ability to simulate the cockpit environment and control responses of’virtually any’type of air vehicle, the TIFS has played a role in programs ranging from the B-1 and C-17 to the X-29 and X-40. It has simulated the flying qualities of Tacit Blue, the Space Shuttle, a supersonic transport and a million-pound aircraft.

Conceived in the late 1950s to help with design of the hypersonic X-20 DynaSoar, the TIFS was launched in 1966 as a joint USAF/FAA program. The aircraft was to have two interchangeable noses:’one a general-purpose’proboscis for what became the B-1 program; one the droop snoot of a civil SST, which was never built because the program was cancelled. The TIFS started flying in 1968, direct-lift and side-force controls providing the ability to adjust its handling characteristics.

Calspan has a great history of its in-flight simulation work on its website. It started in 1949 with a Vought F4U-5 Corsair modified with an auxiliary rudder to vary yaw stability, and continues today with’the company’s’variable-stability Learjets and the VISTA F-16 based at the USAF Test Pilot School and supported by Calspan.

“

(Via Ares.)

Nuclear Watchdog Publishes Report on Alleged Syrian Nuclear Site: “

Investigators from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which works under the auspices of the United Nations, reported having found traces of enriched uranium in Syria, at Al Kibar, the same site which was allegedly bombed by IAF jets in September 2007.

‘

The find offers a first potential sign that the country had been attempting to develop a nuclear program.

Sources close to Israeli intelligence agencies report that even if the uranium traces actually found at the bombed site were only slight, but clearly being man-made and not natural ore, they totally refute persistent claims by president Bashar Assad, that the installation at Al Kibar was only an agricultural research station. Moreover, foreign ‘visitors’, believed to be North Koreans, would have a single reason to be there and that was to inspect local construction work in progress on a nuclear reactor. Syria has repeatedly denied any secret actvity on energy for atomic bomb purposes in violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. It says the unverified US intelligence was fabricated. But the IAEA has been probing into US intelligence allegations that Syria was close to completing a plutonium-producing nuclear reactor with North Korean help.

In September 2007 the Israeli Air Force flattened the site in it’s mysterious foray into Syrian airspace under the so-called operation ‘Orchard’, which was carried out on a target in the Deir ez Zor region, close to the Iraqi-Turkish border after midnight on September 6, 2007. Israel keeps an official blackout on the operation, but the CIA declared that US intelligence, having apparently monitored the site for some time, through satellite observation, indicated the site was a nuclear facility under construction, with a military purpose.

For details see: Fulghum, David A ‘U.S. Electronic Surveillance Monitored Israeli Attack On Syria‘, Aviation Week & Space Technology, 2007-11-21.

Photo: US official

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(Via Ares.)

Of all the smacktalk that goes on in the video game industry, we didn’t expect these two parties to have a go at each other. Between developers, studio heads and console manufacturers — and occasionally community director versus producer — there’s plenty of fodder for mudslinging fun. The most recent episode of GameTrailers’ “Invisible Walls” podcast, however, is just kind of a bum out. It touches on a recent request from the ESRB to various media outlets, including GameTrailers, that they pull any and all Fallout 3 trailers.

In GameTrailers case, that means even stuff the MTV-owned media outlet creates, not just the stuff Bethesda Softworks provides.

GameTrailers editor-in-chief Shane Satterfield, perhaps still a bit sore over the unusual request, likens the ESRB to “the frickin’ Mafia,” saying on the video podcast the ratings board’s actions are part of a “power trip.”

His partner in podcasting “Grumpy” is a little less diplomatic (and far more wordy), saying “They are a body made up of unqualified nincompoops. Unfortunately, they’re taking the nanny state to the nth degree. They make the FCC look like a bunch of broad-minded, non-censorship individuals.”

The only reasoning provided by the ratings board was that the Fallout 3 content should be pulled “in connection with ESRB’s advertising guidelines.” Print ads for Fallout 3 were pulled earlier in the year amid concerns that seeing Washington DC destroyed by a nuclear disaster were, you know, scary. No confirmation from the ESRB if the potential for bed-wetting nightmares was at the cause of this particular media whitewashing.

Invisible Walls - Episode 31 [GameTrailers]
GameTrailers Editors Go OFF on ESRB over Fallout 3 Trailer Removal [Gamepolitics]

secmartin writes “The popular virus scanner AVG released an update yesterday that caused their software to mark user32.dll as a virus. Since this is a rather critical file, AVG’s suggestion to remove it caused problems for users around the world who are now advised to restore the file through the Windows Recovery Console. AVG just posted an update about this (FAQ item 1574) in the support section of their site. Their forums are full of complaints.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

After that earlier piece on global e-waste, we thought you might want something to lighten the mood. Fortunately, The Onion is ready with a sardonic, blood-shot eye turned to the respective OS releases on the way from Cupertino and Redmond. Click on through for the full comparison while we pack up things from this lame, euro coffee shop.

[Via Daring Fireball]

The Onion pits Snow Leopard against Windows 7, everyone wins originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Nov 2008 07:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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