Teaching Drones to Fly in Formation | Danger Room | Wired.com

Teaching Drones to Fly in Formation | Danger Room | Wired.com: "Danger Room What’s Next in National Security
Teaching Drones to Fly in Formation"

In a clever bit of viral marketing, a few weeks ago Lockheed Martin released artwork on-line depicting the company’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter painted in the colors of the Air Force’s Thunderbirds aerobatics team, which in the real world flies F-16s. The delayed, over-budget F-35 is “not likely to appear in Thunderbird colors for at least another decade,” Steve Trimble noted.

Robot Delivers Packages Through Sewers | Autopia | Wired.com

Robot Delivers Packages Through Sewers | Autopia | Wired.com: "Robot Delivers Packages Through Sewers"

It’s 2020, and cities are so overcrowded that it’s impossible to deliver packages. UPS trucks have nowhere to double-park, and obnoxious bike messengers can’t even ride on pedestrian-jammed sidewalks. How, then, can important parcels reach their destinations in a squalid megalopolis of the future? Through the sewers, of course.

The brainchild of designer Phillip Hermes, the Urban Mole is a capsule that travels through existing networks of underground pipes in order to instantly transport packages as diverse as groceries, signed documents and any title that appears on Oprah’s Book Club. The Mole frees up above-ground roadways formore important matters, like mobilizing armies against the cyborgs that will inevitably plague our future cities.

U.S. Navy gets hybrid Destroyer | MNN - Mother Nature Network

U.S. Navy gets hybrid Destroyer | MNN - Mother Nature Network: "U.S. Navy gets hybrid Destroyer
A new USS Destroyer class, the DGG 51, boasts a hybrid-electric engine to conserve fuel on the high seas."

Photo: U.S. Navy Journalist 2nd Class Patrick Reilly

Many have been surprised by the "greening branches" of the U.S. military.

In May a report on climate change (PDF) was issued by the powerful MAB (Military Advisory Board), an organization of high-ranking U.S. military officials which not only acknowledged climate change (a dramatic about-face from the Bush years) but also detailed the many ways in which climate change could impact national security.

From iPhones to smart grids at Black Hat, Defcon | InSecurity Complex - CNET News

From iPhones to smart grids at Black Hat, Defcon | InSecurity Complex - CNET News: "Defcon brings together some of the top security experts from around the world, along with thousands of hacker wannabes whose pranks in previous years--hacking the elevators and ATMs and cementing the toilets, to name a few--have led to bans at certain hotels."

LIFE Goes Skateboarding - Photo Gallery, 10 Pictures - LIFE

LIFE Goes Skateboarding - Photo Gallery, 10 Pictures - LIFE: "LIFE Goes Skateboarding"

LIFE Classic

Homes for the Homeless? . NOW on PBS

Homes for the Homeless? . NOW on PBS: "Homes for the Homeless?
What to do with foreclosed houses—How about letting homeless families move in? An innovative idea that's also illegal."

Verizon offers wireless concessions to a skeptical Congress - Ars Technica

Verizon offers wireless concessions to a skeptical Congress - Ars Technica: "Verizon offers wireless concessions to a skeptical Congress

Comes Verizon with bright new ideas about exclusive handset deals and roaming that will appear to some as olive branches, and to others as ways to head off stronger laws from Congress."

No doubt about it—we've got a Congress and Federal Communications Commission that are far more skeptical of the wireless industry than they've been in the past. And if the average cell phone user hasn't sensed this, Verizon has. The mobile giant has been very pro-active of late on hot button issues like roaming and exclusive handset deals. Its CEO has been running around Washington, D.C. making announcements and floating policy recommendations that will appear to some as olive branches, but to others as bids to ward off stricter government scrutiny.

And it sure looks like said scrutiny is coming. Even before FCC Chair Julius Genachowski actually got his job, he promised a probe on the exclusive handset question