TroopTube Social Network

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet,

Because of security reasons, no doubt, the DOD has restricted overseas military use of sites such as YouTube and MySpace for its personnel. Delve Networks and the DOD’s Military One Source have launched TroopTube. The social site allows active duty, guard and reserve military folks and their families to share videos but they will not be able to embed them elsewhere. The Defense Department will monitor what is shown on the site that could be potential risks. Sign-up is free and uploading is super-simple.

Read More | TroopTube

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Don’t Swat This Fly

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Misc. Tech, Science,

Shades of Jeff Goldblum! Engineer Robert Wood has been working on a robotic fly since the late 90’s. After studying houseflies, bees, and fruit flies, he and his team created a layered composite that bends when electricity hits it, creating a micro-scale gearbox hooked to the wings. While the mass of a fly’s wings was figured to be 80 watts per kilo, this design produced more than 400W.

The Department of Defense liked his idea so much that they funded him, hoping the technology will be used for such applications as lost miners and military spying. Wood claims that he is only a third of the way there, as the next steps are to create an “on-board” power source and then teach the little buggers to fly en masse.

Read More | Harvard Magazine

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