The slugs were shot from a Mossberg 590 12-gauge shotgun. The first two slugs both hit their intended targets that were set around 30 feet away, and while the slugs’ lightweight form don’t carry as much force as a heavier actual shotgun slug, the 3D-printed slug penetrated completely through a dart board, as well as a water jug sitting behind it. The slug was also able to blast through a 2×12 piece of pine wood.

The slugs used in the video are the larger variants that gun enthusiast Jeff Heeszel has designed, saying that they take about an hour each to print using a Solidoodle 3 3D printer (which costs around $800) using ABS thermoplastic. Heeszel used a non-printed slug as a template to create the 3D files for the printed versions.

Heeszel got the idea from the recently-printed Liberator handgun, but he didn’t like the idea of a plastic gun shooting real bullets, and instead wanted to shoot plastic bullets with a real gun. Heeszel says that the slugs weigh about 0.4 ounces, but only after adding a lead point to add a bit of weight to it. Otherwise, the slug would only weigh a mere 0.1 ounces.

Apparently it took Heeszel hours to set up the 3D printer in order for it to print the slug in the right shape. He also had issues with the printer’s heated bed, which caused the slugs to warp as new layers were added. To remedy that, Heeszel had to paint a slurry mix to the printer’s bed to prevent warping. This alone took around 30 to 40 hours just to come up with the right paint mix.

VIA: Wired

The surprising part is that the gun was made on a cheaper 3D printer than what the original Liberator was made on. The “Lulz Liberator,” as its known, was made on a $1,725 Lulzbot A0-101 consumer-grade 3D printer, which is cheaper than most of MakerBot’s own consumer-grade 3D printers. The gun was eventually loaded with .380 rounds and fired off nine times over the course of an evening.

The first Liberator that we saw earlier this month was printed on an industrial-sized $8,000 Stratasys Dimension SST 3D printer, and the barrel had to be replaced after every shot was fired off. The new Lulz Liberator was able to withstand eight shots before the barrel was replaced in order to get a ninth shot off.

However, “Joe” says that he could’ve shot more with the gun, and the only reason he stopped was because the sun went down. So what’s the difference between the Lulz Liberator and the original model? Joe says he used generic Polylac PA-747 ABS plastic, which is actually stronger than the more expensive ABS plastic used in a Stratasys printer that the first Liberator was equipped with.

Both models still have bits of metal inside in order to actually fire a bullet, including a metal firing pin as well as a small chunk of steel in order for the gun to be detected by metal detectors and to comply with the Undetectable Firearms act. Of course, though 3D-printed guns have a long way to go before they’re actually useful, as they’re not as reliable as an actual gun, so those who are worried about the controversy over such weapons, it’ll still be a few more years before you need to actually be concerned. For the time being, 3D-printed guns still aren’t all that great to use as a reliable weapon.

SOURCE: Forbes

The blueprints were released on DefCad.org by The Liberator creator Cody Wilson. A short while after the download went live, a red banner appeared at the top of the website announcing that the United States government “claims control of the information,” and as such had been pulled. The image above is now shown where the download used to be, giving the appearance of a swift and complete removal.

For all of its grand talk and rapid response, however, the Defense Department’s actions were a case of “too little, too late.” The blueprints had already been downloaded tens of thousands of times, residing on thousands of hard drives likely located in multiple countries. Such a wide dissemination of information is like a large stone being pushed down a steep hill – trying to stop is not only near impossible, but also likely to cause more harm in the long run. The censorship of the information served only to bring the downloads to the public eye, prompting some who disagreed with the government’s decision to counter its block by releasing the information on BitTorrent and The Pirate Bay.

A quick look at The Pirate Bay shows a copy of the blueprints being distributed by thousands of seeders and acquired by hundreds of leechers, with the same kind of numbers appearing on other torrent websites that were looked at. Some of those downloading have expressed intention to upload it elsewhere, increasing both the number of places from which it is available and the number of individuals who come to harbor the information. The government will go after some of the locations where the file is hosted, but cannot do so beyond its jurisdiction.

According to BetaBeat, the firearm’s designer Cody Wilson said on the matter: “I still think we win in the end. Because the files are all over the Internet, the Pirate Bay has it – to think this can be stopped in any meaningful way is to misunderstand what the future of distributive technologies is about.”

The Liberator was created by 25-year-old law student Cody Wilson of Defense Distributed. The gun was designed in such a way that it can be easily recreated by others who have access to a 3D printer, making the firearm a weapon that can be theoretically mass produced on a very accessible consumer level. The gun, which resembles a toy with its square plastic body, is made from easily obtainable ABS plastic and has a total of 16 parts. Although it is hailed as the first fully-printed firearm, it does have a metal firing pin due to the inability of plastic to withstand the force. The weapon was designed to fire ordinary handgun rounds, of which various calibers can be used thanks to an interchangeable barrel.

The Liberator was test fired on Monday, May 6. Unfortunately, the testing phase didn’t fare as well as Wilson had hoped, with the first attempt resulting in a misfire and the second – which involved a 5.7 x 28 rifle cartridge – ending with the handgun being blow into shrapnel, perhaps making the Liberator the first 3D-printed explosive device, as well. Such a result didn’t slow them down too much, however.

As we noted earlier this month, Wilson planned to release his blueprints on the database website Defcad.org, where other CAD files for printable guns are available. He ultimately followed through with this plan, making the blueprints available for others to download today. In a short span of time, the file was saved over 100,000 times, a reality that has quickly been halted by the government.

As of now, the DefCad website displays a banner reading: “DEFCAD files are being removed from public access at the request of the US Department of Defense Trade Controls. Until further notice, the United States government claims control of the information.” This followed a letter sent by the State Department’s Office of Defense Trade Compliance demanding the blueprints be removed while a review was performed to see whether they count as class one munitions. It is possible Defense Distributed violated the Arms Export Control Act as a result of releasing information without authorization that is under control of the International Traffic in Arms Regulation.

On one side of the fence, many have expressed concerns about the ability for anyone to download blueprints for printing their own firearms, something that could result in obtaining weapons without a background check and facilitate access for felons and the mentally ill. In addition, 3D printed guns wouldn’t have serial numbers, an issue posing its own problems. On the other hand, however, are those who say access to such information is the right of a free people, and that blocking access to it is a restriction of one’s rights.

Wilson is in the latter camp, quoted as saying: “I immediately complied and I’ve taken down the files. But this is a much bigger deal than guns. It has implications for the freedom of the web.”

[via BetaBeat]

Whenever a bullet or other blunt object pierces through glass or other brittle material, the energy expands outward over the glass, creating the familiar look of radial cracking patterns formed around the bullet hole. While many people have always believed this to be completely random (and it is to an extent), it turns out that there’s actually a method to the madness.

After shooting BBs at plexiglass plates, which were of various thicknesses and strengths (with the BBs traveling at different speeds), the researchers concluded and created a “global scaling law,” with the rule of thumb that the number of cracks double for every fourfold increase in a bullet’s (or other object’s) impact speed.

These findings could be useful to forensic scientists who want to determine the location of a shooter or determine the speed of a vehicle when it got shot at. Of course, it’s not something that will give you a definite answer as to how fast a bullet was traveling, but based on the researchers’ findings, it’s definitely something that can provide forensic investigators with an accurate estimate.

[via io9]

Image via Flickr

Forbes reports that the weapon survived its initial test, which was handled by a budget remote system consisting of a long piece of string. That initial test saw the weapon fire a standard.380 handgun cartridge with no visible damage. The weapon was fired by simply pulling a string from a distance of about 20 feet reports Forbes.

The odd weapon used a number of 3-D printed springs, a trigger mechanism made using the 3-D printer, and other components. The only parts of the weapon that weren’t made using a 3-D printer were the actual.380 round and a nail used as a firing pin. Forbes reports that a second test using a.380 round, prior to the rifle cartridge explosion, resulted in a misfire.

Another test firing was also conducted that day with the same weapon using a more powerful rifle cartridge. The particular cartridge in this case was a 5.7 x 28 rifle cartridge. The gun was again fired using the long string remote method. The weapon didn’t fare so well this time and reportedly exploded into a cloud of 3-D printed shards when the string was pulled.

[via Forbes]

The gun is made up of 16 different pieces that were 3D-printed separately using ABS plastic. Every part of the gun is 3D-printed except for the firing pin, which is needed to be metal due to the amount of force it handles. The gun is designed to fire standard handgun rounds, and it uses interchangeable barrels for different calibers of ammunition.

Wilson plans to soon release the CAD files for the gun on the Defcad.org website, which is a database full of CAD files for 3D-printers of different guns that you can make. As for the Liberator, it can fire a traditional round without a problem, but in order to comply with the Undetectable Firearms Act, Wilson put a chunk of steel in the body so that metal detectors can detect it.

Of course, 3D-printed weapons have been a controversial topic lately, since anyone with a 3D printer can make a gun without ever going through background checks or any other kind of verification system. Users can even obtain CAD files for high-capacity automatic rifles like the AR-15 and AK-47, which are illegal in the first place in many states.

[via Forbes]

While many of us immediately think of science fiction when it comes to robots with the ability to kill humans with no input from a human operator, we’re not talking about far-fetched Terminator style robots. What the UN is worried about are automomous robots such as aerial drones able to identify targets and launch missiles or drop bombs with no human interaction.

The UN is also concerned about weapons such as small mobile robots using tank-like treads that are equipped with guns and other weapons systems that can roll through an environment engaging targets on their own volition. It is worth noting that most of these weapon systems are available, but they are typically controlled by a human operator from afar.

The UN recently issued a 22 page report talking about lethal autonomous robotics or LARs weapon systems. The UN wants member states to work to articulate a policy for the international community that would ban robots and robotic systems from being able to take human life without human intervention. The human report says, “[LARs] deployment may be unacceptable because no adequate system of legal accountability can be devised, and because robots should not have the power of life and death over human beings.”

[via Inventorspot]

British security company Selectamark has launched a new system, called the SelectaDNA High Velocity System, that will help police and military personnel easily identify possible criminal suspects. A DNA pellet weigh just one gram, and can be fired from up to 130 feet away. When the pellets hit a target, they leave an enduring biological mark on the subject that lasts for weeks.

It may sound like the pellet marks the suspect’s DNA, but that’s actually not the case. Instead, the pellet simply has a DNA nature to it that allows each pellet to leave a unique mark on suspects, different than that of traditional color markers that are used currently. The system is being launched today, but no word on when authorities will start utilizing them.

Selectamark says that these guns and pellets are great for out-of-control situations with large crowds where police officers would be endangering their own lives if they went in for arrests. Instead, officers can pull out their DNA guns and tag various suspects from a safe distance and arrest them later.

TrackingPoint has developed the world’s first precision-­guided firearm (PGF) system and essentially, the company is putting fighter-­jet style “lock and launch” technology into rifle systems. The company says that this creates the most accurate shooting system in the world, and it can enable anyone to be an elite long-range marksman within minutes.

Check out our Extended Talk with Jason Schauble, President of TrackingPoint as well.

As far as what the scope and rifle system can do, users can stream video to a smartphone and display what you see through the scope on the screen of a mobile device over a WiFi or data connection. The scope can also control the trigger weight in order to guide the shooter, so when the shooter is off target, the trigger weight is temporarily inflated to defer launch, but when the shooter precisely intersects the target, the trigger weight is decreased, which allows normal trigger use.

The system also utilizes computer vision-based digital image processing to track targets. Images from the optical sensors are analyzed and targets are identified and tracked, thanks to techniques such as edge detection and blob detection. As far as buttons, there’s a focus adjustment, a zoom rocker, a mode button, and a wind adjuster. The rifle system is expected to be available some time this year at a price between $15,000 and $20,000.

The effort to offer 3-D printing gun components has been dealt another blow as MakerBot has removed all printable gun parts from its Thingiverse website. Previously the website offered a 3-D printable reinforced AR-15 lower receiver design among other components. The downloadable file allowed anyone with a 3-D printer to create the gun component.

The lower receiver design that was available on the website was from a creator called HaveBlue. That component has been removed along with plans for other firearm components. Printable files for the components have been removed and the listings for the components doesn’t turn up on a search at Thingiverse.

The files required to make the component are still available online via other sources. Thingiverse says that components for weapons were removed because they violate the websites terms of service after a recent change. The recent change added caveat barring the uploading of any weapon components.

[via CNET]

Wilson created a promotional video surrounding the creation of the weapon they’re aiming for – a partially 3D printed AR-15 assault rifle being one example they’ve got, shown above. The video notes that “The Defense Distributed goal isn’t really personal armament.” Though arguments have been made against the group in that the final goal of the end-users of the printed objects may not fit in with their original creator’s goals, DD goes on.

“It’s more the liberation of information. It’s about living in a world where you can just download the file for the thing you want to make in this life. As the printing press revolutionized literacy, 3-D printing is in its moment.” – Wilson

The group representing the creators of the 3D printer that Wilson had on-hand up until very recently when Stratasys Inc. sent a note to the man noting that his lease would be cancelled due to their policy to “not knowingly allow its printers to be used for illegal purposes.” Though Wilson argued against their claim that he needed a federal license to manufacture firearms with a point on how he never intended to sell the arms, Stratasys was not suitably impressed, and seized the printer.

Defense Distributed has raised $20,000 online all in a bid to create a design and develop the “world’s first entirely 3D printed gun”. This weapon they call the Wiki Weapon, and it’s on it’s way.

[via Slate]

[Image credit: Andrew Becraft]

Joe Brown, chief at Gizmodo, penned a brief editorial about how guns are a gadget too dangerous for normal civilian use. He makes an excellent point for geeks, mostly concerning time machines. But his column is too brief for the topic at hand. Joe, let me show you what a thousand words looks like, because it would be impossible to flesh this out in the space you’ve allowed yourself.

So, Joe’s basic premise is that every sci-fi movie that involves time machines basically concludes that time travel is too dangerous for us normal humans. Except he forgot the canonical time traveling opus, Doctor Who. If anything, Doctor Who proves quite the opposite. The good Doctor emphatically solves his problems with little to no violence, and usually folks he encounters leave all the wiser for being in his presence. Sure, he’s not human, but the show’s writers sure are, and that’s what we’re really talking about. Joe thinks it’s impossible to even imagine a scenario where such a dangerous technology should be left in the hands of humanity. Our greatest thinkers, Joe implies, cannot conceive of a world order preserved with time travel as a natural part. But that’s just not true. Doctor Who. Marty McFly. That one Harry Potter book, the really good one (the best one, in my opinion). All involved time travel, and everything worked out for the best.

So, let’s leave the fiction world behind. It is impossible to argue that guns are not dangerous. They are tremendously dangerous. They offer the maximum amount of damage for the minimum amount of intelligence. I could put my 3 year old behind the wheel of a car, and he would have trouble figuring it out. But if I hand him a semi-automatic pistol, I’m sure he could kill something with ease.

I should also assert my liberal bona fides. If all guns disappeared tomorrow, I would not shed a tear. If the government somehow came to its senses and banned all firearms, from automatic assault rifles down to black powder muskets, I would applaud the decision and vote for any representatives supporting it. However, as long as guns are currently legal, I think there are solutions to maintain the status quo that do not involve a full-fledged ban.

That ship has already sailed, after all. The guns are out there. They are easy enough to get. A gun ban would certainly stop some criminals from acquiring firearms, but not all, and probably not even most. Other countries still make guns. Heck, anyone with a 3D printer at home can now print working guns for themselves, without a license or waiting period. I can’t think of any technological development more frightening than that. So the genie is already out of the bottle. Guns are here, and guns are easy, and we have to deal with that fact.

Exactly one week before the shooting at the movie theater in Colorado, I fired an assault rifle for the first time. It was an AR-16, the same weapon the shooter used (one of many, in fact). The rifle belongs to a friend of mine here in Texas, a very sweet and gentle family man who grew up in rural Idaho. We had planned the outing to the shooting range for a while. When the day came, I asked if he needed to stop home after work to pick up his weapon.

“Nope, I have it already. It’s in my trunk.”

“Do we need to buy ammo?”

“No, I’ve got about a thousand rounds already.” Hollow point rounds. You need to use hollow points at a shooting range so you don’t obliterate the targets. When we got to the range, I had to buy a membership and watch a 10-minute safety video. The range took safety very, very seriously. When I heard the tremendous report of the guns being fired, I asked my friend if he had earplugs he could lend me.

“No, but you can just use a couple bullets.”

“Bullets?!”

“Yeah, just stick them in your ears. I used to do that all the time when I was a kid.”

Instead of sticking live ammunition in my ears with the bullet facing my brain, I convinced him to give me a couple bucks to rent a pair of ear covers.

I have to admit, it was an awesome experience. For a first-timer, I did fairly well from a scant 50 yards. I chalk that up to extensive video game experience. Firing an assault rifle is exhilarating. It’s tremendously powerful, but smooth at the same time, thanks to the large spring that runs through the stock and catches much of the recoil. It took concentration and precision. It involved a loud bang, smoke, and heat. There’s a slight element of danger, but also the reassurance of knowing that if you follow the proper rules and procedures, nobody will get hurt.

Should we ban everything that could possibly hurt us? Should be ban only the things that could hurt us the most, with the least effort? Our laws currently establish a right to own guns, and I, as a responsible and intelligent citizen, have no problem exercising and enjoying that right. I don’t want to hurt anybody. I don’t want to see anybody get hurt.

I think gun opponents are going about this the wrong way. We do not need gun control. Such a thing makes little sense. We need human control. We need to control the humans who have access to guns, the way guns are used and stored, and places in which guns are accepted. But mostly, we need to change the way we talk about the issue. When you tell a gun enthusiast you favor gun control, they think you are taking away not only a favorite pastime. You are also taking away a form of protection and safety.

My friend with the assault rifle owns 10 30-round magazines. He could carry 300 rounds on him without having to reload a clip. When I asked him why, he said

“Well, I was buying only a few clips, and the guy selling them to me explained that a clip is inexpensive compared to the price of the rifle itself. So, you might as well buy a bunch. Because when the s*** goes down, you’re going to want those extra clips.”

When it goes down, indeed. I have no statistics to back up whether gun ownership results in safety or tragedy. But I do know that gun owners legitimately feel their safety is being compromised when you suggest taking away their guns. And if they have never used their guns improperly, or in a harmful manner, why should they have to sacrifice their right to ownership?

Instead, let’s put technology on the case. Let’s stop calling it gun control, and start calling it criminal control. Nobody will defend making it easier for dangerous criminals to own guns. Let’s extend waiting periods dramatically. Take the passion out of gun purchases. Leave time for a proper background check, using all the tools of the Internet to get a clear picture of the person purchasing the weapon.

Let’s accelerate the development of biometric gun locks. Only a registered owner can use a gun. Let’s develop new ways to keep guns locked, secured, and only usable by trustworthy owners. Targeting systems that recognize a clear threat. Chemical tests to make sure users aren’t drunk or high or otherwise chemically imbalanced.

The NRA and its associate organizations like to say that guns don’t kill people, people kill people. It’s an inspired slogan, so let’s see them put their money where their mouths are. If we can’t take away the guns, let’s do more to stop the people. Let’s do everything possible. If guns are the most dangerous gadget, it is time to treat them like a gadget and spend more time developing features and improving security.

We may never be able to completely end the gun violence insanity that has plagued the U.S. in the past few weeks, but at least we can inject some technological intelligence into the gun ownership body, and bring this fever down to a manageable level.

The team of Sandia-Northrop Grumman are working with patented drone technology that works with a helium-cooled nuclear reactor. This patent comes from all the way back in 1986, while similar nuclear-powered aircraft patents are known to have been filed as early as the 1950s. The team notes that these kinds of nuclear drones have been able to bring both longer surveillance time and enough power to do more research whilst in flight than ever before as well.

This project has inspected and tested power systems ranging from large to medium sized drones and has, it appears, settled on a nuclear solution at this time. Though reports show that the project is now “completed” in some aspects, it appears that there may be no real future for an actual, working drone for the time being. Sandia reports:

“Sandia is often asked to look at a wide range of solutions to the toughest technical challenges. The research on this topic was highly theoretical and very conceptual. The work only resulted in a preliminary feasibility study and no hardware was ever built or tested. The project has ended.” – Sandia

Concerns for the project mostly came from a crashed vehicle, as if it were to fall into enemy hands or fall into a civilian area, complications could arise. Thus is also the problem with any and all drones flown for military purposes, but in this case the danger of the plane effectively becoming a “dirty bomb” appear to have been too great.

[via Guardian]

Scientists have Los Alamos National Laboratory used a supercomputer to model the effectiveness of nuclear weapons to destroy an asteroid. The team attacked a 1650-foot long virtual asteroid using a 1-megaton nuclear weapon. That nuclear weapon is about 50 times more powerful than the one dropped by the US during World War II.

According to the team of scientists, the results are very encouraging and the blast was able to fully mitigate the threat of the pending strike in simulations. The 3-D modeling study ran on a supercomputer called Cielo with 32,000 processors. The bomb would only have to be set off on the surface of the asteroid, so oilfield drilling crews are safe. The scientists did note that a nuclear weapon would be the last resort and could have potential side effects. One such side effect would be many small space rocks coming at Earth instead of one large rock.

Another potential solution would be to send out a robotic probe that would run along with the asteroid exerting a small gravitational force on the asteroid over months or years, acting as a sort of gravity tractor to change the asteroid’s trajectory. Another option would be to crash a rendezvous craft into the asteroid using brute force to push it off course.

“Ultimately this 1-megaton blast will disrupt all of the rocks in the rockpile of this asteroid, and if this were an Earth-crossing asteroid, would fully mitigate the hazard represented by the initial asteroid itself,” Los Alamos scientist Bob Weaver said in a recent video released by the lab.

[via Space.com]

That means if you are out hunting zombies and leave your slingshot cocked for a long time it will lose power. That could mean the difference in a dead zombie or one with a headache that is really mad at you. Sprave has fixed this power loss issue with a new enclosed slingshot that looks pretty cool/

The slingshot has a heating element inside an enclosed wooden box mounted on the slingshot. The heating element is powered by a rechargeable battery and when kicked on it heats that rubber band up until it gets all its force back. The red switch on the slingshot turns the heating element on and off. Check out the video to see the slingshot in action.

Civilians have nothing to fear from this powerhouse of a light blaster of course since makers of the SMU 100 say it’ll only be used against rioters. The makers of this device also note that an unnamed police force is set to be giving it a trial soon, with usage more than likely set for 2012. Pal Kerr of MD Photonic Security Systems, the makers of this device, noted the following about it:

“The system would give police an intimidating visual deterrent. If you can’t look at something you can’t attack it.” – Kerr

This device’s effect is good over 500 metres (1,640ft) and has not yet been fully tested in regards to the potential side-effects of the light. This test will be part of the full trial taking place soon, and only AFTER it’s been given approval by the commission in charge of testing it at this juncture will it be allowed to head to the Home Secretary in the UK. This is not the first time a weapon such as this has been used – American and British troops used similar blasters in Afghanistan to protect convoys from attack by sight-dependent enemies – but the UK police have not been using such excellent light-based-weapons up until now.

ALSO though we’ve been assured several times that it’s not, we must assume that the rifle will work like this:

[via BBC]

What they’ve made here is a little bullet (or several bullets, as it were – each size for a different caliber) that has holes in it, grooves along the sides, and another hole in the back, all of this scientifically calibrated to bring your projectile launching to the newest in best-in-class accuracy and ease in use. Where this gets all technological on you is in the hyper-precision in which the Comp Bullet can be made — tolerances to the tenth of one grain, for example. And not only that, you can get your bullets modified by Comp to be +/- 0,005 of an inch larger or smaller. That’s a magnificently small amount of change.

And what are these bullets made of, you might ask? Surely not gold, that’d be completely idiotic — no way, these are made of a much more solid copper alloy. The way they work is that as the vents (the holes) allow gas out of the sides of the bullet, lubrication of the bullet occurs – sliding through the barrel with the greatest of ease. Once the bullet exits the gun, instead of a kickback you’ve got these same holes creating a muzzle brake, reducing your kickback greatly. Oh they go quite a bit faster too – velocity increase due to the rocket effect as they, again, leave the barrel.

The FireArm Blog let us know that there’s a few videos too – joy! Check out this video of these miracle beasts in action and make sure your SPEAKERS ARE TURNED DOWN:

You can buy 9mm bullets, .40 SW, .45, .44, or .30, so sharp it’ll cut your face off! And I’m sure if you ask them nicely, you’ll be able to get your own custom bullets in the future. Sound like a lovely deal to you? Now get out there and start shooting things less valuable than the bullets themselves!

[via Comp Bullet]

The weapon was launch from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai. The vehicle is a glider like the DARPA device that is lofted into orbit and then glides to reach its target. According to the military, the weapon would be able to navigate and avoid flying over other nations on its approach to its target.

The Army calls the weapon the Advanced Hyper Sonic Weapon. The test was to collect data on the tech that boosts the vehicle and then allows it to glide. At speed, the AHW was able to cover 2,300 miles in less than half an hour.

[via CBS News]

Right now researchers at the Naval Research Labs Charged Particle Physics branch are “firing up to 15 shots per week on the laboratory’s experimental railgun, researchers at NRL perform detailed testing and analysis of rails and armatures, providing S&T expertise to the Navy program that is directly applicable to tests at large-scale power levels” – this noted by Dr. Robert Meger, head of the Naval Research Labs’ Charged Particle Physics branch. Only a couple shots a day, but each shot represents another step towards a final approved for use product.

What you’ve got here is a gun which uses an electromagnetic current to make the bullet fly out of the gun. The bullet is non-explosive, mind you, and it’s fired at several times the speed of sound. The bullet doesn’t have explosives as a traditional bullet would, instead relying entirely on kinetic energy. This gun has been enhanced to be approximately 1.5 megajoules of energy strong, this comparable, again, to more than a one-ton vehicle moving at 100 mph.

The gun remains in testing now, but as the Senate Armed Services Committee voted this past April to defund such projects (though they failed,) the future of the device remains in question. NRL Commanding Officer Captian Paul Stewart noted the following on the project: “A railgun weapons system must be able to launch hundreds of projectiles and withstand extreme pressures, currents and temperatures. [This landmark shot] demonstrates Navy researchers are steadily progressing toward achieving that goal, developing a more effective and efficient future ship combat system.”

[via My24Web]

Scientists from the Georgia Tech Research Institute lead by Dr. Krishna Naishadham have created a new and cheap sensor that is also sensitive. The sensor the researchers created is made using an ink jet printable ammonia sensor that can be used practically to detect explosives. Ammonia is a key component used in the construction of many forms of explosives.

The sensor printing process places carbon nanotubes on paper or other paper-like materials. The ink also has silver nanoparticles that are held in emulsion able to pass through the printer at a temperature of 212F. As the ink settles on the paper, it forms into the nanotubes. By coating the nanotubes with different materials they can detect different gasses. The ammonia sensor is able to detect trace amounts of ammonia as low as five parts per million.

[via Slashdot]

Joerg start off by using a hammer with a spike on the back known to be able to penetrate a skull and then searches for a chunk of wood that his little slingshot and steel ball projectiles cant penetrate. He then shows off his roof top zombie killing sling shot along with a finely drawn illustration. The chunk of wood is a piece of 40mm thick countertop for kitchens.

The steel ball from the zombie killing slingshot penetrates the board on the first go round. The zombie killing slingshot is adjustable for aim as well. Joerg needs a cameo on The Walking Dead, come on AMC hook it up. The key to the power of this slingshot is the 11-foot draw length.

What you get in this hypothetical kit is no less than four self-defense tools, three of which could potentially do some heavy damage to your opponent. I mean, not opponent, your ATTACKER, of course. There’s a brass knuckle, a unit of pepper spray, a whistle, and a pocket knife. And what’s best? The size, of course, each of them shorter than a ball-point pen and fairly thin as well. Pack them in your wallet, if you wish, but keep them in your back pocket for quick access.

Now we’ve just got to wait for this set to reach reality. At the moment it sits in the archives at CreativeSession design studio waiting for some monetary support. And don’t let anyone tell you anything other than the following: if someone designed a product, and the template is just sitting around in their office, all they need is a backer and it WILL be made. Call us up when the first batch comes out!

[via Yanko Design]

Sprave uses three different marble sizes for his test and finds that they penetrate the gelatin very impressively. He also uses a small lead ball as a comparison. That lead ball zips all the way though the gelatin. Just think of these things fired at some hapless zombie’s tummy. The marbles are made from glass.

Naturally, Sprave fires the marbles at a rock and a wall just to see if the marbles will shatter. The marbles stay in one piece, but they do take chucks out of the rock. Check out the video to see the marble shooting action.

Among the weapons are some knives made from things like ceramic and flint along with one of Sprave’s slingshots made from carbon fiber. It never ceases to amaze me just how powerful a slingshot can be. Ballistic gelatin is the stuff that mimics the resistance of flesh so it’s interesting to see just how bad the gel is damaged by this stuff.

Most of the knives slice and stab just as you would expect. The stones that he is flinging from that carbon fiber slingshot are very large. Despite how large they are the stones still penetrate the gel and lodge inside. The smaller stones with sharper edges penetrate surprisingly deep into the gel. That slingshot could certainly kill someone.

They will send your loved ones ashes off to a reloaded where they will load the ashes into the cases of the shell. The bullets or shot are still made from metal; it appears the ashes simply go into the case with the gunpowder. They can make rifle shells in all common calibers and they can make shotgun shells too.

The company says it sues ATF permitted ammunition loaders/reloaders and points out not all reloaders will use cremated remains. Pricing for the shells is $850 for 250 rounds of hand loaded lead shot shells. Other types of loads are available too. The price for rifle cartridges starts at the same $850, but you only get 100 rounds. They can also load pistol rounds.

A geek going by faustus70 then took some planks from an old antique wood chair to cover the weapon and secured that old wood to the gun using some hand cut aluminum straps and rivets. Any kid (or adult) wielding this bad boy will be the master of the neighborhood NERF war.

It still works and has a magazine that holds ten whistler darts inside. The darts are fired with help from an electric system and power comes from AA batteries. The scope on top of the gun offers three times magnification to snipe your enemy from afar. Apparently the guy was offering the gun on Etsy for sale at $300.

[via Technabob]

Joerg is back now and is showing off the crossbow design again alongside another little slingshot that he made that looks like a traditional handheld design. The design of the handheld slingshot is tweaked though to use the roller system that is on the crossbow slingshot to give the thing more power. Joerg picked up a little beer keg that was left behind and uses it for slingshot fodder.

Surprisingly despite the fact that the crossbow is able to fire the ball bearing faster than the handheld design, the crossbow is unable to go through the little keg. The handheld design on the other hand shoots right through the can sending beer gushing everywhere. Being a true German, Joerg points out up front that the beer is no longer good.

They will send you a voucher that the account holder can take with them to any reputable gun shop and purchase the gun right then. The theory is you get a merchant account and a way to protect yourselves for the thieves that might invade your store. You also get special breach coverage insurance.

The deal brings with it insurance coverage for the expenses relating to some sort of security breach with their merchant account like identity recovery and credit monitoring. The amount of your voucher depends on how many locations you sign up. With one location and $100,000, you get a measly $50 voucher. Bring 15 locations and $1 million in annual volume and you get $750 voucher for the weapon. Epic cat of doom to wield the AK-47 isn’t included. This reminds me of that promotion the Montana Radio Shack did a while back for a free handgun with a satellite install.

Sprave points out that the slingshot he is firing in the video isn’t finished. It needs some paint, sanding, and stronger bands. This is the first slingshot in a while I have seen from Sprave that didn’t make me fear for his life. I did fear for a cats life because cats are crazy and will go running exactly where you don’t want them when you least expect it.

The design uses rollers to make stretching the thick rubber bands back to the trigger mechanism easier. I would be all twisted up login that each time since Murphy would show up and snap that rubber band leaving me with a not so cool rubber band scar between the eyes. I wonder if Joerg has ever looked at one of those kitties and thought, “What would it take to make a real cat-a-pult?”

That dye won’t come off the people hosed with it for about three weeks apparently. The Crowd Buster comes in a backpack style that can be worn or carried and a larger style that can be mounted on a truck or ATV. Either version can shoot a micro pelletized fog or directed stream up to 150-feet from the user. The other canister with the fiber weave is for compressed air.

The canister can be reloaded in a few seconds apparently. I guess this thing will work well as long as the users are downwind from the rioters otherwise they might be Crowd Busting themselves. If the crowd is packing a Crowd Buster Buster, in this case a fan, things might not work as well either.

[via Military.com]

The scientists on the project say that projectiles made using the new material are less likely to harm bystanders and will ensure that when used against other missiles in flight the chance of destroying the target is increased. The new material can be used to create missiles, artillery shells, and other munitions that are typically constructed with a steel casing that contains high explosive inside.

The new weapons using the improved material called High-Density Reactive Materials (HDRM) use a casing that has materials that combine and explode when the projectile hits a target. The components inside the HDRM casings would combine on impact and cause a chemical explosion by combining different types of metals with oxidizers. The new material shows great promise in anti-missile systems, but could also increase the effectiveness of other armaments as well without creating more of a shrapnel risk for bystanders.

[via BBC News]

We wrote about this impressive tip of arrow looking glider yesterday and expressed excitement over its second launch. The first time this project was tested, the ship crashed into the ocean and could not be recovered. As this launch had the possibility of being the final test of the plane because of the budget crunch hitting the Pentagon, those hoping for the success of this piece of technology are likely digging their fingernails into their kneecaps at the moment.

If the project can be salvaged at this point, and if the project is able to move forward, the HTV-X, or whatever it’s called at the time, will aim at reaching anywhere in the world in less than an hour to deliver bombs to targets specified by the US Military. Furthermore, if the plane were to, theoretically, need to travel from Los Angeles to New York to hit a target, it could do so in less than 12 minutes.

Analysts are apparently saying that this method of destroying targets is far superior to launching ballistic missiles as at the moment missiles still travel predictable paths while a hypersonic vehicle like the HTV-2 can manuver in many ways. Analysts also note that this plane would not be mistaken for a nuclear missile, thus supposedly avoiding the possibility of triggering a nuclear confrontation.

The HTV-2 was launched for a test-run today a hypersonic vehicle launched by the military has “a long way to go” before deployment, so says Loren Thompson, analyst at the Lexington Institute with links to the defense industry. The launch today had the HTV-2 separate from its carrier rocket, perform some maneuvers, then contact was list. The test flight plan called for the HTV-2 Falcon to roll and dive into the Pacific Ocean, and by the sounds of it, at least the last part of the plan will take place one way or another.

UPDATE: DARPA has released a statement on today’s launch:

“Here’s what we know,” said Air Force Maj. Chris Schulz, DARPA HTV-2 program manager and PhD in aerospace engineering. “We know how to boost the aircraft to near space. We know how to insert the aircraft into atmospheric hypersonic flight. We do not yet know how to achieve the desired control during the aerodynamic phase of flight. It’s vexing; I’m confident there is a solution. We have to find it.”

“Prior to flight, the technical team completed the most sophisticated simulations and extensive wind tunnel tests possible. But these ground tests have not yielded the necessary knowledge. Filling the gaps in our understanding of hypersonic flight in this demanding regime requires that we be willing to fly,” said DARPA Director Regina Dugan. “In the April 2010 test, we obtained four times the amount of data previously available at these speeds. Today more than 20 air, land, sea and space data collection systems were operational. We’ll learn. We’ll try again. That’s what it takes.”

[via AFP]

The goal of this project is to create a missile system that can strike any target on earth within an hour. The first test of the HTV-2 ended after only 9-minutes of flight when the ship crashed into the ocean and could not be recovered. DARPA is set to test the missile again with a lift off from California. This may well be the final chance for the weapon.

If it has another catastrophic failure, it could be scrapped since the budget crunch has hit the Pentagon so hard. The design of the HTV-2 was very odd and in testing, it was found to be hard to stabilize in flight. The fear is a redesign of the vehicle could mean an end for the project.

[via Wired]

The dude received the order and made the weapon in only 14 working days! I can’t imagine producing something this cool myself in 14-months, much less a few weeks. Krix even had time to take hoards of photos of all the steps of the build process for us to check out. This guys is a replica making god and should have his likeness in the video game me thinks.

The weapon started at MDF and a bunch of glue. The cracks and gaps were filled with bondo, foam and clay, and then molds were made to get rubber parts. The finished weapon looks like it is waiting for someone to pick it up and start a firefight. I wonder how much the finished weapon weighs. This prop is so cool!

[via Volpin Props]

We have already seen a Taser grenade that is available get used on a reporter. The latest innovation in Taser tech comes by way of a company called Metal Storm. They have made a version of their MAUL shotgun that you see in the photos here that is for firing Taser shotgun shells. The MAUL has a five shot clip and will shoot those Taser rounds as fast as the operator can pull the trigger.

The weapon has a range of about 30-yards so the police can take someone down from a long way away. There is even a MAUL attachment that can fit under the barrel of an assault rifle to fire Tasers giving non-lethal and lethal capability in one weapon. I’d hate to get zapped by one of those shotgun shells.

[via Wired]