Posted by
CowboyNeal
on from the jumping-the-gun dept.
giampy writes "New Scientist reports the creation of a 'smart bullet' that can be fired at a target and then transmit back informations via wireless connection. The range is 70m. The project is funded by Lockeed Martin and its official goal is the detection of hidden TNT."
Smart Bullets, Tom Toles, and Spider-Man
by
The+I+Shing
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
The headline about "Smart Bullets" reminds me of a Tom Toles book entitled At least our bombs are getting smarter, a cartoon preview of the 1990s. The cover art is humorous... a daft (and probably tragically typical) American student can't figure out how to spell "budget," while the man-sized smart bomb sitting at the desk behind him is working out some kind of complex mathematical equation. In the corner of the cartoon, as in all Toles cartoons, there's a tiny punch-line. In this case, someone, probably the teacher, assures the smart bomb that "There'll always be a job for a chap like you." Dear God, it's more true today than it was fourteen years ago.
As far as smart bullets go, it sounds like the little spider transmitters Spider-Man uses to track the henchmen of his enemies, whom he inevitably follows right back to the bad guy's lair just in time to get clobbered by $villain. I wonder if there's an average number of years between the time a technology is introduced in comic books and the time it becomes a reality. Looks to me like it hovers around thirty.
-- You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
Re:Smart Bullets, Tom Toles, and Spider-Man
by
Saeger
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
the teacher, assures the smart bomb that "There'll always be a job for a chap like you." Dear God, it's more true today than it was fourteen years ago.
Dear Logic, why should that be so surprising? It should be expected that our technology will continue to get smarter, and faster, than your average "daft" person because of the differences in the rate of evolution.
Soon enough we won't even have to send any "daft" grunts with smart bullets onto the battlefield; we'll send bots who won't question orders instead.
--
-- Power to the Peaceful
And then what?
by
divine_13
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
So, after the bullet hit a target, it transmits information back to tell for example where it hit, damage made etc. The fun part starts if the host could transmit data back to the bullet, telling it how to operate next. Who knows what it can do? Explode, burrow etc... O.O This will be the end of cool action shooting scenes in movies though.
OT: Why can't we moderate stories down?
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Some of the stories posted to this site are pretty lame. Others are obviously flamebait or troll. Why can't we moderate the top level as well as the comments?
Because that's not how slashdot works.
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
There ARE sites that allow you to moderate the top level stories. Kuro5hin comes to mind. I believe there's a public-voting version of Metafilter as well.
However those sites just somehow haven't wound up being as popular as Slashdot. Go figure. So did Slashdot just get lucky, or is Slashdot actually doing something right?
I'm sorry, but shooting at TNT has as much risk as shooting at a tin can. TNT does not detonate from shock or flame. It must be detonated by an electrical impulse. This is why blasting areas prohibit talking on a cell phone etc. Most dynamite these days is TNT and will explode from electrical implulse, not shock etc.
Re:Shoot^H^H^H^H^H think first... take cover later
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 1, Interesting
I'm not a big fan of Bush (in fact I dispise him), but the war in Iraq was a long time coming. I believe that future historians will group both GWI , the blockade, and GWII into one conflict, in the same way was we now look at the "hundred years war"
The morning of Sept 11, we had no troops in hostile teritories, no prisoners being held illegally, and no delared wars with any country. Ethics didn't help us avoid that disaster. In fact our commitment to help repel Saddam Hussain in GWI was the spark which started that chain of events (Bin 'the evil bastard' Laden didn't like that; he wanted to bring his own troops in from Afganistan; the Saudi Royals knew what a mess that would be). I know that the war in Iraq is more of a distraction in the "war on terror", but *hopefully* we can pull a stable democracy out of this mess. It's going to be hard, I believe that the arabs can't see the forest for the trees.
Except for a handful of MI Specialists (who were under far to broad of orders from [I believe] the Whitehouse) and the National Guard troops they corrupted, the U.S. military has acted ethicly, in fact I argue more ethically than needed. Troops should shoot insurgants 'on the spot' as spies (as the Geneva conventional allows), rather than send them to jail.
Bridges, roads, pipelines, schools are being build by American money and troops. It's not an easy situation, perhaps you believe that Saddam Hussain was a just and kind leader who was no threat at all, I think that it is pretty obvious that he wasn't. If France and Russian weren't bought and paid for by him, I doubt if their opposition whould have been as great.
Like any other technology, this could be abused
by
EchelonZero
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
This story reminded me of a recent art exhibit in NYC. Jakob Boeskov, an Danish artist, infiltrated an international weapons fair in China with a fake weapon, the "ID Sniper Rifle". While his story is interesting, his concept weapon was frightening; although even more frightening was the response it received from interested parties at the fair.
What is the ID Sniper Rifle?
To put it short, the idea is to implant a GPS microchip in the body of a human being, using a high-powered sniper rifle as the long distance injector. The microchip will enter the body and stay there, causing no internal damage, and only a very small amount of physical pain to the target. It will feel like a mosquito bite, lasting a fraction of a second.
At the same time, a digital camcorder with a zoom lens fitted within the scope will take a high-resolution picture of the target. This picture will be stored on a memory card for later image-analysis. GPS microchip technology is already being used for tracking millions of pets in various countries, and the logical solution is to use it on humans as well, when the situation demands it.
-------------
Projectiles witht the ability to "phone home" are in our near future. How long can we expect to wait until something like the ID Sniper Rifle really exists?
I don't know about all this TNT finding stuff, but I can see the major benefits for hunters using these. Deer hunters sometimes can't bring a deer down right away (think drunks, or someone shooting through brush, both of wich are bad shooting habits) and so they have to track it through the woods.
Now, assuming the bullet didnt go all the way through, instead of following drops of blood for miles we can follow the bullet. It says the range is only 70m, but maybe that'll get better by the time they (maybe) release it for the public.
B/c for reasons other than hunting, it sounds completely pointless.
--
I was thinking of converting to paganism, but where the hell can you find sacrificial virgins these days?
Clarification.
by
The+Tyro
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
not to question an ex-EOD tech (you guys are all a little nuts), but I was under the impression that only some explosives (rather than all) are sensitive to heat, and some to percussion... while some require both to initiate a high-order detonation. C-4, for instance, can be safely set on fire, and will not detonate. It can also be safely exposed to significant mechanical shock, and will not detonate (exposing it to both simultaneously isn't advisable). I've never seen pure cyclonite (RDX) used much... probably due to its sensitivity, as you mentioned.
Most military high-explosives I've been around don't require much chaining (setting off sequential explosives to detonate a less-sensitive material)... I can't remember the last time I saw anyone use more than a standard cap. (I'm not an bomb/EOD-guy... I've simply been around the stuff a bit).
The original poster's comment about shooting at TNT is funny... because that's exactly how a fair amount of ordinance gets detonated these days. The last time I was in theatre, the EOD guys were using Barrett light-50's (with a type of european incendiary ammo) to detonate mines and other ordinance... a whole lot easier and safer than walking up to it and setting up the shot by hand. My tactical gear was heavy and unwieldy enough... I don't know how you guys are able to do anything in those bomb suits...
-- Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
Slashdot Mirror
The headline about "Smart Bullets" reminds me of a Tom Toles book entitled At least our bombs are getting smarter, a cartoon preview of the 1990s. The cover art is humorous... a daft (and probably tragically typical) American student can't figure out how to spell "budget," while the man-sized smart bomb sitting at the desk behind him is working out some kind of complex mathematical equation. In the corner of the cartoon, as in all Toles cartoons, there's a tiny punch-line. In this case, someone, probably the teacher, assures the smart bomb that "There'll always be a job for a chap like you." Dear God, it's more true today than it was fourteen years ago.
As far as smart bullets go, it sounds like the little spider transmitters Spider-Man uses to track the henchmen of his enemies, whom he inevitably follows right back to the bad guy's lair just in time to get clobbered by $villain. I wonder if there's an average number of years between the time a technology is introduced in comic books and the time it becomes a reality. Looks to me like it hovers around thirty.
You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
So, after the bullet hit a target, it transmits information back to tell for example where it hit, damage made etc.
The fun part starts if the host could transmit data back to the bullet, telling it how to operate next. Who knows what it can do? Explode, burrow etc...
O.O
This will be the end of cool action shooting scenes in movies though.
Some of the stories posted to this site are pretty lame. Others are obviously flamebait or troll. Why can't we moderate the top level as well as the comments?
There ARE sites that allow you to moderate the top level stories. Kuro5hin comes to mind. I believe there's a public-voting version of Metafilter as well.
However those sites just somehow haven't wound up being as popular as Slashdot. Go figure. So did Slashdot just get lucky, or is Slashdot actually doing something right?
...can I shoot one at my boss so I'll always know where he is, or will it kill him?
Actually, never mind, it seems a win-win situation either way.
I'm sorry, but shooting at TNT has as much risk as shooting at a tin can. TNT does not detonate from shock or flame. It must be detonated by an electrical impulse. This is why blasting areas prohibit talking on a cell phone etc. Most dynamite these days is TNT and will explode from electrical implulse, not shock etc.
The morning of Sept 11, we had no troops in hostile teritories, no prisoners being held illegally, and no delared wars with any country. Ethics didn't help us avoid that disaster. In fact our commitment to help repel Saddam Hussain in GWI was the spark which started that chain of events (Bin 'the evil bastard' Laden didn't like that; he wanted to bring his own troops in from Afganistan; the Saudi Royals knew what a mess that would be). I know that the war in Iraq is more of a distraction in the "war on terror", but *hopefully* we can pull a stable democracy out of this mess. It's going to be hard, I believe that the arabs can't see the forest for the trees.
Except for a handful of MI Specialists (who were under far to broad of orders from [I believe] the Whitehouse) and the National Guard troops they corrupted, the U.S. military has acted ethicly, in fact I argue more ethically than needed. Troops should shoot insurgants 'on the spot' as spies (as the Geneva conventional allows), rather than send them to jail.
Bridges, roads, pipelines, schools are being build by American money and troops. It's not an easy situation, perhaps you believe that Saddam Hussain was a just and kind leader who was no threat at all, I think that it is pretty obvious that he wasn't. If France and Russian weren't bought and paid for by him, I doubt if their opposition whould have been as great.
What is the ID Sniper Rifle?
To put it short, the idea is to implant a GPS microchip in the body of a human being, using a high-powered sniper rifle as the long distance injector. The microchip will enter the body and stay there, causing no internal damage, and only a very small amount of physical pain to the target. It will feel like a mosquito bite, lasting a fraction of a second.
At the same time, a digital camcorder with a zoom lens fitted within the scope will take a high-resolution picture of the target. This picture will be stored on a memory card for later image-analysis. GPS microchip technology is already being used for tracking millions of pets in various countries, and the logical solution is to use it on humans as well, when the situation demands it.
-------------
Projectiles witht the ability to "phone home" are in our near future. How long can we expect to wait until something like the ID Sniper Rifle really exists?
Check out Boeskov's account of the weapons fair- crazy! http://events.thing.net/Boeskov_text.html
I don't know about all this TNT finding stuff, but I can see the major benefits for hunters using these. Deer hunters sometimes can't bring a deer down right away (think drunks, or someone shooting through brush, both of wich are bad shooting habits) and so they have to track it through the woods.
Now, assuming the bullet didnt go all the way through, instead of following drops of blood for miles we can follow the bullet. It says the range is only 70m, but maybe that'll get better by the time they (maybe) release it for the public.
B/c for reasons other than hunting, it sounds completely pointless.
I was thinking of converting to paganism, but where the hell can you find sacrificial virgins these days?
not to question an ex-EOD tech (you guys are all a little nuts), but I was under the impression that only some explosives (rather than all) are sensitive to heat, and some to percussion... while some require both to initiate a high-order detonation. C-4, for instance, can be safely set on fire, and will not detonate. It can also be safely exposed to significant mechanical shock, and will not detonate (exposing it to both simultaneously isn't advisable). I've never seen pure cyclonite (RDX) used much... probably due to its sensitivity, as you mentioned.
Most military high-explosives I've been around don't require much chaining (setting off sequential explosives to detonate a less-sensitive material)... I can't remember the last time I saw anyone use more than a standard cap. (I'm not an bomb/EOD-guy... I've simply been around the stuff a bit).
The original poster's comment about shooting at TNT is funny... because that's exactly how a fair amount of ordinance gets detonated these days. The last time I was in theatre, the EOD guys were using Barrett light-50's (with a type of european incendiary ammo) to detonate mines and other ordinance... a whole lot easier and safer than walking up to it and setting up the shot by hand. My tactical gear was heavy and unwieldy enough... I don't know how you guys are able to do anything in those bomb suits...
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.