The Army is buying microwave cannons to take down drones in mid-flight

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The high-powered microwave system would be mounted to an aircraft.

The US Army has a new plan for microwaving drones out of the sky. In a public solicitation last Friday, the agency announced its intention to purchase an airborne high-powered microwave system from Lockheed Martin, which is intended for use against drones. The weapon, which would be mounted to an airplane, would disable fixed-wing or quadcopter drones with a beam of focused radiation.

Drone countermeasures are particularly relevant in the wake of an apparent assassination attempt against Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro that was carried out by a pair of hexacopter drones rigged with remote-triggered explosives. Public video collected by Bellingcat indicates the attack was carried out by drones similar to DJI’s Matrice 600. Each drone was equipped with a kilogram of C4 explosive, according to a statement by Venezuelan security forces. The Matrice 600’s maximum carrying capacity is 5.5 kilograms.

Continue reading… “The Army is buying microwave cannons to take down drones in mid-flight”

This magic box harvests spare electricity from your microwave

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Harvest those stray rays.

Microwaves aren’t very smart. It generally has no idea what you’re trying to heat up, and if it’s (say) a burrito and not (say) a frozen turkey, a bunch of extra microwave… waves… are going to waste. This blue box can suck up all of those spare microwaves and turn them back into electricity that — wait for it — can power your microwave again…

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NASA plans first space washing machine that could microwave laundry

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A space laundry machine designed by UMPQUA (left) and Astronaut Buzz Aldrin walks on the surface of the Moon (right).

What  if you could put dirty clothes into a washing machine, leave, and only coming back once the freshly cleaned clothes have been dried out by microwaves.  That out-of-this-world-laundry concept could someday become a reality for astronauts and space explorers headed for the moon, asteroids or Mars.

 

Continue reading… “NASA plans first space washing machine that could microwave laundry”

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