landing

Fighting land mines with darts

There's no easy way to clear a path through a minefield. Options range from tracked vehicles pummeling the ground with whirling flails to individual soldiers gingerly poking the ground and then defusing mines one by one. The Defense Department, cognizant of the need for both speed and safety in beach landings and other operations, is looking at another alternative--masses of small darts raining down on suspect terrain.

The April edition of Popular Science offers a quick look at that laboratory project, which falls under the auspices of the Office of Naval Research. (The ONR isn't just about ships … Read more

Philips phone is more than good looks

We've always thought of Philips as something like the Sony of Europe: No matter what you think of their products' performance, it's usually difficult to argue with their aesthetically clean designs. (And if it was able to tame the notorious Swarovski, the Liberace of consumer electronics, then it has provided a public service to the world.)

Philips' latest ID9371 land-line phone is no exception, with a sleek glossy-black design somewhat reminiscent of the Bang & Olufsen "Serene" portable handset. But there's something even more interesting about a sound technology it uses called "ClearVoice HD,&… Read more

MIT devices detects land mines from safe distance

Researchers at the Lincoln Lab at MIT have come up with something that can be described as a sound flashlight. It emits powerful, but tightly focused acoustic beams that can penetrate underground.

When the beams hit a mine, the vibrations from the collision push up dirt around the area. That movement of dirt is then registered by a radar device.

"It turns out that mines will vibrate quite differently from anything else," said MIT's Robert Haupt in a prepared statement. "You can determine what types of mines there are--and which countries made them--by their unique signatures.&… Read more

A clean, well-lighted car

All you Hemingway wannabes out there no longer have to freeze in the winter in your old drafty Defender. New, improved versions, resembling Papa's old British jeep, are finally on the way.

Rumors of a Land Rover Defender returning to the North American market are true. The car will be back in 2007 as a 2008 model. Soft-top, long-wheelbase and short-wheelbase versions are also "in the works," according to Atlantic British, which would probably know as the leading U.S. supplier of after-market parts for Land Rovers in the United States.

Land Rover wants to recreate the … Read more