navy

NEWPORT NEWS, Va.--I'm staring down into a pit in which the beginnings of what will one day be the most advanced aircraft carrier on Earth are already well under way.

This is the dry dock of CVN-78, otherwise known as the Gerald R. Ford, the first in a technologically advanced new class of aircraft carriers known as, yes, the Gerald R. Ford, and yes, named after the 38th president of the United States. A new class of naval vessel is always known by the name of the first model, it seems.

CVN-78 is being built by Northrop Grumman … Read more

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va.--Imagine a football stadium floating high in the sky, enclosed in material not much thicker than a sandwich bag.

Take away the physical part of the football field, but leave the volume, and you get a sense of the size of the high-altitude balloons that NASA uses to conduct scientific experiments.

Those balloons, as well as the design and manufacture of sub-orbital rockets and the launching into space of government satellites, are among the mandates of the Wallops Flight Facility, a NASA center based here on the Atlantic coast about 160 miles southeast of Washington, D.C. … Read more

Battle of Midway is a one-player iPhone adaptation of the popular "Battleship" guessing game (and the iconic Milton Bradley game of the same name).

Gameplay closely mirrors the analog version, with you and an opponent (an enemy AI, in this case) secretly placing rectangular ships on a 10-by-10 grid, which you can do manually or automatically. You then take turns guessing the location of each other's ships by firing at specific squares, and Battle of Midway has both "volley" and "salvo" modes (either fire until you miss or fire once for each of … Read more

Facebook rolls out its new privacy changes live during our show! How nice of them. In a nutshell, near as we can tell, everything is going to be simpler and Facebook is really sorry that they really mean it about the whole privacy thing. And we get that, but we need some time to get over it, you know? Also, the DOJ may be looking into Apple's iTunes monopoly and we have a big discussion about the future of American space shuttle. Get your emails ready now.

The United States Navy is well-known for its grueling boot camp. But it may be adding a new element to it that might surprise you: video games. The Navy Times first reported the news Wednesday.

According to Navy Surgeon General Vice Admiral Adam Robinson, he wants to use games like Wii Fit and Dance Dance Revolution to increase the effectiveness of boot camp and prepare recruits for the rigors of getting through the ordeal. He plans to use games to increase recruit "endurance" in the early stages of boot camp, the Navy Times reported.

"There are lots of programs now that people can [use to] become very physically active while they're using interactive computer games," Robinson said. "So, in other words, this isn't about [starting] with computers and stopping [everything else]--because we're not going to do that. This is about incorporating those types of activities into something that people can use to become more physically active."

Robinson's intentions are based on what the Navy believes is an increasingly troubling issue. According to the Navy Times, fewer recruits are coming to boot camp with the requisite physical ability to get through the training. The branch of service has also found that more recruits are getting injured as they attempt to get through boot camp. Video games, Robinson believes, could address those issues.… Read more

Robert "Bob" Kerrey, a former U.S. Senator and governor from the state of Nebraska as well as a Vietnam war hero has agreed to steer the Motion Picture Association of America.

A high-level film industry source confirmed a report in the blog, The Wrap. According to The Wrap, which broke the news, all the parties have agreed in principle but have yet to sign a deal.

There's little technology focus in Kerrey's background but his resume is impressive nonetheless. He is a former unsuccessful candidate for U.S. President (1992) and during his Vietnam service … Read more

During exercises focused on practicing elements of local and regional port security plans Tuesday, the United States Navy Marine Mammal Program took part in a joint training program with the San Francisco Police Department dive team designed to identify underwater threats including mines, improvised explosive devices, and enemy divers.

Using highly trained dolphins and sea lions selected for their quickness, intelligence, detection capability, and mobility, officials demonstrated the unique ability of these animals to identify and neutralize threats in cooperation with human teammates. See the full gallery here.

Researchers say they've taken underwater robotics to the next level, successfully running an autonomous robotic vehicle off the Hawaiian Islands for more than three months, powered only by energy harnessed from changes in sea temperatures.

The Sounding Oceanographic Lagrangrian Observer Thermal RECharging vehicle (or Solo-Trec, for short) is the product of a years-long joint research project by NASA, the U.S. Navy, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the University of California at San Diego. The group said Monday that Solo-Trec is the first such vehicle to be powered entirely by the ocean's thermal energy.

Solo-Trec works by … Read more

Those driven to depression by the hard reality that Pandora is not, in fact, a real planet might be comforted to know that several Na'vi-inspired fashions now allow them to at least dress the part while being forced to inhabit this sad-sack place called Earth.

Most recognizably Na'vi is the above leather mask that's supposed to make you look like a hot blue babe from the Omaticaya Clan. InventorSpot found the mask on crafts site Etsy, though sadly, it does not appear to be for sale there anymore. Given that Halloween's still a ways off, this … Read more