With a budget in excess of $600 billion, the pentagon is hard at work researching technology that is sometimes bizarre and out of this world. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA is busy bringing in robotic creations to the pentagon that are craziest at the least. Here is a list of some of the strange robots the pentagon has in mind.

No 7. BigDog

BigDog is a dynamically stable quadruped robot created by Boston Dynamics with Foster-Miller, the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Harvard University Concord Field Station. It was made in 2005 and can haul, climb, and carry its way over rough terrain. Capable of traversing difficult terrains, running at 4 miles per hour, carrying 340 pounds, and climbing a 35 degree incline, BigDog is intended to one day be able to serve as a robotic pack mule to accompany soldiers in terrain too rough for conventional vehicles.

This strange-looking robot is powered by a two-stroke, one-cylinder and 15-HP go-kart engine operating at over 9,000 RPM.

No 6. Nano Hummingbird Drone

Developed by AeroVironmen, the Nano hummingbird drone is built to look like a bird for potential use in spy missions. It is capable of flying at speeds of up to 11 miles per hour, hovering and flying sideways, backward and forward, as well as going clockwise and counterclockwise, by remote control for about eight minutes of sustained flight.

Evidently, the technology needs a lot of polishing before being put to some actual use.

No 5. LittleDog

A quadruped robot designed for research on learning locomotion, the LittleDog’s four legs are each powered by three electric motors and are strong enough for climbing and “dynamic locomotion gaits.”

No 4. RiSE Climbing Robot

RiSE is a robot capable of climbing vertical terrain such as walls, trees and fences. It has “feet with micro-claws” to climb on textured surfaces. It weighs at 4.4 punds and is able to travel at 0.68 miles per hour.

It has six legs, an on-board computer that manages the coordination of these legs and a variety of sensors.

No 3. PetMan

This is a bipedal device constructed for testing chemical protection suits. The technology is basically derived from BigDog with advanced features such as sweating; simulating both human movement mechanics and human physiology to a much realistic extent.

PetMan is capable of walking on a treadmill i.e. walking, doing squats and pumping out push-ups. It also has a phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range.

And as Boston Dynamics President Marc Raibert said:

“Places like the Fukushima reactors could be accessed by Petman-like robots (or AlphaDogs), without requiring any human exposure to hazardous materials. Perhaps firefighting inside of buildings or facilities designed for human access, like on board ships designed for human crews.”

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“Everything you can imagine is real.” ― Pablo Picasso

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Britain's Got Talent: 28-year-old dancer Razy, originally from Romania, is trying out for Britain's Got Talent with quite a unique act, taking queues from the film The Matrix. With breakdancers being notorious on this show - from Tobias Mead and Aiden Davis to winner George Sampson - has Razy got something special that makes him different?

This Romanian guy comes to the Britain Got Talent show and amazes everybody, especially the judges. Watch and enjoy; if you have seen Matrix you’ll enjoy it even more.

The Japanese are now know for their passion to mechanise every thing. This time they have decided to make a robot that can be put in a hair salon and offer its automatic services to the customers. This robot which has been built by Panasonic is having a trial run in a hair salon.

This mind blowing video takes flying to a new level: flying with wingsuit, like a bird. Enjoy.

Warning: it might be unsuitable for those who suffer from vertigo; take whatever caution is needed.

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World's first ‘building in motion’ ready in 2 years

Rotating Tower design will begin construction in next few weeks

On Tuesday 24th June, press were treated to an introduction to the world’s first ‘building in motion’. Rotating Tower, designed by Italian architect David Fisher, is expected to move from design to reality in less than two years.

The design, in collaboration with British firm Dynamic Architecture Group, will be premiered in two locations: Moscow and Dubai which were chosen for very different reasons. Dubai was Fisher’s first choice for the tower. He said: “Dubai is a city of the future and I think that the building of the future should be in the city of the future.” He took inspiration from UAE Vice President and Dubai ruler, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who told him: “Don’t wait for the future, face the future.” Moscow got involved by approaching Fisher who accepted the Russians proposal knowing that they would be 'fast at putting things together'.

Dubai’s building will reach 80 floors: The top 10 floors will be used for luxury ‘Villa’ style apartments, below which a further 35 floors of accommodation, then the 15 floors below will comprise an extravagant hotel and the lowest 20 floors used as retail space.

The segmented tower design will allow each floor to turn independently using voice recognition technology and giving those inside an ever-changing view over the space of 1 to 3 hours. In the Dubai building the voice recognition will be able to interpret such instructions as ‘left’ or ‘right’ in English, Arabic or Italian but any language could be programmed in for further buildings.

It was suggested by one journalist that there may be difficulties when one floor is occupied by more than one tenant. Fisher responded that the architects would be able to adapt a building in whichever way necessary to suit their needs and added: “It opens a way of thinking... people start to think in a different direction.”

Rotating Tower is the Italian architect’s first skyscraper design but he is confident that he will be able to pull off the concept, first listing his experience in the architecture world and then by stating: “I did not design skyscrapers but I feel completely ready to do so.”

The Rotating Tower design uses photovoltaic cells and wind turbine technology to collect enough energy to power itself and Fisher says they ‘will have some so we can sell to the neighbours’. The cells which will be placed on the top surface of each floor will be 15% open to the sun’s rays on all 80 floors for the full day helping to power the building.

It is hoped that the tower’s design could be adaptable worldwide with the same power generation capabilities. Fisher said: “Most cities in the world have enough wind to power these turbines – we have used German technology and are testing in Italy and it seems we have enough power” (for the current buildings).

The towers will also be the first skyscrapers to be entirely constructed from prefabricated parts put together in a factory in Southern Italy by a team of 600 in the facility and 80 on-site. Moscow and Dubai’s towers will begin construction in the next few weeks in Italy where the bathrooms, the most complicated part of the design according to Fisher, will be created and it is hoped they will be able to break ground in the next couple of months. While there has been interest from several countries throughout the world Fisher hopes that New York will be the next to pick up on the concept.

Niki May Young
News Editor

source: worldarchitecturenews.com

That’s an epic jump.

Luigi Colani has designed many amazing things. Here you can see some of the trucks he has come up with and how interesting they look. These trucks are actually in use today and were actually originally designed in the 1980’s. Changes have been made to them through the years to what you see today.

In a coastal town in Denmark, there is a tree which took the shape of a house to shelter itself from wind. According to the photographer,

This old pink house is situated at the old dunes, a few hundred meters from the west coast, a very windy place were there isn’t much that can grow. So the tree can only grow where it has shelter.

I am not sure whether this tree was trimmed by the house owner, but in case it was not, this tree is a perfect case for Darwin’s survival of the fittest theory.

via Blue-magazine.com

This restaurant sits on a mountain high above Chang Jiang river, a tourist attraction in China.

I am not sure how well they cook, but the experience is probably difficult to forget.

Ask any fanboy and they’ll tell you that one of the big reasons they go see a science fiction or genre movie is to have their face melted off by awesome special effects. Over the years there have been some amazingly convincing effects created, and we’ve compiled a list of the 10 movies that pulled off their special effects so well that they still hold up years after the original release.

Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park, even more than the original Star Wars, changed the world of effects. As soon as ILM convinced Spielberg that they could pull off the dinosaurs digitally, the entire effects industry was in for a revolution that would lead to some of the most stunning effects ever created. But none of that would have happened if not for that amazing Brachiosaurus or the jaw-dropping T-Rex in the rain. It’s been eighteen years since the release of Jurassic Park, and it still looks incredible.

Pirates of the Caribbean 2 & 3

Pirates above Star Wars? Yes for one reason: Davy Jones. So many people think that Davy Jones was just a large suit with a CGI face. Not so, the entire “costume” of Davy Jones was computer generated. If you didn’t know that you would naturally think it was a real suit, but ILM did such a great job creating it photo real that it fools almost everyone.

Star Wars Saga

Like Jurassic Park that followed it more than a decade later, Star Wars changed the world of special effects. It founded ILM and spawned a whole new generation of space operas. The Original Trilogy is perfect in almost every way effects-wise, but the Prequels have more rough spots. The reliance on CG backdrops, especially in Episode II, creates some less-than-convincing visuals (the Jedi Temple behind Obi-Wan, Mace, and Yoda for example).

Avatar

Like Davy Jones, Avatar earns its place on the list for a completely convincing photo-real Pandora. The entire jungle of Pandora, everything in it…every blade of grass…is computer generated. All of the scenes on Pandora are entirely CG, but it really fools you to think that only the Na’vi and Avatars are.

Transformers Trilogy

Giant photo-real CG robots smashing the crap out of each other and, in the third movie, nearly leveling Chicago to the ground. It’s another amazing job by ILM and legend has it that the second movie was so effects intensive that it melted a few of ILM’s machines while they were rendering some of the effects for the climatic battle in Egypt at the end of the second movie.

The Lord of the Rings

WETA’s work on The Lord of the Rings does get some whining from some fanboys online; there’s some wonky compositing in Two Towers and then there’s Legolas sliding down the Mumakil trunk. But the movies didn’t rake in the Oscars for having sub-par effects. The majority of the trilogy is pulled off amazingly well, and Gollum paved the way for Avatar and other similar movies with CG characters.

Blade Runner

To this day Blade Runner is still studied for its effects. It was made in the days of models, and the futuristic Los Angeles is a triumph in both design and execution. The long and slow shots deservedly show off what remains one of the most stunning movies ever put to film. The Final Cut didn’t really mess with the effects aside from cleaning up some matte lines and wires.

War of the Worlds (2005)

When Spielberg decided to make an alien invasion movie, he naturally turned to ILM to produce effects that fit right in with the real environments they were set in. The first tripod that shows up sets the tone, and the following destruction of a freeway is jaw dropping. The effects mostly take place in the background, but they’re completely convincing.

Independence Day

ID4 arrived at an interesting time when the age of models was passing away and people were quickly moving to CG. So while there is a large amount of model work in the movie, it does have it’s share of CG sprinkled in. The combination of the two produced a summer blockbuster and yearly July 4th television tradition that still holds up years later.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Combined with The Abyss, this is the movie that convinced ILM that they just might be able to pull off computer generated dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. The CG is simple, but Cameron and ILM were able to harness it to show people something they’ve never seen before. The T-1000 is a classic movie effect.