Category Archives: STEM

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

German Military Laser Destroys Targets Over 1Km Away

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For its finale, the laser’s ability to track a very small ballistic target was demonstrated. It honed in on and destroyed a steel ball 82mm in diameter traveling at 50 meters per second. The small ball was meant to simulate an incoming mortar round. Rheinmetall says their laser will reduce the time required for C-RAM – Counter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar measures – to a matter of seconds, even in adverse weather conditions. In fact, weather at the Ochsenboden Proving Ground in Switzerland where the demonstration was carried out included ice, rain, snow, and extremely bright sunlight – far from ideal.

via German Military Laser Destroys Targets Over 1Km Away | Singularity Hub.

What the Dalai Lama can teach us about temperatures below absolute zero

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Here’s the new definition that they came up with. Temperature measures the willingness of an object to give up energy. Actually, I lied. This isn’t how they really define temperature, because physicists speak math, not english. They define it as \frac{1}{T} = \frac{dS}{dE} which says, in words, that the temperature is inversely proportional to the slope of the entropy vs. energy curve.

via What the Dalai Lama can teach us about temperatures below absolute zero | Empirical Zeal.

CAS Raspberry Pi Educational Manual

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You’ll find chapters here on Scratch, Python, interfacing, and the command line. There’s a group at Oracle which is currently working with us on a faster Java virtual machine (JVM) for the Pi, and once that work’s done, chapters on Greenfoot and Geogebra will also be made available – we hope that’ll be very soon.

via CAS Raspberry Pi Educational Manual | Raspberry Pi.

The manual itself? It’s brilliant, and we think you’ll find it really useful. Head over to the Pi Store from your Raspberry Pi’s desktop to download a copy directly to your Pi, or, if you don’t have a Raspberry Pi, download it here.

NASA plans to `lasso’ asteroid and turn it into space station

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The craft would then turn on its thrusters, using an estimated 300kg of propellant, to stop the asteroid in its tracks and tow it into a gravitationally neutral spot.

From here space explorers would have a stationary base from which to launch trips deeper into space.

via NASA plans to `lasso’ asteroid and turn it into space station – The Times of India.

George Bailey lassos the moon.

Learn Linux The Hard Way

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This is a simple guide written in “Learn X the hard way” style, author of which is Zed A. Shaw. The purpose of it is to give you some experience in working with Unix-like system. There are many good UNIX-Like systems out there, for example FreeBSD, OpenBSD, OpenSolaris and even MAC OS X, just to name a few. When deciding which system to use in this guide I chose Linux mainly because it is most popular UNIX-like server operating system, which means what you have much bigger chance encountering it in the wild in comparsion to other UNIX derivatives. And Linux-related skills are relatively easy transferable to other UNIX-likes.

via Learn Linux The Hard Way

Stanford Researchers Make Flexible Solar Cells that Stick to Just About Any Surface

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Researchers led by Xiaolin Zheng, a professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University, demonstrated a way to transfer the active materials of the solar cell from a rigid substrate onto another surface, such as a sheet of paper or plastic, the roof of a car, or the back of a smartphone. As with other solar cells, wires would then be connected to deliver power, but flexible solar cells could be used on curved surfaces, and, because they’re lightweight, they would be easier to install than conventional panels.

via Stanford Researchers Make Flexible Solar Cells that Stick to Just About Any Surface | MIT Technology Review.

Has World War II carrier pigeon message been cracked?

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“You will see the World War I artillery acronyms are shorter, but, that is because, you have to remember, that, the primitive radio-transmitters that sent the Morse code were run by batteries, and, those didn’t last much more than a half-hour tops, probably less.

“Thus all World War I codes had to be S-n-S, Short-n-Sweet.

via BBC News – Has World War II carrier pigeon message been cracked?.

Chinese space probe flies by asteroid Toutatis

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The flyby was the first time an unmanned spacecraft launched from Earth has taken such a close viewing of the asteroid, named after a Celtic god.

It also made China the fourth country after the United States, the European Union and Japan to be able to examine an asteroid by spacecraft.

Chang’e-2 came as close as 3.2 km from Toutatis and took pictures of the asteroid at a relative velocity of 10.73 km per second, the SASTIND said in a statement.

via Chinese space probe flies by asteroid Toutatis — Shanghai Daily | 上海日报 — English Window to China New.

Syrian rebels debut homemade fighting vehicle

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The Sham II is also outfitted with five cameras — three in the front, one mounted on or near the machine gun, and one in the back — all of which are seemingly controlled by — a Sony PlayStation remote control. It should be noted that, apparently on the side of caution, Syrian rebels have even outfitted the Sham II with an operable headlight.

via Syrian rebels debut homemade fighting vehicle – Threat Matrix.