Category: Now for something completely different

The Pentagon is moving ahead with new military jetpack prototypes

The Defense Department’s chief tech visionaries are once again attempting to make the U.S. military’s dream of jetpack-equipped infantry troops a reality through a pair of fresh contracts, Task & Purpose has learned.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has selected “several” small companies to receive Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding awards “to build flight test prototypes” for the agency’s Portable Personal Air Mobility System program, a DARPA spokesman said.

Details regarding the contracts were not immediately available, but Phase II SBIR program funding “generally” consists of $750,000 for two years, according to information on the program’s website.

“DARPA is currently working with the small companies to finalize contracting details and award contracts, so at this time we can’t discuss the specifics,” the DARPA spokesman said.

DARPA officially announced in March 2021 that the agency’s small business programs office was looking for proposals “for cost of up to $225,000 for a 6-month period of performance” regarding the “feasibility” of the Portable Personal Air Mobility System that could reach ranges of “at least” 5 kilometers on the battlefield for a single operator.

“Some examples of technologies of interest include jetpacks, powered glides, powered swimsuits, and powered parafoils which could leverage emerging electric propulsion technologies, hydrogen fuel cells or conventional heavy propulsion systems,” DARPA wrote in its initial notice.

jetpack aviation
A test pilot from Jetpack Aviation tests the company’s JB-10 system. (Jetpack Aviation) 

Prospective platforms “could serve a variety of military missions, enabling cost-effective mission utility and agility in areas such as personnel logistics, urban augmented combat, [combat search and rescue], Maritime interdiction and SOF Infil/Exfil,” DARPA wrote. “Systems may be air deployed to allow for Infil to hostile territory, or ground deployed to allow for greater off-road mobility without the use of existing Vertical Takeoff & Landing aircraft such as helicopters and CV-22 [Osprey tiltrotor aircraft].”

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Swimming-FINA votes to restrict transgender participation in elite women’s competition.

BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Swimming’s world governing body FINA on Sunday voted to restrict the participation of transgender athletes in elite women’s competitions and create a working group to establish an “open” category for them in some events as part of its new policy.

Transgender rights has become a major talking point as sports seek to balance inclusivity while ensuring there is no unfair advantage.

The debate intensified after University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas became the first transgender NCAA champion in Division I history after winning the women’s 500-yard freestyle earlier this year.

Thomas has expressed a desire to compete for a place at the Olympics but the new FINA rule would block her participation.

FINA’s decision, the strictest by any Olympic sports body, was made during its extraordinary general congress after members heard a report from a transgender task force comprising leading medical, legal and sports figures.

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Which predator do whitetail deer fear the most?

I suspect this reaction depends a lot on the area and the past hunting pressure. Yes, man is the most lethal predator on the planet, but different experiences can mean different reactions in prey species.
When Dad & I were living in Kentucky, we had a literal herd – often up to 21 deer – that moved back and forth across the properties, inside the city limits, and often stayed and grazed right outside the back door. Dad could sit on the back porch and the newer fawns would often play around within feet of him, only being warned by their does if they got to close for their liking, and Dad quite often talked to them, giving them ‘lectures’ about the coyotes we had pass by from time to time. Sometimes they actually seemed to pay attention to him.

The Fake-Meat Revolution Has Stalled
Consumer trends suggest a meatless near future is increasingly unlikely.

Recent reports suggest there’s a growing realization among consumers, industry, investors, and others that overheated predictions of a meatless future—one in which steaks, bacon, chicken nuggets, and other foods made from dead animals will be supplanted by plant-based imitations of meat dishes and lab-grown meats made from animal cells (the latter of which is still exceedingly rare)—may have been based on wishful thinking.

As Food Dive reported this week, sales of imitation meat products are faltering. The website cites remarks and earning reports from Beyond Meat—a leader in the plant-based sector that counts among its fans none other than me—that combine a bleak present reality of “negative growth and high net losses” with fears over whether this market downturn could be permanent.

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How to wash a cat:

  1. Thoroughly clean toilet and add desired amount of shampoo, leaving both lids open

  2. Find, catch, and soothe the cat while you carry him to the bathroom

  3. In one fluid motion, put the cat in the toilet and close both lids (you may need to stand on them to prevent escape. Make sure you don’t get any part of your body close to the edge because your cat may try to grab on to anything in reach)

  4. The cat will self-agitate which will create ample suds. Do not worry about the sounds the cat is making- he is actually enjoying this

  5. When you think your cat is clean, flush the toilet four or five times to provide a power rinse

  6. Have someone open the front door and make sure no humans or animals are in the way

  7. Stand back and quickly open the toilet lids. Your now clean cat will rocket out of the toilet and out the front door, drying itself in the process

Sincerely, The Dog

Study: Sound improves detection of electric cars for pedestrians.

Duhhhh.

Louder vehicle = easier to hear coming at you.

Electric vehicles are quiet enough to create a safety concern, particularly for visually impaired pedestrians, even with artificial sounds implemented, a study presented Tuesday during the Acoustical Society of America meeting in Seattle found.

In the analysis, in which participants were asked to push a button upon hearing an approaching electric vehicle on an adjacent roadway, none of the tested vehicles achieved a 100% detection rate, the data showed.

However, artificial sounds added to the vehicles improved detection ranges — or the distance at which they could be heard — and all of those tested exceeded current National Highway Transportation Safety Administration minimum standards, the researchers said……………….

Commentariat states;
I WANT ONE THAT MAKES THE JETSONS-CAR BLEEBLE NOISE

Ask and ye shall receive…………………………..

As the Black Bear is at the top end of the food chain, hunting them can be a ‘reciprocal’ event

Missouri’s first black bear hunting season begins Monday

MISSOURI (KY3) – Four-hundred people will be allowed to participate in Missouri’s first black bear hunting season, which officially begins Monday.

The black bear hunting season runs from Monday, Oct. 18 to Wednesday, Oct. 27, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation.

The approved regulations limit bear hunting to only Missouri residents and restrict it to designated areas of southern Missouri. Conservation agents will limit hunters to one bear, and hunters may not use dogs to assist.

The Missouri Conservation Commission gave final approval of MDC’s season framework, permit and harvest quotas, and other related regulations for hunting black bears in Missouri at its March 26 open meeting.

Officials say the bear population in Missouri has been growing. Conservation agents now estimate there are 600 to 1,000 black bears in the state.

“Being able to add this iconic species to the long list of hunting opportunities for Missourians is a testament to the decades of bear research and management by MDC staff,” said MDC Director Sara Parker Pauley. “A limited annual hunting season will help manage the growing number of black bears in the state.”

“A bear-hunting season in our state will provide opportunities for Missourians to participate in the sustainable harvest of this valuable wildlife species,” said MDC Bear Biologist Laura Conlee. “As our black bear population continues to grow, a highly regulated hunting season will be an essential part of population management into the future. The timing and length of the season, allowed hunting methods, and a limited permit allocation coupled with a limited harvest quota will ensure a sustainable harvest of our growing bear population.”

MDC proposed a limited and highly regulated black-bear hunting season following several years of public comment, including informational open houses in 2019 and a public-input process throughout 2020.

The selected hunters are allowed to participate any time from half-hour before sunrise to a half-hour after sunset during the 10-day hunting season.

For more information on the state’s first black bear hunt, CLICK HERE.

Wendy’s reformulates its French fries

Culinary leaders from the Dublin, Ohio-based burger chain said the process of reformulating the skin-on fries was a months-long journey.

The new French fry was designed to retain heat and crispness for between 15 and 30 minutes to accommodate the brand’s growth in drive-thru, carry-out and other off-premises sales channels, said John Li, Wendy’s vice president of culinary innovation.

“They are cut above, literally,” said Emily Kessler, Wendy’s senior specialist for culinary and innovation, in a Zoom press conference Thursday. “And that’s because these not-exactly-square French fries are by design.

“One side is built with a thicker side, and it’s built for heat retention, while the other side is thinner and that’s really to enhance crispiness because we know our customers want hot and crispy fries every time,” Kessler said.

The company last overhauled its fries in November 2010 when it moved to skin-on potatoes.

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 Commercial space clean-up service could be ready in 2024:

A space junk removal truck could start picking up dead satellites in 2024.

Japan-headquartered space services company Astroscale, which recently launched its ELSA-d space debris removal demonstrator, might be ready to start cleaning up the mess in Earth’s orbit by 2024.

The company, which has offices in the U.K., U.S., Israel and Singapore, has signed a $3.5 million deal with would-be megaconstellation operator OneWeb to work together on advancing debris-removal technology. OneWeb currently operates over 180 satellites in a constellation meant to reach about 650 satellites, but has asked the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to approve over 6,300 satellites in its “Phase Two” strategy. OneWeb is partially owned by the British government.

Plans of companies such as OneWeb, SpaceX and Amazon to launch constellations of thousands of satellites cause serious concerns in the global space flight community as the already cluttered orbital environment is at risk of becoming overcrowded. Satellite operators already report a growing number of situations when two satellites come close to colliding. OneWeb’s cooperation with Astroscale might help attenuate some of the concerns.

“This partnership with OneWeb demonstrates their commitment to space sustainability and is the next step towards maturing our technologies to develop a full-service debris removal offering by 2024,” John Auburn, managing director of Astroscale U.K. and group chief commercial officer said in a statement.

The new service targets constellation operators and is called ELSA-M. The program would enable the removal of multiple retired satellites in a single mission, thus reducing cost for the client, the company said in the statement. The orbital junk collector would push each satellite into the atmosphere to burn up, then return for the next defunct piece.

“This funding will help us evolve key rendezvous and proximity operations technologies and capabilities beyond ELSA-d towards an end-of-life servicing offering for a range of constellation customers,” Jason Forshaw, Astroscale’s head of future business, Europe, said in the statement. “In parallel to this project, we’re developing our next generation docking plate (DP), which is fitted to clients before launch, and is designed to enable a servicer to grapple the client. We are encouraging constellation customers to fit DPs to future-proof their satellites in case of need for removal due to failure, or at end of life, or to provide future in-orbit servicing.”

Astroscale’s ELSA-d demonstration mission, currently in low Earth orbit, will carry out a series of rendezvous and close proximity debris capture and release manoeuvres this summer. The results of the test campaign will inform further work on the ELSA-M program, Astroscale said.

The funding is part of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) program called Sunrise, developing flexible reprogrammable communication satellites.

Europe unveils plans to bring ‘GPS’ and Skype to the moon with satellites.

Satellite navigation and teleconferencing could be available to lunar explorers by 2030.

SSTL and Telespazio lead two European consortia tasked with developing concepts of a lunar navigation and telecommunication constellation. (Image credit: ESA)

The European Space Agency (ESA) has kicked off the development of a future satellite constellation that will orbit the moon and provide navigation and telecommunication services to lunar explorers.

If all goes according to plan, the new system could be in place in the late 2020s, only a few years after the expected landing of NASA’s crewed Artemis 3 mission near the lunar south pole.

ESA believes that Earth’s celestial companion is set to become a busy destination in the coming years, with commercial companies and nations from across the world all wanting a slice of the “eighth continent.” The new constellation, called Moonlight, will make it easier and cheaper for a fledgling lunar economy to blossom, ESA officials suggested in a news conference on Thursday (May 20).

“Having a navigation and telecommunication network to relay what we learn on the moon back to Earth will be key for sustainability of future missions,” Elodie Viau, ESA’s director of telecommunications and integrated applications, said in the news conference. “You can imagine astronomers setting up observatories on the far side of the moon. And as we have all now become accustomed to virtual meetings, who knows? We could be doing Skype on the moon.”

He wasn’t just interested in Edison’s medicine.

Nikola Tesla invention from 100 years ago suddenly makes more sense today
The eccentric inventor is known for dabbling with electricity, but his Tesla valve is impressing scientists anew.

Inventor Nikola Tesla has long been recognized for a body of work that ranges from brilliant (AC electricity) to baffling (an “earthquake machine“?). Scientists have studied one of his lesser-known inventions  in new detail, and they think they may have found new uses for it in the modern world.

Tesla’s macrofluidic valve — often just called the Tesla valve — is a sort of odd-shaped conduit for fluids in which a main channel is interspersed with a series of diverting teardrop-shaped loops. The loops are oriented in such a way that fluids easily flow through in one direction, but when reversed, the flow is almost totally blocked.

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And, oh are they yummy. Those farm raised domestic versions pale in comparison.

Hunting: All things considered, the wild turkey truly is a magnificent bird
Calling wild turkeys dull-witted, unattractive or just a simple nuisance is underestimating a nuanced and somewhat complicated creature.

Appearances can be sometimes be deceiving. Scratching under a backyard bird feeder or dusting in a dirt driveway, the wild turkey may seem like little more than a very overgrown chicken. Pecking at his reflection in your chrome bumper or menacing pets and children, Old Tom might make you consider him dull-witted and a nuisance. Before you judge this book by its feathery cover, however, it would be wise to know a little more about this remarkable bird.

Its nearly naked head and neck might seem some unfortunate joke played by its designers, especially when compared to the resplendent red and green of the gaudy ring-necked pheasant, or even the subtle camouflage and crest of the ruffed grouse. Rather than a glamorous game bird, it more closely resembles the carrion-eating vulture that corrupted its name.

However, everything in nature has a purpose. When in relaxed mode, the tom’s head and face are the pale blue-gray of an almost clear sky above a thin veil of overcast, and its neck an earthy brick red. When excited by a rival or potential mate, the male turkey shows his colors, pumping blood to the exposed flesh until its head becomes a bright white, its face a deep azure and its neck a rich crimson. Perhaps that is why Ben Franklin allegedly petitioned to make the wild turkey our national bird.

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