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Military & Law Enforcement
Transportation
Industry
Energy Family & Digital Family
Tech How-To Central
Reviews
Technology
Featured Story
Inside the Global Black Market for Antiaircraft Missiles
Shoulder-fired missiles, the meanest weapons in the “small arms” category, keep falling into the wrong hands, despite the U.S. and Russia’s attempts to keep them away from terrorists. Could more militants, from Iran to China, be next in line at the black market?
Previous Military & Law Enforcement Stories
| New Cold War: Mapping 6 Hotspots in the U.S.-Russian Arms Race U.S. and Russian weaponry face off across the world’s hotspots. (Published in the July 2008 issue)
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| Wii All You Can Be? Why the Military Needs the Gaming Industry Experts see the future of gaming hardware in Xbox controllers for flying UAVs, next-gen interfaces for unknown battlefields and, believe it or not, Wiimotes for basic training.
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| Gaming's Guns of Tomorrow: Ready For War—or Inspiration? Do developers go overboard with the cosmetics of carnage in games like Quake Wars, or could video-game weapons inform the 22nd-century military?
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| 4 New High-Tech Weapons Pack Small Shells, Big Boom From an Iron Man-style guided missile to a Humvee-mounted pulverizer, this smarter and more deadly crop of tiny military systems brings some finesse to force. (Published in the June 2008 issue)
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| Hack Attack on Tibet Groups Could Hint at China's Anti-U.S. Tactic In the midst of violence, a quieter online conflict has come into focus, with Tibetan rights groups saying they face mounting digital attacks, some of which security consultants say involve computer servers in China already used to target U.S. military contractors.
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| Computer-Guided Parachutes Resupply Army in Afghanistan Troops in remote areas of Afghanistan have been receiving supplies from new smart parachutes that could alter the future of military logistics. The Joint Precision Airdrop System steers cargo to specific GPS points in the same way that some smart bombs locate targets. (Published in the May 2008 issue)
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| Shooting for Realism: How Accurate are Video-Game Weapons? With a spate of military shooter titles hitting the market, PM's resident geek gets the inside story on gaming's next-gen guns from top developers, who have to balance coolness with correctness for every M-16 they recreate.
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| Homeland Adds On-the-Go Radioactive Hunter to Garage This modified Chevy Suburban XL, delivered by Raytheon last month, claims to be the first of its kind: a highly-sensitive, self-contained system that uses the same spectroscopic analysis technology that's found in advanced cargo inspection scanners.
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| Killer Bee UAV First Look: Raytheon Fights Boeing in Drone Race A full-scale military auction is on for the Navy and Marine Corps' increased fleets of unmanned aircraft, and Raytheon has revealed its battle-ready Boeing competitor to PopularMechanics.com nearly a week before its unveiling.
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| Stryker Crews in Iraq Rally to Defend Their Rides: Field Report Try telling some of the Stryker MGS crews that their battle-tested vehicles are not effective, and you get a more nuanced appraisal. In a new round of on-the-ground reviews from U.S. troops, next-gen armored vehicles appear to be improving safety in Iraq.
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| View Full Technology: Military & Law Enforcement Archive | ||
Science
Alien Hoaxes: Inside the Cult
A new alien video reveals an alleged close encounter is of a new kind. Experts agree the digital invasion of UFO evidence has gone too far.Worst-Case Scenarios
NYC Crain Collapse: Was It Predicted?
After a major collapse in March, causes of the new crash are more obscure. If the crane did meet all city safety regulations, what went wrong?Reviews
Mac vs. PC
PM crunches the numbers on new desktops and laptops in the ultimate lab test—with some surprising results.Technology
iPhone 2.0 Countdown
On Monday morning, Apple CEO Steve Jobs will unveil a 3G-enabled iPhone. But are other functions more important?Digital Hollywood
MythBuster on Lost Finale
In one of three expert analyses for PM, Lost geek Adam Savage explains why Thursday's episode changed his theories on the future of our favorite sci-fi show.Drive Green
Algae's Big Moment
After years of hype as the mucky green grail of the oil crunch, algae is finally taking on its "impossible" hurdles to move from test tubes to barrels.Robotics
Is Asimo Tuned Out?
Sure, Honda's robot conducted a symphony. But PM's resident geek wonders if this is a leader in our unmanned future—or just a hype machine.Future of Space
NASA & Private Space
Officials and analysts say NASA has begun to shift its priorities (and cash) toward a dependence on the growing market for spacecraft.Digital Hollywood
Speed Racer F/X
How 10 million robotic photos, Google Earth and simulators influenced by video games turned a green-screen dream into summer's best action scene.Reviews
Ultimate GPS Test
700 miles, 5 new nav units, no manuals. We pick the best mapping devices for summer road trips on the road and in the lab.Drive Green
Top 10 X Prize Cars
The most comprehensive, up-to-date scouting report on the field for the 100-mpg car of tomorrow.Digital Hollywood
Debunking Lost's Science
As the show returns, its creators reveal the making of high-tech mythology—and let slip a few secrets about the island’s future.Robotics
Air & Space
Mobile Mile-High Club
Europe now allows in-flight cell calls, but the FAA and FCC tell PM they're not interested.Automotive News
Best of N.Y. Auto Show
PM's auto team has first-look photos, video and analysis of the season's last big show.
Health & Medicine
10 High-Tech Health Breakthroughs Coming Soon to Your Body
Technology
Turn Your PS3 Into a PC
With a little effort and expense, we turned a PS3 into a Linux computer—without losing any of its gaming goodness. And we're giving it away.Election News
Geek the Vote '08
The presidential race hangs in the balance, and PM compiles the candidates' science and tech proposals.Reviews
PM Gadget of the Week
Creative's Vado Video Cam"I've been playing with the Vado for the last week, and I can honestly say that I love it..."
Election News
Primary Sci/Tech Issues
The Democratic race winds down as Hillary Clinton tries to hang on against Barack Obama. Get behind their policies—and John McCain's—with PM's Geek the Vote '08 guide.PM Ad Partner Links
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Current Issue
Google X Prize, Mythbusters & More!
Want to take $20 million off Google's hands? Our DIY guide to building a lunar rover could make you the next X Prize winner—really.Reviews
Future Warfare: New DVD
PM's four-hour, two-disc set deploys battle footage, CG animation, live-action weapons testing and expert interviews to examine everything from robot warriors to UAVs.