Bomb Detonators Become Robot Firefighters
Robots that served in Afghanistan by remotely detonating explosives are now repurposed as “firebots” in London. These machines can safely get much closer to the source of the fire than human firefighters, which is particularly useful for gas fires.
The three robots are the Talon, a small, manoeuvrable machine with thermal-image cameras; the Black Max, which is similar to a quad bike and has a high-pressure hose, and the Brokk 90, which is a heavy-duty digger that removes debris.
The robots, manufactured by QinetiQ, went into service in London yesterday. Link -via Unique Daily
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10 Useful Inventions That Went Bad
Some of the most notorious discoveries and inventions arose by accident, or more commonly, were developed for uses other than what they ended up doing. Listverse looks at ten such products, including trinitrotoluene, a chemical discovered by Joseph Wilbrand in 1863 and meant for use as a yellow dye. With the name shortened to TNT, the explosive was used to wage both world wars. Link -via the Presurfer
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The Chimps of War
Chimps may be portrayed as mischieviously fun but largely harmless by Hollywood, but the truth is anything but. In the wild, chimpanzees are killers that engage in years-long war against one another, and their behavior may explain man’s propensity for violence:
It was a four-year "war" witnessed by Dr Jane Goodall, and Dr Muller’s PhD supervisor, Richard Wrangham, a professor of primatology from Harvard University, Boston, that put an end to our cosy ideas.
In the Seventies, Prof Wrangham and Dr Goodall watched a group of chimpanzees split into two factions. One group killed every male and some of the females in the other group. The victims had recently been their companions.
Although Dr Goodall was the first to suggest it, Prof Wrangham went on to develop a theory that would explain human violence based on the aggression he had witnessed. As he points out, we are hardly a peaceful species. In Britain, men are 24 times more likely to kill or assault another person, and 263 times more likely to commit a sexual offence than a woman.
Prof Wrangham’s theory is called the Demonic Male Hypothesis. He argues that human males and chimps share a tendency to be aggressive with our closest common ancestor. Chimpanzees and humans have many attributes in common: we share approximately 98.5 per cent of our DNA, we both hunt and males show a strong desire to form alliances against other males while jockeying for status. Male chimpanzees are hostile towards other groups of chimps; you don’t even have to go to Arsenal to know that men are not dissimilar.
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Mickey Mouse Gas Mask
It’s important to keep kids feeling comfortable and happy, even when they need to watch out for poisonous gas clouds -or at least, that must be the theory behind this Mickey Mouse gas mask sold in WWII. Paranoia and consumerism sure make for an interesting combination.
Link Via Consumerist
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Konflict (Conflict) - A Short Film
Remember when you were little and playing outside with your friends and someone said lets play ‘War’, ‘Cowboys and Indians’ or ‘Cops and Robbers’? And using your imagination that stick you found turned into a weapon complete with sounds and recoil and the times when you’d argue with friends on whether or not they got hit by your weapon? Well, these kids are doing the same thing but are using their imagination at a much more prodigious level. 
**Note: This movie has subtitles so please turn them on by following the instructions that pop up when you press play!
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World War
(Vimeo link)
Check out this excellent animated robot fight scene set in the year 2045. Vincent Chai produced this for his final project at the University Of Hertfordshire. It doesn’t end like you think it will. Link -via Digg
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Papua New Guinea Village Women Killed All Male Babies to Avoid War
Here’s one gruesome way of avoiding a tribal warfare adopted by two villages in Papua New Guinea: kill every male babies born!
By virtually wiping out the ‘male stock’, tribal women hope they can avoid deadly bow-and-arrow wars between the villages in the future.
‘Babies grow into men and men turn into warriors,’ said Rona Luke, a village wife who is attending a special ‘peace and reconciliation’ meeting in the mountain village of Goroka.
‘It’s because of the terrible fights that have brought death and destruction to our villages for the past 20 years that all the womenfolk have agreed to have all new-born male babies killed,’ said Mrs Luke.
‘The women have had enough of men engaging in tribal conflicts and bringing misery to them.’
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WWII Army Bag Is Found In Desert
A bag belonging to a World War II soldier from Lancashire has been discovered in the Egyptian desert after lying there for more than 60 years. Alec Ross, from Burnley, lost the bag containing personal letters and photos, while serving with the 8th Army. Egyptian tour guide Kahled Makram found the bag in the Sahara desert and traced Mr Ross’s family through a BBC website on World War II. The bag is being sent to Burnley to Mr Ross’s sister, Irene Porter.
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