A Delightful Article About Something We'd All Rather Not Think About @10:20 AM
"With a target in mind, the next consideration is body position. To slow your descent, emulate a sky diver. Spread your arms and legs, present your chest to the ground, and arch your back and head upward. This adds friction and helps you maneuver. But don’t relax. This is not your landing pose."
—Popular Mechanics' how-to guide for surviving a fall of 35,000 feet after one's plane has exploded includes lots of information you hope you never need (try to smash through a glass skylight or land in a swamp) and awesome accounts of true-life miracles. 14
Cordless Drills: Better Just To Look At @2:35 PM
God bless Popular Mechanics. Here's how they start their latest consumer report, '7 Small Drills Bore It Out: Tool Comparison Test':
"How much cordless drill do you need? Probably not as much as you think." READ MORE 31
Robot Navy Helicopter Breaks The Code Of Streets @10:48 AM
The Navy is using unmanned robot helicopters to hunt drug smugglers. A Fire Scout helicopter called MQ-8B (apparently, the Navy shops for robots on the Jawa black market), the craft is more advanced than the remote operated drone planes used in Iraq in that it can take off, fly and land without human assistance. "MQ-8B became the first unmanned helo to deploy on a naval anti-narcotics mission when it left port in Florida on Monday aboard the USS McInerney," reports Popular Mechanics, noting that a crew of engineers were on hand "to help the aircraft stay healthy." Hey, MQ-8B. Here's a word to the wise: You know how a nosy robot helicopter can stay healthy? Stop snitching. 7
