LUNAR PROSPECTS: Some parts of the moon are rich in precious titanium ore. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has been imaging the Moon's surface in seven different wavelengths at different resolutions, revealing its chemical composition. The titanium could be useful for future mining on the moon because it's efficient at
retaining solar wind particles, such as helium and hydrogen. At least the Moon's already a rocky wasteland so any mining won't disrupt plants and wildlife.
Space.com has more details.
8-SPEED CHAIRS: People who use a RoChair wheelchair don't push the rims of the wheels to get around. Instead the user has a handlebar in front of them that they 'row' forward and back. The bar provides propulsion on both forward and backward strokes. Eight gearing ratios and disc brakes make the chair more powerful too. The propulsion lever can be stowed to allow the chair user to work at a desk or sit at a table. Row, row, row your chair gently down the street. More details here.
WHATCHA DOIN WILLIS?: If you're in charge of a bunch of military drone vehicles the last thing you want is for them to be infected by malware. And the next last thing is to report the malware to your superiors. At Nevada's Creech Air Force Base in the US the cockpits were recently found to be logging the keystrokes of the pilots. When techs try to remove the keylogger it keeps coming back. Meanwhile some independent researchers think the keylogger may be an Internal Department of Defense security monitoring package. It's so reassuring when the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing. Details at TechZwn.
DEVIL WATCHER: Blue Devil Block 2 sounds like a good title for a horror film, but actually it's the codename for a US military blimp that may soon hover over Afghanistan. It can keep watch over almost 100 square Km at a time, hovering up to six kilometres high. The helium filled blimp is 113 metres long with a volume of 40,000 cubic metres. It uses wide area cameras and other eavesdropping equipment, then signals base with a laser. Sounds like an easy target for those being watched. More from
Wired.
STICKIES: Solar panels are costly and need installers who know what they're doing. 3M have created a film of organic photovoltaic material that you stick on your windows. In full sun a square metre of the film could charge a smartphone. The film blocks around 80% of the visible light and 90% of the infrared. The film generates only about 20% as much electricity as a traditional silicon solar panel, but is far easier to install. But surely the whole point of a window is to let in light? Why not stick it on a wall instead? ITworld has more here, and there's video here.
