Archive for September, 2013
Navy Research Blimp Hovering Over Maryland
September 30th, 2013[???] Via: CBS: The U.S. Navy research laboratory says the blimp is a government research airship conducting aerial mapping, and that the MZ-3A lighter than air blimp began roaming above the D.C. area on Sept. 21 and can remain stationary for more than 12 hours. The blimp is mapping in the flight restriction zones around […]
Swiss War Game Envisages Invasion by Bankrupt French
September 30th, 2013[???] Via: Telegraph: Hordes of bankrupt French invade Switzerland to get their hands on their “stolen” money — such is the imaginary scenario cooked up by the Swiss military in simulations revealed over the weekend. Carried out in August, the apparently outlandish army exercise was based on the premise of an attack by a financially […]
DARPA’s Plan to Flood the Sea With Drones, Carrying More Drones
September 30th, 2013Via: Wired: DARPA, the Pentagon’s research agency, has recently revealed its plans to boost the Navy’s response to threats in international waters by developing submerged unmanned platforms that can be deployed at a moment’s notice. Hydra, named after the serpent-like creature with many heads in Greek mythology, would create an undersea network of unmanned payloads […]
Russian Scientists Report Asteroid Near-Miss
September 30th, 2013Via: RIA Novosti: A 15-meter (approximately 50 feet) asteroid, similar to the one that exploded above Russia in February, was detected hours before it narrowly missed the Earth over the weekend, Russian scientists said. Vladimir Lipunov of the Moscow State University and the Sternberg Astronomical Institute said on Sunday a network of telescopes operated by […]
India’s Booming ‘Rent-A-Womb’ Industry
September 30th, 2013Via: Reuters: India opened up to commercial surrogacy in 2002. It is among just a handful of countries – including Georgia, Russia, Thailand and Ukraine – and a few U.S. states where women can be paid to carry another’s genetic child through a process of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) and embryo transfer. The low-cost technology, skilled […]
NASA Images of Pakistan’s ‘Earthquake Island’
September 29th, 2013Via Russia Today: Amidst the destruction caused by the devastating earthquake in Pakistan that killed more than 500 people, a new island emerged from the depth of the sea. NASA has released images of the newly formed islet. NASA has released before and after photos of a new terrestrial body that was born on September […]
Cryptogon Readers Send Contributions
September 29th, 2013Thank you very much. JG2 $20 Eileen $100 KL $10 PC 2 Bitcoins [!!!] UR $50 I continue to recommend bitnz.com for your bitcoin needs in New Zealand. Yes, it’s true: You might get a slightly better deal at MtGox at times (buy side is actually NZ$16.21 cheaper on bitnz vs. MtGox at the moment!), […]
To Protect and Serve? MRAPS Come Home
September 28th, 2013Via: Dallas Observer: Now that the war in Iraq is officially over and the one in Afghanistan winding down, the Department of Defense found itself facing a conundrum. It had just spent billions of dollars buying heavily armored personnel carriers designed to stand up to insurgent attacks only to find that it had run out […]
NSA Gathers Data on Social Connections of U.S. Citizens
September 28th, 2013Via: New York Times: Since 2010, the National Security Agency has been exploiting its huge collections of data to create sophisticated graphs of some Americans’ social connections that can identify their associates, their locations at certain times, their traveling companions and other personal information, according to newly disclosed documents and interviews with officials. The spy […]
No. 2 U.S. Nuke Commander Under Investigation, Counterfeit Gambling Chips?
September 28th, 2013Via: AP: The No. 2 officer at the military command in charge of all U.S. nuclear war-fighting forces is suspected in a case involving counterfeit gambling chips at a western Iowa casino and has been suspended from his duties, officials said. Navy Vice Adm. Tim Giardina has not been arrested or charged, Iowa Division of […]
