Tech Today w/ Ken May

Back in December we heard about the “Mach 7″ railgun developed by the Navy. Looks like the private sector is hard at work on these things as well, as shown by this video. In fact, the two systems appear to be very similar: the “bullet” is flanked by a pair of break-away shells that help launch the payload properly. This one also shows the whole launch module more clearly, and the slow-mo bit of the projectile is pretty awesome.

I love that this thing went for seven kilometers after busting through a steel plate. It doesn’t go as fast as the Navy’s — but it looks to me like the actual railgun mechanism itself is more compact. I have to say this is a lot cooler than that laser from the other day.

[via Gizmodo]

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Some Railgun Porn For Your Friday

Chlorine — it’s not just for keeping your clothes white and your pool clean anymore! Soon, layers of the stuff, just a single atom thick, could play a pivotal role in OLED manufacturing. Researchers at the University of Toronto have found that this tiny amount of Cl can almost double the efficiency of existing displays while reducing complexity and driving down costs. Using a rather simple procedure involving UV light, the team was able to chlorinate standard electrode panels found in conventional OLEDs without having toxic chlorine gas wafting about. While this is good news for manufacturers, it’s even better news for consumers. We’ve been itching to mount a big, organic flat-screen in our parents’ basement living room. Finally, we may see cheap OLED TVs on Walmart shelves — right next to the Clorox.

Chlorine could be key to the cheaper, more efficient OLED TV of your dreams originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 17:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When it comes to computing, our general philosophy at Maximum PC is that bigger is better. More, speed, more memory, more power—as far as hardware goes, there's no such things as excess. Software, though… Software's a little different. Big, feature-packed utilities and applications are great, but we prefer apps that show a little restraint. More

Perhaps you’ve noticed that today is tax day in the US, and perhaps you’ve wondered where your taxes are going. As a breath of fresh air, the U.S. Government has posted a web site to calculate your payments and let you instantly see how your individual tax payment is being spent. More

A leaked copy of Windows 8 has had people scrambling to find new features and tidbits to gossip about—and it looks like there's a surprise hidden there for us, as we'll actually be able to run it from a USB stick. In fact, you'll be able to create copies using the portable workspace feature, though you'll need a USB stick of at least 16GB to do so. [MyDigitalLife via WinRumors] More

OLEDs were sold to us as being cheaper and better than traditional LEDs, but they hit a bottleneck on the way to market: The high price of production. Partly the big price tag was due to indium tin oxide, which is used as an electrode in these energy-saving lights – and which is added to them via a painstaking, expensive process. A new method could simplify that process, producing OLEDs in a way that “faster, easier and cheaper.” More

See that guy right there? His world is ending. Dragons are swallowing his neighbors, snatching his peoples up. Rather than make an effort to hide his kids, hide his wife or hide his husband (too), he’s celebrating uncontrollably. Why? Because his homeland is preparing to make the shift to plastic cash. You heard right — Canada is scheduled to introduce a polymer-based $100 bill in November, and in March of 2012, a recyclable $50 bill will follow. From there, smaller notes will be phased in over the next dozen months or so, providing citizens with legal tender that holds up better to Yellowknife’s winters. Sure, Australia has been doing something similar for over a decade, but have you ever seen a DinoPark Tycoon rise up and use only non-digestible money? Exactly.

Canada to introduce recyclable, polymer-based ‘plastic cash,’ dragons and PC users rejoice originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 10:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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(YouTube link)

We’ve posted about the tiny Australian Peacock Spider before, but now you can see its amazing mating dance. A couple of minutes into this video, you’ll understand how it got its name. Read more about this spider at Catalyst. Link -via The Daily What

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The Peacock Spider Dance

An experiment designed to catch a few WIMPs, the particles that are meant to make up dark matter, has failed to detect any sign of them. More

Japan has all the fun stuff. iOS users abroad deserve this clever cable that charges an iOS device via USB while providing an HDMI port. Why didn’t you think of that, Cupertino? It’s awesome that the iPad can output video, but it does so through the Dock Connector, which is also the only way to charge the iPad meaning it’s one or the other. That is unless you have this ¥6980 (approx. $84 USD) cable that’s currently only available in Nippon. Or any Android tablet. [Thanko via AkihabaraNews]

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Japan Only: iOS HDMI/USB Cable Charges And Outputs Video