In science fiction, the use of gunpowder-based weapons is generally portrayed as something from a savage past, with technology having long since moved on to more civilized types of destructive weaponry, involving lasers, microwaves, and electromagnetism. Instead of messy detonating powder, energy-weapons are used to near-instantly deposit significant amounts of energy into the target, and […]
The human body and sharp objects don’t get along very well, especially when they are being wielded with ill-intent. Since antiquity there have been various forms of armor designed to protect the wearer, but thankfully these days random sword fights don’t often break out on the street. Still, [SCREEN TESTED] wanted to test the viability […]
Look out of a window, ask yourself the question, “Has a nuke gone off?”. Maybe, maybe not, and all of us here at Hackaday need to know the answer to these important questions! Introducing the hasanukegoneoff.com Indicator from [bigcrimping] to answer our cries. An ESP32 running a MicroPython script handles the critical checks from hasanukegoneoff.com […]
For most of us, turrets that aim and shoot at things are the sole domain of video games. However, they’re remarkably easy to build with modern technology, as [meub] demonstrates. Meet the SwarmTurret. The build is based around an existing foam blaster, namely the Nerf Swarmfire. This blaster was chosen for being easy to integrate […]
Officially, the term “taser” refers to a particular brand of projectile-firing electric stun gun. However, the word is also colloquially used to refer to just about any device intended for delivering electric shocks to an adversary. The taser ring from [Penguin DIY] definitely fits that description, though we’d strictly advise you not to consider building […]
Although we think of air-to-air radar as a relatively modern invention, it first made its appearance in WWII. Some late war fighters featured the AN/APS-13 Tail Warning Radar to alert the pilot when an enemy fighter was on his tail. In [WWII US Bombers]’ fascinating video we get a deep dive into this fascinating piece […]
This DIY lasertag project designed by [Nii], which he brought to Tokyo Maker Faire back in September, is a treasure trove. It’s all in Japanese and you’ll need to visit X (formerly Twitter) to see it, but the images do a fine job of getting the essentials across and your favorite translator tool will do […]
Keeping the United States’ nuclear arsenal ready for use is an ongoing process, one which is necessarily shrouded in complete secrecy. In an article by The War Zone these developments and the secrets behind it are touched upon, including a secret ingredient for these thermonuclear warheads that is only officially known as ‘Fogbank’, but which is […]
In 1962, unlike today, most things didn’t have computers in them. After all, the typical computer of the day was a fragile room-sized box that required a gaggle of high priests to service it. But the Minuteman I nuclear missile was stuffed full of pre-GPS navigation equipment and a computer. In a few years, by […]
The last time we visited the Hackaday shooting range we were all psyched up to get the right posture, breathe correctly, lower our heart rates and squeeze the trigger at exactly the right moment that the wandering cross hairs align with the target ……. and lastly accommodate the inevitable recoil. But never did we think […]