Warfare, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 30, 2006

Llamas Enlisted to Thwart Biological Weapons

If terrorists ever unleashed a biological weapon, unusual molecules normally found in the blood of llamas could quickly help warn of the attack, scientists now report. Researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington and their colleagues experimented with antibodies, which act as the red flags and magic bullets...

Jun 30, 2006

U.S. Military Plans Shape-Shifting Supersonic Bomber

For years, the U.S. military has wanted a plane that could loiter just outside enemy territory for more than a dozen hours and, on command, hurtle toward a target faster than the speed of sound. And then level it. But aircraft that excel at subsonic flight are inefficient at Mach...

Nov 30, 2007

Rare 'Upside-Down' Stamp Sells for $825,000

DALLAS (AP)—A collector from New York has purchased a rare 24-cent stamp depicting an upside-down airplane for $825,000, according to an auction house. The unidentified buyer of the Inverted Jenny stamp was described as a Wall Street executive and longtime coin collector by Heritage Auction Galleries, which announced the sale...

May 31, 2007

Gun Show Regulations Work, Study Finds

California’s stringent weapons laws go a long way toward reducing illegal purchases at gun shows without alienating potential customers, finds a leading researcher in the prevention of firearm violence. Garen Wintemute, a professor of emergency medicine at the University of California, Davis, covertly observed and documented illegal gun sales at...

Jun 30, 2008

Expedition to Survey Sunken U-Boats Off North Carolina

Scientists set off this week to study the wrecks of three German submarines sunk by U.S. forces in 1942 off the coast of North Carolina during the Battle of the Atlantic. This expedition is the first part of a larger multi-year project to research and document a number of historically...

Apr 30, 2008

From Kennedy to Clinton: Why Everyone Is Thumbs-Up

Seems everyone these days is giving the thumbs-up, no matter the circumstances. Senator Edward Kennedy gave a big thumbs-up as he left the hospital Wednesday, facing a new outlook on life with a potentially deadly brain tumor. Hillary did it just this week at a we're-not-mathematically-defeated-yet campaign rally in Florida....

May 31, 2009

Still Valuable: WWII Ration Coupons

My grandmother recently died peacefully at 95, and while my sisters and I were going through old boxes in her modest home of some 70 years, making the painful decisions about what to keep and what to give away and what to just grudgingly dispose of, I ran across something...

Feb 28, 2009

Obama's Energy Plan Faces Tough Road, History Suggests

How much should we spend? Vote below. A national need for clean energy may require a U.S. government response rivaling the Manhattan Project or Apollo Program, but history suggests that tackling an energy crisis remains more difficult than building an atomic bomb or going to the moon. Those historical analogies...

May 31, 2010

Can the President Summon Anyone He Wants?

As Commander in Chief of the United States military, the President can summon any member of the military to his office. For example, President Obama summoned Gen. Stanley McChrystal to a meeting Tuesday. Regular civilians cannot be made to appear before the President, however. If a member of the military...

Jun 30, 2012

Is North Korea Making EMP Weapons?

North Korea may be developing electromagnetic pulse weapons or bombs that could take out power grids — not to mention military and civilian electronics. Such speculation comes from a Chinese military analyst's article in the journal Bauhinia, according to the Washington Times. The Chinese military pointed out that North Korea...

Apr 30, 2012

Could the Navy Ever Build a Flying Aircraft Carrier?

Moviegoers can easily recognize flights of fancy when they see the Avengers assemble aboard the flying Helicarrier aircraft carrier in Hollywood's latest superhero blockbuster. But could the U.S. Navy ever build the fantastical military marvel if it wanted a flying air base? The Navy has experimented with less-ambitious flying aircraft...

Aug 31, 2013

US Air Force Almost Detonated Atomic Bomb Over North Carolina

The U.S. Air Force came a hair's breadth from detonating two hydrogen bombs that were accidentally released over Goldsboro, N.C. on Jan. 23, 1961, according to newly declassified documents obtained from a Freedom of Information Act request filed by investigative journalist Eric Schlosser. The airplane, which took off from Seymour...

Jun 30, 2013

Gateway to the Plains | Wallpaper

This wallpaper shows Pecos National Historical Park in New Mexico. In the midst of piñon, juniper, and ponderosa pine woodlands in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains not far from Santa Fe, the remains of an Indian pueblo stand as a meaningful reminder of a people who once prevailed here. Now...

Nov 30, 2014

Futuristic Laser Weapon Ready for Action, US Navy Says

The next generation of futuristic weapons has arrived. The U.S. Navy announced that its high-tech laser weapon is ready to disable and destroy enemy drones and small boats, should the need arise. The 30-kilowatt laser weapon system (LaWS) is housed aboard the USS Ponce, a naval vessel stationed in the...

Oct 31, 2014

Photos: F-35C Fighter Jet Successfully Lands on Aircraft Carrier

An F-35C Lightning II fighter jet conducted its first landing aboard an aircraft carrier on Nov. 3. The successful touchdown was considered a landmark moment for the U.S. Navy, which plans to begin operating the carrier version of the Lockheed Martin-built fighter jet at sea, beginning in 2018. Here's a...