David Guerra
Mr. Porfido
Web & Design
5/15/13

The wraps are off Russia's new main battle tank. Copies of the new Armata T-14 medium tank have been rumbling through Moscow this week as the Russian military practices for Saturday's Victory Day parade commemorating the end of World War II in Europe. News services have distributed several images of the tanks this week. The T-14 was seen in photos last week during parade practice, but those tanks had their turrets covered in canvas. Along with exposing the tanks during the practices, Russia's Defense Ministry posted images of the Armata and other new armor on its official website under the headline, "Advanced forward-looking military hardware." More than two dozen photographs of the hardware taken during parade practice were also posted on the military's site. According to the website RT.com, the Armata "is a cutting-edge vehicle with an unmanned turret armed with a brand new 125 mm smoothbore cannon, which is the most powerful gun of its kind to date in terms of muzzle energy." Russia's TASS news agency reported last year that the tank's crew of two will "operate the gun from an isolated armored capsule." As well as supporting the main battle tanks, the Armata platform will be used for an infantry combat vehicle, a heavy armored personnel carrier and self-propelled artillery, according to TASS. The new tanks are expected to be put into service this year, the news agency reported. Russia also will be showing off new aircraft during the Victory Day celebrations. Flyovers will include 140 planes and helicopters, TASS reported Tuesday, after the aircraft made practice runs over Moscow.

David Guerra
Mr. Porfido
Web & Design
5/7/15
Period-7

At US$ 3.4 million, the Lykan HyperSport is the third most expensive car to ever be made, behind the very limited ( seven created, three sold) Lamborghini Veneno (US$4.6 million)^[4] and the one-off Maybach Exelero (US$8 million).^[5] As reference, the Lykan Hypersport is US$1 million more expensive than the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, which was officially the fastest road car in the world.

The cause of the car's high price tag is its very expensive included options. It is the first car to have headlights with embedded jewels; they contain titanium LED blades with 420 diamonds (15cts).;^[6] although the buyer has a selection of rubies, diamonds, yellow diamonds, and sapphires to be integrated into the vehicle's headlights at purchase. This car has been featured in the new blockbuster film, Furious 7.

David Guerra
Mr. Porfido
Web & Design
5/1/15
Period 6

Is there anything laser can't do? From cutting diamonds to preserving endangered sites, all the way to building terrifying weapons and turning your eyes from brown to blue, there is apparently no end to the list of applications for laser. Swiss physicist Jean-Pierre Wolf is working on yet another impressive addition to that list: using focused laser beams to affect the weather. It sounds like black magic, but it's actually a cleaner version of cloud seeding, a form of weather modification that has been used for several years -- most famously by China in preparation for the 2008 Olympics, when they launched rockets to seed the clouds and prevent rainfall during the opening ceremony. But it's hard to tell how effective cloud seeding actually is, and it involves the spraying of chemicals into the atmosphere, something which it surely doesn't need. Laser is therefore a completely clean alternative to traditional cloud seeding: it's light, and nothing but light.

David Guerra

Mr. Porfido

Web & Design

4/24/15

Period-6

In 2001, the Taliban wiped out 1700 years of history in a matter of seconds, by blowing up ancient Buddha statues in central Afghanistan with dynamite. They proceeded to do so after an attempt at bringing down the 175-foot tall sculptures with anti-aircraft artillery had failed. Sadly, the event was just the first in a series of atrocitiesthat have robbed the world of some of its most prized cultural heritage. But historical architecture is also under threat from calamities which might well escape our control, such as earthquakes and climate change. The thought of losing a piece of our collective history is a bleak one. But if loss can't be avoided, technology can lend a hand. Now CyArk, a non-profit company founded by an Iraqi-born engineer, is using groundbreaking laser scanning to ensure that at the very least incredibly accurate digital versions of the world's treasures will stay with us forever. 

David Guerra
Mr. Porfido
WD
4/20/15
Period-6

In medicine, finding a substance that attacks cancerous tumors without destroying the healthy tissue around it has long been the Holy Grail.

From targeted remedies such as monoclonal antibodies to surgery, cancer has still managed to elude a treatment that discretely and separately attacks it alone.

Nanotechnologies, however the manipulation of matter at a molecular and even atomic scale to penetrate living cells are holding out the promise of opening a new front against deadly conditions from cancer to Ebola.

David Guerra
Mr. Porfido
Web & Design
3/26/15
Period-6

NASA

It certainly won't be troubling any earth-based runners' personal bests, but NASA's long-serving Mars rover Opportunity set a significant benchmark Tuesday as it clocked in 26.219 miles (42 kilometers) -- the first-ever Martian marathon.

It might have taken the robot 11 years and two months but it represents a significant landmark for NASA.

"This is the first time any human enterprise has exceeded the distance of a marathon on the surface of another world," said John Callas, Opportunity project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

David Guerra
Web and Design
Mr. Porfido
3/20/15

Lights, mirrors, action! Scientists are developing smart contact lenses embedded with minuscule mirrors that can magnify your vision by almost three times.

The 1.55mm-thick lenses incorporate a thin reflective telescope made of mirrors and filters; when light enters the eye it bounces off the series of mirrors and increases the perceived view of an object or person. It is hoped that the lens will improve the sight of people with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) which is the third leading cause of blindness globally.