More Reasons to Feel Safe
Posted on October 15th, 2008 at 2:08 pm by Steve

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

From the always-inspiring publication Defense Systems:

Homeland Security Strategies, of New Rochelle, N.Y., will offer facial-recognition technology for its Icarus Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Platform. Originally designed to detect roadside bombs and landmines, Icarus can now perform tasks such as aerial observation and countermeasures against improvised explosive devices, buried-object detection, facial recognition, and laser targeting of hostile personnel.

Totally awesome! And definitely a great marketing strategy to name your flying machine after the mythical figure whose hubris led him to flaunt his limits and self-destruct! Genius!!

More detail, from the manufacturer’s sales page:

The Icarus Microdrone is able to hover over an area under surveillance with near silent lift propulsion. This enables the remotely operated aerial vehicle to function in urban environments without alerting those under surveillance to its presence.

Keep an eye on the sky!

Amazing Photos from Above
Posted on October 6th, 2008 at 3:54 pm by dr.hoo

new plant life on a volcano

Photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand brings his amazing large format aerial photography to NYC next year. Here’s an amazing collection of his work on The Big Picture (one of my favorite weekly photo sites).

The images above is:

Mountainous countryside near Maelifellssandur, Myrdalsjökull Region, Iceland. Once the young lava fields of Iceland cool down, life begins anew little by little. Ice, wind and water flatten and carve out shapes to begin with, then, during the summer, bacteria, lichen and fungi prepare the soil for plants, in particular mosses which adapt to an environment which remains difficult. These plants colonise the most favourable sites and terrain little by little, forming a new ecosystem.

Each photo has a link to the Google satallite photo of the location. The link for the above image is here.

Slo-Mo Punches
Posted on September 28th, 2008 at 11:44 pm by dr.hoo

Nothing like getting punched in the head in slo-mo….


AQ_PUNCHES from John Wiseman on Vimeo.

Keeping it Real
Posted on September 7th, 2008 at 8:10 am by dr.hoo

The UK Telegraph posted this collection of 20 of the most memorable doctored images.

fake 911 photo

Amazing Timelapse Fungus
Posted on August 24th, 2008 at 2:46 am by dr.hoo

Shooting Gallery
Posted on May 27th, 2008 at 2:16 pm by dr.hoo

Nothing more sexy than cameras shaped like guns…