Datum 2014
(454 kilograms). The BIOME represents the Mercedes-Benz
military has used larger drones to conduct reconnaissance,
vision. It is made from an ultralight material called BioFibre
transport supplies and even target individuals. Unfortunately,
so that the finished vehicle, though wider than a typical
the larger attack drones, such as the MQ-1 Predator, can
car, only weighs 876 pounds (397 kilograms). If you think
result in unwanted civilian casualties.
that sounds too good to be true, then get this: The BIOME
isn't assembled. It grows from two seeds -- one that forms
Lockheed Martin's Samarai micro-drone could solve
that problem. Weighing a mere 5.29 ounces (150 grams) and
boasting a 12-inch (30-centimeter) wingspan, the Samarai
looks like a maple-seed whirligig, except this one comes
with a miniature jet engine to provide thrust and a tiny
flap on the trailing edge of the wing to control direction. In
the near future, this nature-inspired micro-drone will snap
photos using a camera mounted on the gadget's central hub.
But the longer-term goals are to turn the Samarai or other
similar micro-drones into armed attack vehicles capable of
killing a single individual with little or no collateral damage.
Perpetual Printing
the interior and one that forms the exterior. The wheels
Printing has come a long way since the computer
germinate from four additional seeds placed in the nursery.
landed on the desktop. First, there were daisy-wheel printers,
Of course, you won't find the BIOME at your local Mercedes-
then dot-matrix printers, then inkjet and laser printers. The
Benz dealer. That's because the far-out design is a vision of
problem with all of these output devices, of course, is that
the future -- a concept car that's decades ahead of its time.
they require paper -- lots of it -- and expensive consumables,
As such, it couldn't exist today. But it might be as common
like toner. Why can't someone invent an inkless, tonerless
as a Corolla after 20 or 30 years of innovative thinking and
printer that allows the operator to reuse paper?
inspired engineering .
Insect Assailants
As it turns out, this isn't a new idea. Xerox has been
working with so-called electronic paper since the 1970s. Its
most promising solution is a type of paper c [Y