The Airplane "Boneyard" in HD

Some take religious journeys to sacred places, others gather at the home fields of beloved sports teams. But my pilgrimage? One day it will be here, to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group outside of Tuscon. Better known as the "Boneyard," it's the place where nearly 5,000 aerospace vehicles have gone to die. I'm going to spend the rest of the work day scoping out the new high-res Google map.

Chosen for its arid climate that slows degradation of the planes, the base is home to a huge variety of retired birds. Many are nuclear-capable, retired as a result of arms reduction treaties throughout the years. Lots of B-52s, B-1s and F-111s that once carried nuclear arms.

Then there are the relatively recent internments: plenty of F-14 Tomcats, which were retired for good in 2006. Other current planes spotted include F-15s, F-16s, C-130s, KC-135 refueling tankers, A-10s.

And what have we here? F-4 Phantoms from Vietnam? Maybe even some Century Series jets from the '50s and '60s, if my childhood memorization of aircraft silhouettes hasn't yet failed me? I could play this game all day.

And so could you. Let us know if you spot anything interesting in the comments:

[BBC]

Cool site for laughes

There I fixed it, an awesome site if you want to laugh
http://thereifixedit.com/
[NOT FROM A BLOG from my knowledge]

H20 yeilds to O2

Hydrogen cars might be closer than you think
"from Popsci
you

An interesting report from CNN over the weekend: a tabletop hydrogen fuel cell recharging station could bring hydrogen power to the individual home, allowing portable devices and eventually automobiles to charge up on the universe's most abundant element cleanly from the comfort of home.

Horizon Fuel Cell Technology's HydroFILL device -- which admittedly has an ultra-futuristic look about it -- runs on regular old H₂O, stripping the oxygen from the hydrogen and packing the latter into removable cartridges at high pressure. However, though the hydrogen is packed in at high pressure, the individual cartridges store it in solid state at lower pressures, making it much safer to carry around and sidestepping a major concern with fuel cell technologies.

If powered from a renewable source, the device essentially enables a carbon free process of powering numerous devices. A UK concern is already developing a Smart Car-like automobile powered by Horizon's technology. Whether or not the energy concentrations will be enough to propel the concept to success in the near-term remains to be seen, but the idea of creating home-based hydrogen power stations is enticing, as it means we wouldn't necessarily have to retool our energy infrastructures to enable a clean, efficient hydrogen economy.

[CNN{& popsci}]

For you millitary people

I have found out from a reliable source that the army is taking away bayonett training.
" Defense tech

I wasn’t sure my post from yesterday would garner such a reaction, but I’d say the pros outweigh the cons 10:1.

Many of you mentioned that the last known bayonet charge might have been executed by a squad of Brit troops in Basra back in ‘04.

Well, a little Googleing and low and behold it turns out that bunch of maniac Scots from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders got ambushed by about 100 Mahdi militiamen near Basra, fought it out, and when they ran low on ammunition, fixed bayonets and went to town.

Based on an after-action report found at this link, the intimidation factor of the bayonet and the surprise such a charge caused among the enemy used to engagements at a distance were pivotal.

The bayonet charge by British troops in Basra achieved tactical success primarily because of psychological and cultural factors. It also shows that superior firepower does not guarantee success by either side. In this case, the value of surprise, countering enemy expectations, and strict troop discipline were three deciding characteristics of the bayonet charge.

And, reading the report, you can’t help but come away from it thinking that while the insurgent is courageous in a sense that he’s willing to commit suicide in an attack on his enemy, and that he’s cunning in his building and implementation of weaponry, and that he’s agile in his ability to move quickly in tight spaces and mingle with the population — in the end their internal propoganda that the coalition are wusses just doesn’t make sense.

Propaganda by Sunni and Shiite jihadists regularly advertised the perception that American and British soldiers were cowards. Similar rhetoric increased after the battles of Fallujah in April2004, perhaps to steady the resolve of militia fighters in the face of aggressive coalition attacks.

In addition, British convoys did not engage significantly during previous ambushes, which probably validated the narrative for many Mahdi militiamen. Because many of the Mahdi fighters were teenagers, it is also likely that the Mahdi army used these ambushes for training and recruiting. The attacks were an opportunity for young fighters to use weapons in combat with little risk of serious reprisal.

Who would you pick in a hand-to-hand standoff — in a eyeball to eyeball fistfight? A Scot highlander or a pencil-necked Mahdi bomb clacker?

I pick the guy who eats haggis. Like this dude…

“I wanted to put the fear of God into the enemy. I could see some dead bodies and eight blokes, some scrambling for their weapons. I’ve never seen such a look of fear in anyone’s eyes before. I’m over six feet; I was covered in sweat, angry, red in the face, charging in with a bayonet and screaming my head off. You would be scared, too.”

Corporal Brian Wood
Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment

In the end, the Brit counterassault killed 35 bad guys and left three UK troops lightly wounded.

Keep the bayonets brother!

PS — And here’s another young Brit who had to resort to his rifle blade when the chips were really down:

– Christian"