Northrop Grumman's X-47B is getting closer to flight. The 62.1-foot wingspan unmanned aerial vehicle may populate all US Navy's aircraft carriers by the end of the decade.

Conceptual football gets loaded with sensors, don't need no pump

We've heard of soccer balls that play a tune when kicked, sure, and we're pumped to see the world cup in 3D, but it's not often that someone comes up with a serious technological makeover for the sport that's nearly as old as life itself. CTRUS, however, is just that -- a theoretical revolution in soccer that begins with the all-important ball. To start with, a reinforced elastic structure means that CTRUS doesn't require any air. (So long, pump.) Next, GPS and RFID chips keep track of the ball's position at all times, and tell it to light up in different colors when it scores a goal or is accomplice to a nefarious violation. (Farewell, referee.) Last but not least, the sphere itself will report back with accelerometers that measure the ball's kick force and travel speed, and a camera that could (with magical software stabilization, of course) actually film action from the balls own POV. Sadly, the ball is just a concept, but since we're dreaming, we urge its creators to add a second camera. Just imagine just how immersive it would be to have your face booted in at 100kmph in glorious 3D.

HotWheels

US Army wants 2.3 gigapixel camera for aerial surveillance

DARPA may have already gone to the trouble of building a 1.8 gigapixel camera as part of its ARGUS-IS project (pictured above), but it looks like the US Army is setting its sights a little higher, and it's now soliciting proposals for a 2.3 gigapixel camera that would be used for some super-wide aerial surveillance. While obviously still quite a ways from becoming reality, the Army hopes the system will be both smaller and lighter than previous systems, work in the infrared range to boot, and capture images at a rate of two frames per second. The key bit, however, is of course that 2.3 gigapixel sensor, which should let the camera provide continuous coverage of a range of about sixty-two square miles at a resolution of 0.3 meters, or just enough to make out the outline of your tinfoil hat.

Tata Motors' Nano lights up the streets of Mumbai

Indeed, there is a time in every product's life-cycle when it has its birth announcement, when it steps out into the world for the first time, and when it bursts into flames -- and Tata's Nano is no exception. These days TATA motors has been particularly well known for its combustible nano's -- back in 2009, three Nanos caught fire, and now we have pictures of the latest to go into flames, courtesy of an insurance agent Satish Sawant. Apparently, the auto dealership was delivering the vehicle to its new owner when a motorcyclist overtook the driver to get his attention. Since the engine is behind the driver, he had no idea that it had caught fire at some point on his journey. Who would have thought that a hundred thousand rupee vehicle would be plagued with problems? Let's just hope they get 'em sorted before the Nano EV hits the streets.

A Nuclear Reactor for Home......

It would seem that Toshiba hasn't given up on its dream of producing a nuclear reactor for home, and its latest potential partner counts quite the big name among its backers. Run by a former Microsoft exec and partially funded by Bill Gates himself, TerraPower is said to have opened preliminary discussions with Toshiba regarding a possible joint venture between the two companies. The aim is, predictably, to make safer, smaller, more socially acceptable, and just plain better reactors. TerraPower boasts its tech can run without refueling for up to 60 years on depleted uranium and Bill Gates has gotten enthusiastic enough about the whole thing to give a 30-minute talk on the matter.

Will be uploading the link to the video shortly.