radar

17 Stories

Holy Ladybug, That's Not a Rainstorm
That Blob
Isn't Rain.
It's Bugs

That Blob Isn't Rain. It's Bugs

Radar spots massive ladybug swarm over Southern California

(Newser) - Despite a massive green mass spotted north of San Diego on the National Weather Service's radar, there was no downpour in Southern California Tuesday evening. That's because the blob actually "a cloud of lady bugs," according to a NWS tweet . Though the ladybug bloom seemingly covered...

Tunnel Hand-Dug by Jews to Flee Nazis Found in Lithuania

It's been the stuff of legend for more than 70 years

(Newser) - A 100-foot escape tunnel dug by Jewish prisoners using only their hands and spoons has been unearthed in Lithuania, a research team announced Wednesday. From 1941 to 1944, about 100,000 people (70,000 of them Jews from nearby Vilnius) were slaughtered by the Nazis, then dumped into burial pits...

Radar to Join Hunt for Nefertiti's Tomb

Egypt OKs technology to scan King Tut's tomb for signs of missing queen's

(Newser) - The Egyptian Antiquities Ministry granted preliminary approval for non-invasive Japanese radar to verify a theory that Queen Nefertiti's crypt may be hidden behind King Tut's 3,300-year-old tomb. A security clearance for the radar's use will probably be obtained within a month, said ministry rep Mouchira Moussa,...

Police Have Been Using Radar to Peek Into Homes

Legal and privacy concerns emerge as law enforcement uses detection technology

(Newser) - The gist of the Fourth Amendment, according to the Supreme Court , is "the right of a man to retreat into his own home and there be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion." Which is why legal and privacy concerns are cropping up regarding the recent revelation that at least...

There's a Giant 'Super Henge' Underneath Stonehenge

 There's a Giant 
 'Super Henge' 
 Underneath 
 Stonehenge 
in case you missed it

There's a Giant 'Super Henge' Underneath Stonehenge

Underground mapping reveals network of Neolithic monuments, stones: scientists

(Newser) - Some observers believe Stonehenge was once a full circle of enormous stones—and now there seems to be proof there are even more Neolithic monuments underneath it. A lot of them: Radar mapping that's peeked as far as 2 miles beneath the surface has uncovered an elaborate subterranean network...

Experts: No Way Did China's Radar Miss Malaysia Jet

Radar along northern arc too robust, analysts say

(Newser) - Momentum seems to be building behind one definitive conclusion: Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 did not follow the northern arc, or so say a growing chorus of sources. China is among the Asian countries searching that huge arc for the plane, and experts say they'd be amazed if it had...

New Radar Evidence the Jet Turned West

Thai military releases its data

(Newser) - Thailand is offering what CNN calls "the second radar evidence" that the missing Malaysia Airlines flight took an altered path toward the Strait of Malacca. All looked normal on Thailand's military radar until 1:22am, when Flight 370 vanished. Within six minutes, an unknown aircraft was spotted moving...

Russia: US May Have Killed Probe

Expert calls suggestion that US radar station interfered 'contrived'

(Newser) - Russia's failed Mars moon probe may be sleeping with the fishes , but the questions about what went wrong with the Phobos-Grunt have yet to be put to rest. The newest theory: the US did it, inadvertently, of course. Russia is reviewing whether emissions from a US radar station may...

Radar Finds Preserved Roman Gladiator School

It's near Vienna, Austria ... but still underground

(Newser) - Archeologists near Vienna, Austria, say underground radar has made a spectacular find: a Roman gladiator school that appears to be in better shape than any found so far, reports Der Spiegel . It even still has the wooden post used to represent an opponent in the arena. Don't bank on...

New Way to Fight Pirates: With a Laser

Weapon emits harmless but effective green light

(Newser) - Somali pirates, beware: British scientists are developing a laser that works by confusing would-be attackers from more than a mile away, the Daily Mail reports. The laser hides the ship in a veil of green light, preventing pirates from easily steering toward or aiming at their victims. “We are...

Iran Flaunts Defense Systems in War Games

4K miles of radar turned on as planes simulate attack

(Newser) - War games are underway in Iran as the country puts its defensive prowess on display: Radar and signal detection equipment was turned on around 4,200 miles of borderland; military forces went on alert; and six planes staged a mock raid, likely simulating a US or Israeli attack on nuclear...

Radar Uncovers Ancient Egyptian City
 Radar Uncovers  
 Ancient Egyptian City
in case you missed it

Radar Uncovers Ancient Egyptian City

Researchers map long-buried city of Avaris

(Newser) - Archaeologists have used satellite radar images to map a long-lost Egyptian city, reports the BBC. The team discovered a detailed outline of Avaris, the summer capital of the Hyksos invaders some 3,500 years ago. The picture reveals streets, houses, tombs, and the remains of a port area. The site...

'Blacker Than Black' Is the New Black

New material could make equipment invisible to radar

(Newser) - It's intended for military use, but it may also interest fashionistas: Scientists claim to have engineered a new "blacker than black" color that absorbs far more light than any previously known shade of black. The new ultrablack metamaterial—a type of material made of components smaller than the wavelengths...

NORAD Sets Sights on Santa
 NORAD Sets Sights on Santa  
ho, ho, ho

NORAD Sets Sights on Santa

Bizarre tradition dates back to misprinted Christmas ad in 1955

(Newser) - The North American Aerospace Defense Command is ready for its busiest night of the year, when it puts mundane tasks like looking for wandering Russian bombers or North Korean missiles on the back burner and tracks Santa Claus. As it has every Christmas for more than 50 years, NORAD offers...

Volvo Promises Crash-Proof Car By 2020

Road deaths will be history, Swedes say

(Newser) - Volvo executives have vowed to create an un-crashable, injury-proof car by 2020, Reuters reports. The car manufacturer is adapting technology developed for commercial aviation to create a vehicle that will take over the controls in a dangerous situation and brake or steer out of harm's way. Engineers are hopeful such...

Glitches Delay 'Virtual' Border Fence 3 Years

Unmanned "fence' failed to perform in 28-mile pilot program

(Newser) - Plans to build a high-tech "virtual fence" along the US-Mexico border have been set back at least 3 years after serious problems emerged in the pilot project, the Washington Post reports. The 28-mile fence south of Tuscon, which included unmanned surveillance towers equipped with radar linked to computers, didn't...

Darfur Hopes Lie in Hidden Lake
Darfur Hopes Lie in Hidden Lake

Darfur Hopes Lie in Hidden Lake

A hidden lake could spur 1,000 wells and quell deadly competition over resources in Darfur

(Newser) - A giant lake discovered beneath Darfur could lead to resolution of the conflict in the region, where genocide has claimed the lives of more than 200,000 Darfuris and 2 million people have been left homeless since 2003, the BBC reports. Radar revealed the ancient body of water, comparable in...

17 Stories