great-collapsing-hrung-disaster:

diabsoule:

cloneboy:

mutualaddiction:

mehreenkasana:

mohandasgandhi:

machistado:

theeconomist:

Magic bullets A new rifle being tested in Afghanistan fires smart ammunition—bullets containing tiny computers, programmed to explode when passing near hostile troops. Such rounds allow soldiers to attack enemies in ditches, round corners or behind walls.

God, I’m so happy our technology is getting better at killing people. 

Your tax dollars at work, ladies, gentlemen, and others!

How very progressive. Imagine the uproar if an Afghan was testing XM25 bullets in the United States. Let’s just have a look at the mechanism of this gun. 

Each rifle bullet is programmed, before it is fired, by a second computer in the rifle itself. To determine the distance to the target, the gunman shines a laser rangefinder attached to the rifle at whatever is shielding the enemy.

When the round is fired, the internal computer counts the number of rotations it makes, to calculate the distance flown. The rifle’s muzzle velocity is 210 metres a second, which is the starting point for the calculation. When the computer calculates that the round has flown the requisite distance, it issues the instruction to detonate. The explosion creates a burst of shrapnel that is lethal within a radius of several metres (exact details are classified). And the whole process takes less than five seconds.

Less than five seconds. American progress, in this context, means killing people as fast as possible. Preferably in seconds. How uplifting.

welp it’s been a good run

The commentary on this is fucking ludicrous.

“Oh, the calculations happen so fast, welp good job we kill people fast lolololol”

What the fuck does that even mean? Y’know, the ordnance currently fielded by troops on the ground don’t make any calculations, so… 

People on tumblr really drive me crazy sometimes. 

The commentary is bothering me, as well. Isn’t it better that the weapons we equip our soldiers with are more precise? It would lead to less collateral damage, fewer civilian lives lost. Call me crazy, but that sounds like an improvement.

NO WE MUST FIGHT WITH SWORDS LIKE GENTLEMAN BECAUSE ALL THIS TECHNOLOGY IS MAKING WAR TOO EASY AND LIKE VIDYAGAMES OR SOME BULLSHIT.

Seriously, I don’t see why everyone is throwing a fit over this. Yes, it can kill people faster and more effectively in a very specific situation. That means that it can save the lives of the Americans who are currently being shot at better. You know, the guy who probably doesn’t really even want to be there in the first place. 

But yeah, I get it. It’s some type of image that war would be so much better if it looked more civilized. If this bothers you that much, you probably shouldn’t look up what 5.56 does when it hits tissue.