Mikhail Kalashnikov, whose work as a weapons designer for the Soviet Union is immortalized in the name of the world's most popular firearm, died Monday at the age of 94.

Kalashnikov once aspired to design farm equipment. But even though his most famous invention - the AK-47 assault rifle - sowed havoc instead of crops, he often said he felt personally untroubled by his contribution to bloodshed.

Google may have just entered Skynet territory with its acquisition of Boston Dynamics, an engineering company that has designed robots for the Pentagon and has close ties to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Google (GOOG) has been aggressively buying robot makers over the past year, and its larger autonomous-machine strategy is overseen by Andy Rubin, the Google executive who led the development of Android.

It’s common knowledge that the Army completes some missions with the help of dogs. Books, movies, and TV have admiringly aired the feats of those four-legged “K-9 unit” warriors from World War II down through the present. Much less well-known, though, is that the Navy relies on some animal volunteers, too—namely, dolphins, whose ingrained navigational skills outdo even the most sophisticated submarine systems on the planet.

Howell torpedo flywheel

The Howell Automobile Torpedo was the first self-propelled (locomotive) torpedo in United States Navy service.

It was conceived by Lieutenant Commander John A. Howell, United States Navy, in 1870, using a 60 kg (130 lb) flywheel spun at very high speed (10000 to 12000 rpm) to store energy and drive propellers. Because it had no complicated engine and fuel system, the Howell was much cheaper and easier to build than its main competitor, the Whitehead.

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Yoko Ono, the widow of slain Beatle John Lennon, has weighed in on the issue of gun control by tweeting a photo of the blood-spattered eyeglasses worn by the legendary musician when he was fatally shot by a deranged fan more than three decades ago.

Her tweet, on the 44th anniversary of the couple's marriage:

A former Navy SEAL known for claiming a record number of sniper killings in Iraq was one of two men shot dead at a Texas gun range, allegedly at the hands of a fellow military veteran, officials say.

Chris Kyle, the author of the best-selling "American Sniper," and Chad Littlefield, also a veteran, were gunned down Saturday afternoon on the grounds of the expansive Rough Creek Lodge and Resort in Glen Rose, Texas, southwest of Fort Worth, law enforcement officials said.

Smart gun: A 9-mm semi-automatic handgun configured with transducers to its handle that can detect the grasp of an authorized user

At first blush, they seem like weapons straight from a James Bond film – weapons that are personalized with technology that keeps them from firing if ever they get into the wrong hands.

And the idea of so-called ‘personalized smart guns’ has been kicked around for years but has been slowed by intense suspicion, doubts about feasibility, and pressure tactics.

Now proponents of so-called personalized or smart guns are hoping the nation's renewed attention on firearms following the Newtown school massacre will kick start research and sale of safer weapons.
But despite the Obama administration's promise to 'encourage the development of innovative gun safety technology,' advocates have good reason to be wary.

Thales has debuted its new F90 assault rifle at this year’s Eurosatory exhibition in Paris, France.

The F90 is an innovative and lightweight weapon that is a direct product of modern day soldier requirements on today’s battlefields. Building on the company’s extensive

FLOWERS and guns might conjure up images of flower power, but coating bullet casings in lily pollen could help forensic teams identify a gunman.

It is difficult to get useful DNA evidence from a spent bullet casing: copper and zinc ions from the brass alloy react with sweat to break down DNA, destroying evidence about who may have loaded a gun.

If any gun is quintessentially Ruger, it’s their .22 caliber pistol. Originally designed by Bill Ruger in his garage, it was the very first gun Sturm, Ruger and Company sold, and has been in production continuously for nearly 63 years. It was a huge success from the get go and has continued to get better as new materials, new manufacturing methods, and other refinements have been made in response to consumer demand.

Israeli Weapon Industries (IWI) has unveiled its new line of grenade launchers. They’re perfect for warfighters who want some more bang for their buck, or marksman who like to hit their targets and then blow them to smithereens.

Chris Kyle (born 1974) is a former United States Navy SEAL. He is the deadliest sniper in United States military history, with 160 confirmed kills (out of 255 claimed kills).

Chris Kyle hesitated the first time he killed a person at long range with a rifle. It was a woman who was about to attack a group of US Marines with a hand grenade.

A bokken (木剣, bok(u), "wood", and ken, "sword") (or commonly as bokutō 木刀 in Japan), is a Japanese wooden sword used for training. It is usually the size and shape of a katana, but is sometimes shaped like other swords, such as the wakizashi and tantō. Some ornamental bokken are decorated with mother-of-pearl work and elaborate carvings.

Artis's rendering of The Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2

The results are in from last summer’s attempt to test new technology that would provide the Pentagon with a lightning-fast vehicle, capable of delivering a military strike anywhere in the world in less than an hour.

In August the Pentagon's research arm, known as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, carried out a test flight of an experimental aircraft capable of traveling at 20 times the speed of sound.

Tell your spouse, your children, your neighbors, your parents, your Dr's office, the check-out girl at the market, everyone you run across. Put your car keys beside your bed at night.

If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies.

People are wired to size up how big and strong their opponents are, even when no physical fighting is involved.

Just seeing a hand that is holding a gun is enough to convince people that the weapon-holder is extra big and extra strong, found a new study, which suggests that humans evaluate opponents much like our early ancestors did.

Competition shooters like their bullets to fly as fast (and thus straight) as possible, and they try to keep recoil to a minimum. Italian ammunition-maker CompBullet produces a series of bullets of the same name, which are claimed to both go faster than normal ammo, and produce less recoil.

The secret? The bullets have go-faster holes in them.