Bombs

​​Tiny glassy particles that litter the beaches near Hiroshima in Japan are likely the resolidified remains of the city destroyed by a US atomic bomb on the morning of August 6, 1945, according to the results of a newly published study.

​​Bomb disposal work is as dangerous as it comes, but the British Army will now have an advanced new tool to help them with the task at hand. Welcomed into the ranks this week is a shiny new set of ground vehicles that will afford the bomb disposal team some useful capabilities.

A team of scientists from the University of Reading has found that the bombing raids against the Axis powers by Allied forces during the Second World War were so intense that their effects were detected on the edge of space.

The US government has just released 62 newly declassified videos showing footage of atmospheric nuclear tests from the first half of the 20th century. The videos, never before seen by the general public, have been uploaded to YouTube.

The announcement that testing is underway using GBU-38 JDAM guided-bombs with the American hunter-killer MQ-9 Reaper UAV didn't make a lot of general news coverage, but it is a reminder that drone warfare is getting much cheaper and more precise.

Bomb disposal robots are good in dangerous situations on land, but what if a would-be bomber hides their explosives under a bridge or a ship? In the future the US Navy might send in a submarine drone endowed with a pair of inflatable robot arms that are currently being developed by RE2 Robotics.

Looking to tackle the early signs of traumatic brain injury, the US Navy is developing small sensors that, when paired with specialized scanner, can quickly convert blast pressure into a clear signal of whether of not that soldier should stand down.​​

In 2010, after spending billions on research, Pentagon officials admitted that there was no better bomb detector than a dog's nose. Now scientists say the reason for this might lie simply in the way they sniff.

Electric power is used to run everything from boats to rollerblades, along with cars and motorbikes, but Torq's latest battery-powered vehicle could be the most useful of them all. The LETV has room for a fully-suited bomb-disposal expert, along with all the equipment needed to get the job done.

Suicide bombers are a tactic that is effectively deployed all too often. One entrepreneur is looking to help reveal such threats with a detector that scans subjects for shrapnel commonly used in suicide vests and explosives.

Scientists have developed a fluorescent material they claim can more reliably detect explosives in the vicinity, by being a bit more selective about when it changes color.

If you hunt unexploded sea mines for a living, then you might not mind losing your job to a robot. That seems to be the reasoning of the British and French governments as they embark on a joint venture to develop a prototype autonomous system for detecting and neutralizing sea mines.