New Atlas

Games Audio available

Vertical gaming mouse packs a pistol design for first-person shooter games

Michael Irving May 15, 2019

The keyboard and mouse combo is the long-standing weapon of choice for players of first-person shooter games. Now a Chinese company called Ragnok is trying to ramp up the realism a bit with the Mousegun, a controller that’s designed to look and feel like the handle of a pistol.

The Ragnok Mousegun is a vertical mouse modeled on the handle of a pistol, for first-person ...

Military Audio available

Smartphone tech shows soldiers where shots are originating

Ben Coxworth May 13, 2019

There are a lot of loud noises on battlefields. That's why soldiers often wear earphones that electronically protect their hearing. Determining where enemy shots are coming from, however, can be a challenge with such systems. New smartphone-based technology is designed to help.

The system can provide readings within half a second of a gun being fired

Outdoors

Spyra One takes squirt guns to the next level

Ben Coxworth July 26, 2018

Remember the big ol' pulse rifle that Sigourney Weaver used to kill xenomorphs in the movie "Aliens"? Well, imagine if she'd been using an equally-nasty squirt gun instead. Chances are, it would have looked something like the water-bullet-shooting Spyra One.

The Spyra One shoots short bursts of water, known as "water bullets"

Good Thinking

System locks down schools in response to gunshots

Ben Coxworth May 31, 2018

It's a sad fact that school shootings are becoming a semi-regular occurrence in the US. While there are varying opinions on what to do about the problem, Intrusion Technologies' Active Intruder Mitigation System (AIMS) is designed to minimize casualties when a shooter does enter a school.

AIMS is intended to thwart shooters entering schools

Good Thinking

Smart video system knows a gun when it sees one

Ben Coxworth July 7, 2017

CCTV systems may help security personnel watch for handguns in places such as airports, but the task of manually scrutinizing every person on every screen is still a daunting one. It was with this in mind that researchers recently developed a system that automatically recognizes guns on video.

The technology reportedly even works on low-quality video

Robotics

The road to Robocop: Policing in the 21st century

Rich Haridy May 26, 2017

With the prospect of robot police officers hitting our streets, it's worth taking a moment to look at the current state of affairs, where we're headed, and whether it's a good idea to give robots guns.

As we inexorably move toward a world with robot police, we take a look at the ...

Science

Residue forms identifying fingerprint for brands of bullets

David Szondy August 18, 2016

A team of scientists at Flinders University in Australia have developed a new technique for analyzing gunshot residue that is so sensitive that it's possible to match residue with a specific brand of ammunition.

Professor Paul Kirkbride with his PhD students, Nick Lucas and Kelsey Seyfang, in their lab at ...

Environment

Herbicide gun gives mistletoe the kiss-off

Ben Coxworth August 11, 2016

While most of us may just associate mistletoe with Christmas parties, the fact is that the parasitic plant can be a nuisance in the wild. That's why scientists are taking the offensive, with a system that shoots herbicide up into trees' high branches.

A prototype of the mistletoe-killing gun

Good Thinking

Zore quick-draw lock dials in gun safety

Nick Lavars July 4, 2016

The latest effort to improve gun safety comes from Israeli startup Zore, which has developed a lock that provides access to a firearm in response to a personalized pin code, offering what the company claims is fast access to the weapon in any circumstances, including the dark.

When it comes to unlocking the gun, users enter a pin code by turning a dial ...

Drones

Home-made handgun drone attracts FAA investigation

Nick Lavars July 21, 2015

An 18-year-old mechanical engineering student has affixed a semi-automatic handgun to a custom-built drone and demonstrated its firepower in a video that has quickly attracted the attention of the authorities.