Codename: EATR, the Pentagon is working on a steam-powered robot that would fuel itself by gobbling up whatever organic material it can find — grass, wood, old furniture, even dead bodies.  I guess that’s one way to cut our oil dependency!  I also love how Fox News so predictably created this sensational headline from what is otherwise a “grass powered robot”. (via agentmlovestacos)

According to a study of British military records, Scotish soldiers who returned from WWII were “dumberer” than their fallen comrades.  The sample size is unconvincing; but the researchers offer several explanations for the counter-intuitive divide between brains and battle.

The unprecedented demands of the second world war – fought more with brains than with brawn compared with previous wars - might account for the skew, says Ian Deary, a psychologist at the University of Edinburgh, who led the study. Dozens of other studies have shown that smart people normally live longer than their less intelligent peers.

Given the ever-increasing complexity of war, I have to imagine that the theory can only hold to a point — in the longrun, the tactical genius and Sun Tsu Juniors must hold an advantage, no?  [via azspot]

The US Army is looking to enlistvideo games as the de facto drill sargent for tomorrow’s soldiers, according to Stars and Stripes.  If only to taunt hardcore gamers into enlisting, the Army’s newly formed video game unit — backed by an “investment” of $50M over five years — announced that it intends to deploy 70 game systems (each requiring more than 50 computers), each with a limitless number of real world scenarios across a virtual battlefield spanning approximately 1 million square kilometers.  Sounds like there’ll be plenty of virtual marching to be done.  [via Game Politics]

Beyond the BFG9000, video games boast a diverse and imaginative arsenal of destructive weaponry; but, alas, even the heroes of alien wars must moderate their firepower for the challenge of a level playing field (“…damned dirty alien!”).  Whether in the trenches of a WWII bunker or the battlefield of a “galaxy far, far away”, the design of a great first-person shooter is largely antithetical to the tenets of modern warfare and military technology.  Popular Mechanics wonders: “Do developers go overboard with the cosmetics of carnage, or could their weapons inform the 22nd-century military?”

Via Joystiq comes word of a homegrown charity in need of working games and handheld systems (or donations to purchase the same) to be distributed to troops serving with honor in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Check it out!

In honor of the 58,320 names inscribed in black granite, Footnote offers a brilliantly conceived application to search, share, annotate and remember. [via TechCrunch] 

A really interesting and insightful look at the Army’s challenge to retain its rising stars, many of whom are ending their commitments and taking their battle-tested leadership to the corporate world.
[via J.G. Griswold, future Army rising star]