In 2008, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake decimated China's Sichuan province, killing nearly 70,000. The disaster which was compounded by the country's lack of large cargo aircraft, which are essential vehicles for humanitarian missions, brought on by the military's unyielding focus on fighter jets. In response to this logistical shortfall (and the disgrace of having to accept a pair of loaner C-17s, from the Americans of all people), China's military kicked a languishing strategic air freighter project into gear and have debuted the results: a C-17, minus the performance capabilities. Read More >>

The 21st century has been a real disappointment so far. Our robot servants top out at mediocre vaccums, self-driving cars are years away (and won't be able to fly even when they do arrive), and we're closer to inventing tricorders than phasers. A tricorder. Who wants a goddamn medical scanner when you could be blasting baddies with laser force? Read More >>

Our use of unmanned drones is well documented, and we know about missiles that trigger before they hit the ground. But some of Black Ops 2′s more, shall we say, "imaginative" technologies are based in reality too -- they'll just need a little pushing along before they get to the hyper-weaponised state they are in Treyarch's imagining of 2025. Read More >>

Who said gaming's a complete waste of time and doesn't furnish you with any valuable life-skills? Not Prince Harry, that's for sure. He puts his prowess as an Apache gunner down to his quality time spent playing his Xbox. Yep, shooting the hell out of people Call of Duty helps Harry, errr, shoot the hell out of people in his chopper. Read More >>

This picture, found in a Japanese Elementary School, depicts the mushroom cloud which formed when the US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Read More >>

We've all seen the destruction that tsunamis can cause. It doesn't play around. But back in 1944, the US military wanted to play around with tsunamis in hope of creating a man made tsunami bomb—basically setting off 10 large blasts in the ocean to create a 33-foot tsunami that would pulverise and drown a city. Read More >>

Despite the general incompetence of Soviet long-range nuclear bombers, the US couldn't allow a single such plane to reach American airspace. Its response—a new breed of fighter jet with an unprecedented wing design and handling. Read More >>

On July 16, 1945, the US Army destroyed a small part of New Mexico by testing the first nuclear bomb in human history, the most powerful weapon of all time. It then proceeded to blow up 1,054 more. Read More >>

There's nothing on the planet that's equal parts terrifying and spectacular quite like DARPA's LS3 "Big Dog" robot. It has the horrific realism of an actual dog, mixed with the horrific robot quality of... a robot. Now it's even more powerful. Read More >>

Would you have been obliterated back in 1940 and 1941 when the Germans were trying to break the spirit of the nation during the Blitz? Now you can find out. Read More >>

OMG! Quick! Nato's deployed missiles against Syria! It's all escalating and the world's going to end, break out the tinned food and the nuclear shelter! Before you get your apocalyptic knickers in a twist though, it's worth having a look at what sort of missiles exactly Nato's given to Turkey as an early Christmas present. Read More >>

There is little in the world that can match the simultaneous awesomeness and mystery of a spy plane. These are the paragon of modern innovation, yet largely pass invisible above us. They decide battles and wars, yet only a few lucky soldiers get to see them. Blah blah blah words. Let's look at some incredible machinery. Read More >>

Though we all know and love the Western world's arsenal of high-flying, hard-hitting drones, there are also different types of robot in the works. Read More >>

For decades, the US Navy has had a crack team of highly intelligent (and very cute) dolphins swimming around, trained to find naval mines before they blow up something big and expensive. Now, though, their time has come: like a naval Batman at the end of a fishy version of The Dark Knight, they're no longer needed. Read More >>

Did you hear a strange noise passing overhead last weekend? Maybe glimpse a UFO? If so, no need to don a tinfoil hat quite yet -- Saturday evening saw the first flight of a stealth drone in Europe (but sadly it wasn't made in Britain). Read More >>