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Could your iPad case stop a bullet?
Our friends over at the newly remade Engadget get to have all the fun. In order to test a VestGuard UK iPad panel that purports to be bulletproof, they actually pulled out some bullets and guns. They snapped the case on a first-gen iPad, grabbed both a 9mm and a .357 Magnum, and got to shooting. Both firearms were fired at the case in a relatively straightforward way, with the iPad leaned up against some bales of hay, protective case facing the incoming bullet. So did it work? You can see both bullets fired in the picture above, and the case did work: Neither bullet, even at such close ranges, made it through the case. So the good news is that yes indeed, this case could save your life. The bad news, as you can also see above, is that your iPad is toast no matter what it's wearing. Apple's Gorilla Glass touchscreen might be awesome, but it will easily break during any "ballistic events," as VestGuard UK calls a bullet hit. The iPad case can be purchased for £49.99, or around $80, from the company. But as Engadget concludes, if you really want a significant amount of protection from any incoming projectiles, you'd probably be better off just wearing an actual vest.
DARPA tests advanced hypersonic weapon prototype, makes railgun sweat
The US Army completed testing of its hypersonic weapon yesterday, launching a test projectile across the Pacific Ocean. The glider flies at a lower trajectory than typical missiles, traveling at several times the speed of sound, making it capable of hitting anywhere on this peaceful ball of blue and green within an hour. We saw DARPA's hypersonic aircraft's successful launch earlier this year -- the Falcon HTV-2 (pictured above) managed to hit the dizzying speed of Mach 20 during its tests, before it crashed. Despite recent military funding issues in the US government, hopefully all things hypersonic will get to fly again soon.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl tidbit roundup
For those not compulsively checking the official Smash Bros. website daily for bare snippets of information, we here at Wii Fanboy have decided to perform the service of coalescing tidbits into tidbigs. Over the past week, a few interesting details have surfaced.Most of the reveals are item-based: you may now move freely with projectile weapons (finally!), and as detailed earlier here, the new "Gooey Bomb" item was unveiled. The most interesting new item, however, is the Smash Ball, which activates character-specific "Final Smash" attacks. Mario's is entitled the "Mario Finale" attack, which unleashes a spread-fire explosion attack, and we've seen Link's Triforce blade attack in an earlier video. Since most competitive Smash Bros. players contend without the randomizing effect of items, it'll be interesting to see if this affects higher-level gameplay.Also unveiled are some of Pit's (of Kid Icarus fame) attacks, which include a controllable arrow of light and limited flight capabilities (most likely the Up+B special). Brawl looks like it's coming together nicely ... do you guys agree?
