ChainMail
Latest
NASA goes back to the middle ages for its rover tire design
The Mars Curiosity rover has been a big success, but NASA's modern tech couldn't save its tires from breaking down in the harsh conditions of Mars. For future missions, the agency has gone back to the age of knights. Based on the principles of chainmail armor, the "Superelastic" tires can withstand more deformation than any other non-pneumatic tire. At the same time, they could potentially withstand extraplanetary abuse and provide better traction for next-generation rovers.
ICYMI: 3D-printed art, a Pac-Man satellite and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-137378{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-137378, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-137378{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-137378").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: The giant robot duel challenge response is in from a Japanese mecha-manufacturer (aimed at some lippy Americans with a super paintball gun) and it's throwing hella shade y'all. Switzerland's EPFL space agency realized its old cubesats were cluttering up space so it came up with a hungry hippo of a satellite that should start gobbling up its smaller kin by 2018. And an architect hacked a 3D printer with LEDs and is creating beautiful paintings with light.
Phat Loot Phriday: Shroud of Chieftain Ner'zhul
Finally, some resto Shammy gear! Not only is this sweet helm statted out (yes, I just made that up), but it's named after someone you may have heard of in passing -- that other half of the Lich King.Name: Shroud of Chieftain Ner'zhul (WoWDB, Wowhead, Thottbot)Type: Epic Mail HeadArmor: 902Abilities: In order to save space, I'm going to give you the lore behind this helm while I tell you its stats. So Ner'zhul was an old Chieftain/Shaman of the Orcs, and since this is Warcraft, he was powerhungry and it drove him to make deals with demons. Plus his helm had +48 Stamina and +41 Intellect, which actually made it nice for PvP as well. It also had a Yellow and Meta socket, and a socket bonus of 2 mp5. Ner'zhul didn't exactly knowingly make deals with demons, though -- he did what he thought was right, and aligned with Kil'jaeden, who he thought was actually a helpful "ancient ancestor." But realizing Kil'jaeden is evil is actually as obvious as the 33 spell haste rating and 13mp5 on this helm, and eventually Ner'zhul did. It was too late, though -- Gul'dan took over, and Ner'zhul only barely saved the Frostwolf Orcs from drinking Mannoroth's blood. Kil'jaeden wasn't thrilled with that, obviously, and stuck Ner'zhul in the Frozen Throne as the Lich King, until a young man named Arthas Menethil came along, shattered the Frozen Throne, and combined his bad self with Ner'zhul's in order to become a crazy powerful being (with lots of Wrath, which we'll see sooner or later). And oh yeah, the helm's got 134 healing and 45 spell damage on it. Ner'zhul was originally an Orc Chieftain and resto Shaman, so this helm came from back when he was still supposedly a good guy. But interestingly enough, he still kind of is -- both he and Arthas slaughtered a lot of people thinking they were doing the right thing, and both he and Arthas were corrupted by the deals they made for power. Maybe they belong in that Frozen Throne together. How to Get It: This is an interesting piece of loot that supposedly comes from the Sunwell. As of this writing, it hasn't been in player hands yet, but it actually comes from another helm, the Cowl of Gul'dan, which reportedly drops from Kil'jaeden. Since Killy Jay hasn't been killed yet, we're not sure about this, but this is what an "ancient ancestor" told us.Blizzard is trying something new with the Sunwell Loot -- if you don't like the loot you get or want to switch it out for another piece of gear, you can bring the old helm to a Transmuter, along with a Sunmote (that can be obtained from trash inside Sunwell Plateau), and they'll transmute the helm for you. So get the Cowl of Gul'dan (drop rate unknown), add a Sunmote in there, take it to the Transmuter, and voila, you've got (what's probably a replication of) the Shroud of Chieftain Ner'hzul. Cake, right?Getting Rid of It: Oh, you won't, not for a while anyway. All of the non-raiders will be switching out their casual epics for greens at level 71, but a helm like this you'll hold on to for a while. It does disenchant into a Void Crystal, though -- at least we assume it does. The ancient ancestor was unclear about that one.
Microscopic chain mail could embed sensors, electronics into clothing
It won't be too long before those new threads sport some kind of socially-infused assistants or help you regulate body temperature, but if researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have their say, your garb could end doing a lot more than that. Following up on discoveries made over six years ago at Harvard and Cambridge, the scientists have devised microscopic chain mail made from miniscule metal links, which could ultimately be woven into "3D textiles." Aside from feeling a bit like Sir Lancealot, the chain-like structures could have electronics and sensors built right in, and the flexible fabric could also conduct electricity when not beaming secret messages or being used as one large homing device for the cops to track you down. Novel as this may sound, wearing a proverbial lighting rod isn't really our bag, so hopefully the cotton biz will continue to do its own thing for old timers' sake.
