Color us stumped and incredibly excited. We've discovered this totally useless yet endlessly amazing DVD player / Terminator head out in the wilds of the internet, but finding any information deeper than people exclaiming "this is awesome" is, in a word, difficult. Look, we're not saying that we want to find the company that makes these, order 100 of them, rip out their guts and replace them with those electronic rat brains, swap the eyes for stereoscopic cameras, tack on Darth Vader-esque voice boxes, and then mount them to the unkillable bodies of an army of robotic warriors we've been building, but... uh, well... okay you got us.

Israel is reportedly developing a sophisticated piece of software meant to help troops make quick decisions during battle and, under the right conditions, autonomously manipulate the nation's defense systems. First reported in Defense News (subscription required), the unnamed system would primarily be used for tactical decisions during periods of heavy bombardment, although in a worst-case scenario, the complex algorithm would supposedly be capable of taking over total military control. Yes, we know what you're thinking, but don't worry: Israeli officials have already sworn up and down that "there's no way we're letting this thing go Terminator on us -- no freakin' way."

[Via Danger Room]

No, the headgear in the photo above wasn't some unused prototype created for The Terminator; rather, it's a snazzy new helmet designed to give fighter pilots a better look at their surroundings. Within the tinted faceplate are two projectors which sync up with plane-mounted cameras and display images from the outside for the pilot to view. Essentially, this enables the operator to view high-resolution images (yes, even at night) of areas previously imperceptible without a warplane constructed entirely of plexiglass, and onboard sensors make sure that the imagery reflects exactly where the pilot is looking at any given moment. Furthermore, computerized systems can even feed in "essential flight and combat data on to the display," as well as target symbols of friendlies / enemies. The new visual system is apparently just one amenity on the oh-so-sophisticated Joint Strike Fighter, which the British are planning to pay £66 million ($139 million) apiece for after it hits the production line.

[Via Switched]

Rather than a future filled with humanoid robotic overlords as envisioned by the Terminator films, the proliferation of animal-inspired robots makes it seem much more likely that we'll be doing the bidding of a veritable zoo of snakebots, insectbots, robolobsters, mulebots, and perhaps the occasional sharkbot / attack dolphin. The latest animals to have their moves cribbed by researchers are the octopus and fish, with DARPA working on a pneumatic tentacle to replace the clumsy robotic claws of old, while students and faculty at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University have invented a robotic, propeller-less propulsion system that mimics the undulating motion of fins. DARPA's invention, called the Octarm and part of the larger Biodynotics program, was developed in collaboration with scientists at the University of North Carolina, and uses a 24-volt electro-pneumatic pressure system to control a tapered, inflatable arm that can do both fairly precise work as well as heavier lifting. NTU's project, meanwhile, employs an artificial fin attached to adjustable spokes that create a wave-like motion for propelling the bot forward in a manner very similar to a stingray's movements. Movies of both new members of the growing animalbot army, whose purposes are mostly military in nature, are available by following the "Read" links below...

Read- Octarm [Via Engadget Japanese]
Read- Fishbot [Via Yahoo! Asia]