STUFF: News, Technology, the cool and the plain weird

[MIKA27]

Fascinating Video Shows Fighter Jet Nuclear Missile Strike Mission

The French Air Force has published this fascinating video showing a nuclear strike mission from beginning to end. Of course, the ASMP-A nuclear missile fired by that Rafale fighter didn’t have an atomic warhead inside, but everything else is as real as it gets without starting World War III.

[MIKA27]

$18M Worth Of Classic Cars Discovered In Abandoned French Barn

For the average onlooker, it might look like any other scrap yard but the recent find of 100 decaying cards on a French estate has turned into a discovery worth $18,000,0000.

It turns out they were part of a collection that belonged to a wealthy individual named Roger Bailon who had an unbridled passion for rare and exotic automobiles. Amassed during the 1950s to 1970s, his ultimate dream was to restore each car to its original finish and display them in a purpose built car museum.

His eclectic and remarkable collection includes some true gems, like the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider and a 1956 Maserati A6G Gran Sport Frua which are almost worth their own weight in gold.

But it doesn't end there, other noteworthy finds are the Avions Voisin limousine C15, Ballot 8 Cyl limousine, Barré torpédo, Berliet coupé chauffeur, Berliet Type VIGB 10HP Taxi Landaulet, Bugatti 57 Ventoux, Ferrari 308 GTS i, Ferrari Mondial 3.2L cabriolet, Hispano Suiza H6B cabriolet Millon-Guiet, Hotchkiss cabriolet, Jaguar type S 3.4 L and the Maserati A6G 2000 berlinetta Grand Sport Frua - that's just a sample from the collection. It's enough to make any automobile enthusiast break out in a hot sweat.

Whilst none of them roadworthy, each would require some extensive work to bring them back up to speed, but in their present state alone the find is worth an astounding $18M.

That's one very expensive "scrap yard" indeed. The Baillon Collection Will Be put up for auction on February 6, 2015 in Paris.

[MIKA27]

The Most Gruesome Moments in the CIA ‘Torture Report’

The CIA’s rendition, interrogation, and detention programs were even more nightmarish than you could imagine.

Interrogations that lasted for days on end. Detainees forced to stand on broken legs, or go 180 hours in a row without sleep. A prison so cold, one suspect essentially froze to death. The Senate Intelligence Committee is finally releasing its review of the CIA’s detention and interrogation programs. And it is brutal.

Here are some of the most gruesome moments of detainee abuse from a summary of the report, obtained by The Daily Beast:

‘Well Worn’ Waterboards

The CIA has previously said that only three detainees were ever waterboarded: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah, and Abd Al Rahim al-Nashiri. But records uncovered by the Senate Intelligence Committee suggest there may have been more than three subjects. The Senate report describes a photograph of a “well worn” waterboard, surrounded by buckets of water, at a detention site where the CIA has claimed it never subjected a detainee to this procedure. In a meeting with the CIA in 2013, the agency was not able to explain the presence of this waterboard.

Near Drowning

Contrary to CIA’s description to the Department of Justice, the Senate report says that the waterboarding was physically harmful, leading to convulsions and vomiting. During one session, detainee Abu Zubaydah became “completely unresponsive with bubbles rising through his open full mouth.” Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded at least 183 times, which the Senate report describes as escalating into a “series of near drownings.”

The Dungeon-Like ‘Salt Pit’

Opened in Sept. 2002, this “poorly managed” detention facility was the second site opened by the CIA after the 9/11 attacks. The Senate report refers to it by the pseudonym Cobalt, but details of what happened there indicate that it’s a notorious “black site” in Afghanistan known as the Salt Pit. Although the facility kept few formal records, the committee concluded that untrained CIA operatives conducted unauthorized, unsupervised interrogation there.

A Senate aide who briefed reporters on the condition that he not be identified said that the Cobalt site was run by a junior officer with no relevant experience, and that this person had “issues” in his background that should have disqualified him from working for the CIA at all. The aide didn’t specify what those issues were, but suggested that the CIA should have flagged them. The committee found that some employees at the site lacked proper training and had “histories of violence and mistreatment of others.”

Standing on Broken Legs

In November 2002, a detainee who had been held partially nude and chained to the floor died, apparently from hypothermia. This case appears similar to the that of Gul Rahman, who died of similarly explained causes at an Afghan site known as the “Salt Pit,” also in November 2002. The site was also called “The Dark Prison” by former captives.

The aide said that the Cobalt site was was dark, like a dungeon, and that experts who visited the site said they’d never seen an American prison where people were kept in such conditions. The facility was so dark in some places that guard had to wear head lamps, while other rooms were flooded with bright lights and white noise to disorient detainees.

At the Cobalt facility, the CIA also forced some detainees who had broken feet or legs to stand in stress-inducing positions, despite having earlier pledged that they wouldn’t subject those wounded individuals to treatment that might exacerbate their injuries.

Non-stop Interrogation

Starting with Abu Zubaydah, and following with other detainees, the CIA deployed the harshest techniques from the beginning without trying to first elicit information in an “open, non-threatening manner,” the committee found. The torture continued nearly non-stop, for days or weeks at a time.

The CIA instructed personnel at the site that the interrogation of Zubaydah, who’d been shot during his capture, should take “precedence over his medical care,” the committee found, leading to an infection in a bullet wound incurred during his capture. Zubaydah lost his left eye while in custody. The CIA’s instructions also ran contrary to how it told the Justice Department the prisoner would be treated.

Forced Rectal Feeding and Worse

At least five detainees were subjected to “rectal feeding” or “rectal hydration,” without any documented medical need. “While IV infusion is safe and effective,” one officer wrote, rectal hydration could be used as a form of behavior control.

Others were deprived of sleep, which could involve staying awake for as long as 180 hours—sometimes standing, sometimes with their hands shackled above their heads.

Some detainees were forced to walk around naked, or shackled with their hands above their heads. In other instances, naked detainees were hooded and dragged up and down corridors while subject to physical abuse.

At one facility, detainees were kept in total darkness and shackled in cells with loud noise or music, and only a bucket to use for waste.

Lost Detainees

While the CIA has said publicly that it held about 100 detainees, the committee found that at least 119 people were in the agency’s custody.

“The fact is they lost track and they didn’t really know who they were holding,” the Senate aide said, noting that investigators found emails in which CIA personnel were “surprised” to find some people in their custody. The CIA also determined that at least 26 of its detainees were wrongfully held. Due to the agency’s poor record-keeping, it may never be known precisely how many detainees were held, and how they were treated in custody, the committee found.

No Blockbuster Intelligence

The report will conclude that the CIA’s interrogation techniques never yielded any intelligence about imminent terrorist attacks. Investigators didn’t conclude that no information came from the program at all. Rather, the committee rejects the CIA’s contention that information came from the program that couldn’t have been obtained through other means.

“When you put detainees through these [torture sessions] they will say whatever they can say to get the interrogations to stop,” the Senate aide said.

The Senate Intelligence Committee reviewed 20 cited examples of intelligence “successes” that the CIA identified from the interrogation program and found that there was no relationship between a cited counterterrorism success and the techniques used. Furthermore, the information gleaned during torture sessions merely corroborated information already available to the intelligence community from other sources, including reports, communications intercepts, and information from law-enforcement agencies, the committee found. The CIA had told policymakers and the Department of Justice that the information from torture was unique or “otherwise unavailable.” Such information comes from the “kind of good national-security tradecraft that we rely on to stop terrorist plots at all times,” the Senate aide said.

In developing the enhanced interrogation techniques, the report said, the CIA failed to review the historical use of coercive interrogations. The resulting techniques were described as “discredited coercive interrogation techniques such as those used by torturous regimes during the Cold War to elicit false confessions,” according to the committee. The CIA acknowledged that it never properly reviewed the effectiveness of these techniques, despite the urging of the CIA inspector general, congressional leadership, and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.

Contractors and Shrinks

The CIA relied on two outside contractors who were psychologists with experience at the Air Force’s Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape school to help develop, run, and assess the interrogation program. Neither had experience as an interrogator, nor any specialized knowledge of al Qaeda, counterterrorism, or relevant linguistic expertise, the committee found. In 2005, these two psychologists formed a company, and following this the CIA outsourced virtually all aspects of the interrogation program to them. The company was paid more than $80 million by the CIA.

Lies to the President

An internal report by the CIA, known as the Panetta Review, found that there were numerous inaccuracies in the way the agency represented the effectiveness of interrogation techniques—and that the CIA misled the president about this. The CIA’s records also contradict the evidence the agency provided of some “thwarted” terrorist attacks and the capture of suspects, which the CIA linked to the use of these enhanced techniques. The Senate’s report also concludes that there were cases in which White House questions were not answered truthfully or completely.

Cover-Ups

In the early days of the program, CIA officials briefed the leadership of the House Intelligence Committee. Few records of that session remain, but Senate investigators found a draft summary of the meeting, written by a CIA lawyers, that notes lawmakers “questioned the legality of these techniques.” But the lawyer deleted that line from the final version of the summary. The Senate investigators found that Jose Rodriguez, once the CIA’s top spy and a fierce defender of the interrogation program, made a note on the draft approving of the deletion: “Short and sweet,” Rodriguez wrote of the newly revised summary that failed to mention lawmakers’ concerns about the legality of the program.

Threats to Mothers

CIA officers threatened to harm detainees’ children, sexually abuse their mothers, and “cut [a detainee’s] mother’s throat.” In addition, several detainees were led to believe they would die in custody, with one told he would leave in a coffin-shaped box.

Detainees wouldn’t see their day in court because “we can never let the world know what I have done to you,” one interrogator said.

Sexual Assault by Interrogators

Officers in the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program included individuals who the committee said, “among other things, had engaged in inappropriate detainee interrogations, had workplace anger management issues, and had reportedly admitted to sexual assault.”

MIKA: Apologies if anyone finds the following comments which are my own opinions horrifying but...

Why is the above report an issue and or horrifying?

Were these people who were interrogated not Terrorists? Were these people not linked if not apart of the 9/11 attacks which murdered men, women, children and not only that, but these acts led to a much greater issue with military men and women heading off to a foreign land to be killed by the guns and bombs of the men who cause terrorism?

How many families are still affected by the actions of those Jihadists? How many children will never see their mums and dads because they were murdered?

Sure, the methods are horrific, but THAT'S interrogation and IMO, THAT's the least they deserve. At least they didn't decapitate their heads on video and display it to the world.

Apologies for the rant, but as far as I'm concerned, you shouldn't have any rights if you're a terrorist and or are apart of these organisations and know where these bastards hide.

[MIKA27]

England’s Greatest Knight Puts ‘Game of Thrones’ to Shame

Patricide, adultery, catapults and captives, the Magna Carta—just another day in the life of William Marshal, England’s most loyal and successful knight.

An imprisoned and starving mother gnawing on her son’s cheek, a ruler killing his nephew by crushing his skull with a rock, prostitutes sent to sate a monarch in pursuit of a baron’s wife, a papal legate afraid of losing his genitals, and soldiers decapitated after being lulled into safety by a feast with the king—move over Game of Thrones, the Angevin Empire has you beat for gory intrigue.

William Marshal, quite possibly the greatest knight to ever grace the annals of English history, was a landless younger son of a minor noble who would become the right-hand man to five Angevin kings, negotiate the Magna Carta, and, at his height, act as regent to the throne under the title of “Guardian of the Realm.”

The swashbuckling story of this medieval parvenu is the subject of a riveting new biography by Thomas Asbridge: The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power Behind Five English Thrones.

William Marshal was born in 1147, and his life was tumultuous from the beginning. At the age of five, he was handed over to King Stephen as a hostage in the civil war against Stephen’s cousin, Empress Matilda, to ensure Marshal’s father’s loyalty.

However, Marshal’s father, John, was in the game of playing all sides against each other, and when Stephen threatened to kill his son, either by hanging, throwing the boy into John’s castle from a catapult, or using him as a shield during an assault, John’s response was that “he did not care about the child, since he still had the anvils and the hammers to forge even finer ones.” In the end, Stephen did not kill young William, which the knight would claim was due to his charm.

Marshal’s life coincided, Asbridge argues, with the height of the knight trope in medieval Europe. As a result, he was provided a path, albeit a dangerous one, to success even though he would be largely shut out of inheriting anything from his father. In 1160, he traveled to Normandy to train as a knight in the house of William of Tancarville, and in 1166 he was knighted and took part in his first tournament. These tournaments, far messier, deadlier, and less fan-friendly affairs than that of the modern imagination, were where Marshal made his name, as well as a small fortune, after he left Tancarville’s service.

Marshal’s meteoric rise began upon his return to England. He was retained by his powerful uncle, the Earl of Salisbury, and joined him on a quest by King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine to reassert Angevin rule in Aquitaine. The earl was killed in battle and Marshal captured, but he would later be ransomed by the queen herself. A few years later, he was made tutor-in-arms and essentially the lead knight in the new king’s retinue. “Young Henry” had been crowned by his father, Henry II, while the latter was still king, in order to make clear the line of succession.

The result of this seemingly sound strategic move was disastrous for the Angevins, but a boon for Marshal’s career. Father and son would fight, Asbridge contends, largely due to the former’s inability to give his son any autonomy or relinquish any power. Starting in 1173, the Young King brought the first of two rebellions against his father, which ended with his untimely and gruesome death in 1183 from dysentery. During this time, Marshal remained loyal, in spite of the danger of opposing Henry II, and despite the fact that he had once fallen out of Young Henry’s favor due to rumors of an affair his consort, Margaret of France.

After the death of Young Henry, Marshal’s loyalty was repaid when he returned from two years in the Holy Land and was placed in Henry II’s service. Under Henry II, Marshal continued to ascend, as the king rewarded his service with land, a wife, and a title.

However, Henry II’s second son, Richard the Lionheart, would also challenge his father’s power and team up with the Capetian ruler Philip Augustus. Despite Marshal’s loyalty, Henry lost in the battle against his rebellious son, and after conceding, died a terrible death, after which his body was looted by servants. During the final battle at Le Mans in 1189, however, Marshall, armed with shield and lance, faced down Richard armed with just a sword, and chose to lance the future king’s horse. By allowing him to live, Marshal avoided the shame of killing an unarmed heir-apparent.

Richard, upon coronation, also turned to Marshal, naming him as one of his co-justiciars, perhaps in recognition of his twice-demonstrated loyalty to the throne. Marshal’s job was to oversee Richard’s kingdom while he was away on the Crusades, and keep Richard’s younger brother John in check. John, of course, challenged his brother and allied himself with the family’s archenemy, Philip Augustus. With Marshal at his side, Richard crushed Philip and his armies. Sadly, at Châlus in 1199, just as he seemed to be sewing up his campaign, Richard would be laid low by an arrow loosed by the castle’s lone defender, Peter Basilius.

Marshal had now survived three kings, and ended up supporting the wily John over Richard’s nephew Arthur of Brittany. William appears to have organized acquiescence by English lords for John, and was duly awarded when he was made Earl of Pembroke.

John’s reign, however, would be a time of tremendous turbulence for Marshal. John was a fickle overlord. After he surrendered Normandy to the Capetians, Marshal made the decision to pledge fealty to Philip Augustus in France, and John in England, which angered John. The king set about punishing Marshal, opposing his attempts to establish his family in their lands in Ireland and Wales.

Despite this acrimony, when the barons rebelled against John, he turned to Marshal to lead his side, and to negotiate with the barons over the Magna Carta. John would not live to see the baron’s quelled, dying instead of dysentery in 1216 after reportedly stuffing himself with peaches and cider. Upon his death, his nine-year-old son was left with what remained of his royalist supporters. At the age of 69, Marshal again remained loyal to the Angevins, and as Guardian of the Realm, would lead the fight by the king against the rebels and the Capetian prince Louis. Upon England’s victory, Marshal released a new version of the Magna Carta in Henry III’s name. Before dying in 1219, Marshal would begin the task of rebuilding England after decades of war.

The book is largely based on a long-lost manuscript detailing Marshal’s life, and has a fascinating backstory of its own. Marshal’s son, William, had a biography written of his legendary father—but for a variety of reasons, the manuscript was lost to history until 1861.

Asbridge’s account is far from the first to detail what that document held regarding Marshal. But he has taken what were traditionally held to be shortcomings when it came to the document—its unreliable bias and the gaps in details about Marshal’s life—and turned them into strengths with his knack for storytelling. Asbridge is honest, persistently so, about the skepticism that should be applied to the manuscript’s claims, particularly those of the aggrandizing variety.

However, he also takes those gaps, and that bias, and rounds out Marshal’s story by placing it in the context of the thoroughly documented travails of the Angevin rulers. Marshal appears in many of the sources regarding these rulers, and therefore, it seems, much can be verified. Marshal’s life story is also inarguably a magnificent yarn, and Asbridge has astutely used it to tell the juicy and complicated tale of the ups and downs of the Angevin empire. Marshal was an astounding figure—his rags-to-riches journey, his prolific fighting career (even at 70 he essentially knocked an armored guy out with one blow), and his place at the table of history—all make for an irresistible tale. Asbridge takes the reader through an eye-opening account of the world of tournaments, of the structure of a lord’s household, and the complicated, often symbiotically parasitic relationship between lord and knight, as well as the evolution of the Magna Carta.

In the end, his account is an entertaining reminder that sometimes, the truth really is better than fiction.

[MIKA27]

Cruise Ships Dump Billions Of Litres Of Sewage In The Ocean Every Year

Cruise ships are not the most environmentally friendly holiday destinations on the planet. In fact, according to the latest Cruise Ship Report Card by Friends of the Earth, they might be about the worst. These floating resorts dump billions of litres of sewage into the open ocean every year. In a sense, every cruise is a poop cruise.

That’s a lot of sludge to pour onto unsuspecting fish. But thanks to pollution regulations from the International Maritime Organisation, it’s entirely legal. Acknowledging that dumping “raw sewage into the sea can create a health hazard,” the IMO says its ok for ships on international voyages to dump treated sewage into the open ocean if the vessel is at least three nautical miles offshore. If the sewage is untreated, the ship must be 12 nautical miles from shore before it dumps the passengers’ dumps.

The numbers themselves are downright sobering. Friends of Earth does a little bit of arithmetic with official government figures:

The U.S. EPA estimates that a 3,000-person cruise ship generates 150,000 gallons of sewage per week — enough to fill 10 backyard swimming pools. This adds up to more than 1 billion gallons of sewage a year for the industry.

You might be thinking that the ocean is big enough to handle a little bit of human ****. We’re not talking about a little bit of human s**t though. We’re talking about a lot of human **** mixed with everything from dirty pool water to photography lab chemicals.

Some of the most modern ships claim not to produce any waste. However, many of them use antiquated treatment facilities that are incapable of filtering out the most toxic ingredients in the sewage. Carnival Cruise Lines is the biggest offender. “With 22 ships using 35-year-old sewage treatment technology, Carnival has the worst impact on our oceans of any other cruise line,” according to Friends of the Earth.

This year’s Cruise Ship Report Card also looks at air pollution reduction, water quality compliance and transparency. Every single cruise line surveyed failed the transparency portion of the test. Costa Crociere, famous for its Costa Concordia disaster, and Crystal Cruises failed in every single category.

[MIKA27]

A New Hope: Is This What the Last Three Star Wars Films Were Missing?

Few would argue that the last three films in the Star Wars franchise were missing a little something.

Now for some of you, up until this moment it may have been that those easily forgettable films were missing from your mind altogether, while others may still be struggling to forget them like a bad nightmare. Whichever camp you may fall into, I bring them to mind here with good reason: it is only through observance of the past that we can correct the ails of the future.

Granted, if we look far enough back, the Star Wars movies still offer pioneering examples of sci-fi cinema. So what changed along the way?

Well, set design, for one thing: in fact, a big part of giving a film a realistic flair is having, well, real sets. With the exception of the interior design of a few battle cruisers, it seems like there was more CGI used for backdrops than real brick and mortar in Episodes I – III; and in truth, the same goes for flesh and blood, for that matter. Arguably, the computers generating the CGI used in those films were the real stars of the prequels, since they probably had more screen time than all the actors combined.

Hence one of the reasons there is, to be punny, A New Hope inspired with the release of the teaser trailer for J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Star War installment, The Force Awakens. From what little we’ve seen, the sets are not only more realistic looking, but the familiar setting of Tatooine returns us somewhat to a period in the Star Wars legacy that is also like homecoming to the sci-fi enthusiast: one might compare it to being the “comfort food” of the Star Wars universe.

But arguably, the use of familiar, more realistic looking sets in the Abrams installments won’t be the only thing to return to the Star Wars films, as there is another aspect that once existed there, perhaps as strong as The Force itself, which has been missing for decades like a rouge Jedi: spontaneity.

And arguably, this simple, but defining aspect can be attributed mostly to one character… who we’ll get to in a moment (as if you didn’t already know).

What, you might ask, was more spontaneous about the original three films?

They were based on scripts and the master-workings of that celebrated mage-of-sorts, George Lucas, just like the latter three. But if you consider the stiffness of the character acting in those newer films, ranging from the chemistry between Annakin Skywalker and Padme, to even the shortcomings of otherwise-badass actor Samuel L. Jackson’s attempts at convincingly portraying a Jedi, you know precisely what I’m talking about. Oh yeah, and then there’s Darth Vader’s heart-wrenching “NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” toward the end of Episode III (heart-wrenching for all the wrong reasons, unfortunately).

Imagine if we had instead witnessed Darth waking up to learn that Padme is dead, only to rip the robotic arm off in a mindless, primal display of emotional protest, followed by his destruction of the laboratory that created this “updated” version of himself in the style of Weapon X (i.e. Marvel’s Wolverine), only to realize that the cyborg enhancements that saved him are his only future, even if one among the walking damned. Yeah, sadly that’s not what happened.

Looking back to the original three films, however, we remember one of the most famous lines from that pinnacle among them, The Empire Strikes Back, being Han Solo’s retort just as he’s being lowered into a frosty date with carbonite imprisonment. As Leia calls to him and professes her love for the smuggler, he replies with a strikingly sincere sort of smartass quip that became legendary: “I know.”

This is a famous scene not just for the attitude Han’s character expresses, but also for the fact that it was a notable instance where an actor in the Star Wars franchise rebelled against the Lucas empire and actually improvised (which, as we know, actor Harrison Ford is known for doing anyway).

According to the background story, Han was supposed to mirror Leia’s sentiments as he is shown being lowered into the imprisonment that awaits him, but Ford improvised the line “I know” instead, because it seemed more like something Han Solo actually would have said. Boy, wasn’t it?

Thus, utilizing his actor’s intuitive powers in this way (or maybe by sheer exertion of the Force), Ford made an otherwise potentially sappy scene a classic, and apparently to the chagrin of Lucas, who had been none-too-pleased with Ford’s sudden diversion.

Part of what makes film entertaining is its ability to convey realism in otherwise unbelievable circumstances, which in turn allows the viewer to escape the everyday, and ease their minds into the realm of fantasy with less effort. Nothing will impede that quite like bad acting, though, and as we unfortunately see in the Star Wars prequels, even the greatest stars can fall victim to bad acting if their characters aren’t allowed room to breathe.

Of course, with Ford’s return, along with that of several other members of the original cast, our Newest Hope is that some of that sassiness we once came to expect of the Star Wars universe will have returned, and that maybe with the addition of fresh blood, organic looking sets, and a more classic “space western” approach, we might be able to recapture the magic of the old films, but translate it effectively onto the modern screen.

Sometimes, the old adage “less is more” really does hold true. With the release of the teaser trailer for The Force Awakens, some fans bitched relentlessly about the crossguard on the new Sith-saber. But others celebrated the return to old ideals we’re already seeing in the trailer, by rendering a “LucasFilms Special Edition” version that shows how the trailer might have looked, had Lucas’s same approach to filmmaking been applied again. I’ll leave you with that version of the trailer below, along with the haunting memory of what could have been:

[MIKA27]

Russian Scientist Warns Earth May Be in Path of Big Asteroid

If this Russian scientist is correct, Brian May’s Asteroid Day on June 30, 2015, may be too little, too late to save us from a mountain-sized asteroid he recently discovered.

Vladimir Lipunov is a lead scientist on the team which spotted asteroid 2014 UR116 on October 27, 2014, at the MASTER-II observatory in Kislovodsk, Russia. Estimated to be 370 meters (1214 feet) in diameter, he describes it in a video released this week by the Russian space agency Roscosmos as a mountain-sized object that could hit the Earth with an explosion 1,000 times greater than the surprise Chelyabinsk meteor which exploded over that Russian city in 2013, shattering windows, damaging buildings and injuring over a thousand people.

2014 UR116 will cross Earth’s orbit every three years. Lipunov says he’s concerned about it because it came up on us so fast and its trajectory is constantly and unpredictably affected by the gravitational pull of the planets it passes.

We need to permanently track this asteroid, because even a small mistake in calculations could have serious consequences.

An approximation of the orbit of 2014 UR116

What does NASA say about 2014 UR116 and Lipunov’s warning? Here’s an excerpt from its press release:

While this approximately 400-meter sized asteroid has a three year orbital period around the sun and returns to the Earth’s neighborhood periodically, it does not represent a threat because it’s orbital path does not pass sufficiently close to the Earth’s orbit.

The release also refers to computations made after observing another object with a similar orbit six years ago.

These computations rule out this object as an impact threat to Earth (or any other planet) for at least the next 150 years.

Not everyone is that confident. Viktoria Damm from the Siberian Geodesic Academy Planetarium says Mars could affect the trajectory of 2014 UR116, although not for at least two years. Natan Esmant, an expert with the official Space Research Institute in Moscow, says a collision is “quite likely” but not for at least a few decades.

“Not for at least …” is not the most reassuring way to start a sentence about possible asteroid collisions, whether it’s from Roscosmos or NASA. Should we be worried about UR116?

[MIKA27]

VIPP SHELTER

Make creating your own weekend escape as easy as buying some land and swiping a card with the Vipp Shelter.

This prefabricated, 55 square meter structure is designed to be placed in the natural setting of your choice with minimal effort on your part. So much so that the furniture, appliances, fixtures, lighting, tableware, towels, and even bed linens have already been picked out and will be waiting for you on your first arrival, which should happen in as little as six months after you place your order. And with two levels of living space, including a second-floor bed loft and floor-to-ceiling windows, you might find yourself wanting to stay longer than you planned. [Purchase]

[MIKA27]

This Giant Vacuum Sucks Prairie Dogs Right Out Of Their Holes

For years, prairie dogs have been the bane of cattle ranchers, whose livestock are routinely injured when stepping in prairie dog holes. In response, ranchers have gassed, poisoned, drowned or buried entire colonies alive. But one enterprising pest control company has devised a more humane method of removing the rodents — with a modified sewer cleaning truck.

Prairie dogs are an iconic animal of the American West — right up there with deer, bison and elk — but like so many other native species, prairie dogs have come under increasing pressure from human expansion — first by ranchers and cattle farmers, now by urban developers. At the turn of the 20th century, prairie dog habitats spread over an estimated 700 million acres from Mexico to Montana — the largest of which was a 65,000 square kilometre “town” located in central Texas that housed more than 400 million individuals — but the animals have bee utterly decimated by human activity, their population shrinking by as much as 98 per cent since then.

The problem with conventional control methods is that, “without prairie dogs, there would be no other wild species on the prairie at all,” Paula Martin, vice president of the Prairie Ecosystem Conservation Alliance (PECA), told Philly.com. But that’s where the Dog Gone vacuum truck comes in.

Built by *** Balfour of Cortez, CO, the system utilises a modified sewer-clearing truck to generate suction though a 4-inch diameter length of plastic tubing. Simply insert the tube into a prairie dog burrow, turn on the suction, and wait for the 1kg critters to get hoovered up into the waiting holding tank. They system produces a high amount of suction and is able to whisk the rodents up the pipe at speeds topping 100km/h, though baffles at the containment truck slow do them down to 24km/h before exiting the pipe and softly tossing them against the padded walls of the holding tank.

And while some animal rights groups have claimed that the system kills and maims a large number of the dogs, “From what I saw, they seemed fine — more dizzy than anything else, “Scott Dutcher, head of the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Protection, told the Chicago Tribune. “We have received no complaints. Common sense tells you that there are no easy ways to get a prairie dog out of its hole.”

Once inside the air-conditioned truck, the dogs are doused with flea powder and kept fed with a supply of carrots and grain as they are being relocated. Originally, many of the prairie dogs were shipped throughout the American West for use as a food source for the black-footed ferret. The ferrets have also faced near annihilation at the hands of man, but recent reintroduction programs have begun to rebuild their populations and the prairie dogs — one of their favourite prey — has been instrumental in doing so.

“Even though they are sacrificed to the ferrets, that’s not our long-term intent,” Balfour told the Tribune. “Once the ferrets are back up, we can release the prairie dogs into the wild and let the two of them work out their own deal.”

[MIKA27]

Da Vinci’s Mama May Have Been Chinese and Mona Lisa

Is that smirk on Mona Lisa’s face because she’s watching her half Italian-half Chinese son Leonardo trying to eat spaghetti with chopsticks? Sounds far-fetched, but it could be true based on a forthcoming book which claims Leonardo da Vinci’s mother was a Chinese slave and his model for the Mona Lisa.

There are a lot of dots to connect in this theory proposed by Hong Kong-based art historian Angelo Paratico in his book, “Leonardo da Vinci: A Chinese Scholar Lost in Renaissance Italy.” It is a known fact that Leonardo’s father, Piero da Vinci, was a notary in Vinci. Less is known about his mother other than that her name was Caterina and she was not married to Piero.

Paratico claims that a wealthy client of Piero had a slave named Caterina who was probably from an Asian country since Italy and Spain were full of Asian slaves during the Renaissance. After Leonardo was born in 1452, Caterina’s name disappeared from the client’s records. Paratico suggests she was sent to Vinci to hide what looked like an improper relationship with her owner.

There are hints in da Vinci’s life that point to a possible Asian heritage, according to Paratico.

For instance, the fact he was writing with his left hand from left to right… and he was also a vegetarian which was not common. Mona Lisa is probably a portrait of his mother, as Sigmund Freud said in 1910. On the back of Mona Lisa, there is a Chinese landscape and even her face looks Chinese.

Does Mona Lisa looks Chinese? Well, she has no visible eyebrows or eyelashes, but it was common in that era for refined women to pluck them. There are also theories that the painting originally had them but they were removed over time, possibly by cleaning. Does the landscape behind her look Chinese? Seems kind of generic and there’s no pagodas.

While the general consensus is that Lisa del Giocondo was the model for the Mona Lisa, there is not universal agreement. Paratico wants to have the remains of da Vinci’s relatives in Florence exhumed so that their DNA can be tested.

Does Angelo Paratico connect enough dots to convince you that Mona Lisa is the Chinese slave mother of Leonardo da Vinci?

[MIKA27]

The Incredible Hermit Caves of Romania

If there is a quintessential European nation, country or group of people who personify the rest of the world’s idea of what it means to be European, Romania might be pretty close. Its storied history, and the contributions of the Romanian people in literature, art, and philosophy are well known; and who doesn’t think of beautiful Gothic castles and churches when they hear the word Romania?

Of course, many people around the world see in Romania, a country of myth. They see the inimitable Count Dracula and his iconic Transylvanian castle. They see the birthplace of monsters, of dangerous things in dark forests, of mysteries on foggy mountains, and horrors unseen in the night.

None of that’s real though. Or, well… most of it isn’t real. We all know – or we think we know – that Dracula really did exist, in some form or another. The Romanian government keeps his famed castle as a tourist attraction today, though the history of it remains somewhat blurred to the outside world. Parts of the country do have foreboding forests, nestled between its 14 mountain ranges, where indigenous species of wolf, and bear, and wild boar still roam free to this day (albeit in dwindling numbers, unfortunately).

It’s easy to see how those of us who see only portions of this beautiful land on TV and in story, can fall prey to fantasy and myth. It no doubt wouldn’t surprise you then, to find that Romania still holds some well kept secrets in its mountains and small villages?

Romania consists of 41 counties, and situated in the southern interior is one called Buzău. This county is home to some 400,000 people and it hosts the southern end of the Eastern Carpathian Mountain range. It also hosts, in those mountains, a wonderful gem of culture and architecture. Several, in fact.

There’s a commune, known as Colţi, nestled into the curvature of the Carpathian Mountains (yes, the mountain range that loaned its name to the evil Vigo the Carpathian of Ghostbusters II, among other characters) which consists of a number of small villages. These villages, such as Aluniş and Nucu, are the surviving remnants of an ancient troglodyte community.

Now, lest you take that in the wrong direction, the people who lived there circa 1050-1280 AD were anything but ignorant. The word troglodyte applies because they dwelled in caves carved into the mountain. There are a number of cave complexes through the region of Colţi, consisting of dwellings, storage spaces, and churches. In fact, the oldest surviving Eastern Orthodox Church is a cave in Aluniş, dedicated to the Decollation of Saint John the Baptist.

The other reason this ancient community of shepherds can be called troglodytes, is because they were, essentially, hermits.

The earliest inhabitants of these cave communities practised a mystical tradition of prayer from the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches of Byzantine, known as Hesychasm. Its literal translation from Greek is ‘to keep the stillness’, and was a form of deep prayer meditation. You may gather from the definition that Hesychasm requires a certain solitude, and in tradition has been the process of retiring inward by ceasing to register the senses, in order to achieve an experiential knowledge of God.

That, in and of itself, leads to a somewhat isolated existence, but some weren’t content to simply shut the door, as it were. Some went further.

A man, known as Dionisie Torcatorul (Dionysius the spinner), was the quintessential hermit (a man after my own heart), he was a wool spinner for the village, but he enjoyed his solitude so much, that he carved and created a cave that was so difficult to get to, that he became a myth in his own time. The entrance to his home, which is now called The Dionisie Torcatorul Cave, is little more than a hole in the rock face some three kilometres (about a mile and a half) from the main village, and about four metres above the ground. A crude ladder – a replica of which now allows access for tourists – was the only means of entering or exiting the cave, allowing the old hermit the highest level of solitude possible.

Think about that for a moment. Imagine being more than ten minutes at a running pace from anyone else in the world, surrounded by solid rock and more than 13 feet up a sheer rock face, and that’s how you live, day-in and day-out. No power, no plumbing, no heat, just you, in a hole, praying. A lot of people are uncomfortable being without human contact for more than a few hours, though there are probably a few people who read that description and consider it to be heaven on earth, myself included.

Romania itself has no shortage of geological oddities, from the famous mud volcanos, to the living fire fields, to spectacular mountain waterfalls, and what Mother Nature hasn’t done herself, humans have helped along. There are few places on Earth that have the same concentration of interesting experiences and sights. And though there are magnificent caves and cave cities all over the world, one can’t help but see something special in these Romanian cave complexes.

[MIKA27]

2016 MERCEDES-BENZ GLE COUPE

Mercedes-Benz is going after the BMW X6 market with their newly unveiled 2016 Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe, and we imagine the brand will have no problem attracting some new customers for this crossover SUV.

The slope-roofed Benz will be available in several different models, ranging from a diesel powered option to our personal favorite, the GLE 450 AMG – with power outputs starting at 258 horsepower all the way up to 367 horsepower on the high end of the spectrum. The AMG version is the flagship offering, and will be equipped with a 9G-TRONIC nine-speed automatic transmission, and 4MATIC permanent all-wheel drive to tackle any terrain. As with nearly all MB vehicles, the interior is where this thing really shines. There are carbon fiber, piano lacquer and aluminum trim accents running along the dashboard and door panels, a set of aluminum sports pedals complete with stainless steel rubber studs for additional grip, AMG sport seats, and a gorgeous black Nappa leather AMG sports 3-spoke steering wheel to finish off the ensemble. Expect to see the X6 competitor landing at Benz dealers around the country at the beginning of next year.

[MIKA27]

HIGHLINE CASE & SECURITY LEASH

Highland by Kenu, is a protective case & safety leash combo for the iPhone6/6Plus that gives you peace of mind while capturing photos and videos on your adventures, whether you are on a chairlift, whale watching, zip–lining or rock climbing. The sleek, slim, slip-resistant case, securely attaches to the elastic leash via a lightning lock (uses the phone port and a notch in the case), then simply attach the loop to a zipper pull, belt loop, or carabiner for a secure connection.

Purchase now for iPhone6/6Plus at Kenu, or for earlier iPhone models at Amazon

[NJP]

I'm going to get my wife the security leash just for her daily existence. She is on her third phone this year.

[MIKA27]

I'm going to get my wife the security leash just for her daily existence. She is on her third phone this year.

Sounds like my wife!! Has lost her phone, keys twice this year!

[MIKA27]

We've Been Incorrectly Predicting Peak Oil For Over A Century

When the residents of Tulsa, Oklahoma buried a car in 1957 as part of an enormous time capsule, they included containers of gasoline. The good people of Tulsa reasoned that the folks of 2007 might not have any gas left to fill up the Plymouth Belvedere that they were interring for a fifty year journey into the future. Boy were they ever wrong.

Throughout the 20th century we became tremendously dependent on oil. At the risk of stating the obvious, the world would look completely different today without it. But time and again, very smart people have predicted that we’d eventually run out of oil. Time and again those predictions were proven incorrect.

With gas prices currently plunging, it’s difficult to see any real end to the fossil fuel-based economy we’ve built. American consumption of oil is showing signs of plateauing and our oil imports have fallen to their lowest level since 1987. But historically that’s meant that people become complacent and start doing dumb **** like buying Hummers and doing less to conserve energy.

Just look at this article from Bloomberg Businessweek yesterday called “With $US2 Gas, The Toyota Prius is For Drivers Who Stink At Maths.”

The idea of peak oil has popped up repeatedly throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. But as I sit typing these words, the gas station nearby is selling a gallon of gas for under $US3 — bargain basement prices for Los Angeles. It’s a wonderful boost for cash-strapped consumers, but I’m reminded that I might not see peak oil within my lifetime.

So join me as we revisit the oil predictions of yesteryear; times when humans were convinced that we were almost out of oil. Only to be proven wrong for any number of reasons — including the discovery of new sources, conservation efforts to stem consumption, and the development of new technologies to get that black gold out of the ground.

1909: 25 or 30 years longer

“Petroleum has been used for less than 50 years, and it is estimated that the supply will last about 25 or 30 years longer. If production is curtailed and waste stopped it may last till the end of the century. The most important effects of its disappearance will be in the lack of illuminants. Animal and vegetable oils will not begin to supply its place. This being the case, the reckless exploitation of oil fields and the consumption of oil for fuel should be checked.”

– July 19, 1909 Titusville Herald (Titusville, PA)

1919: Two to five years until maximum production

“In meeting the world’s needs, however, the oil from the United States will continue to occupy a less and less dominant position, because within the next two to five years the oil fields of this country will reach their maximum production and from that on we will face an ever increasing decline.”

– October 23, 1919 Oil and Gas News

Picture: Burkburnett, Texas in 1919

1937: Gone in 15 years

Capt. H. A. Stuart, director of the naval petroleum reserves, told the Senate Naval Affairs Committee today the oil supply of this country will last only about 15 years.

“We have been making estimates for the last 15 years,’ Stuart said. ‘We always underestimate because of the possibility of discovering new oil fields. The best information is that the present supply will last only 15 years. That is a conservative estimate.’”

– March 9, 1937 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Picture: Oil field in Los Angeles circa 1935

1943: Peak oil has been reached

“There is a growing opinion that the United States has reached its peak oil production, the Oil and Gas Journal pointed out in its current issue. Since 1938, discoveries of new oil have not equaled withdrawals, in any single year, although there is a very good chance that 1943 will see enough new Ellenburger oil in West Texas to provide an excess.”

– June 7, 1943 Bradford Evening Star (Bradford, PA)

Picture: Oil truck in New Orleans in 1943

1945: Just thirteen years left

“Faced with the threat that our nation’s petroleum reserves may last only thirteen years, geologists are striving to tap the almost limitless supply of oil located beneath the seas off our coastline. The first attempt to get oil from the depths of the Atlantic Ocean was begun this month near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes revealed that the scientists are making progress in their efforts to reach the underwater oil.”

– December 10, 1945 Times Recorder (Zanesville, Ohio)

Picture: Oil-burning train in London circa 1946

1956: Ten to fifteen years until peak oil

“M. King Hubbert of the Shell Development Co. predicted [one year ago] that peak oil production would be reached in the next 10 to 15 years and after that would gradually decline.”

– March 9, 1957 Corpus Christi Times (Corpus Christi, TX)

Gas station attendant wearing rollerskates in 1958

1966: Gone in ten years

“A geologist stuck a figurative dipstick into the United States’ oil supplies Tuesday and estimated that the country may be dry in 10 years.”

– August 3, 1966 Brandon Sun (Brandon, Manitoba)

Picture: North Sea drilling rig circa 1965

1972: US oil depleted in twenty years

“At any rate, US oil supplies will last only 20 years. Foreign supplies will last 40 or 50 years, but are increasingly dependent upon world politics.”

– May 1972 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Picture: Four people on horses in Amsterdam in 1973 during a day when cars are banned due to the oil crisis

1977: Oil will peak by the early 90s

“As a nation, Americans have been reluctant to accept the prospect of physical shortages. We must recognise that world oil production will likely peak in the early 1990′s, and from that point on will be on a declining curve. By the early part of the 21st century, we must face the prospect of running out of oil and natural gas.”

– 1977 US Department of Energy Organisation Act

Picture: French fireman clean up an oil spill in 1978

1980: In the year 2000

“Stressing the need for conservation, [physicist Dr. Hans] Bethe said the world will reach its peak oil production before the year 2000. Production of oil worldwide will then drop to zero over about 20 years, he said. Rigorous conservation could stretch the world’s oil supply to the year 2050, he said.

– October 17, 1980 Syracuse Post Standard (Syracuse, NY)

Picture: Oil rig workers in England in 1980

1996: Peak oil likely by 2020

“Unfortunately, oil production will likely peak by 2020 and start declining. Without a change, developing countries will ultimately be left in the dark, and developed countries will struggle to keep the lights on. Conflict is inevitable. My guess is that this won’t become a big issue unless there is a thalidomide event. We will have to see in the rear-view mirror that we are past the peak in worldwide oil production.”

– Richard Smalley, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 1996

Picture: Oil rig platform in 1998

2002: Global peak by the year 2010

“Global supplies of crude oil will peak as early as 2010 and then start to decline, ushering in an era of soaring energy prices and economic upheaval — or so said an international group of petroleum specialists meeting Friday.”

– May 25, 2002 Index Journal (Greenwood, SC)

Picture: Oil platforms off the coast of Santa Barbara in 2001

2007: Sometime between now and 2040

Most studies estimate that oil production will peak sometime between now and 2040. This range of estimates is wide because the timing of the peak depends on multiple, uncertain factors that will help determine how quickly the oil remaining in the ground is used, including the amount of oil still in the ground; how much of that oil can ultimately be produced given technological, cost, and environmental challenges as well as potentially unfavorable political and investment conditions in some countries where oil is located; and future global demand for oil.

– February 2007 GAO Report

Picture: Gas flare near an abandoned building in North Dakota in 2013

If anything should become clear by reading these predictions it’s that we can’t wait for oil to disappear before we wean ourselves from it. We have some significant momentum, but there’s a very real danger of slipping back into oil’s warm, wet embrace. It’s comfortable, it’s familiar, and it’s irreparably harming our chances at long-term existence on this planet.

The idea of peak oil has arguably contributed to climate change more than any other meme of the 20th century. Rather than making the case for alternative energy sources, too many people believed that it would be a problem that eventually sorted itself out. Of course, it didn’t.

So whatever happened to that 1957 Belvedere? When they dug it up it was little more than a rusted hunk of metal.

[MIKA27]

The US Army Is Building A Drone-Only Airport In Texas

It’s no secret that the US military is in L-O-V-E, love with its unmanned aerial fleet. The infatuation has reached fever pitch, in fact, now that the US Army has begun construction of a brand new airport in central Texas that will only be accessible to its two favourite flying drones.

The military has made it clear that UAVs are the future of aerial reconnaissance — as well as in a growing number of cases, aerial combat — and that they will eventually be operating in the same airspace as conventionally piloted aircraft. Two of these unmanned platforms have already become so ubiquitous — the Grey Eagle and Shadow UAS — that the US Army CoE has contracted SGS systems to build a 150-acre airport at Fort Bliss, Texas, just for them.

According to a report from Defence Systems,

The complex will include a 50,000-square-foot unmanned aircraft maintenance hangar and more than a mile of runways, aprons, and taxiways, according to an announcement from the company. The runways will include a 1.5km runway for the Grey Eagle and a 300m runway for the smaller Shadow. In addition to maintenance shops, administrative space and storage space in the hangar, the facilities also will have a 5-ton bridge crane, oil/water separator, aircraft container and forklift storage, taxiway, access apron, oil and hazardous waste storage buildings, vehicle storage facilities, organisational vehicle parking, and overhead protection/canopy.

There’s no word yet on how many of these aerial fliers the facility will be able to accommodate at any given time.

[MIKA27]

And Speaking of Drones: Watch The US Navy's New Laser Cannon Successfully Fry A Drone

After months at sea patrolling the Persian Gulf region, the USS Ponce and its shiny new laser cannon have successfully confronted and destroyed not only an unmanned aerial vehicle but also an incoming speed boat and other moving targets — all without breaking a sweat.

“We ran this particular weapon, a prototype, through some extremely tough paces, and it locked on and destroyed the targets we designated with near-instantaneous lethality,” Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder, chief of naval research, said in a press statement.

“Laser weapons are powerful, affordable and will play a vital role in the future of naval combat operations.” And, according to reports, the LaWS performed its duties with nary a hiccup, regardless of the prevailing conditions.

Up next, the LaWS will undergo a series of technical upgrades to boost its power output from the current 30kW to 50kW and then again to 100kW. And given that these weapons cost less than a dollar per shot (far less than conventional kinetic rounds) the LaWS are expected to become mainstays of America’s destroyer and LCS fleets by the early 2020s.

[MIKA27]

Hear The Terrifying Sound Of The A-10 Tank Killer's Gun In An Attack Run

This video contains one of the most terrifying human-produced sounds you can hear in the planet: the screaming noise from hell of an A-10 Warthog’s GAU-8 Avenger gatling gun. Some of the very few who were on its reticle and survived say its banshee scream was the worst thing they have ever heard.

[MIKA27]

THE XHIBITIONIST SUPERYACHT

There’s yachts, and then there’s the Xhibitionist superyacht. This next level mega yacht is exactly what you’d expect to see in Bruce Wayne’s impressive collection of Batmobiles.

Officially crowned the “supercar of the sea,” this Bat-yacht was conceived by the Swedish team at Gray Design, and has everything a crime fighting superhero would ever need while he enjoys his open water excursion. The yacht measures in at 75-meters, and features eight guest rooms outfitted with shiny monochrome furniture for your closest friends and family to enjoy, a rooftop jacuzzi for popping bottles, and built-in solar panels that also double as a helipad (for up to 3 helicopters) or concert space. There’s even a sports-car showroom complete with a matching supercar dubbed the Xhibit G, perfect for when you’re back on land. This much opulence will cost you though. Gray Design is hoping to charge $25 million for this beauty – a drop in the bucket for the Bruce Wayne’s of the world.

[MIKA27]

STANCE PHONE TRIPODS FIT IN YOUR POCKET

Time lapse. Long exposure. Video. Conference calls. FaceTime. Watching videos. There are a lot of cool things you can do with your phone that are much easier with something supporting the device. Tripods are the probably the best solution to the support issue, but they have their own issues. It’s one more piece of equipment you need to carry, which makes them less than convenient. Most of the time, they also require special mounting hardware for your phone. Neither one of these things is an issue with the Stance Compact Tripod from Kenu. It plugs directly into the lightning port on your iPhone or micro USB port on your Android / Windows phone, and it’s smaller than a pack of gum, weighing only 1.2oz. Stance uses a durable composite material that won’t mess up your phone port and includes a ball-and-socket joint designed to let your phone tilt and rotate freely. There’s also a bottle opener because everything needs a bottle opener. [Purchase]

[MIKA27]

MONDAINE HELVETICA WATCHES

The new line of watches by Mondaine is based upon the beautiful and timeless Swiss font - Helvetica. Mundaine states "Just like the type font, Mondaine Helvetica is discreet, yet strong in the conviction of providing efficient time-keeping in a tempered recognizable form”. The minimalist Helvetica Watch is available now in three models, the Helvetica No1 light, Helvetica No1 regular, and Helvetica No1 Bold. Head over to their website for a look at the full collection.

[Fuzz]

Hear The Terrifying Sound Of The A-10 Tank Killer's Gun In An Attack Run

Can you imagine how awesome it would sound if they put on a Jericho Trumpet, similar to the JU-87 Stuka?

[MIKA27]

Can you imagine how awesome it would sound if they put on a Jericho Trumpet, similar to the JU-87 Stuka?

[MIKA27]

Dashcam Video Shows Imperial TIE Fighter Crashed On A Highway

German TV channel Dein Sky Film just posted this cool dashcam video showing a TIE fighter crashed on a highway. I don’t know if this is a viral ad for the new Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens or what, but whatever this is, it’s really cool.