This Engineering Newswire, looks at testing firing the F-35's Gatling gun, diagnosing depression with smartphones and reconnecting with Pluto.
F-35 Test Fires Gatling Gun
Last week test Pilot Major Andrew Rollins test fired 10 rounds on F-35’s 22mm externally powered Gatling gun. Produced by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, the gun was developed for both the internal and external F-35 gun systems.
The four-barrel gun is a derivative of the five-barrel, 25mm GAU-12/U gun, which was also developed and built by General Dynamics. However, the new gun is more than 40 pounds lighter, weighing in at 230 pounds, and has a 20 percent smaller volume.
Smartphones for the Sad Bastard
According to researchers at Northwestern University, the more time you spend using your phone, the more likely you are depressed. The average daily usage for depressed individuals was about 68 minutes, while for non-depressed individuals it was about 17 minutes. And I tell you what, I'm on this thing for hours.
Spending most of your time at home and most of your time in fewer locations — as measured by GPS tracking — also are linked to depression. And, having a less regular day-to-day schedule, leaving your house and going to work at different times each day, for example, also is linked to depression.
Pluto Phones Home
We all know that earlier this week New Horizons made its closest approach to Pluto. Capturing the more detailed image of the planet, ever. Well last night the spacecraft “phoned home” for the first time since making its historic flyby. Which took it nine years, and three billion miles to complete.
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