Mini drones, invisibility cloaks and guns that shoot around corners may sound like gadgets used by James Bond in the 007 films – but, they are among many devices now found in the real world.
With the world’s military totaling more than $1.6 trillion dollars, futuristic weapons far beyond what ‘Q’ could have ever imagined are under development in the labs, and have even begun to make their way into the hands of human soldiers.
Although Q may never have fathomed some of the cutting edge technology now used in the real-world, the genius inventor may have predicted others, such as jetpacks.
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While Q may have created a slew of futuristic gadgets, he could still not have fathomed what soldiers and police officers would be using today. Shanghai’s SWAT team is utilizing guns that shoot around corners (pictured) are leaving serious criminals nowhere to hide in China
While Bond had his own personal genius inventor named Q at his beck and call to create weapons at a moment’s notice, the world has researchers working around the clock in order to come up with the best and baddest designs – before anyone else beats them to it.
Shanghai’s SWAT team is utilizing bendable firearms that let the operator see and shoot around corners.
Officers are able to aim 60 degrees around the corner to attack an armed target without exposing themselves to a counterattack.
The weapon consists of a handgun, or pistol, fitted to the front of the system, which is fired from the back portion of the device using an ordinary trigger.
Some of the futuristic weapons have been used in the battlefield, while some are still being developed in secret labs, regardless, the lethal devices are far beyond what James Bond’s (left) ‘Q’ (right) could have ever imagined
Pulling a grip underneath changes it from its bent configuration straight, allowing operators to use it normally.
And the high-resolution camera and monitor lets them observe their target from different vantage points.
Military agencies have also employed their own cutting edge technology that pulls inspiration from the insect world.
The Dragonfly drone, which can fit in the palm of a hand, will spy on enemy positions and gather intelligence for the military and British agents.
It is inspired by the biology of a dragonfly, with four flapping wings and four legs to enable it to fly through the air seamlessly and perch on a windowsill to spy on terrorists.
It is one of the futuristic pieces of kit currently being developed for the Ministry of Defence and the UK’s security forces as part of the MoD’s new innovation project.
The Dragonfly drone, which can fit in the palm of a hand, will spy on enemy positions and gather intelligence for the military and British agents. It is one of the futuristic pieces of kit currently being developed for the Ministry of Defence and the UK’s security forces
A Star-Wars style laser weapons system which will be able to burn holes in enemy drones will also be added to the Army’s new kit.
Currently in development, the laser will target and defeat aerial threats such as drones or conventional aircraft from the ground.
The Dragonfly drone (pictured), which can fit in the palm of a hand, will spy on enemy positions and gather intelligence
Another real world gadget doesn’t seem to fit in the Bond world, but is something many could image seeing in the Star Trek or Harry Potter films – an invisibility cloak.
Researchers from Queens Mary University of London coated a curved surface with a material made of nano-sized particles.
The ‘composite’ material had seven distinct layers, where the electric property of each layer varies depending on the position.
The combined effect of all of these layers is to ‘cloak’ the object.
This means a structure can hide an object that would normally have caused an incoming electromagnetic wave to be scattered.
The researchers said the technology might not lead to the invisibility cloak made famous in J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter novels quite yet.
But they said it a practical demonstration could result in a step-change in how antennas are tethered to their platform.
Q may not have thought of today’s futuristic weapons, but he may have inspired some of them – such as jetpacks and fake fingerprints.
In the 1965 film ‘Thunderball’, viewers watched Bond, played by Sean Connery, soar through the air strapped to a jetpack that Q called the ‘Bell Rocket Belt’.
The gadget was a lower-power rocket propulsion device that let the wearer travel and leap over small distance.
It instantly became a hit among Bond fans, leaving many to wonder when they could also take to the skies like 007 – in 2016 the public saw that dream get closer to a reality.
David Mayman, a former commercial pilot from Australia, worked with a team of engineers to build a one-person vertical take-off device and demonstrated his personal prototype over London in October.
In a four minute flight he flew around 100 feet (30 meters) into the air above the River Thames in East London, zipping back and forth towards the ExCel conference center.
The JB-10 JetPack is powered by two miniature jet engines run on aviation fuel that sit either side of a harness and can be controlled using two joysticks.
‘A lot of us spent time in our youth fantasizing about what it would be like to follow Buck Rogers up into the air with our very own jetpacks,’ Mayman said at the debut.
In the 1965 film ‘Thunderball’, viewers watched Bond (left), played by Sean Connery, soar through the air strapped to a jetpack that Q called the ‘Bell Rocket Belt’. A former pilot (right) built a vertical take-off device and demonstrated his personal prototype over London in Oct
‘We are getting a lot closer to launching a commercial product but there is still much further that we can take our design and ideas.’
If all goes well, you could be taking to the skies with your own JetPack in 2019.
Six years after Bond took to the skies Q gave him a new set a fingerprints.
In the 1971 Bond movie, ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, Q supplied Bond with fake fingerprints that he used to fool Tiffany Case into believing he was Peter Franks.
The silicon-like prints seamlessly laid on top of Bond’s natural prints.
In the 1971 Bond movie, ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, Q supplied Bond with fake fingerprints (pictured) that he used to fool Tiffany Case into believing he was Peter Franks
Michigan State University demonstrated how easy it was bypass an Android fingerprint sensor with office supplies in just 15 minutes. The technique involved a method using a 300 dpi scan of a fingerprint to print, conductive ink, glossy paper and a standard inkjet printer (pictured)
And real world hackers are also using phony prints to pretend they are someone else – but in order to trick smartphones.
Researchers from Michigan State University demonstrated how easy it was bypass an Android fingerprint sensor with office supplies in just 15 minutes.
The technique involved a method using a 300 dpi scan of a fingerprint to print, conductive ink, glossy paper and a standard inkjet printer.
Once the fingerprint was scanned, researchers were able to print it out on paper using special ink.
Then they simply cut the images the same size as a real finger print, placed it on the phone and successfully unlocked it.
Once the printed 2D fingerprints are ready we can then use them for spoofing mobile phones,’ reads the published study.
The ‘composite’ material had seven distinct layers, where the electric property of each layer varies depending on the position.
The combined effect of all of these layers is to ‘cloak’ the object. This means a structure can hide an object that would normally have caused an incoming electromagnetic wave to be scattered.
The researchers said the technology might not lead to the invisibility cloak made famous in J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter novels quite yet.
But they said it a practical demonstration could result in a step-change in how antennas are tethered to their platform.
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