Free Republic

Breakthrough research has shown that twisting light into spiral patterns like those found in nature dramatically improved the efficiency of OLED screens. The researchers behind the novel approach believe their method for twisting light could revolutionize the efficiency of electronics, including display technologies like OLEDs and night vision. In the nearly 150 years since the invention of the light bulb, the science of light has continued to advance. As the use of electronic devices involving display technologies has rapidly spread in recent decades, scientists have been searching for new and innovative ways to control the chaotic behavior of light or...

BURLINGTON, Vt. — The FBI says an arrest has been made in connection to the fatal shooting death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent who was from Minnesota. On Friday, FBI Albany announced a 21-year-old woman from Washington state, Teresa Youngblut, was arrested in David "Chris" Maland's death in Vermont. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Vermont has since charged Youngblut with assault on a federal law enforcement officer. "Our hearts remain with our partners at U.S. Border Patrol Swanton Sector as they mourn this tremendous loss," the FBI said. Maland, who was born in Blue Earth, Minnesota, was killed Monday...

Jan 3 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Friday issued the final mining permit for Perpetua Resources' (PPTA.O), opens new tab Idaho antimony and gold project, a move aimed at spurring U.S. production of a critical mineral at the center of a widening trade war between Washington and Beijing. Permitting for the mine, backed by billionaire investor John Paulson, comes after Beijing last month blocked exports to the U.S. of antimony,... Perpetua's mine will supply more than 35% of America's annual antimony needs once it opens by 2028 and produce 450,000 ounces of gold each year,...The project has not won...

BY THE OREGONIAN/OREGONLIVE (Compiled from news accounts, court records, public notices) Last week's arrest of a long-sought accused eco-saboteur pushed the spotlight back on a tight-knit cell of radical environmentalists responsible for a $48 million run of firebombings and other crimes across the West in the 1990s and early 2000s. Six men and five women prosecuted in Oregon received sentences ranging from three years to 13 years. They were arrested starting in 2005 in what the FBI called "Operation Backfire," a task force that tracked down the suspects with the help of an informant deep within the underground group....

A team of scientists has created an ultra-thin coating that can provide high-efficiency night vision to any glass surface, including ordinary reading glasses. Designed using something called a non-local metasurface, the plastic-wrap-thin coating also lets through all of the visible light, allowing users to see perfectly during daytime or at night. Some previous efforts using a non-local metasurface to create a night vision coating have shown limited success. However, those efforts have suffered from severely limited image quality. The inventors of this newest coating say they have broken through that barrier, resulting in a high-definition image visible light image that...

Tech PING! Thinking I need a camera security system. Has anyone looked at them? Thoughts? I want a stand alone camera system with night vision and recording capacity. Something that would work with my wifi? Something that works in the dark? (we live in the woods) Is there such a duck?

The Second Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, also known as the Lancer Brigade, recently showed off the night vision capabilities of the Enhanced Night Visions Goggle-Binoculars (ENVG-B) on Twitter... The goggles, which the Army developed with L3 Warrior Systems, are designed to provide a sharper night vision image than previous-generation goggles. The dual-tube setup provides a larger field of view than earlier goggles, leading to greater situational awareness and increased depth perception.

Around 9pm local time on Saturday, March 16th, 2019, an air ambulance helicopter was flying roughly 15 miles west of central Last Vegas when something odd caught his aided eye. During an exchange with an air traffic controller, the pilot of Mercy Air 21, an Agusta 119 Koala helicopter, noted spotting an unidentified object some distance from his position and only he was likely able to see it in the darkness as he was wearing night vision goggles (NVGs). The controller responded that he had nothing on radar in the area where he was seeing the object, but when he...

By injecting specialized light-tweaking nanoparticles into a mouse’s retina, that mouse is suddenly and clearly able to perceive near-infrared light — suggesting the same could be possible for us, assuming you don’t mind a needle in the eye. The advance involves what the researchers, from the University of Science and Technology in China, call “ocular injectable photoreceptor-binding upconversion nanoparticles.” In fact, it turns out that these researchers had already created the necessary trickery for a different reason, namely as a molecule for optogenetic triggers that would absorb infrared light (which conveniently penetrates many tissues) and emit visible spectrum light instead....

WASHINGTON (Army News Service) -- A novel technology called "Tactical Augmented Reality," or TAR, is now helping Soldiers precisely locate their positions, as well as the locations of friends and foes, said Richard Nabors. It even enables them to see in the dark, all with a heads-up display device that looks like night-vision goggles, or NGV, he added. So in essence, TAR replaces NVG, GPS, plus it does much more. Nabors, an associate for strategic planning at U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command's Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center, or CERDEC, spoke about TAR at the Pentagon's Lab Day,...

Syrian Accountability Act to Combat Terrorism By Jim Hauser Talon News December 18, 2003WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- Last week, President Bush signed into law H.R. 1828, the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003. The legislation calls on the president to impose sanctions on Syria to discourage support for international terrorist groups and the occupation of Lebanon.The bill demands that Syria end support for terrorism; halt the development of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) along with medium- and long-range missiles; and withdraw the roughly 20,000 troops it has deployed in Lebanon.It also calls on Syria to "enter into...

Could anybody here explain the thing about generations of night vision scopes for me, and why is anybody still producing a gen-1 scope? I've moved into an area in which hog hunting is plausible and any info would be appreciated.

CAMPO - A U.S. Border Patrol agent was fatally shot in Campo near the border with Baja California Thursday night. The shooting was reported about 9:15 p.m. near the border on Shockey Truck Trail southeast of the San Diego Sheriff Department's Campo substation. Four engines, paramedics, and a medical helicopter were dispatched to the area, but the agent was declared dead at the scene, according to Cal Fire Battalion Chief Nick Schuler. Police report that the victim was shot in the head.

A spokesman for the Roanoke County company said the 70 job losses have nothing to do with sequestration. About 70 hourly employees at the ITT Exelis night vision facility in Roanoke County learned Friday that their jobs will end as of April 7. Tim White, a company spokesman, said ITT Exelis is responding to the realities of the defense industry market. He said the job losses have nothing to do with sequestration — the automatic, across-the-board federal spending cuts that took effect this month. “It’s a difficult time,” White said. He said ITT Exelis night vision increased employment in recent years...

The military contractor said cuts by the government necessitated the reductions. More than 200 hourly employees at the ITT Exelis facility in Roanoke County were laid off with about two weeks' notice Thursday, according to a company spokesman. It was not an entirely unexpected move by the company, which manufactures night vision goggles, monoculars and related gear and is a major supplier for the U.S. armed forces. "Due to anticipated U.S. defense government procurement reductions, we have experienced an impact on the size and frequency of night vision contracts," communications director Jared Adams said in a news release last week....

Wilsonville, OR) Drawing heavily on technology developed in support of America’s warfighters by its defense division, Crimson Trace is proud to introduce a line of InfraRed (IR) laser sights for the civilian market. Observable only through night vision equipment, these laser sights offer the user the ability to mark a target invisibly, which is a boon for predator control, security personnel or anyone involved in the growing sport of hog hunting. Due to ITAR restrictions, these new IR sights are available through select distributors, online retailers and direct from www.crimsontrace.com and are the most cost-effective solution for anyone who seeks...

Fermanova, 24, is the newest bombshell targeted by federal authorities. She is accused of attempting to smuggle high-tech night vision scopes from the United States to Russia. An arrest affidavit obtained by Crimesider states that Fermanova, along with others, tried to "intentionally attempt to export" defense articles listed on the United States Munitions List without having the required license to do so. The document says that when Fermanova attempted to board a plane at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport bound for Moscow on March 1, Customs & Border Protection seized her luggage, finding three night vision devices. When...

SAN DIEGO — One of five people charged in the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol agent admitted Tuesday that the motivation behind the ambush killing was to rob the agent's night vision equipment. Emilio Gonzales pleaded guilty to murder of a federal officer in court and faces life in prison when he is sentenced Oct. 17.

NOTE The following text is a quote: MARCH 16, 2011 PHILADELPHIA, PA Alleged supporter of terrorist group indicted Slovakia native charged with providing material support to Hizballah PHILADELPHIA - A dual citizen of the United States and Slovakia was charged on Tuesday with conspiring to provide material support to Hizballah, which has been designated by the U.S. Department of State to be a terrorist organization. This case was jointly investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI. Dani Nemr Tarraf is among several defendants charged in the conspiracy. According to the criminal complaint,...

Dear FReepers, Over the years, a vanity post listing favorite sidearms, long guns and hunting rifles has appearred on FR with predictable regularity. Considering the highly popular and enthusiastic responses, I'd like to learn more from the sophisticated shooters on this forum about optics that you might bet your life on. Are many of you using ACOG, Trijicon, night vision, or infrared riflescopes? After seeing our Marines using the CQB sights that had various Bible verses listed upon them, I decided to learn more. I'm happy to report to you that our troops are getting wonderful optics packages, which are...