Tech Universe: Monday 18 July

Just how connected the world is has been shown in a new cables map. Photo / Thinkstock

IF DOGS COULD FLY: If you're a farmer and your stock are out in the
far backblocks it may be a long trek to check on them. But the Flying
Shepherd could help. It's a UAV developed in the UK that scans an area
and sends a live video feed back to base. If the farmer spots a
problem they could go to check the stock in person. That makes a lot
of sense.

CABLES, CABLES EVERYWHERE: The cable that brings us Internet from the
rest of the world is very significant to us Kiwis. But we're not the
only ones who rely on an undersea cable. If you'd like to know where
they all are, well, there's a map for that. Greg's Cable Map shows
that the world is festooned with cables. So what happens if the oceans
acidify?

MILITARY INTELLIGENCE: The US Army is thinking of equipping combat
troops with touchscreen phones and tablets. They say that young
soldiers are already very familiar with texting and that's an
advantage. As the article points out: "Many of the products sold at
Best Buy are more advanced than the tools currently in the Army's
pipeline." And that, in its own way, is rather sad.

TRAMS FOR CARS: We should all start using public transport instead of
our own cars - at least, that's what city officials keep
telling us. But in Murcia, Spain, the city really means it. Citizens
who turn in their cars get lifetime passes to its brand-new tram
system. The whole programme included humour and participation with a
Twitter campaign where traded cars were disassembled in response to
tweets or Facebook comments, with the process broadcast via webcam. Of
course, the public transport system needs to be highly functional in
the first place. See the video here.

BIG WHEEL: You may not find a Yeti in the Himalayas. But you may see
one next time you're in Antarctica, and this one will have 4 wheels.
Engineers at Dartmouth University in the USA are testing the
autonomous vehicle as a way to explore the polar regions and bring
back climate, ice and atmospheric data. The vehicle has a special
composite skin, electric motor and standard ATV tires, but the
equipment it carries will be sophisticated. Along with a GPS it may
use ground-penetrating radar to detect and avoid crevasses. If they
can rove on Mars then they must be able to rove in the Antarctic.