Instead of harpooning a whale for samples, wouldn’t it be easier to just collect their snot using an R/C helicopter? More

A new feature that’s making its way onto all of HTC’s Android phones via its Sense overlay is the ” helicopter view ,” as they call it internally. It’s like Mac OS X’s Exposé function, letting you see all homescreens instantly. Recombu has shot a hands-on video of the Desire , which specs-wise is identical to the Nexus One, only with HTC Sense slicked over the top. It’s a quick look at what to expect, and how you’ll be accessing all those lovely homescreen widgets in the future.

The US Coast Guard has released their best videos from 2009, and this crewman emergency medical rescue mission—using a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter over a moving nuclear US Navy submarine—just blew me away. Check them out in the gallery. The Coast Guard evacuated the crewman from a unnamed US Navy Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine. The submarine was cruising through an undisclosed location off the the coast of Washington, on September 29, 2009. They called the Coast Guard at 5:50PM, and the Jayhawk helicopter intercepted the submarine at 7:12PM, picking up the crewman, and moving him to the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Oregon.

Holy friggin’ hell! I don’t know how I didn’t see this before, but apparently Norwegians eliminate hazardous rocks by having helicopters slam a huge swinging ball against a cliff. I really hope I don’t ever piss one of ‘em off. Is this really the most effective way to do this? [via Ace of Spades HQ ]

Holy friggin’ hell! I don’t know why I haven’t seen this before, but apparently Norwegians eliminate hazardous rocks by having helicopters slam huge swinging balls against cliffs. I really hope I don’t ever piss off a Norwegian. Geez! Is this really the most effective way to do this? [via Ace of Spades HQ ]

Roadside bombs are a a source of fear for both soldiers as well as their worried families at home. Thankfully the Pentagon is working on projects such as Yellow Jacket , unmanned helicopters which detect electromagnetic emissions from potential IEDs. As many IEDs, improvised explosive devices, are set off using a wireless signal, these drones will be able to survey areas for the electromagnetic emissions associated with receivers and provide an early warning to soldiers. No matter how silly the codename, this is one important project and I hope that it gets put into use as soon as possible. [ Aviation Week via Pop Sci ]

The latest Micro Air Vehicle from MIT does an incredible job of balancing itself in-air. Not to mention that the helicopter models it’s surroundings so well it could probably fly over to the fridge and make you a sandwich. By using lasers and 3D cameras, the team built a vision engine that can very accurately define the helicopter’s surrounding environment. That’s only part of the trick to getting it to fly so well, the other half is some pretty sweet flight path correction. Think of it like a flying Big Dog .

Advances in autonomous helicopters have been many over the years, but as far as we can tell, there’s essentially no limit to how awesome they can get. MIT’s recently developed an autonomous, robotic helicopter which is also able to navigate itself intelligently through a changing environment. The helicopter, which is equipped with a dual-camera array and a laser scanner, maps its terrain in real time, identifying changes along the way. An integrated autonomous exploration module allows the heli to interact with the changing, unknown environment it is mapping. The helicopter was shown off at the AUVSI 2009 International Aerial Robotics Competition, completing five missions — a feat not before seen in the 19-year history of the show. Check out the very educational video after the break

Advances in autonomous helicopters have been many over the years, but as far as we can tell, there’s essentially no limit to how awesome they can get. MIT’s recently developed an autonomous, robotic helicopter which is also able to navigate itself intelligently through a changing environment. The helicopter, which is equipped with a dual-camera array and a laser scanner, maps its terrain in real time, identifying changes along the way. An integrated autonomous exploration module allows the heli to interact with the changing, unknown environment it is mapping. The helicopter was shown off at the AUVSI 2009 International Aerial Robotics Competition, completing five missions — a feat not before seen in the 19-year history of the show.

Guys. Cool it. I’m sure the glass roof of the new NYC Apple Store will make giving Apple your money even more transcendent, but you can wait a couple months until it’s open. Seriously. [ ifoAppleStore via Purns ]