Training with a computer simulator is nothing new - pilots have been doing it for years. And to be honest, the Americans have had systems in place long before anyone else. However, what makes this system unique, is the attention to detail.

“Virtual Battle Space 2″ (or VBS2) as it’s called, is an interactive area of Iraq, where the road systems and buildings have been replicated to create an environment that is as realistic as possible. The soldiers, when using the simulation, will face similar situations that they would likely face out in the field. From children throwing stones, to an IED planted somewhere en-route.

The system doesn’t replace traditional training - instead it is used to familiarise soldiers with the environment before they arrive. Over 2,000 troops have been put through the training so far, with most finding benefits when they have arrived in theatre. The company behind VBS2, Bohemia Interactive in Australia, also have aircrew simulators with helicopter and aircraft training, as well as ambush simulators to prepare foot soldiers for urban combat.

If you visit this BBC article you will notice a video which shows how detailed the area looks. Also you will notice a few funny moments, such as when a child throws a stone at the commander, and also when the reporter runs somebody over - who although are lying flat on the ground in pain, continue to throw stones at a Bradley! Glitches aside, I’m sure any extra bit of training our boys can get before heading out will hopefully save a few more lives in the field.

I know the title has probably got you interested, and I’m pretty sure the story will open your eyes too.

British company, P2i, have announced today their latest technology that makes materials waterproof at a molecular level. Unlike other types of solutions, their “Ion Mask” plasma surface enhancement technology [sic] will penetrate an object completely, without altering the look or feel of it. So you could technically treat a piece of paper with it, tear it into small pieces, and each piece would remain waterproof.

Current sectors the innovation is being aimed at are footwear, and textiles, but there is also talk of the inventors being in the early stages of testing with electrical items. Just think of how revolutionary that would be!

A truly water-cooled PC, or any other electrical system, without the need for noisy fans - cutting down on costs and repairs. Your computer keyboard could be fully treated with the technology - and if you spilt your coffee in it, simply unplug and stick in your dishwasher. But even better, it could mean diseases that breed on keyboards would be a thing of the past, as your electrical devices also get a “weekly wash.” Any electrical equipment that would need to be outside (street lamps, traffic lights, billboards, big screen TVs in stadiums etc.) wouldn’t need any special housing to keep the weather off, reducing costs. Even things like undersea research would be more effective, if the material didn’t react to the salt in the sea. This could really be a revolution in how we use things in the future!

For more information and to see some of the other projects P2i are involved in, visit their website.

Small, yet perfectly formed, the LifeBook FMV Biblo U/B50 comes complete with Windows Vista and a gig of RAM. With a tiny 5.6 inch screen, it’s setting new standards in ultra-portable computing. The device also sports a webcam and Biometrics, plus Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G capabilities.

The new FMV with it’s 1.6Ghz Atom chip won’t be breaking any benchmark tests - especially as it has Vista pre-installed. I would have thought Linux would be much better suited - due it’s lower resource requirements. And as Asus opted for Linux for their Eee PC, it’s strange how Fujitsu didn’t do the same. I guess we’ll all have to wait and see how it performs in the real world when released. Read The Register’s take here.

UK Engineering at it’s finest, and also just down the road from where I live, Southampton University have developed a submarine to explore the undersea world automatically.

Capable of diving to depths of 6km, and a range of 1000km, the AutoSub6000 will be primarily exploring undersea volcanoes. It amazes me how these boffins can set up an undersea vehicle, program it like an expensive BigTrak, and send it on it’s way to do it’s job - completely without human intervention. For a full list of specs, for the terminally geeky, download the pdf.

Intel have announced their new chip which is going to enter the market late next year. Code named “Larrabee”, the chip will be in addition to their on-board graphics offering they produce at the moment.

With another entrant into the graphics card market, which is dominated by the giants of NVIDIA and AMD (ATi), it should be good for consumers with Intel entering the race. Increased competition which should hopefully drive down prices, but at the very least, push the technology envelope for gamers.

And pushing the envelope is what this new project is all about. Rather than creating faster and faster GPUs, Intel are going to approach it from the multi-core angle: Squeeze as many cores onto a die as possible and let them do the math of a quick GPU. But that isn’t the only consideration for Intel - they are also expecting the technology to kick-start the computing world, preparing everyone for the 100’s or even 1000’s of cores we can expect in tomorrow’s CPUs and GPUs.

The Larrabee platform will initially work alongside DirectX and OpenGL - which hopefully means a good support for other OS’s like Linux in the future - a support that is clearly lacking with the current two big graphics cards manufacturers.

Richard Branson and designer Burt Rutan unveiled the “WhiteKnightTwo” (WK2) in the Mojave desert - the vehicle which will carry the equally badly named “SpaceShipTwo” (SS2) into what is technically a sub-orbit around the Earth.

After previously only seen as a computer generated render, it’s good to see the vehicle in the flesh. Especially so as the aircraft was created completely within a computer - with no full sized models to aid in testing. The aircraft, made completely of carbon composites, has been designed with versatility in mind too - meaning that in the future the platform can be used for things other than the SS2. The WK2 has a ceiling of around about 50,000 ft, which will give the SS2 a kick start into the atmosphere - where it can fire it’s rockets to take the lucky inhabitants up to an altitude of over 350,000 ft.

The tickets cost £100,000 each although I think Richard Branson only really wants to break even - I reckon with his cash, the idea is more appealing than the profit.

The proxy battle that has been in the wings since the start of this whole affair with Carl Icahn, has finally been resolved. Mr Icahn, is to take a seat on the board, plus another 2 members, which will be voted on from a list of 9 possible candidates. The board will expand to 11 members as one of the current members is resigning to concentrate on his other company.

So where does that leave Microsoft now? It appears they will have to go it alone, if they’re still serious about buying Yahoo. However, I think it’s probably the final straw for Steve Bulmer. I don’t see any deals being of great benefit to Microsoft now. Without Carl Icahn fighting for a proxy contest, to oust the current board, Microsoft have nothing to gain, unless they buy the whole company for $33 a share. But then, as we know with this ongoing soap opera, anything can change in an instant.

Don’t worry - the Mission Impossible link is completely warranted here, as this idea was launched with Mission Impossible 3 in Japan last year. So the idea is Flexplay made a DVD with a certain air-reactive chemical on the surface, that when opened from it’s air-tight packaging makes the DVD useless in 48 hours.

So what’s the point? Why not just go to Blockbusters - why would the film studios think this is a good idea - other than as a gimmick? Then there’s the question of what happens to your DVD player if it’s playing one of these when the chemical goes off! Plus if you wanted to keep it, what’s stopping you making a copy like a regular DVD? I think I’m saying that I’m struggling to see the benefit (cost or otherwise) to this idea! Thankfully not available in the UK yet (if they ever will be).

No sooner do I mention small laptops, and in particular the Eee PC’s from Asus, than Tech Radar report the Ebox, their soon-to-be-released desktop version.

Completely different to the Xbox (which is what I keep saying as I read it), the Ebox is thought to be Linux based, supporting the same apps as the Eee PC, and is to be unveiled next week. The home user will probably not be able to get their hands on the Ebox for a few months yet unfortunately, but when you can it should make an excellent second PC, as it comes with 160Gb HDD and 2 Gig of RAM.

Well, you can’t actually buy an open source laptop from VIA, but you can download the specs and get the chips from VIA. The laptop itself, featured in a techcrunch article, is another one of those “small form-factor & cheap” deals that everyone seems to be jumping up and down about. Laptops like the OLPC, the Eee PC & Intel’s Classmate. I’ve always thought that if you want a laptop for surfing, get yourself on Ebay and buy a cheap Compaq and install Linux on it. A quick surf reveals one with Windows 98 on for just £10. Of course it won’t win any beauty contests like the others here, and will probably deduct cool points instead of adding them, but it can’t be beaten for surfing.