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First true invisibility cloak created
University of Maryland researchers develop first true invisibility cloak; it is still small — well, at 10 micrometres in diameter, very small — and works only in two dimensions, but shows that true invisibility is practicable
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Army researchers develop IED-detecting radar
Researchers at the Army Research Lab develop new low-frequency, ultra-wideband radar which detects IEDs, senses through walls, and supports robotic ground vehicles
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Stanford researchers offer revolutionary design for computer chips
Moore’s law stipulates that the number of transistors squeezed onto a computer chip can be doubled about every two years; the law was threteaned by the damaging heat generated by the chips as their transistors become more densely packed; new design solves problem; “What we managed to do is basically get rid of the magnetic field,” says lead researcher
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NASA engineers develop FISMA compliance tool
NASA engineers are good at developing complex space exploration systems, but they were frustrated by the demanding FISMA compliance and reporting requirements; so they developed an automated tool to take care of it
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Argneitna warms up to UAVs
Argentina plans to increase use of UAVs for various homeland security and law enforcement missions
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DuPont to invest $500 million to expand Kevlar production
Growing demand for personal and vehicle protection conveniences company to increase Kevlar production capacity by 25 perent
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Mechanical mole seeks out disaster survivors under collapsed buildings
Robots already roll, walk, slither, and even “swarm” to locate or help survivors, so why not dig and burrow? University of Manchester rsearchers build a digging robot which imitates the common European mole
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InRob Tech leverages military technology in civilian markets
A remote-control and robotics specialist uses technologies developed for defense and homeland security for civilian market applications
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Elephant trap for truck-bombs
A truck bomb killed 241 soliders in Beirut in 1983, and they continue to reap their grim harvest in Iraq and Afghanistan; a designer suggests an elephant-trap design as proetction
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Herding swarming robots
Individual autonomous machines are now in wide use on land, in the air, and at sea for defense and homeland security missions; using several of these robots together, in a coordinated fashion, is difficult; an MIT researcher offers a way to use “swarming” robots which talk to each other
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Bottle makes dirty water drinkable; ideal for post diaster relief
A bottle which purifies even the dirtiest water — it uses filter which cuts out anything longer than 15 nanometres, which means that viruses are filtered out — is ideal for post-disaster relief, soldiers in the field
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Military GPS technology to be marketed domestically
Rockwell Collins will market its Polaris-branded devices, popular in the military, to homeland security and search and rescue agencies
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Body sensor network to improve individual's performance, safety
Imperial College London’s researcher develops sensor which monitors athletes’ performance; it may be used to monitor soldiers, first responders — and the sick and the eledrly
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Flying saucer technology to aid military, law enforcement
Small British company makes a UAV flying saucer; applications include close quarter surveillance and intelligence gathering for military and law enforcement, mountain rescue, and farming
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U.K. researchers to develop new communication signals analysis
The extreme risks and rapid time frames associated with terrorist activities make it difficult to gather evidence that might prevent an attack or lead to successful prosecution; analyzing communication signals with with forensic psychology techniques should help
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The long view
The West is ill-prepared for the wave of “deep fakes” that artificial intelligence could unleash
Russian disinformation has become a growing problem for Western countries. European nations are finally taking action, which is an important first step, but Chris Meserole and Alina Polyakova write “to get ahead of the problem, policymakers in Europe and the United States should focus on the coming wave of disruptive technologies. Fueled by advances in artificial intelligence and decentralized computing, the next generation of disinformation promises to be even more sophisticated and difficult to detect.” Bigger data, better algorithms, and custom hardware promise to democratize the creation of fake print, audio, and video stories. “Deep fakes and the democratization of disinformation will prove challenging for governments and civil society to counter effectively,” Meserole and Alina Polyakova warn.
New phishing protection for mobile devices
DHS S&T said that new and enhanced mobile phishing and content protection capabilities are being transitioned to the government and private-sector. Phishing protection, an important and first-of-its kind feature for mobile devices, was introduced to block mobile phishing attacks designed to steal user credentials or deliver malware. Beyond simply detecting phishing attempts in SMS messages, the system also detects and prevents attacks that hide inside mobile apps, social media messages, and in personal and corporate email.
Nature’s remedies: Using viruses against drug-resistant bacteria
With microbial resistance to antibiotics growing into a major global health crisis, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, in collaboration with national research institutions and private industry, are leveraging hard-won expertise to exploit a natural viral enemy of pathogenic bacteria, creating North America’s first Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics (IPATH). The plan is to use viruses as new weapon against multidrug-resistant bacteria.
White supremacist propaganda on U.S. college campuses on the rise
White supremacist groups continued to escalate their propaganda campaign targeting U.S. college campuses, with incidents increasing by 77 percent during the 2017-2018 academic year, according to new data released today by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). “The alt-right segment of the white supremacist movement remains a driving force behind this activity,” says the ADL’s Center on Extremism.
New simulations show potential impact of major quakes by building location, size
With unprecedented resolution, scientists and engineers are simulating precisely how a large-magnitude earthquake along the Hayward Fault would affect different locations and buildings across the San Francisco Bay Area. Researchers are leveraging powerful supercomputers to portray the impact of high-frequency ground motion on thousands of representative different-sized buildings spread out across the California region.
VR tech to help understand, ease the cognitive overload on first responders
First responders’ lives depend on their ability to navigate structures during an emergency — a task researchers hope to make easier by using virtual reality technology to help understand cognitive overload, which occurs when smoke, fire, and stress combine to thwart a first responder’s sense of direction.