-
High-school team wins dancing robot competition
Israeli students shine at international robotics dancing competition; RobCup, the Japanese organization behind the competiton, aims to foster artificial intelligence and robotics research
-
-
Poultry farmers protest DHS rules over propane tanks
DHS rules that propane gas is a “chemical of interest” — and, under the stipulations of the new chemical plant safety law, hundreds of thousands of U.S. poultry farmers must now register with the agency
-
-
Bulletproof backpacks in U.S.
What’s the world coming to: Massachusetts company does brisk business in bulletproof backpacks for school-bound kids
-
-
Robot wars are a reality, so we should develop rules to govern them
More and more, armies give power of life-and-death decisions to machines without reason or conscience; we may want to pause and reflect on this trend
-
-
Robot pilots prove adept at refuelling tasks
Mid-air refueling is tricky, but DARPA has been testing robots that perform the mission impressively
-
-
Directed-energy gun maker receives more money
Critics charge that Ionatron’s ray-gun idea is a “pipe dream on a fast track to zero,” but the weapon system perseveres, and receives more research money from the military
-
-
Vestal shows hand-grenade watch
California company offers a Grenade Watch: It gives you that chic, snappy suicide-bomber look without having to undergo demanding training in Pakistan, messy explosions, and painful martyrdom
-
-
U.S. military grapples with UAV control questions
As more and more UAVs are deployed in the theater, and as the military envisions a UAV-dependent future, the armed services are locked in a bitter fight over who will control these systems
-
-
Behvioral observation method to help athletes, doctors
Technology used to observe and identify suspicious behavior in crowds will be used to help U.K. athletes prepare for 2012 Olympic Games; DARPA uses similar technique to help develop more human-like artifical limbs for injured soldiers
-
-
Eye-catching new Taser sparks controversy
Taser International, not a stranger to controversy, unveils a new — and controversial — designer taser gun; some of the nation’s top police authorities are concerned that the gadgets could easily wind up in the wrong hands
-
-
Costs of changing U.S. passport system to reach $1 billion
Congress, DHS want Amercians traveling to Western Hemisphere countries to carry passports; the administration initially figured it would cost $289 million between 2006 and 2008 to handle the increase in demand for passports; in fact, it will cost about 1 billion
-
-
Company shows new non-lethal weapon
Intelligent Optical Systems unveils its LED Incapacitator, a non-lethal defense system for law enforcement and antiterrorism
-
-
Elbit Systems reports second quarter 2007 results
Innovative defense contractor acquires Tadira Communication, shows 36 percent revenue growth over second quarter 2006
-
-
Jammers increasingly used to fight IEDs
From July 2003 to July 2007, 1,565 coalition forces were killed by IEDs; by the end of 2007, the Pentagon will have funded more than 30,000 jammers for Marine and Army units; DOD has spent $1.6 billion on jamming technology for this fiscal year; opportunities for technology companies
-
-
DARPA outlines technologies in which it is most interested
From chip-scale atomic clock to real-time accurate language translation to Newton’s laws for biology, DARPA is funding research along a broad front
-
The long view
Glaciers May Be Melting Faster Than We Expected
From Alaska to Antarctica, thousands of glaciers flow over the land and out to the ocean. These tidewater glaciers are rapidly retreating and melting, like much of Earth’s ice, continually adding to rising sea levels. But to date, scientists have struggled to pinpoint where on the face of a glacier’s terminus the most intense melting occurs—and exactly how fast it is happening. Until now.
Upholding Scientific Integrity at Federal Agencies
Republicans and Democrats on a House subcommittee on Thursday agreed that science-related policy decisions should be based on facts, but differed on how to protect the federal scientists who gather and analyze those facts from undue influence.
Hackers’ Latest Target: School Districts
Some hackers demand ransom; others sweep up personal data for sale to identity thieves. But whatever hackers’ motives, school systems around the country have been the targets of their cyberattacks. Nearly two-thirds of school districts in the United States serve fewer than 2,500 students, and many do not have a staff member dedicated solely to cybersecurity.
U.S. and Australia Team Up against China's Dominance in Rare Earths
An Australian rare-earth producer has enlisted an American partner to help it chip away at China’s dominance in supplying minerals that are crucial to making smartphones, missiles, batteries for electric vehicles and a long list of high-tech products. China has used its rare-earth dominance as a weapon in previous trade disputes and has signaled that it could do so again in its current fight with the U.S.
Coping with Climate Change with Forecast-Based Aid
Traditionally, disaster victims have received assistance after trouble hits. If a region is flooded, say, people in the area may get aid to rebuild. But a new approach to humanitarian giving is flipping the script and offering help in advance of disaster, using in-depth weather forecasting and risk analysis to predict future victims.
The World's Aging Dams Are Not Built for Ever More Extreme Weather
The town of Whaley Bridge in the UK has had to be evacuated after damage to a dam built in 1831. The Toddbrook Reservoir is just one of many ageing dams worldwide not designed for ever more extreme rainfall as the planet warms. Dams are typically designed to cope with a so-called 1-in-100-year flood event. But as the world warms the odds of extreme rainfall are changing, meaning the risk of failure is far greater. Engineers have been warning for years that many old dams around the world are already unsafe and need upgrading or dismantling.