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Getting closer to undestadning the mysteries of fusion energy
University of Nevada researchers found the microscopic effects that cause inefficiencies limiting the conversion of electrical energy required for implosion energy; the key to their discovery: The realization that mass transport during implosion could be improved if one could understand the dynamics on a shorter time scale
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Airborne chemical laser is here
This is more than twenty years after Ronald Reagan’s March 1983 Star War speech, but his vision of building an effective defense against ballistic missiles is a step — more accurately, a small baby step — closer; Boeing and partners demonstrates an airborne chemical laser, an important ingredient in any such defense
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New composite materials promise of efficiency and ruggedness
Cast metal matrix composites, or MMCs, can be used to make more economical cars; car engines which consume less energy and can keep running on low oil; lead-free plumbing fixtures; tanks that are light enough to be airlifted; and buildings, including bomb shelters, which are more blast-proof and fire-resistant
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U.S. military to spend $3 billion on mobile WiMAX
The mobile version of WiMAX (802.16e) is of great interest to first responders, law enforcement, and other public safety organizations; the technology has not yet been formally ratified, but in South Korea a local version, called WiBro, is already commercially available, and the U.S. military is about to sign a $3 billion contract to buy it so it could incorporate it in its command and control communication system
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Praise for the Global Security Challenge London event
The Global Security Challenge conference was held in London last Thursday, and document and assset authentication specialist Ingenia Technology won the first prize; one participant observed: “This conference demonstrated how you can catalyze the innovation cycle by bringing together technologists and business leaders and cut through many of the bureaucratic hurdles that hinder more effective R&D in the security arena”
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U.S. Navy, DHS seek proposal for laser weapons
U.S. defense and homeland security agencies want information on building a laser weapon capable of thwarting a demanding range of threats, among them ” Jet Skis, small-boat swarm attacks, rockets, mortars, artillery rounds, shoulder-fired missiles, electro-optic sensors, and soft, unmanned aerial vehicles,” and more
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The robots are coming, the robots are coming
DARPA’s Urban Challenge competition aims to promote the development of robotic cars (or “autonomous vehicle technology”) to be used in urban warfare, law enforcement, and first response; winners receive up to $1 million to develop their ideas; nearly 90 competitors have signed up
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Now you see it, now you don’t
Blue Devils researchers develop a cloak which makes objects invisible to microwave beams; the cloak is based on a new design theory developed by Sir John Pendry of Imperial College London, and these principles may ultimately lead to the production of cloaks which confer invisibility within the visible frequency range
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Researchers develop portable lab on a chip to identify WMD contamination
Soldiers and first responders are exposed to chemical and biological threats, so there is a need to develop a quick and accurate technology to identify dangerous exposure — a technology, moreover, which can be carried easily into the field or the urban disaster area to perform on-the-spot contamination checks; researchers affiliated with MIT have developed such a technology
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Laser powered by recycled fuel tested
Here is a useful idea which would go a long way toward solving the logistical problems associated with operating laser weapons in the field: Use hydrogen peroxide and chlorine regenerated from waste products from prior laser operations
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EST to test zNose technology in Iraq
After testing in a simulated Iraqi village, the explosives detection system is ready to be used for checkpoint inspections and for “interrogating buildings” for bomb materials; wartime appplication just one for this versatile technology
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Raytheon shipping microwave nonlethal weapon systems
Militaries and law enforcement units have been intrigued by non-lethal weapons — weapons occupying the territory between shoot and shout — for more than four decades, but with few exceptions (taser guns, stun grenades) these weapons have not been widely deployed; Raytheon hopes that its microwave-based Silent Guardian will prove to be the exception
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South Korea unveils armed guard robot for border, critical infrastructure sentry missions
Wait ‘til Representatives Steve King and Tom Tancredo hear about this: A South Korean consortium develops an armed robot for guard mission along border and around critical infrastructure facilities; the robot can identify moving targets from as far as a mile, and it has ‘ears” which understand passwords
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Lockheed Martin to develop stratospheric airship fabric
It’s not your father’s Hindenburg; dirigibles — in their traditional, lighter-than-air configuration or in hybrid form — are gaining popularity as intelligence observation posts high in the sky (Israel, for example, has one parked high above the Gaza Strip, and a couple in the north, keeping an eye on the goings on inside Lebanon); the Pentagon wants airships for intelligence, too, but it is also considering the craft for transporting troops and equipment; oil and gas companies want to use them to ferry supplies and equipment to remote locations, and other commercial entities show interest as well
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SecureRF shows new, more efficient security algorithm for RFIDs
RFID technology is gaining adherents in more and more sectors, so it is good to see a technology which promises to enhance to security and economy of the tags receiving the recognitions it deserves
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More headlines
The long view
Autonomous Vehicle Technology Vulnerable to Road Object Spoofing and Vanishing Attacks
Researchers have demonstrated the potentially hazardous vulnerabilities associated with the technology called LiDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging, many autonomous vehicles use to navigate streets, roads and highways. The researchers have shown how to use lasers to fool LiDAR into “seeing” objects that are not present and missing those that are – deficiencies that can cause unwarranted and unsafe braking or collisions.
Tantalizing Method to Study Cyberdeterrence
Tantalus is unlike most war games because it is experimental instead of experiential — the immersive game differs by overlapping scientific rigor and quantitative assessment methods with the experimental sciences, and experimental war gaming provides insightful data for real-world cyberattacks.
Prototype Self-Service Screening System Unveiled
TSA and DHS S&T unveiled a prototype checkpoint technology, the self-service screening system, at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas, NV. The aim is to provide a near self-sufficient passenger screening process while enabling passengers to directly receive on-person alarm information and allow for the passenger self-resolution of those alarms.
Falling Space Debris: How High Is the Risk I'll Get Hit?
An International Space Station battery fell back to Earth and, luckily, splashed down harmlessly in the Atlantic. Should we have worried? Space debris reenters our atmosphere every week.
Testing Cutting-Edge Counter-Drone Technology
Drones have many positive applications, bad actors can use them for nefarious purposes. Two recent field demonstrations brought government, academia, and industry together to evaluate innovative counter-unmanned aircraft systems.
Strengthening the Grid’s ‘Backbone’ with Hydropower
Argonne-led studies investigate how hydropower could help add more clean energy to the grid, how it generates value as grids add more renewable energy, and how liner technology can improve hydropower efficiency.