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Robot sub recharger
Autonomous underwater vehicles perform more and more missions for both scientific research and security; charging their batteries, though, has always been a problem; a new patent application offers a solution
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Weight-sensitive aircraft seats
New plane or helicopter seats will rely on active suspension to sense the forces on the seat and change its levels of cushioning; the seat uses a magnetorheological fluid damper
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Smith Detection shows peroxide vapor detector
Peroxide is used in many household chemicals — and by terrorists; Smith Detection shows a hand-held detector which allows for fast detection of IEDs; military and airline industry are primary markets
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U.S. federal agencies ready for IPv6 D-Day (which is today)
Agencies expect to meet 30 June deadline; future of IPv6 awaits new president; IPv4 — the current version of the Internet — is running out of address space; IPv6 provides many more addresses — 2 to the 128th power
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Airless tires may be a lifesaver in military combat
A Wisconsin company and Badgers researchers develop an airless tire that can withstand extreme punishment, even those meted out in military combat zones
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Acoustic cloak silences nuisance noise
Spanish researchers prove metamaterials can be designed to produce an acoustic cloak — a cloak that can make objects impervious to sound waves
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Super-sensitive explosives detector
Innovative explosives detector can detect explosives at distances exceeding 20 yards; the technology is a variation of photoacoustic spectroscopy but overcomes a number of problems associated with this technique
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New biological, chemical decontamination solution
An airborne and surface decontamination system delivers a decontaminant mist that results in rapid surface area contact and full non-line-of-sight coverage
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Food inspection technology improves food safety
New inspection X-ray technology developed by European researchers is helping to ensure that the only thing in people’s dinners is the food itself
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Wireless communication under water
Acoustic time reversal cleans up underwater sound signals, extending their range and capacity
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U.S. DOE offers $1.3 billion funding for clean coal technology
The Bush administration sees clean coal as a vital component of its energy policy, and the Department of Energy announced a funding opportunity of $1.3 billion for companies and organizations doing research and development of clean coal
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Hybrid trucks could save fuel and the environment
Sales of small- to medium-size hybrid passenger cars are growing fast, but hybrid technology for trucks is about a decade behind; U.S. Congress wants to change that
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New CCTV cameras can see and hear
Researchers teach intelligent CCTV to “hear” as well as see; the CCTV’s artificial intelligence software is being taught to recognize sounds associated with crimes, including breaking glass, shouted obscenities, and car alarms going off
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New X-ray technology order of magnitude brighter
The electron pulse enters an undulator and generates an X-ray which is reflected back into the undulator entrance by crystals and connects with the next electron bunch and again travels back along the undulator
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GM, Carnegie Mellon collaborate on autonomous driving
General Motors and Carnegie Mellon University have collaborated on an autonomous vehicle which was entered in DARPA 2007 Urban Challenge competition; the now commit to expanding their collaboration with the aim of accelerating the emerging field of autonomous driving
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The long view
Are We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?
Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”
Bookshelf: Preserving the U.S. Technological Republic
The United States since its founding has always been a technological republic, one whose place in the world has been made possible and advanced by its capacity for innovation. But our present advantage cannot be taken for granted.
Autonomous Weapon Systems: No Human-in-the-Loop Required, and Other Myths Dispelled
“The United States has a strong policy on autonomy in weapon systems that simultaneously enables their development and deployment and ensures they could be used in an effective manner, meaning the systems work as intended, with the same minimal risk of accidents or errors that all weapon systems have,” Michael Horowitz writes.
Ukraine Drone Strikes on Russian Airbase Reveal Any Country Is Vulnerable to the Same Kind of Attack
Air defense systems are built on the assumption that threats come from above and from beyond national borders. But Ukraine’s coordinated drone strike on 1 June on five airbases deep inside Russian territory exposed what happens when states are attacked from below and from within. In low-level airspace, visibility drops, responsibility fragments, and detection tools lose their edge. Drones arrive unannounced, response times lag, coordination breaks.
Shots to the Dome—Why We Can’t Model US Missile Defense on Israel’s “Iron Dome”
Starting an arms race where the costs are stacked against you at a time when debt-to-GDP is approaching an all-time high seems reckless. All in all, the idea behind Golden Dome is still quite undercooked.
Our Online World Relies on Encryption. What Happens If It Fails?
Quantum computers will make traditional data encryption techniques obsolete; BU researchers have turned to physics to come up with better defenses.
Virtual Models Paving the Way for Advanced Nuclear Reactors
Computer models predict how reactors will behave, helping operators make decisions in real time. The digital twin technology using graph-neural networks may boost nuclear reactor efficiency and reliability.
Critical Minerals Don’t Belong in Landfills – Microwave Tech Offers a Cleaner Way to Reclaim Them from E-waste
E-waste recycling focuses on retrieving steel, copper, aluminum, but ignores tiny specks of critical materials. Once technology becomes available to recover these tiny but valuable specks of critical materials quickly and affordably, the U.S. can transform domestic recycling and take a big step toward solving its shortage of critical materials.
Microbes That Extract Rare Earth Elements Also Can Capture Carbon
A small but mighty microbe can safely extract the rare earth and other critical elements for building everything from satellites to solar panels – and it has another superpower: capturing carbon dioxide.
Virtual Models Paving the Way for Advanced Nuclear Reactors
Computer models predict how reactors will behave, helping operators make decisions in real time. The digital twin technology using graph-neural networks may boost nuclear reactor efficiency and reliability.
Critical Minerals Don’t Belong in Landfills – Microwave Tech Offers a Cleaner Way to Reclaim Them from E-waste
E-waste recycling focuses on retrieving steel, copper, aluminum, but ignores tiny specks of critical materials. Once technology becomes available to recover these tiny but valuable specks of critical materials quickly and affordably, the U.S. can transform domestic recycling and take a big step toward solving its shortage of critical materials.
Microbes That Extract Rare Earth Elements Also Can Capture Carbon
A small but mighty microbe can safely extract the rare earth and other critical elements for building everything from satellites to solar panels – and it has another superpower: capturing carbon dioxide.