Technological innovation

  • Doubling the service life of concrete

    NIST researchers double the service life of concrete The key to the idea is a nano-sized additive that slows down penetration of chloride and sulphate ions from road salt, sea water, and soils into the concrete

  • BriefCam launches CCTV video synopsis technology

    Video synopsis technology allows one day of surveillance camera footage to be condensed into a few minutes, thus allowing security personnel to focus on evens that require attention while reducing costs

  • Reducing casualties from friendly fire

    With all the advances in information gathering and precision, instances of death and injury from friendly fire still occur; U.S. Army awards BAE Systems and Thales a contract to develop a millimeter wave-based identification system

  • Growing interest in flexible display -- for both soldiering and profit

    U.S. Army invests $50 million in flexible displays, bringing its total investment since 2004 to $100 million; flexible displays are paper-thin electronic screens that can be bent, mounted onto objects, and sewn into clothing

  • U.S. rocketry competition is under way

    Future rocket scientists: Twenty college teams to meet in Huntsville, Alabama, to compete in rocket design; event is designed to inspire young people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics

  • Annual space trajectory competition begins

    European Space Agency announces Global Trajectory Optimization Competition; competition seeks to find the best solution to an interplanetary trajectory problem

  • Bomb-proof concrete developed

    Liverpool University researchers develop blast-resistant concrete; the Ultra High Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete is able to absorb a thousand times more energy than conventional mixtures

  • How long will the world's uranium deposits last?

    At current consumption rates, the planet’s economically accessible uranium resources could fuel reactors for more than 200 years; further exploration and improvements in extraction technology are likely to at least double this estimate over time; if we extract uranium from seawater, and build breeder reactors, then supplies will last 30,000 to 60,000 years

  • NASA working on sonic boom-less jets

    Sonic booms are one of the major downsides of supersonic jets; they may not matter much over the battlefield, but are a hindrance in civilian aviation — the noise was sufficient to restrict the Mach-2 Concorde to subsonic speeds when over land

  • Advanced armor steel developed

    Super-strong military armor could be easier and less expensive to manufacture with a new steel-making process developed by a U.K. Ministry of Defense research facility

  • USDA's IG warns about flood of genetically modified crops

    Experts expect the number of genetically modified crops and traits, and the number of countries producing them, to double by 2015, raising the risks of imports of GM crops unknown to the USDA; worry centers on countries such as China, India, and Brazil where health and safety standards are more lax

  • Smiths Detection shows active mm-wave detection system

    Passive mm-wave detection systems pick up the mm-wave heat energy emitted by the body, which is used as a background reference point; active systems transmit mm-wave into the detection area to boost the level of energy overall, give a better return and a more detailed image

  • New car-stopper uses squids' tentacle-based approach

    Looking for an answer to stop fleeing cars or suicide trucks hurtling toward their target, an Arizona company developed a tentacle-based device that ensnares the vehicle and brings it to a halt

  • Researchers develop silent UAVs

    UAVs are used more and more in surveillance and operational roles on the battlefield — and by the police; the larger UAVs are very noisy, announcing their presence and allowing the adversary to hide or escape; Georgia Institute of Technology researchers work on equipping UAVs with a “whisper” mode

  • ScanEagle offers and example of dual-use technology

    Initially developed to track dolphins and tuna from fishing boats in order to ensure “dolphin-safe” tuna in supermarkets, the ScanEagle UAV system has evolved into a mainstay with the U.S. Navy — and others as well