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World's first: Fully functional nanotube radio
U.S.-Berkeley researchers develop world’s smallest radio: All four essential components of a radio — antenna, tuner, amplifier, and demodulator — are implemented within a single carbon nanotube; a carbon nanotube is one billionth of a meter in diameter and less than a micron in length
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DARPA-funded UCSD research yields world's most complex phased array
Tritons researchers develop world’s most complex phased array; the 16-element chip is just 3.2 by 2.6 square millimeters, can send at 30-50 GHz
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Lockheed Martin in successful test of THAAD
Lockheed Martin, U.S. Missile Defense Agency successfully test missile defense system in detecting, tracking, and intercepting incoming unitary target above the Earth’s atmosphere
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Nanotechnology used in new anti-ballistic materials
Breakthrough in personal protection equipment: Aussie researchers use carbon nanotubes to create bullet-resistant materials for use in protection of first responders, law enforcement, and soldiers; material causes bullets to bounce off without trace or damage
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NEC successfully tests wideband wearable antenna
The major hurdle in using conductive fabrics was that soldering was not possible; NEC solves problem: Power is supplied to a small flexible print substrate by a soldered coaxial cable, so that power supply is possible through capacity coupling with the substrate
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A first: Reaper armed UAV fires first Hellfire missile in combat
The U.S. Air Force deployed MQ-9A Reaper armed reconnaissance UAVs to Afghanistan, and last week a Reaper launched a missile at enemy combatants some seventy miles from the UAV’s base at Kandahar; al-Queda operatives across the border in Pakistan’s North-West Territories would do well to go even deeper underground
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Maryland State Police to gather critical infrastructure data from air
Johns Hopkins’s APL develops new technology which allows officers to monitor critical infrastructure facilities digitally from the air and quickly locate, inspect important structures during patrols
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Winners announced in two new-approach building competitions
The Solar Decathlon and Lifecycle Building Challenge aim to promote energy independence and better environment through greater reliance on alternative energy and better building design and materials
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Six teams cut in Urban Challenge qualifying round
In qualifying rounds in California, robotic vehicles are tested in self-navigation — no driver, no remote control — through a series of urban challenges; some teams don’t make it
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Belgian police employ blind officers to analyze wiretap recordings
As wiretapping of potential criminal and terrorist-related activity in Belgium grows, so is the need of the Belgian police for individuals with acute and sensitive hearing to analyze wiretaps; police found that some blind individuals have that extra sensitivity to sounds which allows them better to analyze wiretaps
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New bomb detector spray
Israeli chemist develops spray that can detect urea nitrate, a powerful explosive that can be created by amateurs; urea nitrate is commonly used by suicide bombers, and was also used in the first attempt on the World Trade Center in 1993
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Battery-powered textile allows for glowing garments
University of Manchester researchers develop yarns which glow in the dark; this is good news for cyclists, joggers, and pedestrians on dark winter days — but also for first responders and police having to operate in buildings or city streets darkened as a result of power outage
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New baggage screening tool
U.K. researchers to combine scattered X-ray signals with high-resolution 3D X-ray images to give baggage screeners previously unseen information regarding luggage size, shape, and chemical composition of the contents contained in the luggage
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TSA tests Auto-EDS at BWI
Last week TSA sent randomly selected passengers at BWI to be screened by a new screening device from a Massachusetts company; the devices use computed axial tomography (CAT), similar to medical scanners
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ICx delivers underwater radiation detection devices
The Coast Guard is bolstering its ability to detect underwater smuggling of nuclear materials into the U.S.; one way to do so is to equip the service with ICx’s identiFINDER-U
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The long view
Technology Evolves the Tactics: Preparing for the Rise of Terrorist AI Harms
Terrorist groups, like the societies they emerge from, adapt to new technologies. As AI capabilities evolve, so too do the tactics of extremist actors. While the full effects may take years to observe, as the technologies continue to develop, we are starting to see them directly alter extremism tradecraft.
Bookshelf: A Tale of American Lawyers and Chinese Engineers
The U.S. and China have fundamental differences, a new book argues. China would be an “engineering state” whereas the U.S. is a “lawyerly society.” Most Chinese Communist Party leaders have been engineers focused on building mega projects such as highways, bridges, fast trains. and airports. In recent decades the U.S. has become a “lawyerly society” as the country’s elite, dominated by lawyers, focused on procedure and process rather than getting things done.
Europe’s Banks Quietly Mobilize for Economic Warfare
For years, banks treated defense as a reputational issue, as well as an environmental, social and governance risk, often lumping it with tobacco or fossil fuels as something to be managed at arm’s length. That era is ending. Russia’s war in Ukraine, China’s coercive trade tactics and the United States’ pressure on Europe to shoulder more of its defense burden have exposed the limits of moralistic restraint. Financial mobilization is the new norm.
A New Generation of Industries Emerges in Texas as Feds Push to Mine More Rare Minerals
The U.S. doesn’t produce the minerals and metals needed for renewable energy, microchips or military technology. Major oil companies are drilling in East Texas again, but not for oil. This time, they’re after lithium for batteries and other rare elements.
U.S. and Australia Deepen Critical-Minerals Engagement to Counter China
Engagement between Australia and the United States on critical minerals has matured from technical cooperation into a strategic partnership, aligning resource security with clean energy and defense priorities.
Bookshelf: Critical Mineral Dilemmas
Whoever controls the production and processing of lithium, copper and other critical minerals could dominate the 21st century economy, much as producers of fossil fuels defined the 20th century, writes Ernest Scheyder in a new book.