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Going beyond Moore’s Law
Moore’s law states that the number of transistors in a microchip doubles every two years, but this is just not fast enough for current innovation; European researchers stack several functional chips into a single, extremely small, package
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Ensuring imports' safety offers lucrative business opportunities
Mounting worries about hazardous substances in food, toys, and other consumer goods is creating opportunities for makers of devices which detect such dangers; Bay State businesses seize opportunities
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Private equity firms focus on India's clean technology sector
Several PE firms allocate investments in India’s clean technology sector from their general funds, but others create India-only funds to focus on the sector even more
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Knowledge-based system to aid in suicide bomber detection
Viaspace to apply NASA’s SHINE IA system (the company calls it “real-time inference engine technology”) to develop suicide bomber detection tool
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Phononic computer processes information with heat
In addition to electronic computers and (theoretical) optical computers, we now have heat-based computers; such computers are based on logic gates in which inputs and outputs are represented by different temperatures; in run-of-the-mill electronic computers, inputs and outputs are represented by different voltages
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Former spooks run intelligence gathering and analysis outfit
Erik Prince’s security empire has an outfit called Total Intelligence Solutions which collects intelligence about natural disasters, business-friendly governments, overseas regulations, and global political developments for clients in industry and government
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Combining RFID tags with sensors
RFID tags are also in use to track the location of items to which they are attached; a German research institute develops RFID sensors to continuously monitor moisture, temperature, light, and acceleration; new tags will keep a closer eye items throughout the supply chain, and may be used to secure cargo containers
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Carnegie Mellon wins Urban Challenge
Tartan racing team wins DARPA’s robotic vehicles contest; Stanford comes in second, Virginia Tech third; cause of robotic driving machines advanced
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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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The long view
What If We Used AI to Strengthen Democracy?
AI is just the latest technology in a long line of innovations through history that have influenced politics. While many experts fear artificial intelligence will be deployed to weaken democracy, examples abound around the world of it being used to make systems fairer. Surveillance, control, propaganda aren’t the only options, says security technologist.
The Trump Administration’s Cyber Strategy Fundamentally Misunderstands China’s Threat
The adoption of an offense-first strategy is a dangerous miscalculation. It will not diminish Beijing’s campaigns, and it coincides with a significant deterioration of cyber defenses that have kept U.S. networks and Americans safe.
Allfare: China’s Whole-of-Nation Strategy
To analyze how states exert their influence, scholars often compartmentalize actions into rigid analytical frameworks, which obscures the holistic scope of the challenge.
Counter-Drone Technologies Are Evolving – but There’s No Surefire Way to Defend Against Drone Attacks
Together, these three types of counter-drone technologies – radio frequency, directed energy and kinetic – provide a comprehensive tool kit for addressing the diverse threats posed by unauthorized drones. However, there is no single ideal solution to counter these threats.
A New Way to Make Steel Could Reduce America’s Reliance on Imports
America has been making steel from iron ore the same way for hundreds of years. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been making enough of it. Today the U.S. is the world’s largest steel importer, relying on other countries to produce a material that serves as the backbone of our society. Hertha Metals uses natural gas and electricity to produce steel and high-purity iron for magnets.