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IPAT acquires Hilson Research
Two leading personality and ability testing firms merge; growing demand for testing of personnel in high-risk occupations
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Acxiom acquires Harbinger
Harbinger has developed a powerful search engine which, among other things, extracts and validates intelligence derived from foreign languages; the technology will enhance Acxiom’s offerings
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Florida cities unveil technology wish lists
Cities from Miramar to Pembroke Pines get ready to spend their Urban Areas Security Initiative dollars; metal detectors and mobile traffic light manufacturers will find opportunities in the Sunshine State
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Body armor business booms
Companies such as Ceradyne and Armor Holding post large gains after DoD spends $5 billion in five years to protect troops; smaller companies find niche markets in custom-wear, police
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ITT slapped with $100 million fine for illegally exporting military technology
ITT admits to two felonies for violating the 1976 Arms Export Control Act by illegally shipping night-vision gear to China
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USBX reports heavy merger activity
Explosives detection and video surveillance among segments under consolidation; M&A increased 50 percent overall last year, says research firm
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Investors in Intelligentias convert debt position to stock
The NSA domestic spying brouhaha offered an inkling of the commercial potential of data collection and retention; debt holders of a data retention company agree, converting their debt into equity
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The age of cooperative control of robots nears
Sophisticated robots perform many complex — and dangerous —military and homeland security missions; Dartmouth researchers work on moving beyond one-soldier-per-robot approach to allow one sodier to control several robots
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DHS makes twenty-two small business awards
Winning companies will receive up to $100,000 to refine their ideas; contracts given in WMD detection, ground sensors, mobile biological assays, emergency pre-planning software systems, and simulation training
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Russia, Disney World say nyet to the gas-powered shoe
An inventor bemoans his country’s inhospitality to commercial development; western venture capital firms ignore the country’s inventors, but new technology parks are planned
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Aberdeen Proving Ground at full speed
Experimental tank armor must master the combine; center activity up 87 percent since 9/11
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International Technology Centers face the axe
Just the latest in a series of blows to military research, Army’s technology outposts looked for foreign start-ups to bring into DoD; “buy American” rules stifle innovation, but China is not so concerned
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Patent Office unveils Wiki site to help sort claims
Project with IBM will help weed out junk patents; Microsoft, Oracle, and other software companies volunteer to place their claims under heightened scrutiny; scheme is just the latest in the Wikification of the federal government
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British test metal detecting gloves
$200 robogloves permit clandestine detection; when metal is found, the Kevlar device begins to vibrate
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Chesapeake Innovation Center struggles
Interim director resigns as CIC confronts looming budget problems; calls mount to take the center under private management; new leadership reaches out to Northrop Grumman and others; loss of NSA contract a major blow
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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.”
A Brief History of Federal Funding for Basic Science
Biomedical science in the United States is at a crossroads. For 75 years, the federal government has partnered with academic institutions, fueling discoveries that have transformed medicine and saved lives. Recent moves by the Trump administration — including funding cuts and proposed changes to how research support is allocated — now threaten this legacy.
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.