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South Korea unveils armed guard robot for border, critical infrastructure sentry missions
Wait ‘til Representatives Steve King and Tom Tancredo hear about this: A South Korean consortium develops an armed robot for guard mission along border and around critical infrastructure facilities; the robot can identify moving targets from as far as a mile, and it has ‘ears” which understand passwords
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Lockheed Martin to develop stratospheric airship fabric
It’s not your father’s Hindenburg; dirigibles — in their traditional, lighter-than-air configuration or in hybrid form — are gaining popularity as intelligence observation posts high in the sky (Israel, for example, has one parked high above the Gaza Strip, and a couple in the north, keeping an eye on the goings on inside Lebanon); the Pentagon wants airships for intelligence, too, but it is also considering the craft for transporting troops and equipment; oil and gas companies want to use them to ferry supplies and equipment to remote locations, and other commercial entities show interest as well
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SecureRF shows new, more efficient security algorithm for RFIDs
RFID technology is gaining adherents in more and more sectors, so it is good to see a technology which promises to enhance to security and economy of the tags receiving the recognitions it deserves
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DHS installs first RFID e-passport readers; will meet Congress’s 26 October deadline
he first RFID readers have been installed at SFI for the purpose of reading biometric information off passports from U.S. and visa waiver program countries; DHS will roll out readers to all major U.S. ports of entry
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Computers to tell fact from opinion in newspaper articles
Inquiring minds want to know whether what people say about the U.S. is based on fact or is mere opinion; DHS has allocated $2.4 million to a consortium of three universities to develop machine-learning algorithms which computers will use to engage more effectively and accurately in information extraction
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IBM, University of Georgia to study the secret of business success
IBM gives the University of Georgia money to study the secrets behind IBM’s success, and draw broader lessons from these successes so that technology companies would more effectively implement business strategies which enhance the chances of success in bringing innovative technology to market
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Maryland agencies team up for homeland security business plan competition
First-in-the-nation Chesapeake Innovation Center teams up with state Department of Business and Economic Development to offer $50,000 homeland security prize; companies have until 15 November to submit appliications
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DHS to encourage development of liquid explosives detection technology
New DHS technology chief says developing technologies to detect liquid explosives is the department’s priority, and that companies offering devices that do that will be accelerated through the process of granting their products liability protection
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EOIR receives $7.8 in additional Army contracts
Work for the U.S. Army’s Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate to focus on new sensor technology; company will develop countermine and EO/IR components and ATR-signal processing schemes
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Icuiti to provide goggle-mounted displays to the Pentagon
Made in the USA: Bucking the outsourcing trend, an upstate New York technology company proudly proclaims that it will rely on local vendors to manufacture the various components of its sophisticated high-resolution goggle-mounted SVGA display
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SecureRF announces new breakthrough in RFID cryptography
Algebraic Eraser algorithms rely on a large quantity of small numbers to stop digital pick-pocketing; technique increases processing speed without compromising security
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Cray XT3 supercomputer reaches 54 teraflops
Overhaul at Oak Ridge National Laboratory makes XT3 among fastest computers in the world
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Saab in development talks for new UAV
Company looking to build on pre-existing airframe designs; currently in talks with manufacturers; low observable technologies to be excluded
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Boeing hopes to land SBInet contract
Boeing assembles impressive team to put itself in strong position to win the $2 billion SBInet contract, to be awarded in September; and a good thing, too, as company prepares to shut down C-17 production line; hard to believe, but the C-17 factory is the last major airplane factory left in Southern California
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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.