• Researchers fire 1,000th shot on laboratory railgun

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    Scientists reached a milestone in the Electromagnetic Railgun program when they fired a laboratory-scale system for the 1,000th time on 31 October, the raygun is a long-range weapon that launches projectiles using electricity instead of chemical propellants

  • Gecko-inspired tank robot has many applications

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    Researchers have developed a tank-like robot that has the ability to scale smooth walls, making it suitable for a range of applications such as inspecting pipes, buildings, aircraft, and nuclear power plants, and also for search and rescue operations

  • Competition for reassembling shredded documents

    Today’s troops often confiscate the remnants of destroyed documents in war zones, but reconstructing these documents is a daunting task; DARPA, the Pentagon’s research arm, is conducting a competition to find the best technology for reassembling shredded documents

  • Printing a building -- additive manufacturing research moves into construction

    Additive manufacturing — commonly known as 3-D printing — has been used for a surprisingly large range of products and projects, while the devices themselves have continually declined in cost and size; now the technology turns its attention to concrete and building

  • Electronic cotton: smart cloths made from conductive cotton fiber

    The latest breakthrough in cotton fiber research may soon make possible hospital gowns that monitor medical patients and jerseys that test athletic performance

  • Lawmakers seek to protect NY’s growing nanotech industry from terrorists

    Last week during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Senator Charles Schumer (D – New York) strongly urged DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano to secure New York’s growing nanotechnology industry against a Mexican terrorist group that has attacked nanotechnology firms around the world

  • Paper-based wireless sensor detects explosive devices

    Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a prototype wireless sensor capable of detecting trace amounts of a key ingredient found in many explosives; the device, which employs carbon nanotubes and is printed on paper or paper-like material using standard inkjet technology, could be deployed in large numbers to alert authorities to the presence of explosives, such as improvised explosive devices (IEDs)

  • OmniTouch turns any surface into a touch screen

    Researchers at Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon have created a shoulder-mounted device that can turn virtually any surface into an interactive touch screen; with OmniTouch users can now use walls or even the palm of their hands to control their smartphones

  • $35 tablet runs on three watts of power

    Developers are now ready to ramp up production on an ultra-low power $35 tablet device after a year of testing in a remote Indian village

  • Laser keeps an eye for spoiled food

    Minced meat, bread, fruit juice, and many other foods are packaged in a protective gas which extends their shelf life; there is currently no good method to check whether the packaging has the correct gas content — and thus, whether the content is spoiled or not; researchers have developed a new laser instrument which could solve the problem

  • Also noted

    Radar seeing through walls | Computer virus did not target US drone fleet: general | Salmon-Killing Virus Seen for First Time in the Wild on the Pacific Coast | Irvine Sensors Signs Definitive Agreement to Sell Thermal Imaging Business | SAIC Partners With McAfee to Offer Enterprise Ready Protection From Zero Day and Reconnaissance Attacks

  • Software restricts access to sensitive to specific locations

    Researchers have created software to remotely put smart phones under lockdown — an innovation that could aid labs doing sensitive research, secure government and military facilities, and keepers of medical records

  • Global Security Challenge grand final 24-25 October

    Global Security Challenge grand final will be held in London 24-25 October; six start-ups and six SMEs will compete for a prize fund of $500,000

  • Robotic car allows drivers to work while driving

    The overall cost of road congestion in the United Kingdom to business is likely to rise to £23-24 billion a year within the next fifteen years; increasing public transport capacity may help, but experts believe that, with people unwilling to give up cars, the solution is autonomous vehicles: they make road journeys safer, more efficient, and allow people to do work while on their way to the office

  • Mobile consumer devices transmit vital signs

    Researchers turn a smart phone into a medical monitor; an app for smart phones, and eventually tablet devices, is turning these mobile devices into sophisticated medical monitors able to capture and transmit vital physiological data