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Laser has clinical, security applications
A novel laser system that could help detect bone diseases — and airport security; the spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (SORS) instrument uses a technique that allows it to scan deep into human tissue; the instrument is also being studied as a bottle and packaging scanner for airport security and is already used to assess the content of drugs
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DARPA, NASA collaborate on "100-Year Starship" project
DARPA, NASA collaborate on a study to examine the business model needed to develop and mature a technology portfolio enabling long-distance manned space flight a century from now; “The 100-Year Starship study looks to develop the business case for an enduring organization designed to incentivize breakthrough technologies enabling future spaceflight,” the mission statement says
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Strongest-ever nano-material developed
Israeli scientists develop a revolutionary new ball-shaped nanostructure — fully derived from very simple organic elements yet strong as steel; potential uses of the nanotechnology include bullet-proof vests, medical implants, space, and aviation applications
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New cotton fabric stays waterproof through 250 washes
Most waterproofed fabrics lose their super-hydrophobic properties after only one or two washes, and they become uncomfortable to wear because they do not allow air flow through the material. In contrast, the new fabric, which according to the researchers looks almost identical to ordinary cotton fabric, is completely impermeable and breathable, and retains its properties even after being laundered many times
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Northrop shows big-gun armed robot
Northrop took its Carry-all Mechanized Equipment Landrover, or CaMEL — a 60-inch-tall treaded vehicle capable of carrying an impressive 1,200 pounds of stuff — and put a massive .50 caliber M2 machine gun on it; Israel has already ordered 60 of them, and the U.S. Army is considering (after an unpleasant experience with an earlier armed robot in Iraq two years ago)
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Boeing shows a plane-helicopter combo
The DARPA-funded, Boeing-developed DiscRotor combines the hovering ability and landing control of a helicopter with the high-speed, high-altitude flight capabilities of a plane, something that could be of use especially in military situations
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Four vans go from Italy to China -- without driver or map
Four vans, equipped with four solar-powered laser scanners and seven video cameras that work together to detect and avoid obstacles, successfully ended an 8,000-mile test drive from Italy to China; the sensors on the vehicles enabled them to navigate through wide extremes in road, traffic, and weather conditions
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Japan to test walk-through explosive sniffers
Japan will test a walk-through explosive detectors during the November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit; not many details about the Hitachi-built sniffer have been released, but a description of how it operates brings to mind the troubled Puffer Machine, which was tried at U.S. airports in 2008 and later rejected
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Oxford U researchers harness tidal energy
U.K. waters are estimated to offer 10 percent of the global extractable tidal resource; an Oxford University spin-off has been set up to commercialize a tidal turbine concept developed by Oxford researchers
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Facial-recognition technology comes to mobile phones
Scientists at the University of Manchester have developed software for mobile phones that can track your facial features in real time; eventually it will be able to tell who the user is, where they are looking, and even how they are feeling
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Miniature tracking chip offers high accuracy
An Irish start-up has developed a tracking chip claimed to be more accurate and cost competitive than other comparable technologies such as RFID and Wi-Fi; the chip could be used for a variety of applications such as locating soldiers on the battlefield, tracking the movements of firemen in a burning building, or sourcing medical equipment in a hospital
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Robotic attachment uses balloon, coffee to grasp objects
DARPA-funded research yields a new robotic gripping attachment which relies on ground coffee and a party balloon; The manipulator presses a soft balloon full of loose coffee grounds down on the object to be gripped; the air is sucked out of the balloon, causing the coffee granules to press together and lock into a rigid shape — causing the object to be securely grasped by the manipulator; the object can be released as desired by ending the suction on the granule-filled bulb
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New technology weighs trucks while trucks are in motion
Israeli researchers develop a method to detect overloaded trucks quickly and efficiently — while the trucks are in motion; the system, which has potential for use in law enforcement, infrastructure maintenance monitoring, and road and bridge design and planning
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Landslide detector developed
A new detector — thought to be the first system of its kind in the world — works by measuring and analyzing the acoustic behavior of soil to establish when a landslide is imminent so preventative action can be taken; noise created by movement under the surface builds to a crescendo as the slope becomes unstable, so gauging the increased rate of generated sound enables accurate prediction of a catastrophic soil collapse
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DARPA-funded new engine brings flying car closer
DARPA awards Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne a $1 million contract to develop its EnduroCORE engine, which the company says offers “a high power-to-weight ratio comparable to gas turbines”; the engine will bring the Transformer TX flying car closer to reality
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More headlines
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.”
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.
Our Online World Relies on Encryption. What Happens If It Fails?
Quantum computers will make traditional data encryption techniques obsolete; BU researchers have turned to physics to come up with better defenses.
Virtual Models Paving the Way for Advanced Nuclear Reactors
Computer models predict how reactors will behave, helping operators make decisions in real time. The digital twin technology using graph-neural networks may boost nuclear reactor efficiency and reliability.
Critical Minerals Don’t Belong in Landfills – Microwave Tech Offers a Cleaner Way to Reclaim Them from E-waste
E-waste recycling focuses on retrieving steel, copper, aluminum, but ignores tiny specks of critical materials. Once technology becomes available to recover these tiny but valuable specks of critical materials quickly and affordably, the U.S. can transform domestic recycling and take a big step toward solving its shortage of critical materials.
Microbes That Extract Rare Earth Elements Also Can Capture Carbon
A small but mighty microbe can safely extract the rare earth and other critical elements for building everything from satellites to solar panels – and it has another superpower: capturing carbon dioxide.
Virtual Models Paving the Way for Advanced Nuclear Reactors
Computer models predict how reactors will behave, helping operators make decisions in real time. The digital twin technology using graph-neural networks may boost nuclear reactor efficiency and reliability.
Critical Minerals Don’t Belong in Landfills – Microwave Tech Offers a Cleaner Way to Reclaim Them from E-waste
E-waste recycling focuses on retrieving steel, copper, aluminum, but ignores tiny specks of critical materials. Once technology becomes available to recover these tiny but valuable specks of critical materials quickly and affordably, the U.S. can transform domestic recycling and take a big step toward solving its shortage of critical materials.
Microbes That Extract Rare Earth Elements Also Can Capture Carbon
A small but mighty microbe can safely extract the rare earth and other critical elements for building everything from satellites to solar panels – and it has another superpower: capturing carbon dioxide.