• Defending U.S. civilian aircraft against shoulder-fired missile may cost $43 billion

    Equipping U.S. passenger aircraft with defenses against shoulder-fired missiles may cost $43.3 billion over twenty years, DHS says in an unpublished report; airlines say the expense exceeds the risk, and oppose installing the systems — or, if such installation is made mandatory, than the government should pay for it

  • Solar aircraft's first day-and-night flight postponed

    First day-and-night flight of a solar-powered aircraft has been postponed because of technical problems; the aircraft, which has a 63-meter wingspan and is as long as an airliner, is powered by 12,000 solar cells and uses lithium batteries to supply energy in the dark

  • New technology could lead to an earthquake prediction system

    A new airborne radar-based mapping technology allows scientists to see earthquake images on the ground for the first time; the airborne images show tiny or large motions that occurred beneath the surface of the earth, on the fault line, which can not be seen by flying over an area or walking on the surface

  • X Prize Foundation may offer $3 to $10 million award for Gulf Oil Spill solutions

    X Prize Foundation, known for offering prizes to innovative and future-oriented innovations, is considering offering a prize of between $3 and $10 million for a viable solution to stopping the oil spill in the Gulf; the foundation in the process of developing a multi-million dollar competition to help alleviate the effects of the oil spill in the Gulf; the X Prize Foundation is best known for what was originally called the Ansari X Prize — a $10 million competition open to anyone who could build a reusable, privately built craft capable of reaching outer space

  • DARPA looking for solar cells that can withstand the rigors of war

    DARPA is investing $3.8 million into the creation of high-powered, lightweight solar cells that can “stand up to battle conditions and environmental extremes”; thin-film, flexible solar cells are a major priority for the military, because they can be applied onto almost everything — from tents to uniforms — and would minimize the number of generators and portable battery packs needed by troops in battle

  • SRI's defense technology spawns civilian applications

    SRI’s newfound interest in mobile and Web applications was born, in part, from a research project commissioned by the Defense Department to develop software that can learn, in an effort to create a more efficient way for the military to communicate and stay organized in the field; the project’s underlying technology, a combination of adaptive machine learning and natural-language processing, has spawned several offshoots

  • Tiny flying robots to monitor forest-fires, chemical spills, and more

    Swiss researchers developed a tiny flying robot which could be equipped with different sensors and small cameras for a variety of applications; the robot could monitor different kinds of emergencies — from forest fires to chemical accidents

  • Top 10 smart surveillance systems from Israel

    Video surveillance systems have become an important tool in enabling authorities to trace criminals and terrorists; Israel is one of the leading players in the field of intelligent surveillance; here is a list of the Top 10 video security technologies from Israel; these companies offer solutions that range from “seeing” through walls to reducing twenty-four hours of video to a few (indexed) minutes to detecting subtle changes in the landscape to offering high-resolution under-water images, and much more

  • 3D research drawing interest from doctors, security experts, rock stars

    New 3D technology will help doctors diagnose health problems or security officials identify suspects through facial recognition; the technology can capture fine details and do so much more quickly than current technologies

  • FAA brings flying car's day closer

    There is an inherent problem in designing a flying car: how to build a safe enough car that can still be light enough to compete with the other aircraft in its class; the FAA has given permission to Terrafugia, a flying car pioneer, to add an extra 110 pounds to the Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) limit of 1,320 pounds maximum takeoff weight; the added weight will allow the company to add some automotive safety features such as airbags, crumple zones, and a safety cage, and still qualify as an LSA; the airplane will cruise at a speed of 115 miles per hour and a range of more than 450 miles; on the road, the two place, front wheel drive vehicle achieves a respectable 30 miles per gallon

  • Marines to use autonomous vehicles built by Virginia Tech students

    Virginia Tech engineering students designed an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) which the U.S. Marines Corps will test in a war game in Hawaii; the unmanned vehicles are designed to resupply troops, to reduce the actual loads manually carried by Marines, and to provide an immediate means for the evacuation of any casualties in combat

  • Industry concerned about DHS standards on cybersecurity

    Private cybersecurity companies worry that too-stringent cybersecurity laws and regulations could have a detrimental impact on private sector innovation; “The government needs to be very careful about imposing too much of a top-down standards process,” said McAfee vice president of government relations Tom Gann; “We need to bring products to market very quickly. They need to make sure we can get latest technology”

  • Flying-boat tilt-rotor catamaran design wins NASA rescue vehicle competition

    Engineering students from Virginia Tech won first prize in NASA’s competition aiming to promote the design of more effective rescue crafts; the winning design, dubbed the Rescue Amphibious Firefighting Tiltrotor (RAFT), is a combination airplane/helicopter/catamaran featuring two flying-boat style hulls joined by a central wing to form a catamaran for landings on water even in rough seas

  • Bacteria will help keep CO2 safely sequestered

    With the world still heavily reliant on fossil fuels to meet its energy needs, carbon sequestration technologies could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions; one of the big challenges to making this a reality is ensuring that the CO2 stays locked away underground; the humble Bacillus subtilis bacteria will help

  • Landmine detector made from off-the-shelf components

    Researchers in the United States have developed a low-cost technology to detect landmines using a novel acoustic/microwave system; the system, made from off-the-shelf components, costs about $10,000. This compares to laser-based Doppler remote detection systems that sells for upwards of $1 million