• Patent systems may discourage innovation: study

    The traditional view is that patents foster innovation. A new study suggests instead that they may hinder technological progress, economic activity, and societal wealth

  • Short-range communication company benefits from growing market

    The Near Field Communication (NFC) market is growing, and Companies in the NFC market benefit; the latest: Innovision Research & Technology raises £5.4 million from existing and new institutional investors

  • DARPA searches for instant repair of soldiers' injuries

    DARPA is soliciting proposals for a device that can use adult stem cells for a regenerative free-for-all, producing whatever needed to repair injured body parts, including nerves, bone, and skin

  • Millimeter-wave imaging comes to Cleveland, Houston airports

    TSA expands its testing of millimeter wave and backscatter imaging systems, deploying them in Cleveland and Houston; TSA claims passengers’ privacy is guaranteed, but passengers can opt out of being screened and choose body pat instead

  • New technology locks up Biometrics

    Communication encryption relies on authentication being symmetric to work: the user’s password or PIN must match the password or PIN stored by the recipient (online shop, bank, etc.) to lock and unlock the data; biometric may be used for encryption — but biometrics is not a symmetric process; South African researchers now show how biometrics can nevertheless be used to make a consistent secret key for encryption

  • Soldiers, first responders will self-power their gear

    Soldiers and first responders will soon power electronic devices such as personal radios using just their own movements

  • Life-saving location device to help in rescuing trapped disaster victims

    There is usually a 24-hour window when people that are injured and trapped can be saved, followed by a three-day window for those that are unhurt; by analyzing the levels of carbon dioxide and ammonia, chemical sensors could detect whether a trapped person is still alive faster than traditional methods

  • TSA's new lab tests new bomb detection technologies

    The Transportation Security Laboratory in Atlantic City uses the latest intelligence from the military, CIA, FBI, and friendly foreign governments to manufacture improvised explosive devices like those being built by terrorists — in order to defeat them

  • Biometrics tunnel helps identify individuals' unique walking patterns

    The University of Southampton’s biometric tunnel provides the technology to analyze the way people walk as a unique identifier; university researchers have developed a technology which captures the unique walking patterns, and then characterizes and records them to a database

  • South Korean researchers turn science fiction into fact

    The state-financed Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) was set up in 1971; its new leaders wants it to lead the nation in innovation and education; among the center’s projects: a computer screen that folds up like a pocket handkerchief, a harbor that goes out to a ship, and a road which recharges electric vehicles

  • Israel successfully tests anti-ship missile defense

    During the summer 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, the Shi’ia organization almost sank an Israeli ship with an advanced Iran-made anti-ship missile; Israel has now successfully tested a sophisticated defense against anti-ship missile — a defensive system which should be of interest to U.S. Navy ships on patrol at the Persian Gulf

  • Vcom3D's iPod translator device is a valuable tool for U.S. soldiers

    Florida-based Vcom3D developed software which was used in conjunction with Apple’s iPod to teach sign language to hearing-impaired students; now, the U.S. military and UN peacekeepers use the device as an instant translator in war-torn regions

  • Sandia researchers develop new water purification method

    Researchers substitute an atom of gallium for an aluminum atom in the center of an aluminum oxide cluster, creating a more effective process for removing bacterial, viral, and other organic and inorganic contaminants from river water destined for human consumption, and from wastewater treatment plants prior to returning water to the environment

  • Aurora shows new, more lethal hovering killer drone

    Innovative UAV company shows a new drone capable of carrying four Hellfire missiles at speeds of up to 400 knots (the Predator carries just two Hellfires and cruises at just 70 knots)

  • U.K. looking for ways to deal with IEDs

    Eighteen U.K. troops have been killed in Afghanistan in July, raising the overall toll in the conflict to 187 British deaths; many of these soldiers were killed by IEDs; the government is looking for a solution