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Quantum computing nears with European QAP project
QAP co-coordinator Professor Ian Walmsley: “Quantum computing, when it arrives, could make all current cryptographic technology obsolete”
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Robotic ferret to secure cargo containers
The U.S. maritime system consists of more than 300 seaports and more than 3,700 cargo and passenger terminals; more than 6 million cargo containers enter U.S. seaports annually; new robotic ferret will help detect radioactive materials, explosives, drugs, and illegal immigrants smuggled inside such containers
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More modest version of nuclear fusion power project to start
Nuclear fusion reactor to built in southern France by an international consortium; operation will begin in 2018
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ITER fusion project will start with hydrogen
The ITER experiments will start in 2018 — but will be literally lighter, using hydrogen rather than heavier tritium and deuterium; the tritium and deuterium experiments will have to wait until 2026
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Locating VoIP callers in emergencies
Callers who use VoIP to call 999 (the U.K. equivalent of the U.S. 911) run the risk of making it difficult, if not impossible, for the police, paramedics, and fire crews to attend emergencies promptly; a system is being developed to locate Internet phones
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First solar-powered plane to fly at night
Swiss aviators designed a solar-powered plane capable of flying day and night; the goal is to make fly for 36 hours without fuel; test flight scheduled for 26 June
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Researchers conduct live human trials of brain-plug interface
Brown University researchers begin human trials of “neural interface” brain-plug equipment, intended to let users control computers and machinery merely by thinking; the technology would initially be used by patients suffering from paralysis or amputated limbs, but eventually allow people, telekinetically, to unlock doors, turn lights or machines on and off, handle computers
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New method for chemoterrorism developed
Chemical terrorism does not receive as much press as bioterrorism; still, poisoning the air, water, and food supply using chemicals can do major harm and terrorize, intimidate, or coerce governments or civilian populations; scientists develop a new method to detect chemical attacks
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Mystery surrounds detection of North Korea's nuclear test
Detecting radionuclide evidence in the form of radioactive gas is the “smoking gun” — proving that a nuclear explosion has occurred; seismologists say they are comfortable that explosion in North Korea two weeks ago was a nuclear test — but sensors have not been able to pick up radionuclide evidence
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Inflatable tower would bring people to the edge of space
Scientists describe a 15-kilometer inflatable tower made up of 100 modules, each one 150 meters tall and 230 meters in diameter, built from inflatable tubes 2 meters across; when pressurized, the tower would weigh 800,000 tons — twice the weight of the world’s largest supertanker
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Motorola: Cellphones could offer a unified disaster alerts broadcasts
Motorola envisages using cellphones for emergency alerts even if most of a cellphone network is down; a new generation of cellphones that can rapidly form a peer-to-peer network when an emergency alert is broadcast
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Technology to prevent police friendly-fire accidents "nonviable"
Following a recent killing of a plain clothes policeman by fellow officers, the NYPD asked the Pacific Northwestern Laboratory to look into the possibility of developing a technology which would prevent such accidents in the future; PNL says such technology is currently nonviable
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IDF to use serpent surveillance robot
Israeli researchers developed a 2-meter long serpent-like robot which mimics the movements and appearance of real snakes, slithering around through caves, tunnels, cracks, and buildings, while at the same time sending images and sound back to a soldier who controls the device through a laptop computer
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UAV operation now a career path in U.S. Air Force
The USAF has 127 Predator and 31 Reaper UAVs in service, along with some 400 pilots to run them; these operators can put about 36 UAVs into the air at any given time; the USAF wants to be able to do more, so it has instituted a policy which will see 10 percent of recent graduates from pilot schools will spend three years operating UAVs, before going on to flying manned aircraft
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NYPD looking for technology to prevent friendly fire
The recent accidental shooting of a plain clothes policeman by fellow officers has prompted NYPD to seek technology to prevent friendly fire accidents; the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will help
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More headlines
The long view
Autonomous Vehicle Technology Vulnerable to Road Object Spoofing and Vanishing Attacks
Researchers have demonstrated the potentially hazardous vulnerabilities associated with the technology called LiDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging, many autonomous vehicles use to navigate streets, roads and highways. The researchers have shown how to use lasers to fool LiDAR into “seeing” objects that are not present and missing those that are – deficiencies that can cause unwarranted and unsafe braking or collisions.
Tantalizing Method to Study Cyberdeterrence
Tantalus is unlike most war games because it is experimental instead of experiential — the immersive game differs by overlapping scientific rigor and quantitative assessment methods with the experimental sciences, and experimental war gaming provides insightful data for real-world cyberattacks.
Prototype Self-Service Screening System Unveiled
TSA and DHS S&T unveiled a prototype checkpoint technology, the self-service screening system, at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas, NV. The aim is to provide a near self-sufficient passenger screening process while enabling passengers to directly receive on-person alarm information and allow for the passenger self-resolution of those alarms.
Falling Space Debris: How High Is the Risk I'll Get Hit?
An International Space Station battery fell back to Earth and, luckily, splashed down harmlessly in the Atlantic. Should we have worried? Space debris reenters our atmosphere every week.
Testing Cutting-Edge Counter-Drone Technology
Drones have many positive applications, bad actors can use them for nefarious purposes. Two recent field demonstrations brought government, academia, and industry together to evaluate innovative counter-unmanned aircraft systems.
Strengthening the Grid’s ‘Backbone’ with Hydropower
Argonne-led studies investigate how hydropower could help add more clean energy to the grid, how it generates value as grids add more renewable energy, and how liner technology can improve hydropower efficiency.
The Tech Apocalypse Panic is Driven by AI Boosters, Military Tacticians, and Movies
From popular films like a War Games or The Terminator to a U.S. State Department-commissioned report on the security risk of weaponized AI, there has been a tremendous amount of hand wringing and nervousness about how so-called artificial intelligence might end up destroying the world. There is one easy way to avoid a lot of this and prevent a self-inflicted doomsday: don’t give computers the capability to launch devastating weapons.
The Tech Apocalypse Panic is Driven by AI Boosters, Military Tacticians, and Movies
From popular films like a War Games or The Terminator to a U.S. State Department-commissioned report on the security risk of weaponized AI, there has been a tremendous amount of hand wringing and nervousness about how so-called artificial intelligence might end up destroying the world. There is one easy way to avoid a lot of this and prevent a self-inflicted doomsday: don’t give computers the capability to launch devastating weapons.