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U.K. orders helmet-mounted displays
BAE’s The Q-Sight display is a key element of the Gunner’s Remote Sighting System (GRSS), a system that will allow the image from a machine-gun-mounted thermal weapon sight to be displayed remotely on a see-through display mounted on the weapon operator’s helmet
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New type of blast-resistant glass
Currently, blast-resistant window glass is more than 1in thick, which is much thicker than standard window glass that is only one-fourth of an inch thick and hurricane-protected window glass that is one-half of an inch thick; the new glass being developed is less than one-half of an inch thick
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Instantly dimmable bullet-resistant windows
Company awarded a contact to develop instantly dimmable bullet-resistant windows for military and law enforcement vehicles; company says the new product will have its initial application in the global counter-terrorism market for government VIP Armored Personnel Vehicles, but that it also has real value in the civilian VIP market
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DARPA looking to harness water's power potential
Bringing power to military units in far-away, and often inaccessible, places has always been a major problem; DARPA is now looking for ways to use seawater to create liquid fuel
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NIST researchers develop more sensitive explosives detection method
NIST researchers develop a simple method for detecting and measuring small quantities of explosives which is more sensitive than conventional techniques
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New NIST trace explosives standard slated for homeland security duty
NIST, with support from DHS, has developed a new certified reference material — Standard Reference Material (SRM) 2905 (Trace Particulate Explosives)
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New data protection approach
New data security system developed by Israeli researchers automatically protects sensitive data because it travels with the data even when it is saved to removable devices like a USB flash drive
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Using lasers in nuclear decommissioning
High-power lasers could remove contaminated surfaces of concrete and cut up metal pipework and process vessels inside nuclear reactors, or other contaminated environments
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Exoskeletons ready for troop tests in 2010
Designer of the exoskeleton demonstrates invention for journalists; a wearer can hang a 200 lb backpack from the back frame and heavy chest armor and kit from shoulder extensions
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Gravity tractor to steer asteroids away from Earth
There are thousands of asteroids in close proximity to Earth, and scientists believe it is inevitable that sooner or later an asteroid will come close enough to be a real threat; British aerospace company designs a gravity tractor to steer a menacing asteroids away
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Using waste to recover waste uranium
Researchers find that a combination of bacteria and inositol phosphate can be used to recover uranium from the polluted waters from uranium mines; method may be used to process nuclear waste
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ASIS selects 10 ASIS Accolades winners
Panel of judges selects ASIS’s first ASIS Accolades winners — the security industry’s most innovative new products, services, or solutions
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New business model for researching, producing vaccines
Relying on venture capital-funded biotech research is problematic when it comes to vaccines for pandemics and bioterrorism; an expert proposes a private-public partnership within the HHS Biomedical Advance Research and Development Authority
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Code-breaking quantum algorithm runs on a silicon chip
fifteen years ago, Peter Shor, a computer scientist at MIT, predicted that quantum computers could beat even the most powerful supercomputers and crack the widely used RSA encryption algorithm; he was right: University of Bristol researchers built a silicon chip that can do just that
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Scientists closer to a safer anthrax vaccine
The currently available, 40-year-old anthrax vaccine, can prevent disease, but it has significant drawbacks: Immunity is temporary, and five injections over the course of eighteen months are needed to sustain it; one in five vaccine recipients develop redness, swelling, or pain at the injection site, and a small number develop severe allergic reactions; researchers offer a better vaccine
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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.