-
DARPA looking for "Precision Electronic Warfare"
“Surgical jamming” bubble would follow enemy soldiers; the system would be able to lock onto the other side’s soldiers’ cellphones and hold these soldiers within a bubble of jamming no matter how they moved about, denying them any communications or navigation services
-
-
Active cloaking offers an alternative to metamaterials
New cloaking method someday might shield submarines from sonar or planes from radar
-
-
How life will survival in a post-apocalypse blackout
What if asteroid impacts, massive volcanic eruptions, or large-scale wildfires were to plunge our planet into abnormal darkness” It happened several times in the past; life will continue with a little help from organisms that can switch to another source of energy while they wait for sunlight to pierce the darkness once more
-
-
UCSD agile robots catch the eye at national robotics conference
UCSD researchers demonstrate Switchblade, a hopping robot with a sense of balance; the robot can detect when it is about to fall over, and figure out how to shift its weight appropriately so it does not
-
-
Unmanned ground vehicles patrol city streets
Designing air or sea unmanned vehicles is relatively straightforward because at sea, and in the air, there are hardly any obstacles; designing an unmanned ground vehicle, however, is much tougher; the U.S. Army, after decades of trying, has succeeded in building one
-
-
St. Andrews professor working on practical cloaking device
Professor Ulf Leonhardt is working on a blueprint for a practical cloaking device that could even protect coastlines from water waves; a Royal Society’s Theo Murphy Blue Skies award will allow Leonhardt to pursue full time for the next two years “turning science fiction into a reality”
-
-
Viz Lab, Defentech show perimeter security system
Defentect’s gamma radiation detection technology is used in a perimeter security system that can detect radiological materials
-
-
The technology: Israeli scientists find way to combat forged DNA
Forensic DNA profiling is today one of the most powerful tools applied on crime scenes, and is often used to convict or acquit suspects in rape and murder cases
-
-
The company: Nucleix fighting biological identity theft
Its assay technology is in advanced stages of development. Several patents have already been granted; CEO Elon Ganor made his name mainly at VocalTec, a company that pioneered telephony over Internet
-
-
Robotic German sperm dirigible ready to take off
German engineers are ready to test a 111-foot long, tadpole-esque “segmented” drone airship; as was the case with the famous Graf Zeppelin airship liner of the 1930s, only the front compartment of the bendy airship contains helium for buoyancy’ the remaining back cells contain the fuel for the craft’s engine
-
-
National nuclear medicine shortage could have a Wisconsin solution
Scientists believe they can generate the neutrons necessary to create Mo-99, an essential nuclear medicine tool, without using a nuclear reactor to do so; there is almost no long-lived nuclear waste, no risk of an explosive accident, and it is about 20 times less expensive to produce than more traditional methods
-
-
Compressed-air gun stops terrorist boats in their tracks
Compressed air is used on the shoulder-held device to propel a line from a pursuing boat which drags with it a high-tech, high tensile net to disable the target craft’s propulsion system
-
-
SnatchLatch releases affordable trailer door security
SnatchLatch HT provides bolt seal security on a broad range of heavy trucking trailers, containers, dry vans, and reefers
-
-
Police to use DNA "mugshots" as a predictive tool to narrow search
Scientist say that rather than simply try to match DNA to individuals already in their database, DNA should be used to suggest what a suspect might look like
-
-
U.S. government eyes University of Maine's bridge technology
Researchers at the University of Maine developed a “bridge-in-a-backpack” technology — so called because of its light weight and the portability of its components; the bridge uses carbon-fiber tubes that are inflated, shaped into arches, and infused with resin before being moved into place
-
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.