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U.S. wireless landascpe about to change
Clearwire, Sprint Nextel to form $14.55 billion wireless company which will deploy WiMAX networks across the United States; WiMAX’s speed dwarfs current wireless technologies, holding the potential of rendering cable and phone line Internet obsolete
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Plasma-powered flying saucer for surveillance
Passing a current of magnetic field through a conducting fluid generates force; a new patent application shows how this phenomenon — magnetohydridynamics — may be used as a form of propulsion
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Unassuming fungi lock depleted uranium out of harm's way
Common fungi, found in most back gardens, could help clean up battlefields contaminated with depleted uranium
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NTT shows commercial RedTaction security system
NTT shows Firmo, a Human Area Network (HAN)-based system which uses the surface of the human body for communication; the Firmo Kit is used as an alternative to short-range wireless security card entrance/exit systems
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German invents radar-camouflaging paint
A German amateur inventor invents radar-camouflaging paint; planes, vehicles, and buildings may be coated with the paint and made invisible to radar
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Electronic "pets" to tackle identity theft problem
Forget passwords, PINs, or even biometric security measures; a new, if futuristic, solution is offered for the problem of identity theft: Electronic pets; the pets would recognize their owners’ voiceprint, fingerprints, or walking style; researchers say it will be important for owners to bond with and nourish their electronic pets by playing with them
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A shoebox-size chemical sensor to detect toxins, pollution
Quantum cascade lasers were first demonstrated by Harvard’s Federico Capasso and colleagues in 1994; now Capasso is using the technology to develop a portable array of lasers to be used to monitor pollution and detect toxins
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Developing miniature robots to increase situational awareness
The military wants to increase the situational awareness of of its officers and soldiers, and an alliance of industry and academia is set up to develop advanced robotic equipment for use in urban environments and complex terrain, such as mountains and caves
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Existence of new basic element for electronic circuits proven
There are three fundamental elements to electronic circuits: resistor, capacitor, and inductor; nearly forty years ago, Leon Chua of the University of California at Berkeley theorized that there was a fourth element — memristor — which had properties that could not be duplicated by any combination of the other three elements; HP researchers have now proven the existence of memristors; facial recognition biometrics will benefit
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Peace of mind at an affordable price
An HSDW conversation on thermal cameras with Bill Klink, vice president of security business development, FLIR Systems
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UAVs, UGVs operate and communicate with each other
BAE Systems show how several unmanned air and ground vehicles operate simultaneously while communicating with each other and with their controllers
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Europeans conduct final test of Galileo
The EU wants to compete in the lucrative positioning market, and wants its Galileo system to compete with the U.S. GPS system; project has been hobbled by delays and shortfall of funds, but the EU soldiers on
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UAVs on display at the Smithsonian
As the scope and breadth of UAV deployments grow, so is the public interest in them; the Smithsonian put some of them on display; “UAVs are the future of combat air forces,” says the curator, himself a retired Air Force pilot
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Advanced Nanotechnology Research, LANCER
Lockheed Martin and Rice University launch strategic partnership to develop center which will develop new technologies for a broad range of applications in electronics, energy, and security
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Straw power planned
With more and more companies turning to biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels, a debate has erupted over the food-energy trade-off involved; a Welsh company bypasses this debate by planning to generate energy from straw
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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.