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Lockheed Martin in £100 million U.K. situational awareness contract
Lockheed Martin will merge several technologies — its own and other companies’ — in a £100 million MoD contract to increase soldiers’ situational awareness
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MIT start-up raises $12.4 million in a first round
Start-up has developed an innovative silicon cell architecture and a complementary manufacturing methodology which will allow it to make the solar cells so inexpensive that they would produce electricity at a comparable cost to that generated from coal powered stations
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CoreStreet's new access control technology making news
CoreStreet’s Card-Connected technology creates a system of stand-alone electronic locks and physical access control systems which communicate by reading and writing digitally signed data (privileges and logs) to and from smart cards; card holders thus become an extension of the physical access network in which cards, rather than of wires, carry information to and from the standalone locks
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This weekend: 32nd annual computing Battle of the Brains
The 32nd annual collegiate programming contest will take place this weekend in Alberta, Canada; one hundred three-person teams from thirty-three countries have qualified; twenty of the teams represent U.S. colleges
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Australia, Japan in joint clean-coal project
The Australian and Japanese government, and several companies join in retrofitting a coal-fired boiler at Callide A power station in Central Queensland with oxy-firing technology which will burn coal in a mixture of oxygen and recirculated flue gases
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Steve Ballmer talks of "fifth computing revolution"
Microsoft’s CEO outlines the five pillars of the fifth computing revolution: Expanded processing power, huge amounts of storage, ubiquitous broadband, natural user interface (UI), and screens everywhere
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Questions raised anew about space elevator stability
As we place more systems in space — soon, perhaps, weapon platforms to counteract China’s growing anti-satellite warfare capabilities — there is a growing need to service and maintain these systems; one way to do so relatively on the cheap is to build a space elevator, but the stability of such an elevator is raising questions
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Southern California utility to push solar power
Southern California Edison, largest utility in California, will place 250 MW of photovoltaic generators on 65 million square feet of roofs of Southern California commercial buildings
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Four-legged robot simulates human motion
Four-legged, all-terrain robot can maintain its balance over rugged terrain while carrying a payload of up to 340 pounds; robot can also cope with man-made obstacles and gallop (well, something between “gallop” and “canter”) over impediments
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U.K.'s Future Soldier / Science and Engineering Week a success
Two events — Future Soldier and National Science and Engineering Week — took place in London, showing how government, industry, and academia can fruitfully cooperate to promote science, engineering, and technology education
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World's largest caliber supersonic railgun successfully tested
DARPA-sponsored railgun successfully launches a full-sized projectile, with size and weight similar to a 120 mm mortar, at speeds of 430 meters-per-second
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New acoustic system locates snipers with accuracy
System detects the sound of an initial gunshot then the shockwave from the muzzle of the weapon being fired; since sound travels faster than a shockwave, the system is able to pinpoint the position of the attacker
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Intelligent wireless networks promoted by European consortium
The proliferation of wireless communication-enabled embedded systems will have significant effects in areas from emergency management to critical infrastructure protection to healthcare and traffic control; European consortium to promote idea
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Breakthrough: Dramatic increase in thermoelectric efficiency achieved
Two hundred years ago scientists discovered the thermoelectric effect: Certain materials can convert heat into electricity and vice versa; trouble is, most materials which conduct electricity also conduct heat, so their temperature equalizes quickly; until now: Boston College, MIT researchers solve this vexing problem
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Pencilbeam X-ray technology for more effective luggage inspection
New luggage screening technology investigates suspicious material by penetrating the luggage with a pencilbeam X-ray; new approach reduces instances of false alarms
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The long view
New Technology is Keeping the Skies Safe
DHS S&T Baggage, Cargo, and People Screening (BCP) Program develops state-of-the-art screening solutions to help secure airspace, communities, and borders
Factories First: Winning the Drone War Before It Starts
Wars are won by factories before they are won on the battlefield,Martin C. Feldmann writes, noting that the United States lacks the manufacturing depth for the coming drone age. Rectifying this situation “will take far more than procurement tweaks,” Feldmann writes. “It demands a national-level, wartime-scale industrial mobilization.”
How Artificial General Intelligence Could Affect the Rise and Fall of Nations
Visions for potential AGI futures: A new report from RAND aims to stimulate thinking among policymakers about possible impacts of the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI) on geopolitics and the world order.
Keeping the Lights on with Nuclear Waste: Radiochemistry Transforms Nuclear Waste into Strategic Materials
How UNLV radiochemistry is pioneering the future of energy in the Southwest by salvaging strategic materials from nuclear dumps –and making it safe.
Model Predicts Long-Term Effects of Nuclear Waste on Underground Disposal Systems
The simulations matched results from an underground lab experiment in Switzerland, suggesting modeling could be used to validate the safety of nuclear disposal sites.