• Missing the energy-saving forest for the trees

    U.K. expert says that the beneficial effects of turning off standby lights, switching from bottled to tap water, washing clothes at a lower temperature, or having car tires at the right air pressure, pale in insignificance when compared with what was happening at the supply end of energy provision

  • Wrist-mounted translator

    Soldiers having to mix and converse with non-English speaking populations will appreciate the nifty device: a wrist-mounted translator developed at Derby University

  • Using herd mentality for protection

    New car security system acts as a herd of animals in the wild would: cars parked next to each other on the street or parking lot serve as look-outs for each other, alerting the authorities if one of the cars is being broken into

  • GE Energy, Schlumberger in clean-coal power plant venture

    Collaboration will bring together GE’s experience in integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) systems and Schlumberger Carbon Service’s carbon capture and storage (CCS), site selection, and project management expertise

  • Future weapons on display

    Last week the futuristic-looking XM-25 IAWS was displayed to lawmakers; the system, still under development, will eventually be used to address the defeat of defilade targets — those targets protected by obstacles such as hills or ridges

  • Phase II for AV's nano aircraft

    Tiny UAV — 7.5 cm wing span, 10 grams in weight — to be used by military, law enforcement to gather information outdoors and indoors

  • Stretchy spider silks can be springs or rubber

    Spider silk is stronger than steel and nylon, and more extensible than Kevlar; it would be ideal for personal protective gear for soldiers and law enforcement, and medical applications; “would be ideal” — because we do not yet know how to spin artificial silk; Canadian scientists have interesting ideas

  • U.S. Army to expand Land Warrior to an entire brigade

    Land Warrior is a modular fighting system that uses state-of-the-art computer, communications, and global positioning technologies to link soldiers digitally on the battlefield; it has proved itself in Iraq

  • Microwave: Nondestructive imaging technology of the future?

    Microwaves on a chip may replace X-rays for medical imaging and security

  • Pentagon wants laser attack warnings for satellites

    The U.S. economy and military capabilities are dependent on satellites for communication and information gathering; growing anti-satellite warfare capabilities — for example, by China — lead Pentagon to seek a measure of protection for space-based assets

  • Cheap carbon trap cleans up power station emissions

    Sequestering CO2 is a good way to fight global warming, but only about 10 percent of the gas produced in the process of burning fossil fuels is CO2; most of the rest is nitrogen, which is not a greenhouse gas; there is a new, inexpensive way to separate the two

  • IAEA: Iran evasive about its nuclear program

    Iran’s march toward the bomb continues unabated; the U.S. intelligence community may have concluded that Iran had “halted” its nuclear weapons program in 2003, but a UN atomic agency says indications are to the contrary

  • Torrefaction treatment for biomass

    Torrefaction is increasingly seen as a desirable treatment for biomass because it creates a solid product which is easier to store, transport, and mill than raw biomass

  • Megawatt tidal turbine completed

    U.K. maritime energy specialist completes installation of 1.2 MW tidal energy system off the shore of Northern Ireland; system to provide clean electricity equivalent to that used by 1,000 homes

  • Turning buses into mobile sensing platforms

    Modern buses could be used as mobile sensing platforms, sending out live information that can be used to control traffic and detect road hazards, according to European researchers