Segway inventor builds shoe-controlled bionic arm

Famous inventor Dean Kamen has developed a revolutionary new bionic arm for use by US troops injured in combat. The arm, now in beta testing, is manipulated from a foot-operated control panel inside one of the user's shoes and employs a vibrating feedback mechanism.

unique feature of the advanced arm is its control system, which works almost like a foot-operated joystick. An array of sensors embedded in a shoe allows users to maneuver the arm by putting pressure on different parts of the foot. The current version uses wires to relay the signals to the arm, but future versions will be wireless.

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Stolen Laptop can be Recovered by Data Backup Service

You can recover lost data by using a data backup program but it is also possible to get a stolen laptop back. A man who has recovered his stolen laptop after seeing photos the thief took of himself with the built-in camera via his Internet-based data backup program.

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Largest laser lights Livermore

The world’s largest and most energetic laser system was just dedicated on Friday, May 29, 2009, at the U.S. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The mission of the National Ignition Facility is to better national security, provide breakthroughs in astrophysics, and create fusion energy.

The news release “Dedication of world’s largest laser marks the dawn of a new era” from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) states that the new laser-based inertial confinement fusion research device is called the National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser system.

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Google Waves Goodbye to E-Mail, Welcomes Real-Time Communication

Google has set out to rewire the e-mail inbox with a new product called Wave.

Wave is a web-based application that marries multiple forms of communication and collaboration, including chat, mail and wikis, into a unified interface. Everything inside Wave happens in real time: You can even see a comment being made as the person is typing it, character-by-character.

Google Wave, which was demonstrated Thursday at the Google I/O developer conference taking place here, is now live as a private developer preview. Conference attendees can start playing with it now, and Google has its eye on a public beta launch within a few months.

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Sweat = Threat? Army Looks at ‘Abnormal Perspiration’ as Sign of ‘Harmful Intent’

If you walk weird, make funny faces, or sweat a little too much — watch out, when you walk into an airport. The U.S. military wants to use those irregularities as “indicators” of “possibly suspicious and harmful intent.”

The Army recently asked for proposals for a new suite of biometric sensors that will hunt for bad-minded people by examining their “expressions, gait, and pose” from afar. The “Image Analysis for Personnel Intent” project is also supposed to spot would-be evil-doers through their “abnormal perspiration and changes in body temperature.” (Note to would-be Osamas: Don’t send the sweaty guy to hijack the plane.)

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Virus detector

Researchers at University of Twente spin-out Ostendum have developed a prototype of a new system that can detect within minutes if an individual is infected with a virus.

The researchers claim that not only does the system carry out measurements many times faster than standard techniques, it is also portable, so it can be used anywhere.

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The State of the Art of Nuclear Fusion: It's Not Easy

Of all the futuristic technologies scientists have sworn would change our lives forever, none is more promising, and more elusive, than fusion power. After decades of tangential research, false starts and downright hoaxes, the two most advanced fusion projects at present are America's National Ignition Facility (NIF) and the multinationally funded International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).

Both projects use different technology and have different goals, and, as of this week, different trajectories. Today, scientists and politicians will officially dedicate NIF, signaling the beginning of full-scale work on the project. Conversely, the seven nations funding ITER announced this week that they would be scaling back the project's size and lengthening the timetable for activation.

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Meet Ember, the Littlest Warbot

iRobot's multipurpose PackBot has helped lead the way among war-bots, disabling improvised explosives and carrying out recon missions for snipers. But soon paperback-sized robots such as the Ember prototype could join their larger cousins on the battlefield.

Ember's strength rests with numbers and disposability -- one soldier could theoretically carry around several of the bots and place them to create a networked mobile swarm. Each robot might carry several radios and sensors that make up a small part of the larger wireless network envisioned in the Army's now-gutted Future Combat Systems.

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New US command to focus on cyber battlefield

he US military is moving ahead with plans to create its first "cyber command" designed to bolster America's potential to wage digital warfare as well as defend against mounting cyber threats, officials said on Friday.

After President Barack Obama announced Friday his plans to overhaul cyber security policy, Defense Secretary Robert Gates was expected to soon formally propose the new cyber command that will be overseen by a four-star officer, Pentagon officials told AFP.

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$30M to Raytheon for SLAMRAAM Long-Lead Production

Raytheon announced that its Surface Launched Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (SLAMRAAM) program has received U.S. Army approval for a long-lead acquisition, not to exceed $30 million, for purchases leading to low rate initial production.

The SLAMRAAM is the Army’s future short-range air defense weapon.

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Up to $707M to Honeywell for Maritime Prepositioning Support

Honeywell Technology Solutions Inc. in Jacksonville, FL won a $14.5 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract with a cost-plus-award-fee pricing arrangement for logistics services for the Maritime Prepositioning Ships Program, the Marine Corps Prepositioning Program-Norway, and for operational logistics support to engaged Marine Corps and Department of Defense operating forces. This contract includes 9 one-year options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of the contract to $707 million.

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First Acoustic Superlens

Over the past few years, researchers have developed several materials that bend light in ways that appear to violate the laws of physics, creating so-called superlenses, for ultra-high-resolution optical imaging, as well as invisibility cloaks. Now researchers have demonstrated that the same kind of images and cloaking devices could be made with sound instead of light. Using the first acoustic metamaterial ever produced, the researchers were able to focus ultrasound waves. This represents a significant step toward creating high-resolution ultrasound images and cloaking devices capable of hiding ships from sonar.

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Bye-bye Kindle, E-reader Screens Coming for Netbooks

Netbook makers will soon play a larger role in the e-reader market if start-up Pixel Qi has anything to say about it.

The company, founded by former One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) CTO Mary Lou Jepsen, will show off engineering samples of its first screen product at Computex Taipei 2009 next week, and IDG News Service was able to catch a first look on Friday.

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Avoid sinking feeling with bulletproof lifejacket

Here's a must-have accessory for any soiree off Somalia, the ArmourFloat personal flotation device.

Not only does the Armour Float Ballistic Vest keep even an unconscious wearer afloat, but its new lightweight, hard-plate armor is designed to defeat most assault rifle threats--with no negative effect on the vest's buoyancy, according to Armour of America, a division of Arotech Corporation.

This Underwriters Laboratory-certified PFD is approved by the US Coast Guard, and the Coasties use it as well, according to AoA.

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Sharp develops five-color display

The "Multi-Primary-Color Technology" adds cyan and yellow to the usual red, green, and blue colors that make up an on-screen image.

Cyan and yellow (along with magenta and black) are two of the colors used in standard four-color printing as seen in magazines and newspapers.

According to Sharp, adding these to colors to the display expands the range of colors the it can reproduce (its "color gamut") to more than 99 percent of "real" surface colors.

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QinetiQ Readies Aberporth UAV Centre for Watchkeeper

A key milestone in the GBP899m MOD project to develop the Watchkeeper Unmanned Air System has been reached on schedule. QinetiQ, working closely with other stakeholders, has delivered the necessary infrastructure and facilities at ParcAberporth, Ceredigion, South Wales, as part of its ongoing pound5m support contract - which means the Watchkeeper trials programme can commence here in the Autumn.

QinetiQ has established secure office accommodation plus enhanced other aspects of technical support and facilities at the existing UAV 'Centre of Excellence', originally created by the then Welsh Development Agency on the site of the former RAF Aberporth. Other key stakeholders in the Watchkeeper programme include the MOD's Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) Unmanned Air Systems Project Team, the Welsh Assembly Government, West Wales Airport and Thales, as the prime contractor.

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Raytheon Team to Demo GSE Tactical Awareness

The U.S. Army recently selected Raytheon Company's Ground Soldier Ensemble (GSE) team solution to demonstrate networked tactical situational awareness and communications capabilities for the dismounted warfighter.

The U.S. Army's TACOM Contracting Center awarded Raytheon $11.8 million to provide a GSE technology demonstration. The contract calls for early prototype testing in 2009 and refined systems delivery and testing in 2010.

"Raytheon's GSE will provide decisive tactical awareness to the infantry brigade combat team soldier through real-time display of networked battlefield information. In essence, GSE can make a fully networked theater of operations possible by finally linking the most important element, the dismounted soldier," said Glynn Raymer, vice president, Raytheon Network Centric Systems Combat Systems.

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Northrop To Test-fly Army Fire Scout Soon

Northrop Grumman may be hoping to convince the U.S. Army to field its Fire Scout vertical takeoff unmanned aerial vehicle earlier than scheduled by test-flying the unmanned helicopter in Yuma, Ariz., in June.

The Fire Scout, called an XM157 Class IV UAV by the Army, is part of the land service’s embattled Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. The Army does not plan to test fly the XM157 until 2011 under the official FCS timeline. But Northrop Grumman, whose Fire Scout is already being test-flown for the Navy, is taking its company-owned aircraft, called the White Tail, to Yuma next month for tests of its own.

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Selex Award Rugged Tablet Contract To Blazepoint

The ndura RUGGED® tablet, which was selected for its military pedigree and proven rugged design, is being adopted as the heart of a mobile target acquisition system.

Blazepoint, who design and manufacture a range of rugged mobile computers and rugged printers, was asked to supply a rugged handheld device with the advantages of low power consumption, high performance computing power and the ability to add customised user interfaces and I/O ports.

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Boeing Team Rebuilds B-1 'Backbone' for US Air Force

A U.S. Air Force B-1B bomber returned to flight last week after a team led by The Boeing Company replaced its catastrophically damaged upper-center boron longeron – the aircraft's "backbone."

The B-1, Swift Justice, was damaged during a routine training mission in December 2007. An engine-bleed air duct rupture triggered a temperature warning light, forcing the crew to land the aircraft at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D.

Replacing the upper-center boron longeron, which is essential for stability in flight, is not a simple task because the part is unique to each aircraft, with no spares available.

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Green Promise Seen in Switch to LED Lighting

To change the bulbs in the 60-foot-high ceiling lights of Buckingham Palace’s grand stairwell, workers had to erect scaffolding and cover precious portraits of royal forebears.

So when a lighting designer two years ago proposed installing light emitting diodes or LEDs, an emerging lighting technology, the royal family readily assented. The new lights, the designer said, would last more than 22 years and enormously reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions — a big plus for Prince Charles, an ardent environmentalist. Since then, the palace has installed the lighting in chandeliers and on the exterior, where illuminating the entire facade uses less electricity than running an electric teakettle.

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F-22 Raptor Program: Will we learn from it?

While Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ decision to halt production of the costly Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor low-observable/stealth fighter aircraft is perhaps not the best long-term strategic decision he could have made, it’s certainly understandable. Given the U.S. government’s–and thus DoD’s–current money crunch vs. the program’s high cost and lack of current combat-utility in Iraq and “Stan” (Afghanistan), cutting the Raptor program’s reported $3.5 billion per year cost certainly has some logic to it. Some programs simply have to go, and we might as well start with the expensive ones that don’t have any seeming immediate tactical or strategic utility for the two wars we’re currently fighting, right? Let’s face it, air superiority is not exactly an issue right now in either theater. We’ve got the air, and we don’t need F-22s to maintain it.

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Vehicles That Drive Themselves

The autonomous vehicle navigation technology may make life more convenient if it allows people to enjoy a good book or movie while their cars guide themselves through rush-hour traffic.

Wende Zhang of General Motors designed the vehicle that drives itself, which has an average speed of approximately 13 miles per hour.

The GM team drew upon existing technology already offered in some of their vehicles that can assist in parking or detect lane markers and trigger alarms if the drivers are coming too close to the shoulder of the road.

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Europe’s Fastest Supercomputer Unveiled in Germany

A new supercomputer having the power of 50,000 home PCs, the third worldwide and the fastest in Europe, was unveiled on Tuesday in Germany.

The new supercomputer “Jugene,” capable of 1,000,000,000,000,000 (one quadrillion) calculations per second, ranks behind the “Roadrunner” and “Jaguar” computers in the US, said Kosta Schinarakis from the Juelich research centre.

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U.S. company finds "safer" way to make stem-like cells

U.S. researchers said on Thursday they had come up with the safest way yet to make stem-like cells using a patient's ordinary skin cells, this time by using pure human proteins.

The team at Harvard University and Massachusetts-based Advanced Cell Technology Inc said their technique involves soaking cells in human proteins that turn back the clock biologically, making the cells behave like powerful embryonic stem cells.

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AT&T, Verizon Racing To Rollout 4G Wireless

AT&T's decision to accelerate its ramp up of Long Term Evolution (LTE) will likely prematurely place it in a head-to-head competition withVerizon Wireless.

Verizon Wireless, which is already racing to install the super-high-speed LTE wireless infrastructure, is a year ahead in the deployment race.

AT&T this week put a favorable spin on its move by saying that "most industry overseers expect 4G LTE networks and device availability to scale" in the 2011 to 2012 timeframe. Verizon Wireless, of course, has said it plans to begin LTE rollouts later this year with widespread commercial deployment to take place in 2010.

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Trilliant Acquires SkyPilot Networks to Streamline Smart Grid Communications

There are few battles fiercer in the cleantech business than the holy war currently being waged over which communications and networking technologies will prevail in smart grid deployments.

Wide area networking technologies are integral to the fabric of smart grids, and will be essential elements of any electric utility's smart grid program. Current utility communication systems are highly fragmented, purpose-built for specific applications, and often based on proprietary technologies. However, the prevailing winds are blowing in the direction of more unified architectures that utilize two-way, low-latency, standards-based networking technologies that are scalable and flexible to support a variety of applications using varying bit rates.

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The New Great Race - Tesla versus Clarity

Listening to battery enthusiasts wax poetic about the Tesla recently - - and seeing a few of them appearing on the streets of west Los Angeles - - I began thinking about the old Tony Curtis film “The Great Race” (remember every time he smiled, there was a shiny sparkle of superiority that gleamed from his teeth?). The roads and Holiday Inns have improved dramatically since the period depicted in the movie, but the idea of testing the claims of exciting new technology at the dawn of a new transportation age is very much the same. So let’s have a 21st Century “Great Race” and pit the Tesla against the other electric car on the market today, the Honda Clarity.

The Tesla is an electric sports car powered by batteries, while the Clarity is an electric sedan powered by hydrogen (a fuel cell converts the hydrogen to electricity). The range of each is rated by USEPA-approved testing at about 230 miles. The similarities end there however - - the Tesla is the fastest production car ever built at zero to 60 mph, giving the little hot rod a distinct advantage that would seem to make a race with a Clarity anything but “great”. Or would it?

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Metal Storm Completes MAUL Weapon Demonstration

Weapons developer Metal Storm Limited today announced that Metal Storm Inc. has successfully completed a Live Fire Demonstration under a contract with the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The demonstration was conducted at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada in front of United States military and key defence industry figures.

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Barnacle busters

North Carolina State University engineers have created a non-toxic coating for use on ship hulls that resisted build-up of troublesome barnacles during 18 months of seawater tests - a finding that could ultimately save boat owners millions of dollars in cleaning and fuel costs.

he research, conducted by Dr Kirill Efimenko, a research assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Dr Jan Genzer, a professor in the same department, showed for the first time that surface coatings containing nests of different-sized 'wrinkles' are effective in preventing barnacles from firmly latching on to the coatings.

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WaterMill Gathers Drinking Water from Moisture in the Air

British Columbia–based Element Four helps ease water shortages by pulling moisture straight out of the air. Engineered for muggy outdoor environments or humid indoor rooms, the wall-mountable WaterMill constantly adjusts to the ambient dew point. As with most dehumidifiers, fans pull in air, then the water vapor within condenses as it flows across metal coils.

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A Look Inside NASA's Custom Hubble Repair Toolkit

The mission was intensive, especially considering almost all of the repairs that were performed during a series of TK spacewalks were on parts that were never intended to be serviced by astronauts in space. Equally intense (and beautiful) are the 180 tools NASA employed for the job--with 116 of them created specifically for this mission.

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"World's highest resolution production video projector" to debut next month

Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp. (Salt Lake City, UT) says it will demonstrate its new laser projection system, boasting "fidelity that exceeds the limits of the human eye," at InfoComm 2009 (June 17-19, Orlando, FL). The system, called E&S Laser Projector (ESLP 8K), will begin shipping later this year. According to the company it is the world's highest resolution production video projector.

The ESLP 8K laser projector system displays content the equivalent to 16 times HD 1080p resolution--or the difference between 2 million and 32 million pixels. It is powered by a set of laser light sources that offer multiple benefits, including low cost of operation. E&S claims that the lasers' hue does not degrade or shift over time, and that they yield a much wider useable color spectrum (200% of NTSC/HDTV) than is available in conventional LCoS, DLP, LCD, or other lamp-illuminated projectors.

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Phalanx And The Centurion

The U.S. Navy has upgraded the radar and heat sensors on its Phalanx CIWS (Close In Weapons System) so that that the sensors can detect speedboats, small aircraft and naval mines. The upgrades will cost $4.7 million per system. Of the 57 systems being upgraded to this Block B standard, 17 of them are the land based, Centurion, version of Phalanx.

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AT&T says faster wireless coming by year's end

AT&T Inc. plans to upgrade to High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) 7.2 wireless networking technology later this year, offering faster network speeds to new compatible laptop cards and smartphones due to be released at the same time, the company said in a statement today.

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A Widescreen Laser Projector In Your Pocket

Redmond based company Microvision is in the last stages of developing and releasing a portable, laser-based projector, code-named 'Show WV.' The projector has a resolution of 848 by 400 pixels (WVGA) and, since it uses laser-scanning rather than LCD to form the images, it does not require a lens to focus, allowing it to display images virtually in any surface.

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Renewable diesel

Neste Oil has begun building a €670m (£582m) renewable diesel plant in the Port of Rotterdam, which, once completed, will be the largest facility of its kind in Europe.

It will have an annual production capacity of 800,000 metric tonnes of diesel.
The plant will make use of the company's proprietary process that converts vegetable oils and animal fats into its so-called NExBTL renewable diesel.

The properties of the NExBTL diesel are similar to the best existing diesels, such as GTL or Swedish Environmental Class 1 fuels; NExBTL is sulphur-, oxygen-, nitrogen- and aromatic-free and has a very high cetane number.

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Saab To Start Flight-Testing Civil Missile Detector

The first customer for a new European-developed civil anti-missile detection system is about to start flight trials aboard one of the Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia aircraft that it is destined to enter service on this year.

By coincidence, the May 21 announcement by Saab Aviatronics came just hours after the potential threat to aircraft posed by man-portable anti-air weapons was thrust back into the limelight by the arrest in New York of alleged terrorists attempting to acquire Stinger missiles.

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Picatinny ‘rolls out’ new version of SPARK IED-defeat product

This year troops in Iraq and Afghanistan received improved technology to help them combat one of the greatest threats to Soldiers in theater.

Improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, have been responsible for approximately 40 percent of all US casualties in Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to Lt. Col. Karl Borjes, Product Manager for Improvised Explosive Device Defeat/Protect Force.

To help reduce this danger, Borjes’ office oversees technology programs, such as the Self-Protection Adaptive Roller Kit, or SPARK, which provides Soldiers products to mitigate and prevent effects of IED strikes.

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Lockheed Martin GPS III Team Successfully Completes Major Design Review Phase On Schedule

The Lockheed Martin team developing the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation Global Positioning System (GPS) spacecraft, known as GPS III, has successfully completed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) phase, a major program milestone that allows the team to begin the Critical Design Review (CDR) stage.

Lockheed Martin, Newtown, PA., along with teammates ITT, Clifton, NJ., and General Dynamics of Gilbert, AZ., completed a comprehensive spacecraft segment PDR, which represented the culmination of 70 subsystem and assembly PDRs, executed over the past six months.

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Smart Wind Turbines to Switch Shapes

Today's wind turbines are like race cars with one gear. Slow off the line and crippled at high speeds, the turbines are effective at generating electricity only within a sweet spot of moderate wind speeds.

Scientists from Purdue University want to change this by creating intelligent wind turbines that shape-shift with the wind. These smart wind turbines would help maximize the amount of electricity generated by wind power while ensuring longer life spans for wind turbines.

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Boeing Wins $250M Special Ops Contract for ScanEagle ISR Services

Boeing announced today that it recently received a contract from U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) services using the ScanEagle unmanned aircraft system (UAS). The contract has a potential value of $250 million.

Under the new agreement, Boeing and its subsidiary Insitu Inc. will operate, maintain and support ScanEagle systems for the Special Operations Forces Mid Endurance Unmanned Aircraft System (MEUAS) program for the next five years.

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Joint High Speed Vessel Milestone Reached

Austal has taken a significant step towards commencing construction of the US Department of Defense's next generation multi-use platform - the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) - after successfully completing the Initial Critical Design Review (ICDR).During the ICDR, Austal provided a comprehensive summary of the critical areas of the JHSV design for US Navy approval. The successful completion of the ICDR means Austal is now proceeding towards the project's next critical milestone - the Final Critical Design Review.

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GPS Tracking Device records every second of vehicle status

Rocky Mountain Tracking, Inc. (RMT) has released to the public what may be the most innovative device yet, the Trac-King (GPS Tracking) device. The Trac-King is a convenient and portable-passive GPS powered by two AA batteries; the Trac-King is able to record up to 80 hours of continuous movement on a single battery cycle.According to RMT's president Brad Borst, "The Trac-King is one of the most inventive and user-friendly GPS devices on the market today, because of its design and incredible software functionality." The Trac-King is a more advanced version of the Tracking Key and 3100, which are passive devices that RMT has sold about 12,000 of over the past couple years. The Trac-King tracks every second, within a few meters accuracy, and records times, addresses, direction and speed of travel, and stop duration.

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Aircraft surface cavities could cut friction drag by 40%

Friction drag could be cut by 40% with aircraft surfaces that have small cavities with shaped orifices to affect turbulence mechanisms, say researchers.

The orifices would be designed to direct oscillated air across the aircraft's surface perpendicular to the relative wind. It is this redirected air flow that is believed to affect near-wall turbulence mechanisms and reduce friction drag.

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Israel, U.S. to Embark on Collaborative 'Upper-Tier' Missile Intercept Program to include Arrow 3 and Land-Based SM-3 Missiles

A recent analysis by U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) assessing the proposed Israeli upper-tier alternatives including Arrow 3 and the planned land-based SM-3, determined that "the Arrow 3 alternative may have a reduced life cycle cost and potentially, offer better performance to meet Israel's requirements," confirmed Lieutenant General Patrick J. O’Reilly, Director of the MDA. "The design of Arrow 3 promisses to be an extremely capable system, more advanced than what we have ever attempted in the U.S. with our programs" Gen. O'Reilly told the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services subcommitee for strategic forces. "This has to do with the seekers that have greater flexibility and other aspects, such as propulsion systems - it will be an extremely capable system" he said.

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Analysts Plug Laser Anti-Mortar Systems

Fielding non-chemical, electrically generated Solid State Laser (SSL) technologies that can act as a deterrent against both guided and unguided mortar fire should be a priority for Pentagon planners, several think tank analysts said May 20 on Capitol Hill.

Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) analyst Tom Erhard warned that in future conflicts, guided mortars could be “the next IED,” referring to the improvised explosive devices that have become insurgents’ top weapon in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Darpa Plans Triple-Target Missile Demo

A new program to develop a high-speed, long-range airborne weapon that can engage aircraft, cruise missiles and air defenses is part of the U.S. Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency's $3.25 billion Fiscal 2010 budget request.

The Triple Target Terminator (T3) would be carried internally or externally on fighters, bombers and unmanned aircraft, allowing them to switch between air-to-air and air-to-surface capability and increasing the variety of targets engaged on each sortie.

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In Hot Pursuit of Fusion (or Folly)

Here in a dry California valley, outside a small town, a cathedral of light is to be dedicated on Friday. Like the cathedrals of antiquity, it is built on an unrivaled scale with unmatched technology, and it embodies a scientific doctrine that, if confirmed, might lift civilization to new heights.

“Bringing Star Power to Earth” reads a giant banner that was recently unfurled across a building the size of a football stadium.

The $3.5 billion site is known as the National Ignition Facility, or NIF. For more than half a century, physicists have dreamed of creating tiny stars that would inaugurate an era of bold science and cheap energy, and NIF is meant to kindle that blaze.

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$6.5M to Argon for DARPA Robust Surface Navigation Program

DARPA’s Robust Surface Navigation (RSN) program will allow American warfighters to geo-locate and navigate effectively when GPS is unavailable due to hostile action (e.g. jamming) or blockage by structures and foliage. After successfully completed Phase 1, Argon ST in Fairfax, VA received a $6.5 million contract for Phase 2A, with options for Phases 2B and 2C.

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Scientists Patent Corrosion-Resistant Nano-Coating for Metals

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a method for coating metal surfaces with an ultrathin film containing nanoparticles — particles measuring billionths of a meter — which renders the metal resistant to corrosion and eliminates the use of toxic chromium for this purpose. The scientists have been awarded U.S. Patent number 7,507,480 for their method and the corrosion-resistant metals made from it. The technology is available for licensing.

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Aurora Flight Sciences' solar powered UAV flies

Its first test objective was the collection of data on its aerodynamic performance and the solar cells. The next step for SunLight Eagle is to fly longer at higher altitudes.

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Raytheon to upgrade Phalanx tech

The U.S. Navy has contracted Raytheon to provide upgrades on a computer-controlled weapons system that defends naval vessels from enemy threats.

U.S. company Raytheon was contracted by the Navy to support upgrades for the Phalanx Close-In Weapon Systems. Under the $259.9 million deal, Raytheon will overhaul 40 of the sea-based Phalanx variants and 17 Centurion Land-Based systems.

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Trialling Hypersonic Flight at Woomera

Next-generation air vehicles with the potential to dramatically reduce inter-continental travel times are now one step closer to reality with the successful completion of preliminary hypersonic flight trials at the Woomera Test Range.

The Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, the Hon. Warren Snowdon MP, today congratulated the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) and the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) on the results of their recent joint hypersonic flight trial.

"Hypersonics is the study of flight exceeding approximately five times the speed of sound, and this trial has successfully tested the flight and mission control systems that will be used in future experiments," Mr Snowdon said.

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Island Start for Royal Navy's World-Leading Carrier Comms System

A mock-up of an island superstructure that will house some of the most powerful ship-borne communication systems ever seen is being constructed on the Isle of Wight. Report by Steve Moore.

The launch of HMS Queen Elizabeth - the first of two new aircraft carriers - may be six years away, but work is progressing on a vital part of it deep in the heart of the Isle of Wight. When the vessel puts to sea she will break the mould in many ways, not least in her cost efficiency.

Central to her success - and that of the second carrier HMS Prince of Wales due in service towards the end of the next decade - will be her mission system. The system, which will use 1,740km of fibre optic cable and 14,000 items of equipment, underpins her war-fighting capability. It will support voice and data services needed to effect command and control along with management of aircraft and protection of the ship through sensors and radars.

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Ceramic Fuel Cells launches new modular generator product - BlueGen

Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited (ASX/AIM: CFU) today officially launched a new modular generator product.

The new unit – called BlueGen – is a ‘mini power station’ for homes and other buildings. It produces low emission electricity and hot water, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and saving on home energy bills. About the size of a dishwasher, the BlueGen unit converts natural gas to electricity and heat via ceramic fuel cells.

The Company plans to make the BlueGen product available in Victoria from early 2010. The Company is in discussions with potential local manufacturing partners. The Company is also in discussions with potential purchasers of the BlueGen product in other markets including Europe and North America.

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Compact Discs Enter the Fifth Dimension

Better clear a shelf in your basement for that high-end Blu-ray DVD player you just bought. Researchers report that they can boost the amount of data stored on a disc 10,000-fold by using gold nanoparticles. If commercialized, the technology could allow a single disc to hold as many as 300 movies or 250,000 songs.

Today's CDs and DVDs store data as a string of pits burned into a narrow spiral track in plastic discs. Although less of a commercial success, holograms boost data-storage capacities by storing data in three dimensions. In an effort to kick things up a notch, researchers led by Min Gu, an optoelectronics expert at Swinburne University of Technology in Hawthorn, Australia, added two additional dimensions: the color of light used to write and read the data and the light's polarization, or the direction of its electric field.

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SUV nuke detector will avert covert attack, company claims

A turbo-charged engine, 21-inch wheels, Bluetooth, and 600-watt THX speakers are fine, but for the SUV owner who desires everything, how about a Mobile Nuclear Radiation Detection System?

Raytheon is offering the Sports Utility Vehicle-Based Radiation Detection System, which uses advanced spectroscopic technology to detect and identify nuclear radiation, whether sitting put or on the move.

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Pentagon Seeks High School Hackers

High school hackers, crackers and digital deviants: Uncle Sam wants you.

As part of a government information security review released as early as Friday, White House interim cybersecurity chief Melissa Hathaway likely will mention a new military-funded program aimed at leveraging an untapped resource: the U.S.' population of geeky high school and college students.

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Network Attack Weapons Emerge

Devices to launch and control cyber, electronic and information attacks are being tested and refined by the U.S. military and industry in preparation for moving out of the laboratory and into the warfighter's backback.

It's a part of a technology race that is already well underway. The Russian attack on Georgia last year showed weaknesses in some combat areas, but not in cyberwarfare, say U.S. analysts.

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Hydrogen Vehicles Drive from Mexico Border to Canada

National Hydrogen Association announced the beginning of the 1,700 mile 2009 Hydrogen Road Tour. For nine days starting May 26, Americans and Canadians in 28 cities between southern California and Vancouver, British Columbia will have a unique opportunity to see what the transportation future holds for with the launch of a nine-day caravan of clean, efficient hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles.

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Additional airborne satellite communications systems for USAF

Boeing has announced that it has received a $3.4 million follow-on contract to provide the U.S. Air Force with 46 additional Combat Track II airborne satellite communications systems.


Boeing has delivered nearly 500 Combat Track II kits to the Air Force since 2001 in an ongoing effort to provide airborne intelligence systems for cargo and bomber aircraft that enhance situational awareness, increase aircrew survivability and improve airframe effectiveness. The total value of the systems currently in use is approximately $38 million.

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Metal Storm Launches New MAUL Weapon

Metal Storm Incorporated (MSI) has announced today that it is launching its latest lightweight weapon system, the GLH1851 Multi-shot Accessory Under-barrel Launcher (MAUL(tm)), at the International Infantry and Joint Services Small Arms System Symposium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The MAUL(tm) is an ultra-light shotgun attachment that fits under the barrel of an individual combat weapon, including the M-4 and M-16 rifles. It provides a range of less lethal, lethal and door breaching capabilities as an integrated, lightweight accessory to the user's main combat weapon.

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DARPA awards phase II for RSN program

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded Argon ST Inc. a phase II contract for continued work on the Robust Surface Navigation program.


U.S. company Argon was awarded the contract from the DARPA Strategic Technology Office following the company's successful completion of a phase I award. Under the approximately $6.5 million deal, Argon will continue development of algorithms to support a global positioning system for the RSN program.

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DARPA awards phase II for RSN program

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded Argon ST Inc. a phase II contract for continued work on the Robust Surface Navigation program.


U.S. company Argon was awarded the contract from the DARPA Strategic Technology Office following the company's successful completion of a phase I award. Under the approximately $6.5 million deal, Argon will continue development of algorithms to support a global positioning system for the RSN program.

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The New Onboard Systems Tell-All Know-It-Alls

In September 2007, Gulfstream announced PlaneConnect, a system option for PlaneView, the Honeywell Primus Epic avionics suite configured for Gulfstream, in which a central maintenance computer (CMC) begins to record fault codes or exceedances from aircraft components from the moment of weight-off-wheels, then automatically radios the information to the ground when the airplane begins a descent to its destination. By July 2008, about nine months after the initial announcement, some 10,000 downlinks had been received from 135 large-cabin aircraft (currently G350 through G550).

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Planning Begins for F136 Flight Tests

The General Electric/Rolls-Royce team developing the F136 alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has begun flight clearance work for the start of the test program in early 2011, despite being targeted for cancellation for the third time in the latest U.S. defense budget.

The GE-RR team met formally with Lockheed Martin, the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO), the U.S. Air Force and Navy at Evendale, Ohio, for flight-clearance technical review meetings May 13-14. The meetings coincided with the resumption of tests on the F136 at GE’s Altitude Test Cell 43 in Evendale, following modifications to the bearing system.

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GD wins second order to integrate US Army “Prophet Enhanced” system into military vehicles

A team led by General Dynamics C4 Systems has received a new, $3 million delivery order from the U.S. Army to integrate the Prophet Enhanced tactical signals intelligence system into Medium Mine Protected Vehicles (MMPV). The order is in support of a Department of Defense requirement that is providing additional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities to the U.S. military. MMPVs equipped with the Prophet Enhanced system will be delivered to the U.S. Army in October 2009.

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Hitachi Announces Super-Powered Lithium Ion Battery

New Hitachi battery offers 1.7 times more power while being smaller and lighter than previous generations.’

One of the key areas of research for alternative power sources for vehicles is in batteries. As batteries become more powerful, smaller, and lighter, the range of electric and hybrid vehicles will increase making them more viable alternatives for drivers.

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Cute Pocket-Sized Robot Could Change Urban Warfare

Consumer- and military-robot manufacturer iRobot has made a little "cousin" of its famous Packbot that's small enough to fit in a pocket, weighs less than a pound, clambers almost anywhere and forms ad-hoc wireless networks with its kin.

It's been made under a Pentagon contract to develop "LANdroids," small, automatically networking communications and surveillance robots.

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Next-Gen Ultrasound

Micromachined transducer probes for ultrasound scanners should provide prenatal images that are even sharper than those new parents now get to see. The pictures, though, may never be as crisp as the one in this fanciful photo-illustration.

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Engine Defects Threaten Su-30 Fleet

Russian engineers have determined that the April 26th crash of one of the two prototypes of the Russian Su-35 fifth generation fighters, was an "engineering defect" in one of the two AL-41 engines. The engine failed during takeoff.

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Can "Terminators" Actually be our Salvation?

We might be able to design robotic soldiers that could be more ethical than human soldiers.

Asaro concludes that the use of autonomous technologies such as robot soldiers is neither “completely morally acceptable nor completely morally unacceptable” according to the just war theory formulated by Michael Walzer.

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Beaver-tailed robot mimics tree-climbing insects

Here's another offering from Boston Dynamics' zoomorphic line: the RiSE V3, a multi-legged, beaver-tailed robot that can skitter along the ground, shimmy up a pole, and then quietly cling there and stare at you.
The legs are powered by a pair of electric motors and equipped with small surgical needle micro-claws, which allow the unit to dig into and climb up textured, convex, cylindrical structures at a rate of 21 centimeters per second, or just under a half a mile an hour.

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High-Tech Response to Rocket Attacks

The NBS C-RAM is specifically designed to defeat the threat which rocket, artillery and mortar attacks pose to Bundeswehr units deployed in hazardous areas of operation. The Bundeswehr will be the world's first army to possess an effective defence against this kind of asymmetric threat, which is particularly prevalent in Afghanistan.

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EADS DS Supplies New Type of Ground Surveillance Radar

EADS Defence & Security (DS) will equip the German Armed Forces with a new kind of ground surveillance radar (BUR - Bodenuberwachungsradar) for detecting movements on the ground and at low altitudes with a precision unmatched in the world. As the company announced on Tuesday, Defence Electronics (DE), an integrated activity of DS, today handed over the first of two system demonstrators to the German Federal Office of Defence Technology and Procurement (BWB) for evaluation by the Bundeswehr's Technical Centres. The delivery of approximately 80 BUR systems is scheduled to start in 2012. They are intended to close the gap in capabilities of the German Armed Forces in the area of intelligence gathering and reconnaissance. A modified version of this radar destined for civil applications such as surveillance of border regions or industrial facilities is currently under development.

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AdvancedIO® Systems Announces expressXG(TM) Framework for Rapid High-Bandwidth Application Development

AdvancedIO® Systems, the leader in high-bandwidth connectivity solutions optimized for decision-critical applications, today announced the availability of expressXG(TM), an FPGA framework that accelerates customers' ability to tackle challenging system communication problems. The framework gives customers the tools to embed their own applications directly into AdvancedIO's 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) interfaces. The applications quickly benefit from the line-rate performance capability of FPGAs by leveraging AdvancedIO's expertise implementing Ethernet communications for demanding real-time systems.

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Searching for answers, Microsoft set to intro "Kumo" search engine

In the market for yet another way to navigate cyberspace? Just days after physicist Stephan Wolfram took his WolframAlpha "computational knowledge engine" live, word is that Microsoft next week will debut a revamped version of its flagging Live.com search engine, the No. 3 Web navigator behind Google and Yahoo.

Microsoft will take the wraps off of "Kumo"—the codename of its new, improved search engine—at the D: All Things Digital technology conference next week in Carlsbad, Calif., the Wall Street Journal reports.

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Getting your V6 to act like a V8, while saving gas

The history of engine improvements in the U.S. has tended primarily in one direction: raw horsepower. Engines have gotten bigger and more powerful over time—and that's certainly what automakers have used as a key selling point. But U.S. automaker Ford has decided to take turbo-charging and direct fuel injection in another direction: fuel efficiency.

Yesterday, Ford began production of what it's calling the EcoBoost engine: a new gasoline motor that employs turbo-charging, direct fuel injection, variable timing in the valves that control fuel and exhaust flow to make a smaller, lighter six-cylinder engine perform like an eight-cylinder engine*. When these technologies are combined, "you can now significantly downsize the engine," says mechanical engineer Dan Kapp, Ford's director for power train research. "The fuel efficiency comes from a much smaller displacement engine providing equal or, in most cases, superior performance to the engine you're replacing."

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Magnets help ants lead the way

Miniscule magnets found in ant antennae could help to explain why these insects seem to always know where they are going, according to researchers who suspect the magnets are a key component of a sophisticated, nature-made GPS system.

While human global positioning systems rely upon power-consuming receivers that pick up information from clunky, orbiting 3,000-4,000-pound satellites, the probable ant system weighs next to nothing, requires little body energy to operate and is Earth-friendly to the max.

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BAH Wins up to $28M to Support Navy Crypto Systems

Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH), in San Diego, CA won a $16.9 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a cost-plus-fixed-fee pricing arrangement to provide engineering, security engineering and technical support services for Navy cryptographic systems and solutions, and key management architectures and information systems. This 5-year contract includes 4 nine-month award terms which, if earned, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $28 million.

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Air-Fueled Battery Could Last Up to 10 Times Longer

Researchers have developed a new type of air-fuelled battery that could make energy storage up to ten times longer. It could pave the way for a new generation of electric cars, mobile phones and laptops.

Researchers at the University of St Andrews said the new design has the potential to improve the performance of portable electronic products and give a major boost to the renewable energy industry. The batteries will enable a constant electrical output from sources such as wind or solar, which stop generating when the weather changes or night falls.

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What's Inside WD-40? Superlube's Secret Sauce

The recipe for this superlube has long been a closely guarded trade secret—until now. Wired sent a can to the lab and got the ingredients.

Mineral Oil Seriously. WD-40 is mostly a mix of baby oil, Vaseline, and the goop inside homemade lava lamps.

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A Laptop Cooled with Ionic Wind

Anyone who uses a laptop will be familiar with the whir that the fan makes as it kicks in when the processor's temperature reaches around 100 °F. As laptops and other electronics have gotten smaller and thinner, researchers have begun searching for alternative cooling methods, which add less bulk and are quieter.

One novel idea is to cool a system by using ions to push air molecules across a hot microprocessor, thereby creating a cooling breeze. So-called ionic-cooling systems have been demonstrated in research labs before, but now Tessera, an international chip-packaging company based in San Jose, CA, has demonstrated an ionic-cooling system integrated into a working laptop.

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Microsoft patents 'magic wand'

Newly released patent applications from Microsoft have sparked speculation that it is to unveil a Wii remote rival at the E3 expo in Los Angeles.

An application was filed in 2007 for a motion controller, dubbed Magic Wand, that interacts with "a collection of sensors".

Microsoft says it will not "comment on speculation" about a possible launch.

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Invention Awards: The Fastest Tank

Cue up the Ripsaw’s greatest hits on YouTube, and you can watch the unmanned tank tear across muddy fields at 60 mph, jump 50 feet, and crush birch trees. But right now, as its remote driver inches it back and forth for a photo shoot, it’s like watching Babe Ruth forced to bunt with the bases loaded. The Ripsaw, lurching and belching black puffs of smoke, somehow seems restles.

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Advanced Algorithms Enlisted To Fight Cyberwars

First Estonia. Then Georgia. Increasingly, the theoretical potential for cyberwar is becoming hard reality. One new report argues that the unchecked proliferation of cyber warfare weapons is comparable to that of nuclear warheads. At least one branch of the US military, United States Navy takes the threat seriously and monitors cyber threats on a daily basis.

To combat this growing threat Guidance Software announced on Monday a new proactive version of its classic digital forensic software, EnCase, already in use by government and law enforcement worldwide for conducting incident response investigations.

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Future Imagery Architecture [FIA] To Broad Area Surveillance Intelligence Capacity [BASIC]

The Future Imagery Architecture (FIA) is the NRO’s initiative to define, acquire and operate the next generation imagery satellite architecture. Working with NRO’s mission partner - NGA - and consumers of intelligence imagery products to implement user requirements, it will integrate into the US Imagery and Geospatial Information System (USIGS). FIA was intended to provide a cost-effective, best value imagery architecture comprised of more capable imagery satellites which are expected to be launched in this decade.

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US Army rethinks jets for Aerial Common Sensor

The US Army is considering shifting to turboprop aircraft for its next-generation aerial common sensor (ACS) fleet, potentially reversing a key focus of its acquisition strategy after a star-crossed, six-year pursuit of jets, according to industry sources.

The potential change has been disclosed during the last three weeks in private notices and informal discussions to several potential ACS suppliers, according to multiple industry sources.

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Elbit Systems Electrically Remotely Controlled Weapon Station Medium (ERCWS-M)

Elbit has introduced a new, lightweight, low-profile remotely operated weapon station designed for light vehicles. The system designated 'Electrically Remotely Controlled Weapon Station - Medium' (ERCWS-M) mounts a modular electro-oprtical payload, configurable to carry customer furnished EO sensors. The payload is mounted on an independent traverse and elevation gear, enabling the operator to decouple the weapon from the EO sensors, performing surveillance and reconnaissance activity while the gun is elevated 60 degrees up, without 'pointing' at specific targets. The EO payload can also perform limited lateral (traverse) movements to improve fire correction and compensation when firing an Automatic Grenade Launcher. Other weapons carried by the system include 7.62 and 12.7mm machine guns. All photos: Defense Update. The new system has already been selected for the new Austrial Armored Protected Vehicles procured in Italy.

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Gigabit Ethernet camera provides high resolution at fast frame rates

Toshiba Teli America has introduced its fastest, highest resolution Gigabit Ethernet machine-vision camera to date, the new CSGU15BC18. Capable of capturing 1600 x 1200 (UXGA) uncompressed monochrome images at 15 frames/s, the camera sets a new standard for its class.

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Next Wave Optics wins U.S. patent for MEMS-based optical engine

Next Wave Optics (San Jose, CA) has received a new U.S. patent for its single MEMS imager optical engine technology. Developed by New Wave Optics' CEO George Mihalakis, the engine is designed for use with microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based microdisplay units. It is made up of a collection stage module, an imaging stage module featuring polarization based imaging prism assemblage, and a polarizing illumination stage module featuring a special light integration tube that removes off-axis overfill loss.

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IMI to adapt I-TALD decoy for target applications

Israel Military Industries has launched the development of an air-launched manoeuvring target based on the design of its I-TALD decoy.

IMI chairman Avner Raz says the company will develop a line of advanced targets capable of simulating threat aircraft and missiles. These will also be equipped with payloads to simulate countermeasure systems, he adds.

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One for All: AAI Textron’s UAV Control System

Can the Army create a universal ground control system for UAVs? The ability to use hundreds of comparatively cheap UAVs from different manufacturers has been a blessing to ground forces, who finally have the comprehensive aerial coverage they want. It can also be a curse. If each system has its own unique controller and vehicle – or worse, its own receiver and screen – the result will be chaos.

Enter AAI’s One System® ground control offerings, which are a step toward a more universal future. This Spotlight article covers the One System concept, its ongoing development, its current reach, and future technology initiatives and requirements that will affect UAV ground control…

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A new material for rapid prototyping

CRP Technology has developed a new SLS powder: Windform® LX that goes to enrich the wide range of RP materials.

Windform® LX is a new polyamide-based material reinforced with new generation glass fibres whose good technical properties make it particularly suited for functional applications and finished complex parts. It is a naturally black powder and it is characterised by good UTS and stiffness as well as high level of resistance to temperature and good surface finish.

According to the current economic scenario CRP Technology has given birth to a material able to satisfy the needs for quality at good value.

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US Air Force to Test Scramjet Aircraft

The US Air Force has been developing an aircraft that employs an air-breathing scramjet engine, and hopes to run test flights in the fall of 2009. Officials hope the X-51 “Waverider” aircraft will provide high speed aircraft for reconnaissance or strike missions, and eventually the engines will be used for rockets to deploy satellites in space.

“The long-range goal of this for the Air Force is access to space,” said Charlie Brink, an Air Force Research Laboratory propulsion directorate official who manages the X-51 program from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.The first test flight of the X-51 will be on Oct. 27, 2009, launched from a B-52 aircraft with a missile booster to at least Mach 4.5, the minimum speed at which the air-breathing scramjet engine operates, before the scramjet kicks in and accelerates the vehicle to at least Mach 6 — six times the speed of sound.

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Boeing Awarded Contract to Develop Counter-Electronics HPM Aerial Demonstrator

The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] was awarded a $38 million contract April 27 to develop and test a nonlethal, high power microwave (HPM) airborne demonstrator for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Counter-electronics High power microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP).

The CHAMP Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) program will be the first to demonstrate a counter-electronics HPM aerial demonstrator.

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Wide Field Camera 3

After astronauts install the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) during SM4, it will continue the pioneering tradition of previous Hubble cameras, but with critical improvements to take the telescope on a new voyage of discovery. Together with the new Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS), WFC3 will lead the way to many more exciting scientific discoveries.

Instrument Overview
WFC3 will study a diverse range of objects and phenomena, from young and extremely distant galaxies, to much more nearby stellar systems, to objects within our very own solar system. Its key feature is its ability to span the electromagnetic spectrum from the ultraviolet (UV, the kind of radiation that causes sunburn), through visible/ optical light (what our eyes can detect), and into the near infrared (NIR, the kind of radiation seen with night-vision goggles). WFC3 extends Hubble’s capability not only by seeing deeper into the universe but also by providing wide-field imagery in all three regions of the spectrum—UV-Visible-NIR. It is this wide-field “panchromatic” coverage of that makes WFC3 so unique. As an example, WFC3 will observe young, hot stars (glowing predominantly in UV) and older, cooler stars (glowing predominantly in the red and NIR) in the same galaxy.

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Future Helicopters Get SMART

Helicopters today are considered a loud, bumpy and inefficient mode for day-to-day domestic travel—best reserved for medical emergencies, traffic reporting and hovering over celebrity weddings.

But NASA research into rotor blades made with shape-changing materials could change that view.

Twenty years from now, large rotorcraft could be making short hops between cities such as New York and Washington, carrying as many as 100 passengers at a time in comfort and safety.

Routine transportation by rotorcraft could help ease air traffic congestion around the nation's airports. But noise and vibration must be reduced significantly before the public can embrace the idea.

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Cheap Plastic Could Improve Electronic Devices

Cheap plastic in CDs and DVDs could one day improve the integrity of electronics in aircraft, computers and handheld electronics, researchers said today.

Shay Curran, associate professor of physics at University of Houston , and his research team created ultra-high electrical conductive properties in plastics, called polycarbonates, by mixing them with carbon nanotubes.

Computer failure, for instance, results from the build up of thermal and electrical charges, so developing these polymer nanotube composites into an antistatic coating or to provide a shield against electromagnetic interference would increase the lifespan of computing devices, ranging from PCs to PDAs.

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Turning the Tide to Energy: New Concept Could Harness the Power of Ocean Waves

NASA researchers who developed a new way to power robotic underwater vehicles believe a spin-off technology could help convert ocean energy into electrical energy on a much larger scale. The researchers hope that clean, renewable energy produced from the motion of the ocean and rivers could potentially meet an important part of the world's demand for electricity.

Many different methods already exist for using moving water to create power. Hydroelectric plants, for example, are among the most established and least expensive sources of electricity. They benefit from the large hydrostatic pressure difference between the water surface behind the dam and the turbines that can be harnessed to produce power. But the power that can be produced in this manner is limited, because most of the suitable rivers already have hydroelectric dams.

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Ultimate Fridge Magnets Could Save Energy

Magnetic refrigeration technology could use 20-30 percent less energy than traditional gas-compression fridges and air conditioners used today. But the material needed to make them work hasn't been determined.

Now a step has been made toward figuring out what materials will work best.
A magnetic refrigeration system works by applying a magnetic field to a magnetic material — some of the most promising being metallic alloys — causing it to heat up. This excess heat is removed from the system by water, cooling the material back down to its original temperature. When the magnetic field is removed the material cools down even further, and it is this cooling property that researchers hope to harness for a wide variety of cooling applications.

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Patent reveals Google's book-scanning advantage

Sometimes overlooked in the Sturm und Drang about Google Book Search is any consideration of the mechanics of economically scanning the books in the first place, but a patent awarded to Google gives insight into how the search behemoth accomplishes the task.

In short, Google has come up with a system that uses two cameras and infrared light to automatically correct for the curvature of pages in a book. By constructing a 3D model of each page and then "de-warping" it afterward, Google can present flat-looking pages online without having to slice books up or mash them onto a flatbed scanner.

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RFID Laptop Security Application

Xterprise today announced the commercial availability of Clarity ITAM - Laptop Security System, available as a standalone application, or as a module within the Clarity IT Asset Management application suite. Already deployed at several sites of Fortune 100 companies in North America, the application is specifically designed to track and secure highly mobile sensitive enterprise assets and the information they contain. Built on the Clarity Application Framework, featuring Microsoft platform technology such as BizTalk Server and SQL Server, the application is a highly scalable, low total cost of ownership solution to laptop security that can be deployed within a few short weeks.

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IBM launches new real-time data analysis software

IBM Corp is set to begin selling a long-awaited software aimed at helping companies analyze real-time data, ranging from traffic data to manufacturing processes, to find more efficient ways to run their business.

IBM, which has shifted its focus from computers to higher-margin software and services over the past decade, said the new software, named IBM System S, will be available from Friday following six years of development.

The software is designed to analyze streams of real-time data and could help financial institutions monitor transactions and analyze risks, or help hospitals monitor patients to detect problems early, the company said.

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Photo-direct vehicle camouflage matches battlefield

While military camouflage patterns for vehicles have evolved, the application process has been stuck in the spray booth. Now, however, GI equivalents of Earl Scheib can apply a precut "wrap" of adhesive vinyl that will blend in on virtually any battlefield.

The process is similar to the advertising and decorative wraps commonly seen on cars and buses, except that this product from Military Wraps, called Photo Veil, is lightweight and incorporates images from cameras on drones, satellites, or lidar in the field and loops them back to be applied to vehicles or equipment as site-specific, high-resolution camouflage.

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Raytheon Secures $19.8 M for Production of Towed Decoys

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has received a $19.8 million contract for continued production of its ALE-50 line of towed decoys.

The award by the U.S. Air Force Warner Robins Air Logistics Center represents the 13th production lot of ALE-50 decoys, which are used by the Navy as well as the Air Force. The contract calls for 807 decoys for the Air Force to be delivered through April 2011.

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Future of military aviation lies with drones: US admiral

Unmanned aircraft likely represent the future for US military aviation with next generation bombers and fighter planes operating without pilots onboard, the top US military officer said on Thursday.

"We're at a real time of transition here in terms of the future of aviation, and the whole issue of what's going to be manned and what's going to be unmanned," Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Senate hearing.

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KONGSBERG releases White Paper on Military and Civilian Port Security

Kongsberg Mesotech Ltd., is pleased to release a white paper outlining the most recent technological advances in sonar technologies and how these can protect military and civilian ports and visiting ships from attack by enemy divers. The white paper is entitled "New Advances in Sonar Diver Detection Systems: The Hidden Threat Facing Military and Civilian Ports."

This new Kongsberg white paper outlines the hidden threat presented by underwater diver incursion, as evidenced by groups such as the Tamil "Sea" Tigers having been able to mount successful underwater attacks in ports. It also reviews the latest technological improvements in underwater acoustical diver detection systems in these key areas: hardware, tracking software and data fusion/systems integration.

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Protonex to Extend Capabilities of UAV Propulsion Systems

Protonex Technology Corporation, a leading provider of advanced fuel cell power systems for portable, remote and mobile applications, today announced that it has received a $265,000 contract from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for advanced development of high performance fuel cell systems for small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This award expands upon a series of efforts by Protonex to miniaturize fuel cells for use in smaller UAVs.

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Honeywell Provides Satellite Precision Landing System for Bremen Airport

Honeywell announced today that installation is complete for its SmartPath(tm) Precision Landing System at Bremen Airport in Germany. Honeywell's technology is a ground-based augmentation system that supports precision approach and landings using Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite data and transmits digital guidance signals to aircraft systems.

"The flexibility of Honeywell's SmartPath system allows for multiple approach paths, enabling airports to increase capacity without expensive runway expansions," said TK Kallenbach, Honeywell Aerospace Vice President, Marketing and Program Management. "The precise approach path can allow airports to reduce noise in surrounding communities while operators save fuel and lower emissions."

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DARPA working on inertial-nav 'Smart Boot' tech

Elite Pentagon deathnerds have just awarded a contract for development of a highly accurate inertial navigation module which will fit in the heel of a shoe.

Massachusetts sensors'n'tracking company Intersense were chuffed to announce the deal this week, in which the firm will work with Case Western university to deliver tiny yet highly accurate inertial-nav units under a programme called Micro Inertial Navigation Technology (MINT).

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Growing Markets for Active Electronically-scanned Arrays

Airborne applications represent the main markets with 379 “free world” shipments in 2009 rising to 1,638 in 2015. These markets are typically two orders of magnitude above those applying to either the land-based or shipboard segments. Total “free world” market values are just over US$6 B in 2009 which more than doubles to exceed US$13 B for 2015. Throughout the report the geographic segmentations are: Europe, North America and the Rest of the “Free World” (RoW).

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AMD Breaks 1GHz GPU Barrier With Radeon HD 4890

Beginning now, however, users with a lust for raw horsepower can sink their teeth into a factory overclocked, air-cooled HD 4890 that hits the magical 1GHz barrier. There's been no formal announcement made about what partners will be selling the 1GHz variant, but AMD does note that Asus, Club 3D, Diamond Multimedia, Force3D, GECUBE, Gigabyte, HIS (Hightech Information Systems), ITC, Jetway, MSI, Palit Multimedia, PowerColor, SAPPHIRE Technology and XFX are all estatic about the news.

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GPS Accuracy Could Start Dropping in 2010

At the end of April 2009, the U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report expressing concern about the Air Force's modernization and maintenance of the GPS system. Constant replacement and upgrading of satellites is necessary, especially with hardware that's been operating in space for almost two decades.

The GAO's report draws attention to problems that the Air Force has had in working with contractors to build and launch GPS satellites within cost and schedule goals. Some of the problems stem from government acquisition methods that didn't provide for enough oversight, and added requirements that resulted in cost and schedule overruns.

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Reliable Acoustic Path Vertical Line Array

DESCRIPTION: In recent years the U.S. Navy has researched the utility of deep water (i.e., 6 km depth, 3 deg C temperature) acoustic sensing technologies that exploit the reliable acoustic path (RAP) [1] using vertical line arrays (VLAs) of vector sensors [2,3]. The first RAP VLA array was large and deployed over the side of a research vessel [3]. The sensing nodes consisted of a pressure hydrophone, a triaxial pressure-gradient hydrophone, and an electronics housing all contained within a free-flooding plastic frame having a diameter and length of 13-in x 41-in. The measured acoustic signals were routed to a central node that served as a data recorder. Future arrays will be smaller and deployed from tactical naval platforms using existing packaging modalities

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The Future Sneaks Up On You

The U.S. Army is caught in the middle of a debate over its future. Many politicians want to turn the army into a force specializing in irregular warfare (as seen in Iraq and Afghanistan). Many generals, and some politicians, warn that the army is still needed for conventional warfare, against a foe with lots of armor, aircraft and trained troops. While the army still contains many armored unit (about half the 45 brigades are equipped with tanks and other armored vehicles), many of the tank crews have gone to Iraq and served as infantry. In the last five years, very little mechanized warfare training has been done. The troops train for Iraq and Afghanistan, which means infantry fighting.

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Illusion Cloak Makes One Object Look like Another

Just when you thought invisibility cloaks couldn't get any weirder, researchers come up with this: a way to make one object look like any other.

Invisibility cloaks work by steering light around a region of space, making any object inside that region invisible. In effect, an invisibility cloak creates the illusion of free space. This is possible because of a new generation of artificial materials called metamaterials that can, in principle at least, steer light in any way imaginable. Indeed, various teams have built real invisibility cloaks that hide objects from view in both the microwave and optical bands.

Now Che Chan and pals from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology say that metamaterials could be used for an even more exotic effect: for cloaks that create the illusion that a different object is present.

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ThinGap Announces: Exhaust-Based Generator System for Mass-Produced Automobiles Set to Improve Fuel Economy

Designed to fit into engine compartment of passenger cars, SUVs, and pick-up trucks, Turbo Generator generates electrical energy from vehicle exhaust gases before being emitted into atmosphere. System supplies electric power to vehicle's electrical system and drives engine accessories that are currently crankshaft-driven. In addition, generator can directly drive flywheel motor of semi-hybrid vehicles and supplement energy supply to battery system of full hybrid vehicles.

ThinGap Automotive, a majority-owned subsidiary of ThinGap LLC, today announced the Turbo Generator, a subsystem for increasing fuel economy of mass-produced vehicles by generating electrical energy from vehicle exhaust gases before being emitted into the atmosphere. The company expects significant fuel savings in the US and European fuel economy test cycles and all other vehicle operating modes as well.

"Up to 40 percent of fuel energy for internal combustion engines is lost through exhaust gas, a large portion of which the Turbo Generator converts to electricity, which can help Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM's) meet the new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulation that requires a 40 percent increase in fuel economy," said Rean Pretorius, CEO of ThinGap Automotive.

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Better Place unveils robot battery swap station

Many have wondered what Better Place's vaunted automated battery changing stations might look like. So the company, a would-be pioneer in electric cars and their attendant infrastructure, has released a slick video showing how it’s done at a demonstration site in Yokohama, Japan.

Swapping out the discharged battery from an electric Nissan SUV for a fully charged one took slightly more than a minute, according to the video, or less time than it might take you to gas up your car. And you wouldn't even have to get out (talk about full service).

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New nanocrystal doesn't blink

Scientists at the University of Rochester (Rochester, NY) have created a nanocrystal that doesn't blink--in other words, after absorbing a photon, it will always radiate the energy away as another photon, rather than sometimes converting it to heat.

For more than a decade, scientists have been frustrated in their attempts to create continuously emitting light sources from individual molecules because of an optical quirk called "blinking," but now scientists at the University of Rochester have uncovered the basic physics behind the phenomenon, and along with researchers at the Eastman Kodak Company, created a nanocrystal that constantly emits light.

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Engineers Evolve Transistors for Next-Gen Chips

Concepts gleaned from the study of evolution could help overcome manufacturing problems in future computer chips. That’s the hope, at least, of researchers in the Intelligent Systems Group at the University of York, in England, who will present their findings next week at the IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation, in Trondheim, Norway.

As key components of transistors shrink from 45 to 22 nanometers, tiny natural variations in manufacturing—which make no difference in larger devices—start to affect performance. For instance, there’s no way to control the exact arrangement of atoms of doping elements within a lattice of silicon, and different levels of dopant will alter electrical effects. At these tiny sizes, line edges and surfaces that define components also have a natural roughness that can’t be avoided and can trip up a transistor’s function.

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DARPA to Seek Underground Targets with Laser, Gravity Sensors

Raytheon is developing a new laser-assisted sensor system to demonstrate the detection and location buried land mines and tunnels. The system developed under a $19 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), will utilize a laser radar vibration sensor, (also known as LADAR vibrometer) to detect underground targets by measuring the reverberation of the ground-surface in response to artificial stimulus (vibration), measuring the anomalies created by underground objects or activity.

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ABL Boosters Look to Kills for Survival

Boeing plans to bolster support for the hard-pressed 747-based Airborne Laser missile defense program by quickly following an upcoming first full-scale missile shoot-down demonstration with laser interceptions of everything from short-range tactical weapons to intercontinental ballistic missiles.

“The intent is to go out and shoot another missile very quickly and demonstrate it’s not a one-shot wonder,” says Boeing ABL program director Michael Rinn. A follow-on contract to the current flight tests will include test shots against a wide range of targets, he asserts. “I’d like to shoot down short-range, intermediate-range, and intercontinental ballistic-range missiles,” Rinn says.

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New Tissue Scaffold Regrows Cartilage And Bone

MIT engineers and colleagues have built a new tissue scaffold that can stimulate bone and cartilage growth when transplanted into the knees and other joints.

The scaffold could offer a potential new treatment for sports injuries and other cartilage damage, such as arthritis, says Lorna Gibson, the Matoula S. Salapatas Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and co-leader of the research team with Professor William Bonfield of Cambridge University.

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USAF Developing New 3DELRR Long-Range Radar

The U.S. Air Force awarded firm-fixed-price contracts to 2 companies for radar engineering and design support during the technology development phase of the Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long Range Radar (3DELRR) Program. Lockheed Martin Corp. received a $24.9 million contract (FA8722-09-C-0003), and Sensis Corp. received a $21.9 million contract (FA8722-09-C-0001). The Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, MA, is managing the contracts.

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GD-RAFAEL’s Reactive Armor Equips US Military

he USA’s M2/M3 Bradley Fighting Vehicles have played a central role in armed operations in Iraq. Many of them are now doing it with special reactive applique armor tiles that significantly improve their protection against anti-tank rockets. General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products Inc. in Burlington, VT is the main supplier, in conjunction with Israel’s RAFAEL who pioneered the design.

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Phantom flights

Boeing has announced plans to develop and demonstrate an unmanned flying test bed for advanced air system technologies.

The programme, known as Phantom Ray, will make use of a prototype vehicle that Boeing originally intended for the Joint-Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) programme.
The vehicle will conduct 10 flights over a period of around six months and is scheduled to make its first flight at the end of 2010. Potential supporting missions could include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, electronic attack and autonomous aerial refuelling.

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Personal purifier

A UK technology group hopes to unveil a personal air purification device that could be worn on a belt as part of the fight against viruses such as H1N1 swine flu.

London-based Tri-Air is developing a decontamination system that simulates the natural purification properties of fresh air. It creates airborne cascades of hydroxyl radicals, which naturally occur outdoors, to destroy microbes that could include viruses such as H1N1 or bacteria such as MRSA in the air and on surfaces.

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The risks of North Korea's nuclear restart

On April 13, the U.N. Security Council condemned North Korea's rocket launch earlier in the month. Within nine hours, North Korea denounced and rejected the Security Council statement; expelled international inspectors and the U.S. technical team from its Yongbyon nuclear facilities; walked away from the Six-Party Talks and all previous agreements; threatened to strengthen its "self-defensive nuclear deterrent"; and said that it would restore its nuclear plant to normal operation and reprocess spent fuel rods. Two weeks later, the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs threatened to take measures that "will include nuclear tests and test-firings of intercontinental ballistic missiles" and "will make a decision to build a light water reactor power plant and start the technological development for ensuring self-production of nuclear fuel as its first process without delay" unless the Security Council promptly apologizes for its infringement on North Korea's sovereignty.

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Physicist’s Fool-Proof War Formula

The military has been trying for years to turn the chaos of war into a simple math problem. So far, those efforts have been trumped by a confluence of shaky variables: free will, tribal factions and chance being a few examples. But one physicist says he’s cracked the code. How’d he do it? He turned on the TV.

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EADS Defence & Security launches a further revolutionary cryptographic solution to the Ectocryp Family

Launch of ECTOCRYP Steel, a single point fill cryptographic solution developed by EADS Defence & Security (DS) and was selected for the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft.

The benefits of single point fill technology are now available to the wider cryptographic market through ECTOCRYP Steel.

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Russia to start flight tests of 5th-generation fighter by year end

A Russian deputy prime minister said Monday that flight tests of a fifth-generation fighter will start in Russia by the end of 2009.

"By the end of this year, the plane will rise into the air and flight tests will begin," Sergei Ivanov told journalists after a shipbuilding meeting in the Far East, adding that serial production will start in 2010.

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New Pattern Found in Prime Numbers

In a recent study, Bartolo Luque and Lucas Lacasa of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid in Spain have discovered a new pattern in primes that has surprisingly gone unnoticed until now. They found that the distribution of the leading digit in the prime number sequence can be described by a generalization of Benford’s law. In addition, this same pattern also appears in another number sequence, that of the leading digits of nontrivial Riemann zeta zeros, which is known to be related to the distribution of primes. Besides providing insight into the nature of primes, the finding could also have applications in areas such as fraud detection and stock market analysis.

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Wi-Fi to Go, No Cafe Needed

Imagine if you could get online anywhere you liked — in a taxi, on the beach, in a hotel with disgustingly overpriced Wi-Fi — without messing around with cellular modems. What if you had a personal Wi-Fi bubble, a private hot spot, that followed you everywhere you go?

Incredibly, there is such a thing. It’s the Novatel MiFi 2200, available from Verizon starting in mid-May ($100 with two-year contract, after rebate). It’s a little wisp of a thing, like a triple-thick credit card. It has one power button, one status light and a swappable battery that looks like the one in a cellphone. When you turn on your MiFi and wait 30 seconds, it provides a personal, portable, powerful, password-protected wireless hot spot.

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Active RFID Tag integrates temperature sensing capability.

GAO Tek's Active RFID tag with temperature sensor (GAO127003) is specifically designed to collect and transmit temperature data in real time in addition to identification and location of items. It is commonly deployed in applications such as cold logistics or medicine transportation.

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Bell's HTR: Tiltwing + Rotors

Thanks to sharp-eyed Steve Trimble at the Quad-A show, and his The Dew Line blog, we now know about Bell Helicopter's Hybrid Tandem Rotor (HTR) concept.

According to Steve's interview with Bell's exec VP for government programs Robert Kennedy, the HTR could achieve a forward speed of 225kt, compared with around 170kt for a conventional helicopter and more than 300kt for the V-22 tiltrotor.

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LockMart Tests Systems On Desert Hawk III Unmanned Aircraft System

Lockheed Martin has successfully completed flight testing of a new signals intelligence (SIGINT) payload and a next generation wing design that will provide enhanced capabilities for the company's small Desert Hawk III (DHIII) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS).

Lockheed Martin's current DHIII is an open architecture system that consists of three key components: a light-weight, hand-launched, rugged air vehicle with a number of snap-on payloads (Plug and PlayloadsTM); a portable ground station; and a remote video terminal.

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Captive Flight Test Moves NLOS-LS Closer To US Navy Live Fire Testing

NetFires has conducted the second captive flight test of the Non Line-of-Sight-Launch System Precision Attack Missile (PAM).

NLOS-LS provides the warfighter with immediate, precise and responsive fires on high-payoff targets with real-time target acquisition and battle effects. It is also one of the key Littoral Combat Ship mission modules.

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Americanized/Modernized Polish wz. 88 Tantal AK-74 5.45×39mm Tactical Rifle/Carbine

If you’d like a more traditional platform for the 5.45×39mm Russian cartridge, than the Smith & Wesson (S&W) M&P15R semi-auto AR-15 tactical carbine, the April 2009 issue of Special Weapons for Military & Police (SWMP) (Gun Buyer’s Annual #74) also has an article by Charlie Cutshaw on a Interarms Polish wz. 88 Tantal AK-74S semi-auto Kalashnikov AK-74-type 5.45mm tactical rifle/carbine that’s been upgraded with some distinctly American tactical rifle/carbine accessories to create an bring it “into the 21st century” and create an Americanized AK-74, if you will.

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RQ-4 Euro Hawk UAV Cleared for Takeoff

The Euro Hawk project aims to produce an RQ-4 with additional capabilities in signals intelligence collection (SIGINT), as well as its native ground surveillance capabilities. An MoU was signed in May 2006, followed by a firm system development contract in February 2007.

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Windows 7 Eases PC-To-PC File Transfers

Computer users who buy a new Windows 7 PC will have an easier time transferring files from their old machines thanks to improved file transfer tools included in Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)'s next operating system.

An enhanced version of Windows Easy Transfer, native to Windows 7, lets users port files, user accounts, and application settings from a Windows XP or Windows Vista system to a Windows 7-based PC in just a few steps, according to Microsoft officials.

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Amazon Kindle DX announced

ust as with the Kindle 2, Amazon posted the Kindle DX product page while the launch event was underway. Specs-wise, there's not much here we didn't know: the big changes are a larger 9.7-inch screen that rotates to landscape display, a PDF reader, and more storage space at 3.3GB. The big news is actually the flat $489 price tag, which seems on the high-side of realistic to us -- although the subsidy-pricing rumors weren't totally inaccurate, as the New York Times, Washington Post, and Boston Globe will offer subsidized on-contract Kindles to customers who can't get at-home delivery when the DX ships this summer.

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