Deal inked in US Navy 'R2-D2' raygun robo-turret plan

One of the most critical questions in the world of seagoing death-ray technology today - that is, who would be selected to develop swivelling "R2-D2" robotic laser blaster gun turrets for US Navy warships - has now been answered. American weaponry megacorp Northrop Grumman, makers of the first electric solid-state "battle strength" raygun module, have scooped a $98m deal from the Office of Naval Research.

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US sinks $0.5bn into electromagnetic aircraft-throwers

Pentagon has awarded a half-billion-dollar contract for the building of a radical new electromagnetic catapult, intended to hurl US Navy jets off future aircraft carriers and into the sky.

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Faster, more cost-effective DNA test for crime scenes, disease diagnosis

Scientists in Japan are reporting development of a faster, less expensive version of the fabled polymerase chain reaction (PCR) a DNA test widely used in criminal investigations, disease diagnosis, biological research and other applications. The new method could lead to expanded use of PCR in medicine, the criminal justice system and elsewhere, the researchers say. Their study is scheduled for the July 15 issue of Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly journal.

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NASA Tests Alternate Launch Abort System For Astronaut Escape

NASA has successfully demonstrated an alternate system for future astronauts to escape their launch vehicle. A simulated launch of the Max Launch Abort System, or MLAS, took place Wednesday morning at 6:26 a.m. at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va.

The unpiloted launch tested an alternate concept for safely propelling a future spacecraft and its crew away from a problem on the launch pad or during ascent. The MLAS consists of four solid rocket abort motors inside a bullet-shaped composite fairing attached to a full-scale mockup of the crew module.

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Supersonic Technology Named Nasa Commercial Invention of 2008

The 2008 NASA Commercial Invention of the Year is a high temperature resin designed to create composites through low-cost manufacturing processes -- ideal for advanced aerospace vehicles.

Researchers at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., were able to create the unique material, which is ideal for the high temperatures of supersonic flight. The material, known as PETI-330, is used in the development of advanced composite fabrication technology for the agency's aeronautics supersonics program. PETI-330 is patented as "Composition of and Method for Making High Performance Resins for Infusion and Transfer Molding Processes."

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Cyclone Biomass Engine Takes Next Step in Powering DARPA's EATR Bot

A DARPA-funded robot that refuels itself on wood, grass--even decaying biomatter--whatever it can consume has met its perfect match--a biomass engine system called the Cyclone which we featured last year in our annual Invention Awards. Cyclone has just completed trials of their engine that will eventually digest EATR's foraged meals into power, just like Mr. Fusion.

The Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot (EATR) is a prototype military reconnaissance 'bot that could keep going and going, except that it's not dependent on long-lasting batteries. The robot would instead use a waste heat engine developed by Cyclone Power Technologies to continually fuel itself on plants and other biomass from the surrounding environment.

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Printed silicon-nanoparticle transistor reaches amorphous-silicon performance

NanoGram Corporation (Milpitas, CA) announced the first fabrication of a thin-film transistor (TFT) produced from ambient printed nanosilicon to reach a carrier mobility of 2.0 cm2/Vs. The TFT is based on a nonpyrophoric material and was produced by Sharp Laboratories of America (Camas, WA), a subsidiary of Sharp (Osaka, Japan).

NanoGram's printable silicon material is based on nanoscale crystalline silicon particles formulated into inks, which can be ink-jetted or spin-coated onto a substrate and then fabricated into a TFT. The proprietary ink technology was developed as part of NanoGram's technology-development agreement with Teijin Limited (Osaka, Japan).

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Forget gas, batteries — pee is new power source

Scientists can create cheap hydrogen from urine for use in fuel cells.

Urine-powered cars, homes and personal electronic devices could be available in six months with new technology developed by scientists from Ohio University.

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Google's Operating System Escalates Microsoft Duel

Google Inc. is hoping to gain greater control over how personal computers work by developing a free operating system that will attack Microsoft Corp.'s golden goose — its long-dominant Windows franchise.

The new operating system will be based on Google's 9-month-old Web browser, Chrome. Google intends to rely on help from the community of open-source programmers to develop the Chrome operating system, which is expected to begin running computers in the second half of 2010.

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$132.9M to Apptis for U.S. Army C4I Systems

Apptis in Chantilly, VA won a $132.9 million time and material task order to provide management, engineering, integration and acquisition of U.S. Army command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) systems worldwide. Apptis will provide the systems to the Command Center Upgrades/Special Projects Office, which is part of Team Defense Communications and Army Transmission Systems (TEAM DCATS). Work is to be determined by mission requirements with an estimated completion date of June 30/11. For the contract, 16 bids were solicited and 3 bids received by Army Contracting Command in Alexandria, VA.

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