3-D Laser Scanner

The scanner creates an exact representation of an object and generates files that can be exported to most CAD platforms. It features simultaneous texture and geometry acquisition, real-time rendering, true color acquisition via a built-in lighting system, adjustable uniform texture resolution, and automatic texture mapping. It requires no external reference system and no external tracking or positioning devices.

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FCC Expands and Strengthens Net Neutrality Stance

As expected, but not without controversy, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski yesterday outlined in a speech at the Brookings Institute in Washington, DC his plan to preserve the principle of "Net Neutrality."

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Lockheed Martin Eyes ISR Testbed Spinoffs

With a month's flying under its belt on the Airborne Multi-intelligence Laboratory (AML), a modified Gulfstream III business jet, Lockheed Martin says it is already talking to customers interested in offshoots from the program.

Although the countries have not been named, discussions are under way with two customers for Gulfstream G550-based versions, and for a roll-on/roll-off system that could be used on EADS CASA C295-type transport aircraft, says Charles Gulledge, manager for strategic programs with Lockheed Martin's C4ISR Systems division.

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Ahmadinejad Warns Iran Will Confront Any Attack

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Tuesday that Iran would confront any attack on the Islamic republic, addressing an army parade which was marred by the reported crash of a military plane.

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KC-X Process Is High Stakes for USAF

The U.S. Air Force fully understands the significance of getting back the right to pick which company will replace its aging refueling tanker fleet, the service's top uniformed leader assured defense experts and industry leaders September 21.

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LED headlights hit the road

Headlights using LUXEON Altilon LEDs from Philips Lumileds (San Jose, CA) have until now been fitted only to the Audi R8, but the introduction of relevant EU regulations has cleared the way for other automotive manufacturers to adopt them.

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Alternative to "Black Boxes" Takes Flight

Air France crash renews interest in real-time flight-data reporting systems.

There are an estimated 10 000 planes in the air around the world at any given time and only so much spectrum available. And no one single band of spectrum would be ideal. While planes might make do with a VHF band over land, those flying over oceans rely on more expensive satellite communications.

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DARPA awards Duke $19.5 million to detect viral infection before symptoms appear

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the research arm of the U.S. Department of Defense, has awarded Duke University $19.5 million for an effort led by the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (IGSP) to design a portable, easy-to-use diagnostic device that can reveal who is infected with an upper respiratory virus before the first cough or sneeze.

DARPA is interested in such a device because it could offer military commanders in the field valuable information about which soldiers are likely to become sick and potentially unfit for duty.

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A tiny, tunable well of light, and a string theorist's toolbox

Photonics, the science of using photons to carry information, promises to continue improving a wide variety of technologies, from computing to high-speed communication. Now an international team of researchers from the UK, Taiwan, and Spain have discovered a compact way to produce infrared light, by firing electrons through a miniscule tunnel in a stack of gold and silica layers.

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A New Language Could Improve Home Computer Security

Korean scientists have developed a security language for home networks that could make us more secure from cyber attack in our homes.

The specification also takes into account authentication, authorization, security policy deployment so that all users in the home are not only protected from malware but also can help ensure everyone can use the network when they need to.

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MIT's hybrid microchip to overcome silicon size barrier

Researchers have developed a 'hybrid microchip' that could advance electronics beyond the limits of Moore's Law.

According to Moore's Law, the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles every two years, leading to an exponential improvement in electronics.

However, as devices get smaller, it is increasingly difficult for manufacturers to continue the trend on conventional silicon microchips.

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Springs built from nanotubes could provide big power storage potential

New research by MIT scientists suggests that carbon nanotubes -- tube-shaped molecules of pure carbon -- could be formed into tiny springs capable of storing as much energy, pound for pound, as state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries, and potentially more durably and reliably.

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Nanoresearchers challenge dogma in protein transportation in cells

New data on signaling proteins, called G proteins, may prove important in fighting diseases such as cardiovascular, neurodegenerative disorders, and cancer. For many decades scientists have puzzled on "How signaling proteins transport and organize in specific areas of the cell?" Researchers from Nano-Science Center and Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, provide yet unrecognized clues to solve this mystery.

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IBM Develops Denser, Faster Chip Memory

IBM has developed a prototype of what the company claims is the smallest, densest and fastest on-chip memory, which could lead to higher performing electronics from servers to consumer gear.

IBM built the technology for use in next-generation 32-nanometer processors. The embedded dynamic random access memory, or eDRAM, is integrated on the same die as a multi-core processor, instead of using external DRAM modules and transistor-based static random access memory, or SRAM, that's typically used for caches.

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Shipboard Protection System Achieves Milestone Decision

The SPS program is an Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection initiative to provide multiple classes of U.S. Navy ships with an enhanced ability to accomplish self-protection against asymmetric threats. SPS is a system of systems that coordinates command and control of sensors, ship's equipment, software, personnel and procedures.

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Submarine robot for shallow waters

A new type of swimming robot developed by researchers at Bath University could lead to improved submersible devices for applications such as the inspection of oil rigs.

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New diamond Raman laser is highly efficient

Physicists in Australia have demonstrated a highly efficient 532-nm-pumped external cavity diamond Raman laser generating output mostly at the 573 nm first Stokes. According to the researchers, crystalline Raman lasers are efficient converters of pump lasers to longer wavelengths and higher beam quality. Existing Raman lasers typically use crystals of silicon, barium nitrate or metal tungstate to amplify light created by a pump laser.

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RFID Makes Check-in Faster for Air France Passengers

France'sNice Côte d'Azur Airport is testing the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) RFID technology to eliminate the need for plastic customer-loyalty cards, and to speed up and simplify such processes as passenger identification, security checks and the awarding of airport loyalty points.

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Israel Unveils New Precision Weapon Systems for the Ground Forces

New Israeli hardware was unveiled today at the Latrun 3rd annual conference discussing maneuver in complex terrain. Many of the new systems were unveiled by the Ground Forces Command's (GFC) weapons development department, responsible for the maturization of new weapon systems, command for the armor, infantry, combat engineering and artillery corps.

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Transportable Communication Systems

Simple radio lines and cable connections are not enough to satisfy this growing thirst for a much wider coverage and Communication Systems Transportable. So what are these satellite telephones and how have they managed to take such big strides in the field of communication?

A satellite telephone is capable of transmitting and receiving signals from the orbiting satellites which provide good coverage for the whole world or just specific regions.

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China Defense Minister: We Can Compete with West

China's military capability has taken a "quantum leap" thanks to a modernization drive and its weaponry rivals that of Western countries, the nation's defense minister said in an interview Sept. 21.

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Riding a Slingshot into Space

Engineers at NASA have created a prototype of an electromagnetic propulsion system that would use a linear motor and ramjet engine--instead of a rocket propulsion system--to fling a vehicle into space. It is the first system that would operate beyond the sound barrier using an air-breathing ramjet engine.

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A Kevlar killer comes to market

Lashmore's company, Nanocomp Technologies, is the first in the world to make sheets of carbon nanotubes -- microscopic tubes stronger than steel but lighter than plastic. The Pentagon has financed much of the Concord, N.H., firm's work; stakes include the $500 million U.S. market for body and vehicle armor, which is currently dominated by DuPont's Kevlar.

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Omni-ID Launches New High-Performance UHF Gen 2 Tags

Passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID tag manufacturer Omni-ID has launched a new RFID platform to improve the performance of its EPC Gen 2 tags across a broader spectrum of UHF frequencies, as well as three new tags that use the platform to provide longer read ranges and higher reliability, regardless of where on Earth those tags are read.

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Alien Unveils Dynamic Security App for Higgs 3 Chip

Morgan Hill, Calif. RFID hardware manufacturer Alien Technology has announced a new security application designed to make RFID tags made with its Higgs 3 chip impossible to clone. The feature, known as Dynamic Authentication, relies on a challenge/response algorithm to verify that a tag is authentic, explains Victor Vega, Alien's marketing director.

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Sharp's New Semiconductor Laser for Triple- and Quadruple- Layer Blu-ray Discs

Sharp Corporation has announced the development of a new 500 mW semiconductor laser for triple- and quadruple- layer Blu-ray discs.

The semiconductor laser is blue-violet, producing an optical output up to 500 mW and 405 nm wavelength of oscillation under pulsed operation. The new laser has been proven reliable over 1,000 hours of testing.

The device is designed to be used in Blu-ray Disc recorders, and can write at 8 x speed on both triple- and quadruple- layer discs

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First Test of New X-ray Laser Strips Neon Bare

It takes a lot of energy to strip all ten electrons from an atom of neon. Doing it from the inside out, knocking away the most-closely-held, innermost electrons first, is an even rarer feat. But the brilliant X-ray pulses of the Linac Coherent Light Source have done just that, in the successful first test of the unprecedented X-ray laser with its first scientific instrument. The result demonstrates the machine's unique capabilities—with the world's brightest and shortest X-ray laser pulses—and marks the first of two milestones in readiness for the launch of LCLS scientific user experiments this October.

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Magnetic drug delivery device

A drug delivery device that uses magnetism and nanotechnology could be used to treat conditions such as chronic pain, cancer and diabetes.

The research team, led by Dr Daniel Kohane, has created a small implantable device, less than 1cm in diameter, that encapsulates a drug in a specially engineered membrane, embedded with nanoparticles composed of magnetite, a mineral with magnetic properties.

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The Flying Future for America's Missile Shield

This week the Obama administration said that it will likely scale back plans to install ground-based missile defense interceptors in Poland and the Czech Republic. While the Iranian long-range rocket threat is now downgraded, missile defense interceptors are still part of U.S. military strategy. The move away from ground-based interceptors in Europe could signal a technological shift—to the air. Could air-launched interceptors be the answer for missile defense?

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Flying Bot Swarms You Control With Body Language

Robot swarms could someday hover, spin, and attack in response to a simple gesture or graceful pirouette from a human operator. And yes, Boeing has filed a patent on that future vision.
"The method may involve defining a plurality of body movements of an operator that correspond to a plurality of operating commands for the unmanned object.

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