Physicists Develop Multifunctional Storage Device For Light

Light is intangible and, in addition, it travels at great velocity. Nevertheless, it can be confined to a very small space by controllably inserting light into a microscopic container surrounded by reflective walls. The light will then be stored by continuous reflections and cannot escape. In the scientific domain, such a small reflective microcavity is termed a microresonator.

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The Spin Cycle: Nanotechnology could lead to next generation of transistors

For decades, the transistors inside radios, televisions and other everyday items have transmitted data by controlling the movement of the electron’s charge. Scientists now have discovered that transistors could use less energy, generate less heat and operate at higher speeds if they exploited another property of the electron: its spin.

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Boeing completes detailed design of 787 wing fix

Boeing engineers have completed detailed design and computer validation of the final aspects of the 787 wing fix, the company says. The the final parts are currently being fabricated for the side of body modification that has kept the 787 grounded.

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FAA contract to accelerate NextGen data communications

The FAA has signed a $12 million contract with Honeywell and Rockwell Collins to develop prototype avionics hardware and software for air-to-ground digital data exchange, also known as data communications or datacomm.

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Faulty steering system to blame for Bulava's latest flop

The latest failure of the Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) was caused by a defective steering system in its first stage, a defense industry source said on Monday.

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E.U. Plan Could Lead to Lower Cost International Calls

The European Commission will urge the 27 European Union countries Wednesday to reserve a uniform slice of broadcast spectrum for a pan-European mobile broadband network, one that could enable flat-rate, international voice and data calling plans.

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Obama Announces $3.4B for 'Smart Grid'

Today President Obama is taking a tour of one of the country's largest solar farms, in Arcadia, Fla., which will be the backdrop for his announcement about a major federal investment in a "smart grid" -- a system of transmission lines to distribute electricity around the country quickly and efficiently.

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Medvedev Unhappy with Quality of Russian Weapons

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev criticized the pace of military-industrial modernization Oct. 26, saying it is affecting the quality of Russian weapons and harming national prestige.
"Considerable funds have been invested over the past few years to develop the military-industrial complex. So far the results are mediocre," Medvedev said on Russian television.

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RFID Technology: Keeping Track of DoD’s Stuff

In World War II, the US Army kept track using IBM punch cards and electric accounting machines (EAMs).

Well today, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags have replaced punch cards and RFID readers and computers have replaced the EAMs. The RFID tags work like “wireless bar codes” that record, track, and manage the supplies and equipment of a modern networked military.

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Tilera Crams 100 Cores Into Next-Gen Processors

Tilera has targeted its new family of multicore processors at cloud computing, enterprise networking, multimedia and wireless infrastructure functions. The largest of the chips will have 100 cores, the company claims.

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Brother, NEC look to invade your retinas next year

Brother now seems to have a fully developed, fully functional prototype (pictured above), and it says it plans to commercialize the glasses sometime "next year." Naturally, there are a few considerable limitations compared to more traditional displays, but the company's as yet unnamed goggles do promise to beam an 800 x 600 image directly into your retina that'll appear as a 10-centimeter wide image floating about one meter in front of them.

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Snail mail to get its own top level Internet domain

ICANN and the Universal Postal Union (UPU) have reached an in principle agreement for the UPU to sponsor the .post top-level domain.

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Taking Earth’s Temperature With 30-Mile Thermometer

Roll out the world’s biggest thermometer: a fiber-optic cable up to 30 miles long that records temps at 3-foot intervals every 10 seconds.

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Obstacle Detection/Video System helps prevent backing accidents

Mobile Awareness, LLC, a provider of leading-edge transportation safety products, today announced VisionStat(TM) Plus, an extremely affordable and complete commercial-grade system to prevent backing accidents.

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Lund reports nanowire progress

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have for the first time successfully injected 'nanowires' into the brains of rats.

The breakthrough at Lund has significant implications for understanding how the body reacts to nanoparticles.

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Staying Out of a Jam: Air Force Looks at Nanotube Sheets for Electromagnetic Shielding

Strong, lightweight materials made from nanotubes could protect aircraft and satellites from harmful electromagnetic interference.

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First Acoustic Hyperlens Boosts Power of Ultrasound and Sonar

Imaging an unborn fetus and and spotting a lurking submarine could both become much easier with the world's first acoustic hyperlens. The device manipulates imaging sound waves to provide an eightfold increase in the magnification power of technologies such as ultrasound and sonar.

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Trust the Cloud? Americans Say No Way

Americans don't trust cloud storage for their confidential data, with identity theft ranking as their top security concern, according to a twice-yearly survey by network security consulting firm Unisys.

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The Future of Laundry: No More Water

Clean your clothes without putting them—or your utility bills—through the wringer. Xeros’s prototype washing machine uses 90 percent less water than ordinary models, which also eliminates energy-intensive spin cycles and dryer blasts.

The machine replaces all but one tenth of the usual water and about one third of the usual detergent with 0.1-inch plastic beads, reusable for hundreds of washes.

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Pentagon study shows F-35 jet to cost more

A new Pentagon study has affirmed previous findings that Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, the costliest U.S. arms purchase program, will require billions of dollars more than planned, and more time, an online news service said on Friday.

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New Rocket, but Future of Program Is Unclear

The first flight in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s program to build a next-generation rocket to replace the space shuttle could also be the swan song.

The launching of the Ares I-X, a prototype, is scheduled for 8 a.m. Tuesday. It comes less than a week after a blue-ribbon panel reviewing NASA’s human spaceflight program released its final report, which offers a less-than-ringing endorsement of the Ares I rocket and brings the entire program into question.

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Rocket contest reaches endgame

Five days from now, a bunch of no-longer-amateur rocketeers are going to be at least $1.15 million richer, thanks to a NASA-backed contest for lunar lander prototypes. But the identity of the winners is still up in the air.

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UAVs Dominate Seoul Air Show

Unmanned aerial vehicles have dominated the 7th Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition (ADEX), with both foreign and local companies displaying a variety of models. The trade show began Tuesday and runs through Sunday at the Seoul Airport.

Israel's Elbit Systems displayed models of the Hermes 90, 450 and 900 UAVs, along with the Skylark I.

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David’s Sling Weapon System (DSWS)

The DSWS is a joint short-range ballistic missile defense program between the US Missile Defense Agency and the Israel Missile Defense Organization. The system is designed to defeat short-range ballistic missiles, large-caliber rockets and cruise missiles in their terminal phase of flight.

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Slimmer, Trimmer US Army Land Warrior System Moves Ahead

General Dynamics C4 Systems received a contract, worth up to $50 million, to supply the US Army with engineering and logistics-support services for the Land Warrior integrated modular fighting systems.

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How to Turn Methane Gas into Liquid Fuel

A group of American researchers, based at the University of Washington (UW), and at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill (UNC) has recently managed to take an important step forward in its quest of finding a method of converting methane gas into a liquid fuel. The innovation could see a lot more uses for methane, as well as facilities brought to the production processes related to obtaining other chemicals as well. The find is detailed in the October 23 issue of the top journal Science.

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'Mini lasers' illuminate dark molecules

A new microscopy technique that turns molecules into "mini lasers" has been developed by researchers in the US. The new method could help scientists to study biological samples containing "dark molecules", which are invisible to today's advanced fluorescence microscopes.

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USVs and UUVs as Minehunters

It now looks increasingly likely that drones – specifically unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) – will play a growing role in minehunting within a few years. A range of scenarios can be envisaged. The French defence procurement agency (DGA) has asked DCNS and co-contractors Thales Underwater Systems and ECA to help it determine which scenarios are the most promising.

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Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft Gets X-Plane Designation

Air Force officials have approved X-55A as the new designation for the Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft.

The X-55A is a technology demonstrator for the design and manufacturing of future aircraft using advanced composite materials. The X-55A is a modified Dornier 328J aircraft with the fuselage aft of the crew station and the vertical tail removed and replaced with completely new structural designs. These designs are made from composites using new out-of-autoclave curing techniques.

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NGC Awarded DARPA Contract That Takes Technology to 'NEXT' Level

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) the first phase of a $28.9-million Nitride Electronic NeXt Generation Technology (NEXT) contract. Work on the contract will support defense communications, aircraft and space systems with the development of the next generation of gallium nitride (GaN) technology. The first phase of the contract totals $12.4 million.

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