Georgetown Security Law Brief

Weekly Tech Updates 05/18/13

05/18/13:  Here are this week's technology updates related to national security:

• US Navy's X-47B, first unmanned jet to take off from an aircraft carrier's catapults
• Samsung claims 5G mobile data transmission breakthrough
• Google and NASA create artificial intelligence lab
• Pilotless flight trialled in UK shared airspace
• New 'smart rifle' decides when to shoot and rarely misses
• DARPA gives up on formation-flying satellites
• Laser scanner can detect someone watching you a kilometer away
• Satellites provide risk warning for Southern California fire season
• New software spots, isolates cyber-attacks to protect networked control systems
• DARPA seeks technology to radically improve dismounted squad situational awareness
• Solar panels as inexpensive as paint possible due to new research
• A new tool for radioactive contamination mapping
• A new laser paradigm: An electrically injected polariton laser
• Engineers design cells that can compute logarithms, divide and take square roots
• Researchers develop new tool to provide radiation monitoring in Japan
• GPS data could improve tsunami early warnings
• Naturally occurring mineral for thermoelectric power generation
• Embryonic stem cells: Advance in medical human cloning

 

Weekly Tech Updates - 05/11/13

05/11/13:  Here are this week's technology updates related to national security:

 

• Testing the world's first 3D-printed gun, the Liberator [note: blueprints removed]
• Iran unveils new drone, names it 'Epic'
• Los Alamos lab has had a secret quantum internet for two years
• Pentagon unveils 7 new Chinese weapons
• Biosensor that detects antibiotic resistance brings us one step closer to fighting superbugs
• Rapid threat assessment could mitigate danger from chemical and biological warfare
• Nano-scientists develop new kind of portable water purification system
• Portable nanodevice provides rapid, accurate diagnosis of tuberculosis, other bacterial infections
• Drone cargo helicopters prove worth in Afghanistan, leading way to civilian uses
• More than a good eye: Robot uses arms, location and more to discover objects
• World's first handheld sound camera ready for market
• Researcher construct invisibility cloak for thermal flow
• Researchers use graphene quantum dots to detect humidity and pressure
• In first head-to-head speed test with conventional computing, quantum computer wins
• Team develops in vivo flexible large scale integrated circuits
• Researchers develop metamaterials able to control spread of light
• New magnetic graphene may revolutionise electronics
• Researchers extend electron spin in diamond for incredibly tiny magnetic detectors
• Landsat 8 satellite appears to be working flawlessly
• Terahertz technology: Seeing more with less
• Houseplants: The solar cells of tomorrow

 

Weekly Tech Updates 05/04/13

05/04/13:  Here are this week's technology updates related to national security:

• Experimental Air Force aircraft goes hypersonic
• Robotic insect: World's smallest flying robot takes off
• Touch sensor by mapping a building's electromagnetic field
• Clean, efficient, silent: New generator can power a command center with less than a whisper
• DARPA shows off its cheap, unstoppable robotic hand
• 8 electrocopters coming to conquer the skiesRobots able to reach through clutter with whole-arm tactile sensingDARPA: Tag team threat-recognition technology incorporates mind, machine
• Researchers create design for nanometer-scale material that can speed up, squeeze light
• Virgin Galactic spaceship ignites engine in flight
• Gecko-like drone can land on walls and ceilings
• Snake robot teams up with search-and-rescue dog in US
• Printable 'bionic' ear melds electronics and biology
• Bug's eye inspires hemispherical digital camera that delivers unmatched field of view
• Solar-powered nanofilters pump in antibiotics to clean contaminated water
• Researchers develop 'smart' paper and antennaless RFID tags
• New nanowire transistors may help keep Moore's Law alivePerpetual motion is as simple as breaking time
• Supercapacitors, the near-ish future of batteries
• Graphene breakthrough could mean buildings powered by solar paint
• Huge solar plane begins slow flight across US

Weekly Tech Updates 04/27/13

04/27/13:  Here are this week's technology updates related to national security:

• Tracking gunfire with a smartphone
• Parachuting canister detects chemical weapons
• Lasers bring new urgency to electric power research
• Lockheed Martin plans world's largest thermal energy power plant
• Brain cells will control the power plants of the future
• NASA successfully launches three smartphone satellites
• Inkjet-printed graphene electrodes may lead to low-cost, large-area, possibly foldable devices
• Discovery yields supertough, strong nanofibers
• 'Quantum internet': Towards realization of solid-state quantum network
• New battery design could help solar and wind power the grid
• New device could make diagnosing disease as simple as breathing
• New atomic magnetometer doesn't need to be shielded from Earth's magnetic field

Weekly Tech Updates 04/20/13

04/20/13:  Here are this week's technology updates related to national security.

• DARPA: smaller pixels, smaller thermal cameras for warfighters
• Small in size, big on power: New microbatteries the most powerful yet
• Trident submarine robot successfully tested at sea
• Engineers craft new material for high-performing 'supercapacitors'
• Efficient, intelligent, content-aware networks
• Nanosponges in your blood could soak up infections and poison
• Navy develops high impact, high integrity polymer for air, sea, and domestic applications
• Hybrid energy harvester generates electricity from vibrations and sunlight
• Nanosuits help small creatures survive a vacuum
• New nanotechnique to deliver life-saving drugs to the brain
• Mice skin cells transformed into brain cells
• The first app-controlled bionic hand
• Chemists discover simpler method of making 'wonder material'
• Maine company unveils high-tech SWAT team robot
• Food safety and bioterrorism defense may benefit from improved detection test developed at MU
• Robot hands gain a gentler touch, cheaply
• Scientists spin photons to send light in one direction
• Graphene and graphExeter combine to create a new flexible, transparent, photosensitive device

Weekly Tech Updates 04/13/13

04/13/13:  Here are this week's technology updates related to national security:

• Petman the robot soldier put through his paces
• Satellite sandwich technique improves analysis of geographical data
• Tiny chip is world's smallest, fastest DNA testing lab
• Boeing bills its huge hydrogen-powered drone as massive flying cell tower
• Laser camera makes 3-D photos of objects a kilometer away
• Extreme miniaturization: seven devices, one chip to navigate without GPS
• Robot mimics human stabilization and balancing
• Tiny laser-printed 'chipsets' are like intelligent grains of sand
• How to detect a nuclear test on your iPhone
• Aircraft sensors without batteries or cables
• Mind-controlled devices reveal future possibilities
• Overcoming a major barrier to medical and other uses of 'microrockets' and 'micromotors'
• Six weapons that love the new Pentagon budget
• Safety reflector technology from footwear getting new life in detecting bioterror threats
• Big Pentagon research funds: jamming pods, carrier drones, special operations tech, and soft weapons
• NASA shoots for asteroid, new manned missions
• Innovative self-cooling, thermoelectric system developed

 

Weekly Tech Updates 04/06/13

04/06/13:  Here are this week's updates for technology related to national security:

• Air Force wants new energy weapons to cause non-lethal ‘bioeffects’
• DARPA's two-armed robot handles tools at less cost
• New instrument will quickly detect botulinum, ricin, other biothreat agents
• Reinventing the power line cable
• Need Ships? Try a 3-D printed Navy
• Better understanding of the human brain supports national security
• Breakthrough in hydrogen fuel production
• Robots, deep-sea sensors help DARPA hunt future submarines
• Bladeless wind turbine
• Physicists successfully transmit secure quantum code from aircraft to ground station
• DARPA's 3D chip cooling
• Ion engines could power the spy planes of the future

 

Weekly Tech Updates 03/30/13

03/30/13:  Here are this week's technology updates related to national security.

 

• One of these drones will be the Navy’s next aerial combat drone
• New sensor cable enables remote monitoring of miles of perimeter fencing
• Cambridge scientists develop graphene ink for printed electronics
• Navy wants lasers on Marines’ trucks to shoot down drones
• Breakthrough in race to create 'bio-batteries'
• Invisibility cloak research moves forward at MTU
• Magnetic soliton: Nano-droplet discovery presents opportunities for telecommunications
• Novel rotary actuator provides greater torque, accuracy, and speed
• Researchers develop quantum computer algorithm for counting prime numbers
• How graphene antenna research could pave the way for terabit wireless data speeds
• New chip that thinks like a brain
• This massive jellyfish is really an aquatic spy robot
• Raytheon project to give military pilots superhuman hearing
• NRL develops polymer nanofibers for chemical and biological decontamination
• US Marine Corps indefinitely extends K-MAX unmanned cargo helicopter in theater
• Pentagon’s mad scientists want a tattoo that tracks troops’ vitals
• Phinergy demonstrates aluminum-air battery capable of fueling an electric vehicle for 1000 miles
• World record silicon-based millimeter-wave power amplifiers may unlock applications in low-cost satellite communications
• Cloud Warriors: US Army Intelligence to arm field ops with hardened network and smartphones
• Team develops advanced video and image processing
• Compact W-band radar takes an inside view
• Cellular computers: 'Genetic circuit' biological transistor enables computing within living cells
• NSF-supported Stampede opens the gates of advanced computation to thousands of research teams
• Another step toward quantum computers: Using photons for memory
• Is it real? With new technology has Activision crossed the 'Uncanny Valley?'
• NRL researchers develop new monolayer materials for chemical vapor sensors
• Hyper-realistic robot dragonfly is the drone of the future, now
• Sensory helmet could mean firefighters are not left in the dark
• Robot powers itself by cleaning your house

 

Weekly Tech Updates 03/23/13

03/23/13:  Here are this week's technology updates related to national security:

• Next generation of bio-based binders to be developed
• DARPA envisions the future of machine learning
• Lockheed unveils commercial-ready quantum computing
• Salamandra robotica II, the only robot able to swim, crawl and walk (w/ video)
• Autonomous cars patrol Israeli border
• Materials scientists make solar energy chip 100 times more efficient
• DARPA seeks more robust military wireless networks
• More efficient and reliable robotic-control systems
• NRL Nike Laser focuses on nuclear fusion
• Progress stalls in California on earthquake warnings
• Battery pack turns your iPhone into a satellite phone
• A brain scanner, a robotic snake: Obama views Israeli gadgets of the future
• Researchers develop a way to remotely detect landslides
• Teachable moments: Robots learn our humanistic ways
• Robot snake automatically wraps around an object when thrown
• Under the skin, a tiny blood-testing laboratory
• Evidence of magnetic superatoms could open doors to new spin electronics
• Inside an Israeli defense lab
• New engine shakes up auto industry

Weekly Tech Updates - 03/16/13

03/16/13:  Here are this week's technology updates related to national security:

• 5 ways to fix the troubled F-35B
• NASA's first laser communication system integrated, ready for launch
• Project aims to develop environmentally friendly, energy-autonomous wireless microsensors
• Breaking the final barrier: Room-temperature electrically powered nanolasers
• Optical-sensing device may lead to quicker, more efficient diagnostics
• Navy wants you to write algorithms that automatically ID threats
• Ultra-high-speed optical communications link sets new power efficiency record
• On-site electric current measurement to improve Smart Grid design
• India aborts testing of new cruise missile
• Super strong metallic composite by harnessing the extraordinary mechanical properties of nanowires
• High-performance, organic nanowire phototransistors open the way for optoelectronic device miniaturization
• SpaceX Grasshopper demos take-off and landing
• Lockheed's better, faster way to desalinate water
• First optical-transmission technology to achieve 100 Gbps using 10 Gbps transmission components
• China to more than double air monitoring network

Weekly Tech Updates - 03/02/13

03/02/13:  Here are the rest of this week's technology updates related to national security.  Check out yesterday's post for the rest of them.

• DARPA: Common starting point for phased array programs may save billions, years off development
• Teaching robots lateral thinking: New algorithms could help household robots work around their physical shortcomings
• Weird new property of quantum electronic material breaks all the rules
• Israel says it conducts successful test of Arrow 3 anti-missile system
• Stretchable lithium-ion battery can twist, bend, return to normal shape
• HAL robotic suit gets international safety certificate
• New exoskeleton is Japan's RoboCop-style disaster recovery suit
• Pentagon will open its network to iOS and Android devices
• The US Army's new 84-ton tank is nearly IED-proof
• More fun gesture control tools
• Scientists increase lithium-sulfur battery lifetime by a factor of 10
• Navy seeking less cumbersome deep-sea diving suits
• NRL scientists produce densest artificial ionospheric plasma clouds using HAARP
• Engineered bacteria make fuel from sunlight
• PaperTab: World's first 'paper tablet PC' rethinks multitasking
• 4D printed objects make themselves
• Production of rare isotope beams with aligned nuclear spins opens up new possibilities for high-energy physics research

Weekly Tech Updates - 03/01/13

03/01/13:  For those of you who follow our Saturday weekly technology updates, you are probably already aware that on heavy news weeks, we provide some of the updates early.  This is one of those weeks.  Here are some of this week's updates on technology related to national security.

 

• DARPA program for Next Gen VTOL aircraft
• Infrared digital holography allows firefighters to see through flames, image moving people
• Next generation smartphone technology capable of diagnostic biological detection
• Stuxnet missing link found
• New framework allows for asynchronous communication in exascale machines
• US teen designs compact nuclear reactor
• Lockheed Martin powers on the first GPS III satellite
• NOAA and NASA's next generation weather satellite may provide earlier warnings
• 3-D printed gun advancements
• Harvesting energy to power nanoscale sensors

 

Weekly Tech Updates 02/23/13

02/23/13:  Here are this week's technology updates related to National Security:

• Skunk Works promises fusion power in four years
• Dressed to kill: MIT scientists forging new uniform to help soldiers communicate on the battlefield
• Mini-quadcopter is as small, fast, and agile as an insect
• New imaging device that is flexible, flat, and transparent
• Scientists give mice ability to sense infrared light
• NYPD's Domain Awareness System by Microsoft
• Scientists building crash-proof computer that repairs itself
• First bionic hand with sense of touch to be transplanted
• NASA scrambles for better asteroid detection [see also Discovery News]
• The nuclear reactor in your basement
• NRL's stop rotor - rotary wing / fixed wing aircraft
• Obama seeking to boost study of human brain
• Wearable display meets blindfold test for sensing danger
• Beyond radiation: Pentagon seeks better ways to detect nuclear weapons
• Radio telescope, GPS use ionosphere to detect nuclear tests
• New classes of magnetoelectric promises advances in computing technology
• NRL using microbes to generate electricity
• DARPA seeks to diffuse the threat of ionizing radiation [see also Wired]
• Ultra-low power processor operates at near-threshold voltage
• New light source for quantum computers
• New device better traps viruses, airborne pathogens
• Better power grid syncronization may allow smart-grids to self-recover from failures
• Researchers develop new technique to scale up production of graphene micro-supercapacitors
• Solar-copter offers a portable, flying power plant
• New technology in magnetic cooling of chips
• Self-healing protective coating for concrete
• Targeted video surveillance to spot fires in soccer stadiums
• A building block for optical quantum networks
• MARCIMS helped Marines manage, track and analyze construction projects, health engagements and civil affairs
• Researchers generate electron Airy beam
• Researchers build robotic bat wing
• Biometrics seen as password replacement on DoD networks

Weekly Tech Updates 02/16/13

02/16/13:  Here are this week's technology updates related to national security.

• Swimming pool ships make waves in modular robotics
• Pentagon downgrades spec for its premier stealth - again
• Ruggedized biosensors will help keep troops safe from bio-warfare agents even in extreme environments
• Combining quantum information communication and storage
• Army cancels hybrid airship project
• World's first retinal prosthesis receives FDA approval
• Researchers invent 'acoustic-assisted' magnetic information storage
• Researchers build self-repairing "systemic" computer
• DARPA wants teeny-tiny fluids to cool down next-gen microchips
• Tool turns smart phone into biometric scanner

Weekly Tech Updates 02/09/13

02/09/13:  Here are this week's technology updates related to national security.

• Palm-sized nano-copter is the Afghanistan War's latest spy drone
• Sneaky robot uses background noise to mask its presence
• Free government-owned 'Super Wi-fi' proposal
• System uses video surveillance to alert security agents to dangerous situations
• Using fiber lasers for ground-breaking particle acceleration technologies
• Scientists notch a win in war against antibiotic-resistant bacteria
• Navy's next-gen binoculars will recognize your face
• Birth of a very-high-field superconductor
• Scientists develop new materials for board-level photonics
• Massive airship off to a flying start
• Light-emitting triangles may have applications in optical technology
• 3D printing to layer stem cells into organs
• Major GPS III flight software milestone completed
• France tests seismic cloaking device
• The secrets of spider silk
• 'GPS' for indoor use
• Europe's Galileo GPS plan limps to crossroads
• Study seeks biomarkers for invisible war scars
• Vulnerability lets hackers control building locks, electricity, elevators, and more
• Creator of most efficient supercomputer to start working on drone-bugs
• New classes of electromagnetic materials promise advances in computing technology
• Engineer designs self-powered nanoscale devices that never need new batteries
• 3D printing on micrometer scale
• Physicists develop method for quantum computers
• UK needs defending against space weather 'superstorm'
• People in disaster areas can be useful informants
• 11 inventions which help make the grid obsolete
• China claims successful test of microwave relativity engine
• Anybody can be a sniper

Weekly Tech Updates 02/02/13

02/02/13:  Here are this week's technology updates related to National Security.

• Suicidal sensors: DARPA wants next-gen spy hardware to dissolve
• ABM flight test success
• Iran unveils home-made 'stealth' fighter
• Navy seeks odor-sniffing robots to haul bombs onto ships
• Nanophotonics technology enables new kind of optical spectrometer
• License will lead to faster-charging batteries for phones, electric vehicles
• Researchers find accelerometers may pose security risk for cell phones
• Laser cooling techniques could shrink MRIs, night vision goggles, satellite cameras
• Substance may be better antidote for cyanide poisoning and faster for mass-casualty events
• Physicists create new 3D microchip
• New generation of 'intelligent' micro and nano-motors
• Superomniphobic surfaces for effective chemical shielding: possible protection from chem/bio agents, fuel leaks, and coffee stains
• New device traps particulates, kills airborne pathogens
• Nanoparticles that look like and act like cells
• Researchers develop hybrid materials out of plastics and graphene
• Researchers build bench size laser-pulse neutron source
• NRL publication on Warfighting in a Highly-Contested Electromagnetic Environment
• Development of high-resolution infrared color night-vision imaging technology

Weekly Tech Updates 01/26/13

01/26/13: Here are the rest of this week's technology updates related to national security. Some were posted yesterday as well. 

• Innovative sensor technology for efficient and portable gas detection devices
• Image sensors out of a spray can: organic sensors increase light sensitivity of cameras
• Simple ScanEagle drones a boost for US military
• Mini satellites give soldiers on-demand views of the battlefield
• Firefighters swallow data delivery pills to measure vitals
• Novel antimicrobial hydrogel prevents antibiotic-resistant microbes from forming on wounds, medical devices and implants
• Researchers develop grammar-aware password cracker
• Innovations in soil science will grow solutions to global food security
• Scientists discover genetic key to efficient crops
• Materials scientists create highly water repellent ceramics
• Researchers keep electronics cool with nanotechnology
• World class circuits by chip architects
• Nanosilicon rapidly splits water without light, heat, or electricity
• Controlled crumpling of graphene forms artificial muscles
• DNA gun tags criminals with UV light-detectable evidence

Weekly Tech Updates - 01/25/13

01/25/13: Due to the number of items on this week's tech updates, we are posting some of the updates today.  Join us tomorrow for the rest of the updates with our normal posting tomorrow.

 

• DARPA putting laser turrets on fighter jets next year
• Pentagon's wall-of-light laser shield
• DARPA: Using connections to stay ahead of the cyber threat
• 11 body parts defense researchers will use to track you
• Live pathogens: Rapid detection technique developed
• IBM's warmth-activated gel can break up tough bacterial biofilms and kill superbugs
• DARPA's robots practice scavenging space junk from satellites
• Self-healing, stretchable wires using liquid metal
• One kilogram of new polymer can turn swimming pool to jelly
• Peugeot unveils petrol hybrid using compressed air: 81 mpg
• Exotic new chemical compound could be useful in batteries, semiconductors, electronic memory devices
• Multi-tasking micro-lights could spark a communications revolution

 

Weekly Tech Updates 01/19/13

• DARPA, Industry collaborate to knock down microelectronic barriers
• Researchers develop integrated dual-mode active and passive infrared camera
• New nuclear submarine drive system will make boomers quieter and more efficient
• DARPA to launch just-in-time payloads from bottom of sea
• New world record for solar cell efficiency: 20.4%
• An ultrathin but nearly perfect direct current electric cloakChina's new oilers finish first set of sea trials
• New clean nuclear fusion reactor designed for naval applications
• High plutonium breeding of light water cooled reactors
• Roadmap for bringing fusion electricity to the grid
• Graphene could help detect drugs or toxins in the body or dramatically improve airport security
• Trial run mission will make sure asteroid deflection method really works
• Researchers create method for more sensitive electrochemical sensors
• New York designer makes cloaking fashionable
• DARPA: World's most complex 2D laser beamsteering array demonstrated
• Novel optical-fiber design could reduce inefficiency, enable faster data transmission
• Medicine-laden Solar Ship to float over Africa delivering goods
• Novel metamaterial sensor provides bigger picture
• Cheaper, better micro-sized cryocoolers
• New class of magnets: stronger magnetism, less energy

Weekly Tech Updates 01/05/2013

01/05/13:  Here are this week's technology updates related to national security.

• DARPA's 2013 Wish List: extreme diving, portable brain reading, gravity vision
• Navy preps to build robot ship to blow up mines
• Toys inspire giant 'dandelion' anti-mine device
• Iran unveils copycat arsenal
• Researchers show new level of control over liquid crystals
• Nanogenerator's output triples previous record
• Leap Motion gesture controls
• Reversal of magnetic moment by electric voltage could lead to new low-power devices
• Superconductors for efficient wind power plants
• Radio system brings GPS indoors with centimeter accuracy
• Magnetic shell provides unprecedented control of magnetic fields
• DARPA wants tech to turn Navy divers into underwater superheroes
• Researchers force gas temperature below absolute zero
• Satellites spot new Chinese jet transport

Weekly Tech Updates - 01/02/2013

01/02/13:  Here are the recent technology updates related to national security:

 

• DARPA counts down their top 10 news releases of 2012
• Magnetically levitating graphite can be moved with laser
• DARPA's future autonomous submarine hunter
• Robot boy from University of Zurich
• Liquid crystal research advances
• Telemedicine device gives medics a portable emergency room
• NRL sniper / counter-sniper line of sight visualization system
• DARPA's High-Assurance Cyber Military Systems to reduce software vulnerabilities
• Legal issues with future mutant soldiers
• US clears DNA firms acquisition by Chinese
• Thermoelectric material sucks electricity out of hot water
• Miniaturized sensors hold up under pressure
• Military projects push boundaries of flexible electronics in imaging technologies
• Panda blood compound 6x more powerful than current antibiotics
• 'Secure bit commitment' communications technology can conquer lack of trust

 

Weekly Tech Updates 12/22/12

12/22/12:  Here are this week's technology updates related to national security:

• DARPA funding research to make deployable radio frequency backbone to match fiber optic capacity
• Better mind control allows for better robotic arm
• Arming US troops with insect protective gear
• Canadian firm claims to have created an invisibility cloak
• Superconductors that work by themselves: new possibilities in chryoelectronics
• Wires that stretch up to eight times their length
• Pocket test measure 50 things with drop of blood
• DARPA's legged squad support system learns voice commands and new tricks
• DARPA challenge is looking for adaptive, software-based radio communications

 

Weekly Tech Updates 12/15/12

12/15/12:  Here are this week's technology updates related to national security:

• X-47B next gen UCAS completes first tests aboard USS Truman
  
• Pharmaceutical company develops anti-radiation pills
• Northrop Grumman patents show potential next-gen bomber design
• IBM ushers in the age of silicon nanophotonics
• DARPA foam for stabilizing wounds
• Hacking the human brain, the next domain for warfighting
• Research project uses real-time data to predict path of wildfires
• Follow the eyes: Head-mounted cameras could help robots understand social interactions
• Robot mimics the muscles, skeleton of a real human
• Laser drills could open up cheap geothermal power

Weekly Tech Updates 12/08/12

12/08/12:  Here are this week's technology updates related to national security:

• Stabilizing collapsed or shock-damaged buildings
• Reconfigurable robot a step towards something that can become almost anything
• Quantum cryptography goes mainstream
• Death by algorithm: West Point code shows which terrorists to target
• Thorium: Proliferation warnings on nuclear "wonder-fuel"
• What a UAV can do with depth perception
• Hybrid terrestrial / aerial robot
• Liquid Robotic's Wave Glider sets record for longest distance traveled by an autonomous robot
• Caltech engineers invent light focusing device, gets around diffraction limit of light
• Hydrogel with shape memory
• Flexible silicon solar-cell fabrics may soon be possible
• Research team discovers method for making cheap, near perfect light absorber

Weekly Tech Updates - 12/04/12

12/04/12:  Here are this last week's technology updates related to national security:

• Underwater robots smart enough to explore treacherous deep-sea terrain
• Researchers synthesize new kind of silk fiber
• Pentagon seeks EMP grenades
• Pakistan tests nuclear-capable ballistic missile
• US military train in cyber-city to prepare hack defense
• Developing robotic laser system to strip paint from aircraft
• Improving real-time 3-D image capture
• China unveils new drones
• Flexible, low-power circuits out of nano-crystals
• Suitcase DNA analysis in 25 minutes
• Cobalt discovery replaces precious metals as industrial catalyst
• Breakthrough offers new route to large-scale quantum computing
• Aquatic robot snake
• New computerized approach could revolutionize design and manufacturing
• Put a lab on a chip
• Point and click rifle aims and shoots by itself
• New device hides on cue from infrared cameras
• Squirrels and birds inspire researchers to create deceptive robots
• iRobot founder now building tiny hovering drone spies

Weekly Tech Updates 11/24/12

11/24/12:  This week's technology updates:

• Advances in deep-learning programs
• Silent, but deadly: special forces seek subsonic bullets
• Tank-like vehicle clears runways of birds with laser beams
• Major advance in using sunlight to generate steam
• Researchers make 'nano-spinning' practical
• Biotech developments signal new breakthrough
• Nanotech device mimics dogs nose to sniff out explosives
• See the new Army arsenal

Weekly Tech Updates 11/17/12

11/17/12:  Here are this week's technology updates:

• Russia's stealth fighter could match US jets
• 'Perfect' invisibility cloak through refracted light
• F-22 crashes
• Antenna-on-a-chip rips the light fantastic
• Wax-filled nanotech yarn behaves like super-strong muscle
• Cray supercomputer named world's fastest
• US to scan social networks for disease and bioterrorism information
• New biofuel, single-reactor conversion process cuts costly separating step
• Finding undetonated bombs on the sea floor
• Computer memory could increase five fold because of advances in self-assembling polymers
• DARPA's National Cyber Range
• MIT fights the boredom of piloting drones
• Mathematician makes breakthrough in understanding of turbulence
• Building a better robot
• Iran boasts missile-launching, drone-hurling hovercraft
• New tech lets special ops gunships hunt all day
• Researchers take another step towards mind controlled robots
• Israeli mice sniff out bombs and vice
• Boosting the sensitivity of airport security screening
• Bug repellent for supercomputers proves effective
• Super-sensory hearing organ in bushcrickets may lead to new technologies
• Cells power biological machines
• Beating the dark side of quantum computing
• 4G LTE networks more vulnerable to jamming

Weekly Tech Updates 11/10/12

11/10/12:  Here are this week's technology updates.

• Study reports faster, more economical method for detecting bioterror threats
• IDF successfully tests upgraded Iron Dome anti-missile system
• Throwable camera sensor acts as smart phone controlled scout
• New portable device enables RNA detection from ultra-small sample in only 20 minutes
• New tests of nanostructured material could lead to better armor
• US Navy's next generation jammer by Northrop Grummand and ITT Exelis
• US Navy take notice: China is becoming a world-class military shipbuilder
• Russia tests hydrogen-fueled submarine
• New technology to help speed analysis, improve diagnosis of illness
• Marines look for new ways to spot wood and fertilizer bombs
• High-strength material advancements may lead to new, life-saving steel
• Laser the size of a virus particle operates at room temperature
• Hypergravity helping aircraft fly further
• Seven technologies that will make it easier for the next President to hunt and kill you
• Selective laser melting (SLM): the future of high-tech manufacturing
• First solely biofuel jet raises hopes for clean travel
• New gel can modify properties at will
• Wind turbine doubles efficiency without blades
• Stem cells + nanofibers = promising nerve research
• Ultrasensitive photon hunter
• X-ray source for imaging system developed to produce 'molecular movies'
• X-48 blended wing research aircraft makes 100th test flight
• NASA, ESA use experimental interplanetary internet
• Massive data storage resource to support Big Red II supercomputer

 

Weekly Tech Updates 11/03/12

11/03/12:  This week's technology updates:

• More energy efficient robot jumping techniques
• Smart as a bird: Flying robot avoids obstacles
• Data-centric police car of the future
• China's newest stealth aircraft takes flight
• The future of flying: aircraft cooperation
• Experimental plasma jet thrusters could make space travel cheaper
• World's rarest element used to study world's rarest force
• Paving the path for efficient, affordable exoscale computing
• New high-performance superconducting material
• Study brings us step closer to rollable, foldable e-devices
• First solar cell made entirely of carbon
• High definition storm models yielded accurate predictions
• Taming mavericks: Researchers use synthetic magnetism to control light
• Intel triple quad quad core chip will run your phone in 10 years
• Using laser beams, scientists generate quantum matter with novel, crystal-like properties
• New discovery shows promise in future speed of synthesizing high-demand nanomaterials
• Navy researchers look to rotating detonation weapons to power the future
• Crushed silicon more than triples battery capacity in tests
• Living concrete fixes itself

Weekly Tech Updates 10/27/12

10/27/12:  Here are your weekly Tech Updates.

• Contest to build a disaster ready robot
• Fabric with the power to ward off pathogens
• US hits 4 of 5 targets in Pacific missile defense test
• With 'safe haven', desktop weaponeers resume work on 3D printed guns
• First missile launch from robotic navy boat
• Destroying nuclear waste with laser beams
• State-of-the-art beams from table-top accelerators: Part One: Focusing in on beam focus
• New self-healing coating for aluminum developed to replace cancer-causing product
• Molecular 3D bioprinting could mean getting drugs through email
• Scientists making fishy robots for naval research
• Self-powered sensors to monitor nuclear fuel rod status
• Google issues Maps API to keep closer tabs on vehicles
• Research team teaching robots to respond in disaster emergencies
• Living power cables discovered
• Danes develop eye-control software for phones, tablets
• Military plans new hypersonic flight after failure
• Ames Laboratory improving process to recycle rare-earth materials
• Scientists develop revolutionary nanotechnology copper solder
• NASA 3-D imaging radar to analyze, classify oil spills
• Next-generation antireflection coatings could boost solar photovoltaic cell efficiency
• Near-atomically flat silicon could help pave the way to new chemical sensors
• NASA pursues atom optics to detect the imperceptible
• Researchers discover new route to spin-polarized contacts on silicon

Weekly Tech Updates - Early Edition

10/25/12:  This week, in light of the number of technology updates, we have decided to share some of the key tech news articles today.  You will still find plenty more on this Saturday's post.

• Boeing tests a missile that knocks out a buildings power
• DARPAs rescue robot jumps, climbs, and dodges obstacles
• Navy's top geek says laser arsenal is just two years away
• Satellite servicing capabilities being developed
• Assembly of nano-machines mimics human muscle
• Physics duo create tractor beam using dual Bessel beams
• Manufacturing complex 3D metallic structures at nanoscale made possible
• Potential political defectors can be identified according to archetype
• Army’s Giant Spy Blimp Plan for Afghanistan Set Adrift
• New finding could pave way for smaller, faster electronics
• Newest amphibious assault ships double as small carriers
• BioWatch technology couldn't detect lethal germs, tests found

Weekly Tech Updates 10/20/12

10/20/12:  Here are this week's technology updates related to National Security:

• Feds Pilot Rapid DNA to Identify Casualties, Immigrants
• Israel's Elephant UAV
• Explosives Detectors Go Nose To Nose with Sniffer Dogs
• USAF Tests Vortex Surfing for Aircraft
• Technology may Allow Wireless and Wireline in a Single Platform
• Effort to Mass Produce Flexible Nanoscale Electronics
• Silent Circle App makes High Level Encryption Easily Accessible
• Nanoscale Optical Accelerometer for Better Positioning Information
• Magnetic Properties of Silicon Nano Ribbons
• Hackers Reverse Engineer Pace Makers To Deliver Fatal Shocks at Up to 30ft
• Cyber Security Experts Engage with DARPA
• Britain Seeking Spies from the Video Game Era
• UK's Sim Ship for Naval Simulations
• DHS Working to Screen Liquids for Explosives
• Prototype System makes Gasoline Out of Air?

Weekly Tech Updates 10/13/12

• Computers may have unique fingerprints in graphics cards
• Unmanned drones now can mid-air refuel
• Pentagon’s Plans For 3-D Printers: Mobile Labs, Bomb Sniffers and Prototype Limbs
• Robots using tools: grant aims to create Macgyver Robot
• Software that recognizes behavior patterns developed to improve tracking of human activity
• Green laser pointer identifies traces of dangerous chemicals in real time
• Plasmonics show promise for optically induced graphene electronics
• US Navy develops second railgun prototype
• Optics and materials from spider silk
• Cell phones used in disease tracking in Kenya
• Advances in safe, fusion generated electricy
• Robotic exoskeleton developed by NASA
• Sponge-like graphene makes promising supercapacitor electrodes
• Gorgeous nanoflower structure could improve batteries and solar cells

Weekly Tech Updates

• New antibiotic cures disease by disarming pathogens, not killing them
• New software from the US Naval Surface Warfare Center uses smartphone camera for spying
• Sandia builds Android-based network to study cyber disruptions
• DHS and academic researchers build a better shoe bomb detector
• Acoustic cell-sorting chip may lead to cell phone-sized medical labs
• Using light to control light: Engineers invent new device that could increase Internet download speeds
• Firefighting Robots
• Prototype boarding gate with built-in explosives detection
• Sophisticated Algorithms Poised to Revolutionize Electric Power
• Spinning solar cells boost electricity generation by a factor of 20
• Contracts to Develop Robotic Rotorcraft for Rapid Autonomous Aerial Cargo Delivery controlled by Smartphones
• New Clues About Iran's Private Internet Network
• Efficient, Scalable Process for Making Renewable Liquid Fuels
• A Complete Solution for Oil Spill Cleanup
• Far, far beyond wrist radios: At Homeland Security's think tank, first responders imagine high-tech future
• Declassified Flying Saucer
• Army Plots New Infrared Obscurants to Thicken the Fog of War
• Scientists discover novel way to 'heal' defects in materials
• DNA construction technology makes genetic engineering cheaper, faster

Weekly Tech Updates

09/29/12:  Here are some of the latest technology updates from this week related to national security.

• Rapid Mapping of Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Spread in Urban Environments to Aid First Responders
• Navy Working to Generate Jet Fuel from Seawater
• Automatic Building Mapping for Emergency Responders
• Electronics that Fight Infection and Dissolve Away
• DARPA Innovation House to Research Imagery and Sensor Innovations
• Research into using Particle Accelerators to make Spent Nuclear Fuel Safer
• Mapping of Cybercriminal Networks
• Plant Extract may one-day Safeguard People from Nerve Gas Attacks
• Uranium Enrichment Plant Approved using Laser Technology instead of Centrifuges
• DISA seeking to expand Cyber Threat Information Network to Large Numbers of Defense Contractors
• Potential Green Aerospace Anti-Corrosion Agent from Dates
• Research into Internet Resilience
• Laser Sintering may provide Significant Weight Reductions in Aircraft Fabrication
• M13 Virus opens Door for Research into a Biological Internet
• Intuitive Visual Controls make Remote Operation of Robots Faster
• Air Force’s Secret Space Plane Prepped for New Launch

Tech Teaser

09/27/12:  At the Georgetown Security Law Brief, we have started a weekly post to update you on the week's technology updates related to National Security.  Check out the post on Saturday.  Here is a preview of some of the tech stories you should expect this weekend:

• Rapid Mapping of Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Spread in Urban Environments to Aid First Responders
• Navy Working to Generate Jet Fuel from Seawater
• Automatic Building Mapping for Emergency Responders
• Research into using Particle Accelerators to make Spent Nuclear Fuel Safer

Weekly Tech Updates

09/22/12:  Welcome to the first weekly tech updates post.  This will list some of the weeks updates in technology news that may have some impact on national security.

• New "Rapid DNA" devices are now ready to be evaluated and the FBI has received two basic types.
• Microfabrication methods to help navigate a day without GPS.
• Military invests in tool for worm-proofing warfighter apps.
• Tracking people based on their 'gait signature'.
• Cyber security 'space travel' technique allows a computer to virtually monitor another for intrusions and viruses.
• Iran preparing internal version of the internet.
• Researchers develop fast, sensitive nanophotonic motion sensor developed for silicon microdevices.
• DARPA awards contracts for gigabit-speed mobile hot spots.
• Large drone submarines for testing undersea sensors.
• Naval Sea Systems Command approved new non-destructive testing inspection requirements for pipe welds that will save millions in maintenance costs.
• One petabit per second fiber transmission over 50 km.
• Researchers devise new 'subtractive' type of nanoscale printing - cheaper and more efficient.
• Silicon and erbium on one chip for the first time - rapid amplification of light.

In case you missed it ...

Important stories from this week:

Egypt's President fires generals, consolidates power

Mohamed Morsi dismissed most of the country's top military brass, including long-time defense minister Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi.  He also issued declarations granting himself virtually complete legislative and executive power, leaving only the judiciary independent and practically giving himself a level of power rivaling that held by former President Hosni Mubarak.  The military appears to have acquiesced in Morsi's moves.

Obama launches "Deferred Action" immigration program

The new regulations, which are an executive-ordered series of measures similar to the proposed DREAM Act, permit illegal immgrants aged 15 to 30 to apply for permanent residence if they were brought to the United States by their parents when they were under 16 and have lived here continuously for at least five years without any serious criminal convictions.  They also must have either completed (or be enrolled in) high school or served in the US military.

Assange granted asylum in Ecuador, next steps unclear

Although the WikiLeaks founder's request for asylum has been granted, he remains holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London and the UK has reaffirmed its pledge to extradite him to Sweden to face questioning relating to accusations of sexual assault.  The UK also seeks to arrest him for violating the conditions of his bail by fleeing to the Embassy in June.  It is unclear how, if at all, Assange will be able to leave the Embassy without being arrested.

House files suit against Holder over "Fast and Furious" documents

The action seeks to enforce the House resolution passed June 29 holding the Attorney General in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over documents to a House committee after the President asserted executive privilege.  The House filed the civil contempt action in federal court after the Department of Justice, citing a policy almost two decades old, refused to enforce the order as a criminal citation.

Supreme Court will hear international child custody case

Sergeant Jeffrey Chafin is seeking to reverse a federal appeals court decision letting his daughter Eris remain in Scotland with her mother Lynne following their divorce.  The case is Chafin v. Chafin; the specific question is whether an appeal in a Hague case becomes moot if the child involved has returned to his or her home country.

In case you missed it ...

Important stories from this week:

Egypt shakes up intelligence and security personnel after Sinai attack

After an attack by Hamas-linked militants killed Egyptian soldiers at that country's border with Israel in the Sinai peninsula, President Mohamed Morsi dismissed most of the leaders of Egypt's intelligence and security forces.  Cairo also carried out airstrikes against militants in the region for the first time in decades.

9th Circuit throws out wiretapping suit

The Court of Appeals held that violations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), as it stood in 2006 and 2007, cannot be remedied by suit due to sovereign immunity.

Syrian Prime Minister defects to opposition

Riad Hijab has reportedly arrived safely in Jordan.  He is the highest-ranking government official to join the rebellion as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad continue shelling the country's largest city of Aleppo.

Cybersecurity legislation blocked by GOP filibuster

The law, which would have improved the US' cybersecurity infrastructure, was supported by the White House and backed by members of both parties.  A Republican filibuster has killed the legislation, however, on grounds (asserted most prominently by the US Chamber of Commerce) that it will hamper business.  The President is reportedly considering executive action to the extent possible.

Blackwater successor agrees to settlement with Justice Department

The military contractor now known as Academi LLC will pay a $7.5 million fine and avoid charges of illegal arms dealing.

In case you missed it ...

Important stories from this week:

100+ killed in Iraq attacks, al-Qaeda claims responsibility

The attacks, coupled with rising violence in Iraq over the last few months, stoked fears that al-Qaeda is returning with US troops gone.

Senate committee passes anti-leak measures

The Senate Intelligence Committee approved legislation cracking down on disclosure of classified information.  It would require the White House to notify Congress whenever it plans to share classified information with the public.

Syria suggests it could use chemical weapons if invaded

As fighting erupted in the largest city of Aleppo amid reports the government had been significantly weakened, Damascus said it wouldn't use weapons of mass destruction against its own people but didn't rule out the possibility if foreign nations tried to intervene.  This drew a strong rebuke from the international community, including Syria's strongest ally Russia.  Still, Russia and China vetoed a UN resolution which would have placed serious sanctions on the Arab country.

Another cyberattack hits Iranian nuclear facilites

The program reportedly caused computers to shut down and loudly play songs by the Australian hard rock band AC/DC in the middle of the night.

In case you missed it ...

Important stories from this week:

New lawsuit challenges drone killings

The ACLU and Center for Constitutional Rights claims the targeted killing of American citizens with drones violates the Constitution and seeks money damages for a strike made in Yemen last year against Anwar al-Awlaki.

High Syrian officials killed in Damascus suicide bombing

The assassination of Syria's Defense Minister and his deputy marked a week of the most severe fighting seen in the capital city since the uprising began last year.

Suicide bomber attacks Israeli tour bus in Bulgaria

At least five Israeli tourists were killed in the terrorist attack.  The attacker carried fake American identification.  Israel has blamed Hezbollah and the group's benefactor Iran and promised a swift response.

USS Cole military trial proceeds

Presiding Judge James Pohl has denied a motion to recuse himself from the military trial at Guantanamo Bay of the terrorist suspected of masterminding the bombing of a Navy ship that killed seventeen American sailors off the coast of Yemen in 2000.

Law of the Sea Treaty fails in Senate

With thirty-four Senators now opposed, ratification by the constitutionally required two-thirds is impossible in this Congress.

In case you missed it ...

Important stories from this week:

President's parliament decree plunges Egypt into constitutional crisis

Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's newly elected president, defied a ruling by the nation's highest court and called parliament back into session this week after the Supreme Constitutional Court had ordered it dissolved.  Parliament met for a number of hours on Tuesday, but the Court promptly overturned Morsi's decree, emphasizing that their previous ruling was final and not subject to appeal.  Morsi said Wednesday he will respect the Court's decision.

Syrian ambassador to Iraq defects

Nawaf Fares, Damascus' ambassador to Iraq, resigned from the government of Bashar al-Assad, formerly allied himself with revolutionary forces, and urged other governmental officials to do the same.  He is the first high-level diplomat to break with Assad; last week high-ranking General Manaf Tlas also fled the regime and is reportedly in talks with the opposition.

Guantanamo detainee Qosi released

Convicted al-Qaeda operative Ibrahim al-Qosi was released from Guantanamo Bay and returned to Sudan after completing his sentence.  He is the first person convicted by the war crimes tribunal at Guantanamo to be released since 2008.

Hariri tribunal will proceed with trials in absentia

The UN-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri rejected challenges to its jurisdiction this week, as well as its ability to try defendants in absentia.  It will proceed against two members of Hezbollah, the terrorist organization linked to Iran and Syria that now controls Lebanon's Cabinet, despite the fact that they have refused to extradite them or acknowledge the tribunal's legitimacy.

In case you missed it ...

Important stories this week:

House panel votes on party lines to place Holder in contempt over 'Fast and Furious' documents

After President Obama asserted executive privilege with respect to documents requested by a congressional committee investigating a failed Department of Justice sting operation involving guns in Mexico, Republicans on the committee voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.  A vote by the full House may take place next week.

Obama relaxes deportation rules for illegal immigrants

The US will stop the deportation of potentially hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children and have been here for many years.  Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano argues this is a permissible use of the Executive's discretion not to prosecute crimes, but some Republican members of Congress have attacked the move as illegal.

Iran nuclear talks produce no progress

Another round of negotiations between Western powers and Iran over its nuclear program, this time in Moscow, ended with no prospect of an agreement or resolution in the future.  Many worry the collapse of negotiations will lead to an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities by the United States or Israel.

US and Israel reportedly behind Flame virus

In addition to the Stuxnet virus that destroyed Iranian centrifuges, it was reported this week that the United States and Israel were also behind the larger, more complex virus "Flame," which operates as an espionage tool and has been found in Iranian computers.  Last week, the researchers who discovered Flame reported that it shared similarities with Stuxnet and might have been designed by the same people.

UK seeks Assange arrest after asylum claim

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who was set to be extradited to Sweden to face charges of sex crimes, escaped to Ecuador's embassy in London and has requested asylum.  Scotland Yard now seeks his arrest for violating the conditions of his bail.

In case you missed it ...

06/14/12: Important stories from this week:

Egyptian court dissolves parliament

Egypt's high court declared the country's parliament was illegally formed, throwing the political system into upheaval.  The court also invalidated a law that would have barred Ahmed Shafiq, Hosni Mubarak's former Prime Minister, from standing for election in the impending presidential runoff.

DOJ announces investigation into leaks, rejects special counsel

After sustained bipartisan criticism of recent leaks, the Justice Department appointed two US attorneys to conduct an investigation.  The White House has refused, however, to appoint an independent counsel to conduct the investigation as Republicans have suggested.

US, Russia trade accusations over Syria weapons

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Russia is providing the government of Syria with attack helicopters used against its own people.  Moscow fired back, accusing the United States of arming the rebels in that country.

US expands secret intelligence operations in Africa

The United States has vastly expanded intelligence collection and counterterrorism efforts across the continent in the last several years.

 

In case you missed it ...

05/31/12: Important stories from this week:

Secret 'kill list' proves a test of Obama's principles and will

The Obama Administration has created a ‘kill list,’ supervised and approved directly by the President, determining suspected terrorists who will be targeted by US drone strikes or other attacks.

For White House, wary wait as Syria boils

In the wake of the massacre and atrocities in Houla, the White House ratcheted up diplomatic pressure on Syria and its defenders, but still hasn't come close to favoring military action.  Mitt Romney criticized President Obama's refusal to intervene.

Pakistani doctor guilty of militancy, not CIA links

The judgment against Dr. Shakil Afridi reveals he was actually imprisoned for working with a Pakistani militant group rather than for helping the CIA find Osama bin Laden.  The militant group has since denied any connection with Afridi.

Researchers discover massive new cyber-attack "Flame"

The newly uncovered virus has infected hundreds of computers in Iran, with some warning it may prove to be more devastating than the Stuxnet virus that destroyed some of Iran's nuclear centrifuges in 2010.  Flame, however, is aimed strictly at surveillance and accessing information.

Israel skeptical of new efforts on Iranian nuclear program

Israeli leaders voiced skepticism this week over any future talks with Iran over its controversial nuclear program.  They accused Tehran of stalling for time and said the West shouldn't allow Iran to enrich any uranium.