Topic: Military Technology

Dark-Sided DARPA Dangles $40k for Crowdsourced Balloon Hunt

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has long been shrouded in mists made of equal measures of awe, mystery, controversy, and spying. Now it's strolling out of those clouds, jauntily singing a 1980s pop ditty by Nena. 99 ...READ»

Armed (and Networked) to the Teeth

A brigade sporting a array of battlefield gadgets readies to deploy in Afghanistan.READ»

Upcoming S&T Event: Does DARPA Still Effectively Spur U.S. Technological Innovation?

There has been substantial debate recently whether DARPA - the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - still effectively spurs U.S. technological innovation. On Tuesday, September 14, The Information Technology and Innovation ...READ»

Built in Sub Time

The scene is a familiar one: a sweat-drenched captain draped over a periscope scans the sea above. The scene is also obsolete: new design principles, new construction practices, and new technology make submarines faster, smarter, and better.READ»

Future Air Force Drones to Be Powered by Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

The army has slowly taken advantage of advances in renewable energy with algae-derived jet fuel, trash-powered electricity generators, and now solar-powered aerial drones. The Air Force has spent $450,000 on a project researching the ...READ»

Where Am I?

Create a door-to-door route map with Earthmate.READ»

Navy's Future Command Center Looks Just Like the Star Trek Enterprise

A research lab inside the U.S. Navy tasked with dreaming up the future of the armed force has been busy working on a new command center design. It's suitably high tech--and is undeniably influenced by Star Trek.READ»

Is DARPA Working on a Handheld Nuclear Fusion Device?

The Pentagon's DARPA arm is known for its attempts to reduce devices to microchip size. Projects have included multi-purpose sensors, cryogenic coolers, video cameras, and apparently, "Chip-Scale High Energy Atomic ...READ»

Undercover Bedbugs?

The latest in soldiery: a menagerie of robo-animals.READ»

The Caterpillar Self-Driving Dump Truck

A Robotic Behemoth for Mining.READ»

Palm Power-User The Fedex Guy

Tips from Pilot user Ric Honey.READ»

F-22 Fighter Gets the Axe

President Barack Obama won an important victory late yesterday afternoon when the Senate voted to halt production of the Air Force's F-22 Raptor fighter jet (seen below). Nearly two billion dollars had been earmarked for the ...READ»

Teridian Measures Energy Efficiency on a Chip

Teridian Semiconductor's new system-on-a-chip is an energy information powerhouse, integrating a processor, firmware and data about the electricity use of power strips, data centers, and appliances. Teridian claims it's the first ...READ»

Vision Quest: Contests Throughout History

1567 Prize for: Developing a method of finding longitude at sea Offered by: Spain's King Philip II Amount: 6,000 gold ducats, plus an annual pension of 2,000ducats for life Winner: Marine chronometer, by James Harrison, in ...READ»

• The Power of the Prize

High Stakes, Big Bets

Tom Burbage and his 500-person team at Lockheed Martin went after the biggest military deal in U.S. history -- and scored a $200 billion victory: a contract to build the Joint Strike Fighter. They didn't play it safe; they played to win.READ»

No Assembly Required

It seems scientists are harnessing the sum total of human knowledge and technology to… assemble Ikea furniture. An article about artificial intelligence in the New York Times today discusses ways in which cutting edge technology ...READ»

Gentlerobots, Start Your Engines!

Didn't get your fill of obscure sports with chessboxing, roshambo, and competitive eating? Then how about Driverless Motorsports, which, like the DARPA Grand Challenge and the Ansari X Prize, seeks to inspire innovation through ...READ»

Road Warrior: Regional Operator

If you're doing some hard traveling and you're miles away from phone lines, how are you going to get urgent email?READ»

The Maine Attraction

How do you know the difference between Pop!Tech and Amateur Night at the Apollo? At the Apollo, when a hot band comes on stage, members of the audience stand up and dance in the aisles. At Pop!Tech, when a hot band comes on stage, ...READ»

Radio Waves

Put a little music in your workout.READ»

Fuel for Thought

His $10 million X Prize proved that money can drive big ideas. Now he's looking for more of them.READ»

The Robopocalypse Cometh: IBM's Cyberbrain Smart as a Cat, Getting Smarter

If the Matrix or I, Robot's view of artificial intelligence sent chilly shivers down your spine, then prepare for frostbite: IBM's artificial brain is now as smart as a cat--just a stop or two down the line from human powers. ...READ»

New Autonomous Audi Can Get Reckless Driving Tickets Without You

With geo-aware brains and no driver, this modified Audi TT-S experimental vehicle is built to drift around corners and then regain control of itself. It could be the forerunner of future handling systems that could allow drivers to ...READ»

Where Can Commercials Go Next?

Over the few past years I've been playing around with the concept of Contextual branding. The notion of sending the right message, to the right audience, at the right time. Let's make the PSP for example. For some reason it doesn't ...READ»

Ecotrust Stirs Up a New Shade of Green

Spencer Beebe's iconoclastic activists mix environmentalism with economic self-interest to create "conservation-based development."READ»