The Army Research Laboratory, or ARL, is in the middle of testing a prototype “Energy Harvesting Backpack” at the Soldier Performance and Equipment Advanced Research, or SPEAR. How It Works A frame mounted to the standard-issue assault pack contains a two-spring, rack-and-pinion suspension system that allows it to gently glide up and down as the …
D-Wave Systems Inc., the world’s first quantum computing company, announced that Los Alamos National Laboratory will acquire and install the latest D-Wave quantum computer, the 1000+ qubit D-Wave 2X™ system. Los Alamos, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, will lead a collaboration within the Department of Energy and …
IBM Research announced a major engineering breakthrough that could accelerate carbon nanotubes replacing silicon transistors to power future computing technologies. IBM scientists demonstrated a new way to shrink transistor contacts without reducing performance of carbon nanotube devices, opening a pathway to dramatically faster, smaller and more powerful computer chips beyond the capabilities of traditional semiconductors. …
Remotely-controlled weapons systems have drastically reduced the number of Soldiers needed for perimeter security at an expeditionary base camp here. “Every Soldier I have assigned to securing the perimeter is one I don’t have that can execute support missions,” said Lt. Col. Raphael Heflin, commander, 142nd Combat Service Support Battalion, or CSSB, 1st Armored Division. …
China has unveiled an updated version of the J-31 “Gyrfalcon” fighter jet, which is expected to be marketed internationally within the next five years, reports the Beijing-based Sina Military Network. An updated model of the J-31 — a single-seat, twin-engine, fifth-generation stealth multirole fighter developed by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation — was recently on display …
The cutting protein Cas9 can be replaced by a different protein, Cpf1, which Feng Zhang, a researcher at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard says will also work as a versatile editing tool. The background for the Broad announcement is a bruising patent fight with the University of California, Berkeley, over who invented the …
First and foremost, the new B-3 bomber — will be a stealthy bomb truck built to carry tons of munitions into contested airspace. (What is “contested airspace”? An area guarded by powerful radars and surface-to-air missiles that could easily shoot down today’s non-stealthy B-1 and B-52 bombers. Where does this type of airspace exist? China, …
Bigelow Aerospace of Las Vegas, Nevada, has entered into a joint agreement with NASA to leverage the company’s B330 inflatable space habitat for use with NASA’s human space flight program. With the space agency eyeing deep space destinations – such as an asteroid and perhaps one day Mars – the systems could enable crews to …
Google has partially automated the Google Loon balloon launching process with 50-foot-tall, cube-shaped units it calls the Autolauncher. The metal and canvas contraptions block the wind, clamp the balloons into place, and provide a perch for the antenna payload, which prevents it from swinging as the balloons take off. By using the Autolauncher, Cassidy says …
Agrindus, an agribusiness company located in São Carlos, São Paulo state, Brazil, has increased the shelf life of grade A pasteurized fresh whole milk from seven to 15 days. This feat was achieved by incorporating silver-based microparticles with bactericidal, antimicrobial and self-sterilizing properties into the rigid plastic bottles used as packaging for the milk. “We …
A new ‘ultra pure’ nickel alloy has been used to create a reactor vessel, which Rosatom says could potentially last 120 years. Reactors that could last 120 years would have better economics than reactors with shorter lives. Also, a reactor vessel that lasted 120 years could enable the economics for retrofitting existing powerplants for long …