Science & Tech

Contactless Fingerprinting Promises 'Wave Your Hand, Unlock A Door'

But the ability to collect biometric data without physical contact has sparked concerns about surveillance and data theft.

Science & Tech

Will Subdrones Cause World War III?

Smart, well-armed and built to operate on their own, underwater drones are becoming a dangerous wildcard.

Science & Tech

The Subatomic Race to Harness Quantum Science

US, China are betting millions on the promise of this newish field, but the real-world potential remains a mystery.

Science & Tech

US Revives New-Look 'Virtual Fence' Along Its Southern Border

The Department of Homeland Security is installing sensor-studded turrets in pockets of Arizona to curb human trafficking and drug smuggling.

Science & Tech

Is This the Warship of the Future?

Laser-armed battleships that print their own drones will have to survive anti-ship missiles plummeting from space.

Science & Tech

The Air Force Will Test the F-35 Against the A-10—But Not Until 2018

Is the Warthog better at defending ground troops? The brass wants to know, not that they're in any rush.

Science & Tech

Here’s What The Military’s Top Roboticist Is Afraid Of (It’s Not Killer Robots)

We’re on the verge of an explosion in robotic capability and diversity, and it would be folly to stop exploring now, says the man who ran DARPA’s Grand Robotics Challenge.

Science & Tech

The Military Wants Swarm Bots It Can Retrieve in Midair

They'll bite through your aileron wires. They'll insert toasting forks in your tyres. That is the tale of the Gremlins.

Science & Tech

Flexible Electronics Are the Goal of Pentagon's First Silicon Valley Partnership

Defense Secretary Ash Carter announces a five-year, $171 million effort to make and improve bendable circuitry.

Science & Tech

Oshkosh Wins $30 Billion Army Contract Battle to Replace Humvee

The Wisconsin truck-maker has won the coveted megacontract to replace most of the Army’s iconic Humvees.

Science & Tech

The US Military Gets A Guidebook to the Cloud

DISA rolls out a collection of best practices for a Pentagon herding its myriad information services toward their cloud-based future.

Science & Tech

Chuck Schumer’s No-Fly-Zone Rule for Drones Won’t Work

U.S. lawmakers and the military worry about small consumer drones running afoul of planes and emergency crews. But there may be no simple fix.

Science & Tech

Predator Drone Maker General Atomics Flying Spy Missions For the Pentagon

The US military has hired General Atomics to fly some missions — just ISR so far, but what about the future?

Science & Tech

Russia’s Troll Army Is Making Life Harder for US Spies

How Moscow’s robotic feeds and paid social-media commentators complicate open-source intelligence gathering.

Science & Tech

Why Humans Need To Ban Artificially Intelligent Weapons

Unlike self-aware computer networks, self-driving cars tricked out with machine guns are possible right now — as are any number of AI-augmented weapons far deadlier than their human-aimed counterparts.

Science & Tech

A Congressman Goes to DEF CON

Amid the fun and fanfare of the world’s largest hacking conference, the cyber-political battles of the future are taking shape.

Science & Tech

After Ferguson Unrest, St. Louis Police Bought Stink Weapons to Launch at Protesters

If the current situation escalates, protesters could be in for a horrible-smelling surprise.

Science & Tech

Google Earth Is Helping Syrians Call In US Air Strikes

Kurdish militia fighters are using Android tablets and free Google mapping tools to track battle lines and coordinate close air support with the US military.

Science & Tech

How Uber Could Help Change Spycraft

The U.S. intelligence community wants feedback from the innovative car-sharing company and other commercial startups on its 5-year data-analysis roadmap.