Science & Tech

US Army Boosts Spending on Genetically Engineered Spider Silk for Body Armor, Underwear

What’s almost as tough as Kevlar, as flexible as silk, has the DNA of a spider but comes from a worm? Something the Army is looking to buy for as much as $1 million.

Science & Tech

The US Military Has a New Technology to Finally Solve the Concussion Crisis

The Army is testing sensors that can detect the impact of explosions on the brain.

Science & Tech

Why Fake News Spreads: A Neurological Explanation

The logical part of your brain really, really likes listening to the social part, which just wants to fit in.

Science & Tech

US Army to Test Powerful New Truck-Mounted Laser ‘Within Months’

New solid-state lasers plus ever-more-powerful mobile generators brings directed energy weapons a big step closer to reality.

Science & Tech

US Air Force to Send F-35 to Fight ISIS … In a Few Years

The plane’s rotation schedule has the JSF making deployments to Europe and the Pacific before heading to the Middle East, a top Air Force general says.

Science & Tech

How the Navy’s Warship Shop Uses Data to Do More with Less

A Navy program office turned to an analytics and visualization tool to help optimize complex tasks.

Science & Tech

Nanotech Breakthrough Could Revolutionize Night Vision

Researchers build “teeny, tiny structures” that can change infrared to visible light.

Science & Tech

A Glimpse At How the F-35 Will Help the Marines Storm the Beach

In a California demonstration, the short-takeoff fighters escorted troop-carrying V-22s into simulated hostile territory.

Science & Tech

The F-35B Just Got A Lot Deadlier

In a proof-of-concept experiment, data passed instantly from a Marine Corps fighter allowed a shipboard Aegis system to shoot down a drone.

Science & Tech

Here’s How the Pentagon Wants to Use Social Media On the Battlefield

Artificial intelligence will weave open-source and satellite data into useful intelligence in real time, the Pentagon’s No. 2 says.

Science & Tech

Got Something to Sell to the Pentagon? It's About to Get Easier

A new office just opened to help the Defense Department's high-tech agency buy more easily from first-time sellers.

Science & Tech

Bitcoin-Style Security May Soon Guard US Nukes and Satellites

‘Blockchains' could offer crucial intelligence on whether a hacker has modified a database, or whether they’re surveilling a particular military system.

Science & Tech

One of America's Spy Agencies Will Test Sentiment Analysis to Help Sniff Out Insider Threats

If the one-year pilot program is successful, a ‘full and open competition’ could follow to broaden the software’s use inside the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

Science & Tech

If There’s Malware In Your Toaster, the US Military Wants to Find It

The idea is to protect household appliances connected to the internet by remotely monitoring subtle changes in thermal signals transmitted under normal conditions.

Science & Tech

Like Battlebots, Except These Robots Automatically Patch CyberSecurity Holes

Hacking teams and their algorithms will square off in a Las Vegas arena, in a contest sponsored by DARPA.

Science & Tech

US Spies Are Building Software to Spot Your Suspicious Behavior In Live Video

The program is called Deep Intermodal Video Analytics—or DIVA—and it seeks to locate shooters and terrorists before they strike.

Science & Tech

NATO and the Pentagon Want to Get Their Hands on the Technology Behind Bitcoin

Blockchain technology promises secure, tamper-proof, and even faster communications and data transfer.

Ideas

Keep It Secret: Congress Should Back Off the B-21 Program

Lawmakers' calls for more transparency and fixed-price contracts will only hurt an Air Force acquisition effort that is doing well so far.

Ideas

Throwing Money at Missile Defense Won’t Fix It

We need a smarter, holistic approach that combines offense and defense.