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
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
The Robots Taking Your Job Could Get You Killed
Automating processes at chemical and pharmaceutical plants could save money, but at what cost to safety?
Science & Tech
Hacker Cracks Satellite Communications Network
Satellite tracking of people and objects was supposed to make the world safer. If only it was secure.
Business
Pentagon Sends an Engineer and a Navy SEAL to Woo Silicon Valley
Not five months after its announcement, the military’s California technology-hunting office is up and running.
Science & Tech
The Air Force Wants To Make Its Drones Smarter and Deadlier
The Reaper's next chapter includes better sensors, more autonomy, bigger weapons.
Science & Tech
This Isn’t The Death Star Laser You’re Looking For
Japanese scientists have created the world’s most powerful light beam, but its military use is limited.
Science & Tech
An Unexpected Voice Speaks Out Against Backdoored Encryption
Former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff joins the league of technologists who have come out against the FBI’s push to put holes in privacy technology.
Science & Tech
What Will Happen To You When You Storm a US Military Checkpoint?
The military has put a lot of effort into making checkpoint encounters less lethal, through the application of some bizarre-sounding technologies.
Ideas
What the Fighter of the Future Will Look Like
The next 15 years will change troops’ gear in virtually every respect, from body armor to communications to robot interactions.
Science & Tech
The US Army Is Getting Futuristic Hoverbikes
A British company is bringing hover bikes stateside for commercial use—but not before the US Army gets their own version first.
Science & Tech
How Wi-Fi Will Power Tomorrow's Battle Gear
Cords and batteries are a burden on the battlefield. Will future devices be powered by radio waves…from space?
Science & Tech
Will DARPA’s Disaster Robots Ever Go to War? Never Say Never
In the latest Grand Challenge, semi-autonomous machines pushed the state of the art for humanoid robots.
Science & Tech
This Is Why The Army Sent Anthrax To South Korea, Australia, and 11 States
DoD’s recent admissions illustrate how the Pentagon is trying to improve its ability to detect biological threats.
Science & Tech
The US Military Wants Its Troops To Be Able To See Through Walls
DARPA is looking for ways to extract more information from light than cameras typically do, which could help troops spot hidden enemies.
Science & Tech
NSA Trying to Track Your Smartphone Finger Strokes
Smartphone technology built by Lockheed Martin promises to verify a user's identity based on the swiftness and shape of the individual’s finger strokes on a touch screen.
Science & Tech
The Pentagon Is Rethinking a $475 Million Cyber Defense Proposal
Nearly a week after extending the terms of its original proposal, U.S. Cyber Command revoked a 5-year contract offer that aimed to backfill significant staffing shortages.
Science & Tech
Special Operators Are Using Rapid DNA Readers
Conducting a midnight SEAL raid on a terrorist compound? Positive DNA identification is just 90 minutes away.
Science & Tech
VA’s ‘Grand Challenge’: Open-Source Prosthetic Limbs for Veterans
The VA hopes a contest will spur innovation in replacement limbs the way DARPA jumpstarted self-driving cars.
Science & Tech