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
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
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