Science & Tech

Drones Armed With High-Energy Lasers May Arrive In 2017

Predator maker looks beyond Hellfire missiles to the weapons of the future.

Science & Tech

White House: No Cyber Attack Pact with China, For Now

The Chinese president’s visit to Washington will highlight how far apart the two nations are on cyber issues.

Threats

The Next Wave of Cyberattacks Won’t Steal Data — They’ll Change It

America’s intelligence chiefs say data that goes missing may become the least of our cyber worries.

Threats

US Spy Chief ‘Pretty Confident’ He’ll Know If Iran Cheats on Nuclear Deal

The intelligence community has created tools especially to keep tabs on Tehran, DNI Clapper says.

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

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

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

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.

Threats

The Ashley Madison Hack Is Not OPM (But the Government May Be Watching It Anyway)

Thousands of the site’s affair-seeking users registered from .mil and .gov domains — at least ostensibly.

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

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

Someone At DEF CON Made a Drone That Hacks Computers

You can buy it for $2,500 — and turn it into a flying malware injector.

Science & Tech

Hackers to Military: Replace Us With Robots? Ha!

Next year’s Cyber Grand Challenge event will pit humans against machines in a grand hacking war. DEF CON’s war gamers like their chances.

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.