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China’s Space Advances Worry US Military
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Video still showing China’s Shenzhou 8 spacecraft docked with the Tiangong 1 lab module on Nov. 3, 2011. CREDIT: China Central Television |
The rise of China’s space program may pose a potentially serious military threat to the United States down the road, top American intelligence officials contend.
China continues to develop technology designed to destroy or disable satellites, which makes the United States and other nations with considerable on-orbit assets nervous. Even Beijing’s ambitious human spaceflight plans are cause for some concern, since most space-technology advances could have military applications, officials say.
“The space program, including ostensible civil projects, supports China’s growing ability to Read more…
Proposed Nanotechnology Will Convert Body Heat Into Electric Current
Whoever said the movie The Matrix was based on pure fiction obviously didn’t have that discussion with researchers at Wake Forest University. A new technology called Power Felt, a thermoelectric device that converts body heat into an electrical current, soon could create enough juice to make another call on your cell phone simply by touching it.
Developed by researchers in the Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials at Wake Forest U, Power Felt is comprised of tiny carbon nanotubes locked up in flexible plastic fibers and made to feel like fabric. The technology uses temperature Read more…
What the future of technology holds
With technology evolving at an exponential rate, it can be hard to fathom the changes that the future holds. What technological changes will revolutionize our lives in the years to come? NOW Lebanon takes a look at this year’s most extraordinary tech predictions.
1- You will never need a password again
No need to remember your password anymore. According to IBM researchers, retrieving money from the ATM or checking your bank account online will soon be done using facial, retinal and vocal recognition technology. Biometric data—facial definitions, retinal scans and voice files—will be combined using software that will provide users with a password unique to every individual. Smarter systems will be able to match biometric profiles with users’ identities. “Some computers are already equipped with fingerprint readers and retinal scans. The chances of this becoming commonplace in five years are high,” says Pierrot Atallah, chief information officer at BLC bank. Version 4 of the Android operating system already includes facial recognition to unlock phones.
2- Games that think outside the box
The launch this year of the Wii U by Nintendo cut a new path for game consoles. The Wii U will include an oversized controller with a touchscreen, speakers, a gyroscope, an accelerometer and a front-facing camera, which synchronize with the TV. Gamers might be able to start a game on their console and pick it up later on their smartphone. Games will also be published in new forms, away from Full article here
Russian superlaser to be as good as H-bomb
The design of the Luch laser device is to be used for the future Russian superlaser (image from vniief.ru)
Russia has launched a $1.5 billion project to create a high-energy superlaser site which designers pledge will be the best in the world. Capable of igniting nuclear fusion, the facility will be used both for thermonuclear weapon and civil purposes.
The new laser device will be used for inertial confinement fusion (ICF) studies. The field aims to recreate in the lab the processes which happen inside a star or in a hydrogen bomb explosion. ICF is similar to what scientists are trying to do with the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, but takes an alternative approach to how nuclear fusion is started.
The laser facility will be developed by the Research Institute of Experimental Physics (RFNC-VNIIEF), a leading Russian nuclear laboratory. In its six decades of history, it was involved in the development of both the military and civilian nuclear programs in Russia.
The site will have the size of a 360 Full article here
Cyborg technology with implanted human brain predicted this year
By Dave Masko
It seems the future is almost here now, with Project Cyborg set to unveil an advanced specimen cyborg robot operated by an implanted human brain grown from neurons.
Famed British scientist Kevin Warwick thinks “being linked to another person’s nervous system opens up a whole world of possibilities.” For instance, he points to “thought communication instead of cell phones.” In turn, Warwick stated in in the January edition of “W” (a monthly fashion magazine at wmagazine.com) that he’s about to unveil this “cyborg” technology soon with his “most advanced specimen to date: a cyborg robot that will be operated by an implanted human brain grown from neurons.” A “cyborg” is the nickname for a “cybernetic organism” – that’s both biological and artificial, with electronic and mechanical robotic parts. Warwick, who began “Project Cyborg” in 2002 with a goal, he told W, of making discoveries that can combat Parkinson’s disease, blindness, arthritis, and schizophrenia.” Also, Professor Warwick explains how using “electronic — as opposed to chemical — medicine may well become the norm.” For instance, “W” explains how “taking Advil for a headache numbs the whole body, whereas electronic remedies could treat only the specific area.”
Professor to become a cyborg in 2012
At the same time, Professor Warwick told Read more…
Neuroscientists to Top Brass: Mess With Minds… Carefully
A working group led by the Royal Society has warned the scientific community and the Government to tread carefully when entering the ethical minefield that is the use of neuroscience.
A report published today by the Royal Society tackles the divisive issue of the potential uses of neuroscience research by the military or security forces — whether to improve the performance of our troops, to “diminish” the performance of the enemy or, perhaps most controversially, in law enforcement.
The paper, entitled Brain Waves Module 3: Neuroscience, conflict and security, is one of four that have been published looking at the current Read more…
North Korea ‘Developing Kamikaze Drones’
The North Korean military is developing unmanned “suicide” attack aircraft to target South Korean troops on the northwesternmost islands, a South Korean Army source claimed Sunday. The South Korean military in turn plans to procure all-weather unmanned tactical dirigibles capable of carrying out reconnaissance missions even in bad weather to deploy on the islands.
The source claimed the North is developing unmanned attack aircraft “using high-speed U.S. target drones imported from a Middle Eastern country.” This is presumed to be Syria.
A high-speed target drone is used as a target for testing surface-to-air missiles. The target drones the North imported are believed to be MQM-107D Streakers.
A Streaker target drone believed to be used by North Korea to develop an unmanned attack aircraft (left), and a dirigible South Korea plans to procure.The jet-powered Streakers can fly at up to 925 km/h with a fuselage 5.5 m long and a wingspan of 3 m. They are used by Read more…
Virtual Reality Contact Lenses Could Be Available by 2014
Contact lenses that help enhance normal vision with megapixel 3D panoramic images are being designed by scientists using military funding.
For those who do not want to rely on contact lenses, future versions could involve lenses directly implanted within the eye, researchers added.
Over the decades, the video displays that everyone from fighter pilots to the general public use have grown increasingly complex. One possibility for advanced displays is a virtual reality (VR) system that replaces our view of the real world with computer-generated vistas. Another idea consists of augmented reality (AR) displays that overlay computer-generated images over real-world environments. However, these often require bulky apparatus such as oversized helmets.
“Unless the display industry can deliver transparent, high-performance and Read more…
U.S. Government & Military To Get Secret-Worthy Android Phones
The amount of stuff we trust to fly in and out of our smartphones is astounding. Just look at what happened when a couple of reporters got access to an unwitting (and rather unlucky) Apple employee’s iMessages alone — within days, they learned more about him than most people know about their closest friends.
Now, imagine all the stuff that could fly in and out of a government official’s phone, or that of a highly-ranked member of the military. Forget saucy texts and booty pictures — we’re talking about state secrets, here.
Looking to keep their secrets underwraps while on the go, the U.S government is working on a build of Android custom-tailored to meet their security requirements.
Word of the project comes from CNN, who notes that U.S. officials/soldiers aren’t currently allowed to send any classified data over their smartphones. If they need to transmit anything that might Read more…
Computer Program to Read Human Thoughts!
An X-ray shows one of the patients in the study with electrodes all over their brain (Pic: Adeen Flinker/UC Berkeley)
Computer Program to Read Human Thoughts! A research that appeared recently in the journal PLoS Biology has revealed about a way of using a computer program to help read a person’s brain and then put the findings into words.
A group of neuroscientists at the University of California Berkeley said that the technique could be beneficial for patients who have speech impairment or are affected by stroke and degenerative disease. The research is said to be capable of taking mind reading to a new level.
In order to reach at the conclusion, the study researchers conducted an experiment in which they enrolled brain surgery patients. They inserted electrodes in the skulls of the patients and connected them with a computer program. They did it so they could know the working of temporal lobe which is associated with the processing of speech and images.
It was revealed that the computer program was successful in analyzing the brain and could also reproduce the Read more…
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