Summary of the open innovation session at the NATO Innovation Network Conference — 9 Nov 2021. Credit: Dimitris Moulas.
Category: military
An interesting glimpse into the adventurous world of neutrino research in Antarctica!
At McMurdo, Karle must wait for the weather to permit the final leg of the trip. “It is not uncommon to spend several days in McMurdo,” he says. (Karle’s record is 10.) When it’s time, he takes a 3.5-hour flight on a ski-equipped LC-130 aircraft to reach the South Pole. Anyone or anything else that goes to the South Pole must take a similarly tedious route.
There’s a reason scientists have endured the challenges of the climate, the commute and the cost for over half a century—since members of the US Navy completed the original Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in 1957. Despite all the trouble it takes to get there, the South Pole is an unparalleled environment for scientific research, from climate science and glaciology to particle physics and astrophysics.
This sentiment was echoed by the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel in its 2023 report, a decadal plan for the future of particle physics research in the United States. Under its recommendation to “Construct a portfolio of major projects that collectively study nearly all fundamental constituents of our universe and their interactions,” the report prioritized support for five specific projects—two of which are located at the South Pole: cosmic microwave background experiment CMB-S4, the top priority, and neutrino experiment IceCube-Gen2, recommended fifth. Because of the high scientific priority of these projects, the report also urged maintenance of the South Pole site.
The move places True Anomaly in closer proximity to the Space Systems Command in Los Angeles, which oversees billions in Space Force procurement, and taps into Southern California’s deep aerospace talent pool.
The majority of the Long Beach factory will be dedicated to the design, development and manufacturing of new products for the military market, including some being developed for classified U.S. Space Force programs, True Anomaly’s CEO Even Rogers said in an interview.
The company’s headquarters and existing manufacturing facility will remain in Centennial, Colorado, where True Anomaly makes its flagship product, the Jackal satellite, designed to perform in-orbit activities such as rendezvous and proximity operations, and imaging of objects in orbit. The company also developed an operating system software for space domain awareness called Mosaic.
Ugly.
Job losses are always terrible. This will be a dark and painful day at a space agency that brings so much light and joy to the world. Many of the probationary employees are just starting out their careers and were likely thrilled to land a job at NASA to explore the universe. And then all of that youthful energy and hope was extinguished this week.
It’s possible to view these losses through a couple of lenses.
Yes, NASA is clearly losing some capability with these latest cuts. Many of these hires were likely being counted on to bring new energy into the space agency and become its future discoverers and leaders. And their jobs are being sacrificed for no clear purpose. Is it to increase funding for the military? Is it to pay for tax cuts for the rich? There is a lot of anger that the relatively thin budget line of NASA—less than one-half of 1 percent of the federal budget—is being sliced for such purposes.
WASHINGTON — Space infrastructure company Redwire has secured a contract to provide an additional satellite platform for a U.S. Space Force orbital refueling experiment.
The satellite order, announced Feb. 11, is for a third Mako satellite bus for the Space Force’s Tetra-6 in-orbit refueling experiment scheduled for 2027. The prime contractor for the experiment, Arcfield, had previously ordered two Mako platforms for the Tetra-5 experiment, scheduled for 2025.
The Tetra-5 and Tetra-6 missions represent key tests of in-space refueling capabilities, a sector of the market closely being watched by military and commercial stakeholders as they seek to extend satellite lifespans.
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Wound infections are common combat injuries and can take otherwise able-bodied personnel out of operations and/or result in severe medical complications. Current standard of care relies on complicated and often time-consuming tests to identify the specific infection-inducing pathogens that caused the wound infection. Therapeutic treatments rely on broad-spectrum and high-dose antibiotics alongside surgical excision – which are not pathogen specific, drive antibiotic resistance, can have toxic side effects, require advanced medical training, and can result in high treatment costs and burden on patients. A game-changing approach to managing infection of combat wounds, particularly one that can be applied autonomously, would benefit warfighter readiness and resilience.
The BioElectronics to Sense and Treat (BEST) program seeks to meet this need by developing wearable, automated technologies that can predict and prevent a wound infection before it can occur, and to eliminate an infection if it has already taken hold. To achieve this, DARPA is seeking researchers to develop novel bioelectronic smart bandages comprised of wound infection sensor and treatment modules. The sensors should be high-resolution and provide real-time, continual monitoring of wounds based on, for example, the person’s immune state and the collection of bacteria that live in and around a wound. Data from these sensors will be used to predict if a wound will fail to heal due to infection, diagnose the infection, and regulate administration of targeted treatments – using closed-loop control to prevent or resolve infection for improved wound healing.
“Given that infection initiates at the time of injury and can take hold before aid arrives, particularly in austere environments, the earlier we can deploy these technologies, the bigger impact they will have,” noted Dr. Leonard Tender, BEST program manager. “Even if medivac occurs immediately, without the ability to prevent infection, the downstream care required to treat the surge of wound infections resulting from a large-scale combat operation could easily overwhelm care capacity.”
The words “optimal” and “optimize” derive from the Latin “optimus,” or “best,” as in “make the best of things.” Alessio Figalli, a mathematician at the university ETH Zurich, studies optimal transport: the most efficient allocation of starting points to end points. The scope of investigation is wide, including clouds, crystals, bubbles and chatbots.
Dr. Figalli, who was awarded the Fields Medal in math that is motivated by concrete problems found in nature. He also likes the discipline’s “sense of eternity,” he said in a recent interview. “It is something that will be here forever.” (Nothing is forever, he conceded, but math will be around for “long enough.”) “I like the fact that if you prove a theorem, you prove it,” he said. “There’s no ambiguity, it’s true or false. In a hundred years, you can rely on it, no matter what.”
The study of optimal transport was introduced almost 250 years ago by Gaspard Monge, a French mathematician and politician who was motivated by problems in military engineering. His ideas found broader application solving logistical problems during the Napoleonic Era — for instance, identifying the most efficient way to build fortifications, in order to minimize the costs of transporting materials across Europe.
In this video, we delve into The Future of Electronic Warfare, exploring how advancements in AI, drone swarms, and cyber integration are reshaping military strategies. Historically, electronic warfare (EW) began with basic communication interception in World War I and evolved through World War II with techniques like radar jamming. Today, we stand at the brink of a new era where technology significantly enhances operational capabilities.
The Evolution of Drone Swarms.
Recent developments have seen the emergence of AI-powered drone swarms, which offer unprecedented adaptability and efficiency on the battlefield. For instance, Thales’s COHESION demonstrator showcases how these swarms can operate autonomously, reducing the cognitive load on human operators while maintaining control during critical mission phases. Unlike traditional systems that require one operator per drone, these advanced systems leverage AI to allow multiple drones to work collaboratively, enhancing surveillance and attack capabilities across vast terrains.
Key features of ai-powered drone swarms.
Breyt Coakley, Principal Investigator at Helios Remote Sensing Systems, Inc. discusses Cognitive Software Algorithms Techniques for Electronic Warfare. Helios is developing machine learning algorithms to detect agile emitters, not yet in Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) databases, without fragmentation. Traditional deinterleaving fragments these emitters into multiple unknown emitters, or even worse misidentifies them as matching multiple incorrect SIGINT database entries.
In this episode, we dive into the alarming concept of cognitive warfare—a new form of conflict where technology targets our minds to influence, control, and even manipulate our thoughts and emotions. Could governments and tech giants use these advanced tools to control how we think and feel? From artificial intelligence to neuromarketing, explore how cognitive warfare tactics are evolving and what they mean for personal freedom and mental autonomy in the digital age.
Join us as we uncover:
What cognitive warfare is and how it works.
How tech companies and governments could potentially shape public opinion.
The subtle ways AI-driven influence shapes our beliefs.
Potential risks to mental freedom and democracy if cognitive warfare becomes widespread.
If you’re concerned about AI manipulation, mind control technology, or the future of mental freedom, don’t miss this eye-opening video. Make sure to like, subscribe, and share to stay informed on critical issues at the intersection of technology, psychology, and control.