Mine hunting bees tracked with Lidar help farmers boost crop yields
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Bees help pollinate nearly 75 percent of our crops, this new system can track their progress and predict deadly colony collapses before they happen. You might expect to hear an angry buzzing when honeybees have been disturbed. But some apiarists reckon they can also...
The US Marines 3D printed their new barracks using the world’s largest 3D printer
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The way we make buildings hasn’t changed much in thousands of years, so it’s time for a faster, cheaper alternative to take center stage. Recently a family in France were the first family to move into a 3D printed house, and the benefits of...
Telepathic warfare takes center stage as US military bets big on neuro tech
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today’s brain machine interfaces are rudimentary or require invasive surgery, this program could bring brain interfaces to the masses and be the next step in human-technological evolution. Until now the advanced and cutting edge neuroscience programs at DARPA, the self proclaimed mad science wing...
DARPA splashes $1.5bn to re-invent the way electronics are designed and made
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF There is a concern that the lack of focus on developing new, advanced hardware will put US business and its military at a serious disadvantage in the future so DARPA is quadrupling its investments. There is now question that the electronics industry has been...
US military starts trialling robotic surgeons in the battlefield
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to monitor the health of soliders in battle will help keep them at peak efficiency, and military robot surgeons will help save lives on the battlefield. Keeping soldiers healthy has always been a struggle but there may soon be a high tech solution after US...
Stopping the DIY bio-terrorists, US military embraces AI and Ginkgo Bioworks
WHY THIS MATTERS As the cost of powerful DIY gene editing kits continue to fall bioterrorism is going to be on the rise, so we need a way to defend against it. Recently I gave a talk on the “Future of Cybersecurity” in the Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) sector...
Revolutionary injectable brain implant restores mobility in paralysed patients
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF People with paralysis or nervous disorders could soon be regaining their movement thanks to a revolutionary new form of wireless brain machine interface. Imagine if a tiny matchstick sized brain implant could circumvent damaged spinal cords and help paralysed people, and anyone for that...
US spy agencies prepare to build DNA computers and molecular storage systems
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Storing and processing huge amounts of data requires huge power hungry hyperscale datacenters, which could all be replaced with DNA and Molecular computers the size of a table, powered by a car battery. This week Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), a group within...
US military and DARPA team up to develop tech to uncover fake news
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The advent of powerful AI tools, adaptable neural networks and the democratisation of hi definition rendering have taken fake news to a new level and this program aims to unmask the fakes. We’ve all seen that video where Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered algorithms make it seem like Barack...
The US military is funding an AI that’s learning to write its own code
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF One day non-programmers will be able to instruct AI’s to create software on their behalf, this is one step in realising that goal and it has wide ranging ramifications for al of us, and AI development. If you’re tired of writing your own boring...
DARPA funds programs to get black box AI’s to explain their decisions
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As AI continues to be weaponised by military powers, getting it to explain its decision making, and actions, will be crucial, and it’s not going to be an easy task to achieve. Intelligence agents and military operatives may come to rely heavily on Machine...
Lockheed Martin awarded contract to arm US Navy destroyers with lasers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF We are entering a new era of warfare, full of AI fuelled semi-autonomous weapons, hypersonic missiles and lasers. The US military is increasingly ramping up its interest in, and spending on, new laser weapons, that will be positioned at forward operating bases, and on...
The Pentagon is making lasers that create voices out of thin air
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to use lasers to create sound opens up a weird array of new use cases, from crowd control to just plain being able to freak people out… Within three years, the US Pentagon’s non-lethal weapons lab hopes to have a direct energy...
DARPA hands the world’s first fully autonomous drone warship to the US Navy
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The Sea Hunter is the world’s first fully autonomous warship, and it’s just passed trials – next stop official duty. After just under a year at sea DARPA has finally completed the sea trials of the world’s first fully autonomous warship, Sea Hunter, a...
DARPA drops $4m to build the world’s first unhackable ‘self-reconfiguring’ computer system
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Cyber attacks are becoming the pandemic of the 21st Century, and as the number of AI fuelled cyber attacks increase matters will only get worse, but now DARPA hopes a new reconfiguring “Rubik’s Cube” computing system will stop hackers in their tracks. This week...
The US Military just put out a contract for the world’s first flying aircraft carriers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Fast and dramatic advancements in the field of drones and autonomous warfare are calling the role of traditional aircraft carriers into question, and one day they could be replaced entirely. Earlier this week the US Department of Defense (DOD) announced it wants the ability...
DARPA wants to genetically engineer smart plants to act as surveillance devices
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Noone would suspect a plant of watching or surveilling them, but thanks to DARPA that’s all about to change. This week Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA, the bleeding US research arm of the US Department of Defense, announced it’s working on a new...
DARPA invests hard cash to bring telepathy to the masses
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As we discover more about how the brain works, organisations around the world are starting to push the boundaries of communication and create new technologies that let humans communicate with each other, and machines, telepathically. Following on from their recent announcement to spend $50...
Lockheed will build America’s next generation of autonomous submarines
WHY THIS MATTERS It is inevitable that more of the world’s military platforms will become autonomous, and America’s submarines are about to get a huge upgrade. As part of its plan to turn undersea drones from remote controlled tools and toys into fully enrolled members of the fleet, last...
Mysterious hypersonic SR-72 demonstrator spotted in California
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Hypersonic platforms, from autonomous aircraft to “carrier killers” and missiles, so it’s inevitable that over the next five or so years sightings are going to increase Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Program (ADP), better known as “Skunk Works,” might be further along in the development...
