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Category: government – Page 205

DARPA’s Tactical Undersea Network Architecture (TUNA) program recently completed its initial phase, successfully developing concepts and technologies aimed at restoring connectivity for U.S. forces when traditional tactical networks are knocked offline or otherwise unavailable. The program now enters the next phase, which calls for the demonstration of a prototype of the system at sea.

TUNA seeks to develop and demonstrate novel, optical-fiber-based technology options and designs to temporarily restore radio frequency (RF) tactical data networks in a contested environment via an undersea optical fiber backbone. The concept involves deploying RF network node buoys—dropped from aircraft or ships, for example—that would be connected via thin underwater fiber-optic cables. The very-small-diameter fiber-optic cables being developed are designed to last 30 days in the rough ocean environment—long enough to provide essential connectivity until primary methods of communications are restored.

“Phase 1 of the program included successful modeling, simulation, and at-sea tests of unique fiber-cable and buoy-component technologies needed to make such an undersea architecture work,” said John Kamp, program manager in DARPA’s Strategic Technology Office. “Teams were able to design strong, hair-thin, buoyant fiber-optic cables able to withstand the pressure, saltwater, and currents of the ocean, as well as develop novel power generation concepts.”

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For example, the market for hemostats in defence and civil forces alone is 2 crore units. While some startups have got some funding to fuel their expansion plans, not all investors may be keen to back companies targeting the defence market.

“Since the cost of failure is really high in this industry, one needs to invest significant time and effort to ensure development of a world-class product,” says Bhaniramka of the GIS solutions vendor VizExperts.

“This results in higher gestation periods, which typical investors shy away from.” Instead, he and other entrepreneurs argue, longer term investors may be more suited to this field. “This is where the government’s role in supporting innovative technology companies can be a game changer.”

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http://www.exogen.com/sites/default/files/resources/download…_paper.pdf

Unit Cost : $2,950

A new battery-powered device could help thousands of Britons avoid surgery for a fracture.

The gadget, which is used for 20 minutes a day at home, sends pulses of ultrasound into the bone, which scientists believe kick-starts the body’s natural healing mechanisms.

Continue reading “A blast of sound helps bones heal faster and can be used at home” | >

Has anyone besides NSA, NIST, DARPA, IARPA, etc. realize and thought about what type of cyber warfare will exist in a QC world? The skillsets alone will be so far advance than the techies that we have seen in most companies today as well as in most government agencies. Granted we’re simplifying things with the platform; however, skillsets will still need to be more advance than what we have seen with the standard techie.

Members of the cryptography community have expressed interest in the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) recent call for an algorithm less susceptible to hacks from a computer that does not exist yet.

NIST announced a call for proposals for post-quantum cryptography standardization on Dec. 20. One or more of the proposed algorithms will ultimately replace some of NIST’s cryptographic standards that are most vulnerable to quantum computers. According to Dustin Moody, a mathematician at NIST, 40 people have joined the agency’s online cryptography forum since the call was announced two weeks ago. The forum had about 200 members before the call went out. Moody said that many people were anticipating the announcement, as cryptography enthusiasts tend to run in the same circles.

“Most people who are interested in the field already knew about it,” Moody said. “The call wasn’t a surprise.”

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“I’m a political theory researcher at Sciences Po, and this talk draws on modern political theories of liberalism, the latest transhumanist literature, and ancient Greek theories of the good life.”

The Transhumanist Paradox.

Deciding between technological utopias in a liberal state.

How does a pluralist society – a society built to accommodate our irreconcilable differences – make a choice about the technological future of mankind? How can a liberal state dedicated to upholding individual liberty interfere in technological progress, and why should it?

Do we really want to leave our technological futures in the hands of the major AI researchers – Google, Facebook, and the US Defense Department?

Continue reading “The Transhumanist Paradox [33c3]” | >

India is going to endorse a Universal Basic Income (UBI), according to a leading advocate of the system.

The world’s largest democracy will release a report in January stating that UBI is “basically the way forward,” according to Professor Guy Standing, who has worked on universal income pilot projects in India.

If implemented, India would join Finland in providing free money to citizens.

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N” A boom in consumer drone sales has spawned a counter-industry of start-ups aiming to stop drones flying where they shouldn’t, by disabling them or knocking them out of the sky.

Dozens of start-up firms are developing techniques — from deploying birds of prey to firing gas through a bazooka — to take on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that are being used to smuggle drugs, drop bombs, spy on enemy lines or buzz public spaces.

The arms race is fed in part by the slow pace of government regulation for drones.

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Federal agencies of the US government are expanding their calls for quantum computing resistant encryption methods. In effect, the National Institute of Standards (NIST) recently announced a request for public-key post-quantum algorithms. This action follows warnings from the National Security Agency (NSA) about the risks of potential quantum-based cyberattacks and the NSA’s appeal for developing post-quantum algorithms.

Also read: New Developments in Quantum Computing Impact Bitcoin

Moreover, in the near future, it might possible for anyone to manipulate the awesome power of quantum computing. The astronomical price of a quantum computer would not be a limitation because, for example, IBM is offering to the general public quantum computing via the cloud.

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The Sino-Israeli Robotics Institute (SIRI) was inaugurated in mid-December when a delegation of nine Israeli companies — led by Ariel University Prof. Zvi Shiller, chair of the Israeli Robotics Association, and Technion Prof. Moshe Shoham, founder of Mazor Robotics and a world leader in medical robotics — participated in the second Sino-Israeli Robotics Innovation Conference in Guangzhou, China.

Intended as “home base” for Israeli robotics companies entering the Chinese market, SIRI is located at the Guangzhou International Robotics Center (ROBOHUB), a government-supported, 4,800-square-meter robotics incubator and demonstration center including a large exhibition and demo area, innovation lab, training center, and corporate offices.

“This is an exciting time for the Israeli robotics industry,” Shiller said. “We are committed to establishing a true partnership with SIRI and ROBOHUB, and we look forward to broadening this strategic cooperation, which will serve as a fast track for transforming ideas into products and for moving products into the Chinese market.”

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