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Category: government – Page 35

NASA is Getting the Plutonium it Needs for Future Missions

Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) have a long history of service in space exploration. Since the first was tested in space in 1961, RTGs have gone on to be used by 31 NASA missions, including the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Packages (ALSEPs) delivered by the Apollo astronauts to the lunar surface. RTGs have also powered the Viking 1 and 2 missions to Mars, the Ulysses mission to the Sun, Galileo mission to Jupiter, and the Pioneer, Voyager, and New Horizons missions to the outer Solar System – which are currently in (or well on their way to) interstellar space.

In recent years, RTGs have allowed the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers to continue the search for evidence of past (and maybe present) life on Mars. In the coming years, these nuclear batteries will power more astrobiology missions, like the Dragonfly mission that will explore Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. In recent years, there has been concern that NASA was running low on Plutonium-238, the key component for RTGs. Luckily, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently delivered a large shipment of plutonium oxide, putting it on track to realize its goal of regular production of the radioisotopic material.

The recent shipment of 0.5 kg (over 1 lb) of plutonium oxide from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory to its Los Alamos National Laboratory is critical to realize NASA’s planned future missions. It is also the largest shipment since the DOE issued its report to Congress in 2010 – “Startup Plan for Plutonium-238 Production for Radioisotope Power Systems.” As per this plan, this delivery is a significant step toward achieving the goal of a sustained annual production rate of 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs) by 2026.

DARPA — robots and technologies for the future management of advanced US research | PRO Robots

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DARPA: robots and technologies for the future management of advanced US research. DARPA military robots. DARPA battle robots. Military technologies DARPA. Battle robots of the future. Technologies of the future in the US Army.

0:00 Introduction.
01:03 DARPA mission.
01:30 Project ARPANET
02:09 First “smart machine” or robot.
03:05 The first self-driving vehicles and the first Boston Dynamics robot.
03:31 DARPA robot racing.
04:08 First Boston Dynamics Big Dog four-legged robot.
04:43 Energy Autonomous Tactical Robot Program.
05:00 Engineering Living Materials Program.
05:45 Spy Beetles — Hybrid Insect Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems.
06:03 Robot Worm — Project Underminer.
06:23 DARPA — The Systems-Based Neurotechnology for Emerging Therapies.
06:57 Robotic pilots with artificial intelligence.
07:30 Artificial Intelligence Combat Air System — Air Combat Evolution.
08:14 UNcrewed Long Range Ships — Sea Train.
09:24 Project OFFSET
10:15 Project Squad X
10:47 Battle of human robots on DARPA Robotics Challenge.

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, abbreviated DARPA, or the Office of Advanced Research Projects of the U.S. Department of Defense, was established in 1958, almost immediately after the launch of the USSR Sputnik-1. The realization that the Soviets were about to launch into space not only satellites, but also missiles, greatly cheered up the government of the United States. The result was the creation of a unique agency with a huge budget, which could be spent at its own discretion. Watch a selection of the most unexpected, strange and advanced projects in the field of technology and artificial intelligence DARPA in one video!

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) was established in 1958, in response to the USSR’s launch of Sputnik-1. DARPA’s mission is to create innovative defense technologies, and the agency’s projects have ranged from space-based missile shields to cyborg insects. Notably, DARPA has been involved in the creation of the internet, GPS, and Siri.

DARPA invests in projects to stimulate the development of technology and see where it leads. The agency’s first significant success was ARPANET, which laid the foundation for the modern internet. Moreover, DARPA’s computer vision, navigation, and planning techniques were fundamental to the development of robotics and web servers, video game development, and Mars rovers.

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NASA’s New Power Play: Plutonium-238 for Distant Space Journeys

The DOE’s shipment of 0.5 kilograms of plutonium-238 to Los Alamos National Laboratory marks a milestone in producing fuel for NASA

Established in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). It is responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Its vision is “To discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity.” Its core values are “safety, integrity, teamwork, excellence, and inclusion.” NASA conducts research, develops technology and launches missions to explore and study Earth, the solar system, and the universe beyond. It also works to advance the state of knowledge in a wide range of scientific fields, including Earth and space science, planetary science, astrophysics, and heliophysics, and it collaborates with private companies and international partners to achieve its goals.

Japan to create ¥1 trillion fund to develop outer space industry

The government plans to establish a new ¥1 trillion ($6.6 billion) fund in a bid to develop the country’s outer space industry, as starry-eyed officials push to enhance Japan’s capabilities.

The ¥1 trillion fund will be allocated over a 10-year period for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), an Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry spokesperson said. Some ¥300 billion has been set aside for the fund in the latest supplementary budget approved by the Cabinet on Friday.

“We believe it is a necessary fund to speed up our country’s space development so we don’t lag behind the increasingly intensifying international competition,” Sanae Takaichi, minister in charge of space development, said in a news conference last week.

NVIDIA may soon announce new AI chips for China to get around US export restrictions

The new chips were designed to be less powerful than the models sold in the US, according to sources.

NVIDIA really, really doesn’t want to lose access to China’s massive AI chip market.

NVIDIA really, really doesn’t want to lose access to China’s massive AI chip market. The company is developing three new AI chips especially for China that don’t run afoul of the latest export restrictions in the US, according to The Wall Street Journal and Reuters. Last year, the US government notified the chipmaker that it would restrict the export of computer chips meant for supercomputers and artificial intelligence applications to Russia and China due to concerns that the components could be used for military purposes. That rule prevented NVIDIA from selling certain A100 and H100 chips in the country, so it designed the A800 and H800 chips specifically for the Chinese market.

However, the US government recently issued an updated set of restrictions that puts a limit on how much computing power a chip can have when it’s meant for export to the aforementioned countries. The A800 and the H800 are no longer eligible for export under the new rules, along with NVIDIA’s other products, which include its top-of-the-line RTX 4090 consumer GPU. Some reports even suggest that the company could end up canceling over $5 billion worth of advanced chip orders in China.

The new chips meant for the Chinese market are called the HGX H20, the L20 and the L2, based on the specs sent to distributors. While the H20 is supposed to be the most powerful model out of the three, all of them don’t go beyond the computing power threshold set by the US government’s new export rules. That means customers using them for AI applications may need more chips than they would if they had access to higher-spec models.

Longevity Neurotech report

DBS delivers electric currents to an electrode implanted in the brain.

Neurotechnology – or – while still an emerging industry, has attracted both major capital investments, and extensive media coverage in recent years. As tech relentlessly searches for the next “big tech platform” in the aftermath of the smartphone era [1], we propose that the answer may lie within our own minds. At NTX Services, we definenology as any technological intervention that interacts with the brain or central nervous system either directly or indirectly, and as attempts to integrate human and machine to enhance both, applications of the technology are broad ranging.

Often described as a new field, is actually based on decades of academic research, previously held back from commercialization at scale due to technological limitations, and slow changes in government policies and regulations. Although humans have been researching the brain and its bioelectrical signals since the 1600s [2], the first major breakthrough in was the invention of the electroencephalogram (EEG) by Hans Berger in 1929 [3]. Since this initial invention, several key developments have influenced the evolution of the industry until 2016, when Neuralink was founded [4].

SpaceRake wins $1.8 million in SDA funding for optical communications terminals

SAN FRANCISCO – The Space Development Agency awarded SpaceRake, a Cambridge, Massachusetts startup, $1.8 million to develop miniature laser communications terminals.

It was the first government contract for SpaceRake, a firm founded in 2021 by Kerri Cahoy, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Space Telecommunications, Astronomy and Radiation Laboratory director with a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, and Jeremy Wertheimer, former Google vice president engineering with a Ph.D. in artificial intelligence.

Under the two-year direct-to-Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research award announced Nov. 1, SpaceRake will develop terminals to enable satellites as small as cubesats to transfer data through laser links with the Transport Layer, a global communications network in low Earth orbit being established by SDA, a U.S. Space Force organization.

Watermarks aren’t the silver bullet for AI misinformation

President Joe Biden’s executive order plans for standardized digital watermarking rules.

President Joe Biden’s executive order on artificial intelligence is a first-of-its-kind action from the government to tackle some of the technology’s greatest challenges — like how to identify if an image is real or fake.

Among a myriad of other demands, the order, signed Monday, calls for a new set of government-led standards on watermarking AI-generated content. Like watermarks on photographs or paper money, digital watermarks help users distinguish between a real object and a fake one and determine who owns it.

Digital watermarks are easily broken and abused.

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