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Category: military – Page 149

Dr. Rachel Ramoni, Chief R&D Officer, U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA) — Facilitating Innovation

Facilitating Novel Health-Tech and Bio-Medical Innovations For Over 9 Million Veterans — Dr. Rachel Ramoni, Chief of R&D, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Dr. Rachel Ramoni, is the Chief Research and Development Officer of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), where she oversees their nationwide research enterprise, encompassing some 2000 active projects, at more than 100 sites, with a total budget of $2 billion in both direct VA support, and research funding from outside entities such as the National Institutes of Health, other federal agencies, and nonprofit and private organizations.

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a federal Cabinet-level agency that provides comprehensive healthcare services to military veterans at over 1000 VA medical centers and outpatient clinics located throughout the US – It also provides several non-healthcare benefits including disability compensation, vocational rehabilitation, education assistance, home loans, and life insurance; and provides burial and memorial benefits to eligible veterans and family members.

The VA serves over 9 million enrolled Veterans each year, employs over 377000 people with an annual budget of $200 billion.

Dr. Ramoni earned a Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry degree from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, as well as a Master of Science and Doctor of Science in epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health.

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U.S. commission cites ‘moral imperative’ to explore AI weapons

Beyond AI-powered weapons, the panel’s lengthy report recommended use of AI by intelligence agencies to streamline data gathering and review; $32 billion in annual federal funding for AI research; and new bodies including a digital corps modeled after the army’s Medical Corps and a technology competitiveness council chaired by the U.S. vice president.

The United States should not agree to ban the use or development of autonomous weapons powered by artificial intelligence (AI) software, a government-appointed panel said in a draft report for Congress.

The Marines Are Loading This Mean-Looking Boat With Kamikaze Drones

If the U.S. and China ever come to blows, this vessel will play a big part in the battle.

The U.S. Marine Corps is taking a completely new tack to providing fire support during amphibious landings: unmanned boats stocked full of suicide drones.

The shipbuilder Metal Shark has announced it’s building a new type of unmanned surface vessel, which the Marines plan to equip with loitering munitions. Such a boat would act as a mobile fire support platform, servicing calls for fire with salvos of drones equipped with explosive charges.

Here’s the Truly Beastly Helicopter That Might Replace the Black Hawk

Defiant X can fly twice as far and fast as the greatest helo ever.

The Lockheed Martin-owned Sikorsky and Boeing have rolled out the final specs of their new helicopter, one of two candidates that will replace the U.S. Army’s iconic UH-60 Black Hawk. The Defiant X isn’t just meant to replace the Black Hawk, but also fly up to twice as fast and twice as far, giving Army air assault forces an unparalleled battlefield mobility.

Shoot for the Moon: Its Surface Contains a Pot of Gold

Here’s a riddle: What do the Moon, nuclear weapons, clean energy of the future, terrorism, and lung disease all have in common?

The answer is helium-3, a gas that’s extremely rare on Earth but 100 million times more abundant on the Moon.

The capability to show anatomic details of the lungs and airways, and the ability to display functional imaging as a patient breathes, makes helium-3 MRI far better than the standard method of testing lung function. Called spirometry, this method tells physicians how the lungs function overall, but does not home in on particular areas that may be causing a problem. Plus, spirometry requires patients to follow instructions and hold their breath, so it is not great for testing young children with pulmonary disease.

Over the past several years, researchers have been developing MRI for lung testing using other hyperpolarized gases. The main alternative to helium-3 is xenon-129. Over the years, researchers have learned to overcome certain disadvantages of the latter, such as its potential to put patients to sleep. Since helium-3 provides the strongest signal, though, it is still the best gas for MRI studies in many lung conditions.

But the supply of helium-3 on Earth has been decreasing in recent years, due to the declining rate of dismantling of warheads, just as the Department of Homeland Security has required more and more of the gas for neutron detection. As a result, the cost of the gas has skyrocketed. Less is available now for medical uses–unless, of course, we begin mining it on the moon.

DARPA program seeks night-vision goggles as light and compact as glasses

DARPA is starting a program to develop a new multispectral Enhanced Night Vision (ENVision) system for the military that replaces today’s heavy night-vision goggles with ones that are as light and compact as a pair of eyeglasses.

Night-vision devices were first developed before the Second World War, but only became practical in the 1960s. Since then, they have revolutionized warfare by effectively eliminating the cover of darkness as protection for a hostile force. Where once aircraft and ground troops were effectively nullified by the fall of night, pilots and soldiers can now operate as if it was high noon.

However, the technology is far from mature even after four or five development generations. The devices have become more sophisticated and sensitive, with the capability to see across more of the infrared spectrum as well as seeing heat signatures, but night-vision goggles remain bulky and heavy, with a field of vision that’s a third that of the naked eye.

U.N. Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty Coming into Force

Tokyo, Jan. 21 (Jiji Press)—The U.N. treaty to ban the production, possession and use of nuclear weapons has started taking effect in countries that ratified it by October last year.

Among the 50 signatories, Kiribati and other island countries in the South Pacific became the first to see the nuclear weapons ban treaty coming into force on Friday, the day of effectuation in respective time zones.

The landmark international treaty was adopted in 2017 with support from 122 nations and regions at the initiative of nonnuclear weapons states frustrated with long-stalled disarmament talks. It met the requirement of having 50 member states as Honduras ratified it in late October.

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