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New way for IoT and data centers in general to improve energy use, costs, etc.


Arrays based on vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers offer a high-bandwidth, low-power, and low-cost solution for intra-data centers.

With the emergence of high-performance digital systems and the rapid growth of Internet traffic in the 1990s, the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Micro Electronics Technology Directorate correctly predicted the growing need for optical interconnects and thus initiated several efforts to develop such technologies for the next generation of high-performance digital systems. This work was also prompted by significant advances in optical materials (i.e., III-V materials and polymers), devices (vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, VCSELs), and packaging technologies that were also made during this period.1 In collaboration with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Electronic Technology Office, the AFRL thus initiated several major programs in this area.

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Reminds me of the 1980s all over again with Reagan’s StarWars Program.


Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov has revealed that the Russian military has commissioned several types of laser weaponry, but remains tight-lipped about the kinds of systems being developed. What kinds of systems does the officer have in mind? Military experts speaking to one of Russia’s leading independent newspapers attempted to find out.

Laser beam

© Flickr/ andrea.pacelli

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Amazing and can serve many areas.


(DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) In work that aims to protect soldiers from biological and chemical threats, a team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists has created a material that is highly breathable yet protective from biological agents.

This material is the first key component of futuristic smart uniforms that also will respond to and protect from environmental chemical hazards. The research appears in the July 27 edition of the journal, Advanced Materials.

High breathability is a critical requirement for protective clothing to prevent heat-stress and exhaustion when military personnel are engaged in missions in contaminated environments. Current protective military uniforms are based on heavyweight full-barrier protection or permeable adsorptive protective garments that cannot meet the c, ritical demand of simultaneous high comfort and protection, and provide a passive rather than active response to an environmental threat.

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Where is PETA when you need them.


When we think of drones, we still often think primarily of their military uses, despite the fact that they’re increasingly becoming a part of our everyday lives. Drones serve an impressive range of roles in the military, commercial, public, and civilian sectors. They’re also becoming more and more affordable and accessible. If you’ve been to an open-air event with a decent crowd lately, there was probably at least one person there flying their personal drone around, taking aerial footage to upload to social media.

As something becomes more common, we tend to find more creative purposes for it. And there are definitely some people out there getting creative with drones, for better or for worse.

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We always hear how bad Russia is; etc. We never hear about these stories where they helped the US.


A U.S. Air Force surveillance plane making a routine flight over Russia to fulfill a treaty obligation was forced to make an emergency landing in eastern Russia earlier this week after experiencing a problem with its landing gear, a Pentagon spokes person told Fox News.

The unarmed American military plane had Russian officials on board as part of the 1992 Open Skies Treaty, which bounds 34 nations, including Russia and the United States, to allow military inspection flights to ensure compliance to long standing arms-control treaties and to offer greater transparency into each nation’s military capabilities.

“On July 27, a U.S. Open Skies Treaty observation aircraft took off from Russian airfield Ulan Ude to begin a Treaty observation flight but the aircraft landing gear did not fully retract,” Lt. Col. Michelle L. Baldanza, a Pentagon spokes person, said in an emailed statement to Fox News.

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Dubbed the ‘Sea Hunter’, the 132ft ship is designed to travel thousands of miles out at sea without a single crew member on board.

The self driving warship has now completed its first trials — and passed with flying colours.

Experts say the vessel has the potential to revolutionise not only the military’s maritime service but also commercial shipping.

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