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Researchers at Utrecht University and at TU Wien (Vienna) create special light waves that can penetrate even opaque materials as if the material was not even there.

Why is sugar not transparent? Because light that penetrates a piece of sugar is scattered, altered and deflected in a highly complicated way. However, as a research team from TU Wien (Vienna) and Utrecht University (Netherlands) has now been able to show, there is a class of very special light waves for which this does not apply: for any specific disordered medium – such as the sugar cube you may just have put in your coffee – tailor-made light beams can be constructed that are practically not changed by this medium, but only attenuated. The light beam penetrates the medium, and a light pattern arrives on the other side that has the same shape as if the medium were not there at all.

This idea of “scattering-invariant modes of light” can also be used to specifically examine the interior of objects. The results have now been published in the journal Nature Photonics.

Yamaha reveals a 496-horsepower prototype electric motor. It’s willing and able to develop it for a car company, and do development work on the car itself.

FLIR Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR) announced it has won a contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to rapidly develop novel fabrics with embedded catalysts and chemistries that can fight and reduce chemical and biological threats upon contact.

The revolutionary fabrics will be incorporated into protective suits and other equipment such as boots, gloves, and eye protection that can be worn by troops on the battlefield, medical experts, healthcare workers, and more. FLIR received $11.2 million in initial funding for the potential five-year effort worth up to $20.5 million, including options.

Continue reading “FLIR Wins DARPA Contract Worth Up to $20.5M to Develop Revolutionary New Protective Fabrics for Chem-Bio Defense” »

The HiDRON stratospheric glider, a joint project between UAVOS and STRATODYNAMICS, has successfully carried out its regular test flight. UAVOS’ operators launched the stratospheric aircraft from a high-altitude balloon carrying a technology supported by NASA’s Flight Opportunities program successfully deploying an experimental payload to 24 km altitude and back.

Extensive testing was performed to test operation in high altitude flight regimes utilizing UAVOS’ autopilot system and payload test services. A launch routine was tested allowing a safe transition from free-fall to stable horizontal flight in thin air after being dropped from the balloon. UAVOS’ autopilot system has once again proven its superior long-range performance Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) capabilities.

Continue reading “UAVOS and STRATODYNAMICS Test HiDRON Stratospheric Glider To Validate Flight Control And Payload Data” »

As the Tufts scientists were creating the physical xenobot organisms, researchers working in parallel at the University of Vermont used a supercomputer to run simulations to try and find ways of assembling these living robots in order to perform useful tasks.

Scientists at Tufts University have created a strange new hybrid biological/mechanical organism that’s made of living cells, but operates like a robot.

3 Key Cybersecurity Trends To Know For 2021 (and on…)

Other mitigation efforts can be done by employing new technologies that monitor, alert, and analyze activities in the network. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning tools can help provide visibility and predictive analytics. It is also good to have diversification and multiple sourcing for suppliers in the event of a breach. Preparation and redundancy are advantageous in crisis scenarios. But like most issues in cybersecurity, it comes down to people, vigilant processes, and technologies coupled with risk factors constantly being reviewed.

Of course, there are many other compelling trends and threats to the cybersecurity ecosystem. More to cover in future articles. I have highlighted the more immediate trends of the expanding cyber-attack surface remote work, IoT supply chain, ransomware as a cyber weapon of choice and threats to critical infrastructure via ICS, OT/IT cyber-threat convergence. The most important tasks based on analyzing trends is to be have a mitigation strategy, be vigilant, try to fill gaps, and learn from lessons of the recent cyber-breaches.

Continue reading “3 Key Cybersecurity Trends To Know For 2021 (and On …)” »

NASA is considering an inflatable space habitat designed by Sierra Nevada Corporation as a potential space station of the future.

I saw this on several sites and it both infuriates me and makes me really sad. A half million barrels of DDT dumped right off the california coast in the 1940s, about 3k meters below on seafloor. Metal barrels corrode fast in salt water so you can assume its been poisoning the plankton and fish all this time.

The lasting effects of DDT contamination are killing an alarming number of California sea lions.

This method of finding light patterns that penetrate an object largely undisturbed could also be used for imaging procedures. “In hospitals, X-rays are used to look inside the body—they have a shorter wavelength and can therefore penetrate our skin. But the way a light wave penetrates an object depends not only on the wavelength, but also on the waveform,” says Matthias.

Why is sugar not transparent? Because light that penetrates a piece of sugar is scattered, altered and deflected in a highly complicated way. However, as a research team from TU Wien (Vienna) and Utrecht University (Netherlands) has now been able to show, there is a class of very special light waves for which this does not apply: for any specific disordered medium—such as the sugar cube you may just have put in your coffee—tailor-made light beams can be constructed that are practically not changed by this medium, but only attenuated. The light beam penetrates the medium, and a light pattern arrives on the other side that has the same shape as if the medium were not there at all.

This idea of “scattering-invariant modes of light” can also be used to specifically examine the interior of objects. The results have now been published in the journal Nature Photonics.

Continue reading “Researchers create light waves that can penetrate even opaque materials” »