The question really is not if, but when and where drone swarms, which is the next evolution of robotic warfare, will be utilised in real-time operations.
“Especially during times of tension, verifiable limits on Russia’s intercontinental-range nuclear weapons are vitally important,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
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.
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.
Continue reading “The Marines Are Loading This Mean-Looking Boat With Kamikaze Drones” »
“Don’t knock it until you try it” should be for tasting new foods, not building robots capable of ending human life.
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.
Continue reading “Here’s the Truly Beastly Helicopter That Might Replace the Black Hawk” »
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.
Continue reading “Shoot for the Moon: Its Surface Contains a Pot of Gold” »
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.
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.
Since the dawn of time, humankind has looked to the skies and sought to conquer them. For thousands of years we tried and failed until, at last, we could soar amongst the birds. We built biplanes that danced upon gusts of wind, strapped sails to our back and leapt off fog-drenched mountaintops, launched warplanes into the wild blue yonder to rain terror from above. The heavens were soon streaked with the vapor trails of jumbo jets; the oligarchy used its deep pockets for casual jaunts to the threshold of outer space. And then, with the skies at last firmly in our dominion, we once again turned our eyes upward and declared, “Know what would look great up there? Pizza.”
The technology to flood our skies with millions of pizza boxes does not exist just yet, but it’s taken a huge leap forward in Israel, where, The Wall Street Journal reports, Pizza Hut is launching the world’s first ever full-time drone delivery service. The pilot program is being heavily regulated by the government, and Pizza Hut’s human delivery drivers don’t need to worry about being replaced (yet), as the drones will not be making direct-to-customer drop-offs. Instead, the flying robots will bring multiple orders to designated landing zones outside of Pizza Hut’s normal delivery radius, where they’ll be picked up by a driver who will take the pizzas to their final destinations.
The drones’ home base will be a Pizza Hut located in Bnei Dror in Northern Israel, and will allow the restaurant to provide delivery service to an additional 7000 households. The Ministry of Transportation has limited the drones’ flight area to about 50 square miles, and each drone’s limited battery life means there’s little chance of one going rogue.
