Digital Government

Pentagon, Defense Contractors Are Out Of Step On Tech Innovation, GAO Finds

The Pentagon wanted to fund ambitious research into future tech breakthroughs but contractors spend most of their money on safer bets, GAO has found.

Emerging Tech

Air Force Seeking Research on Electronic Intelligence Tech

The Air Force Research Lab is looking for white papers outlining new technologies and methodologies for signal processing. 

Artificial Intelligence

Can AI Solve the Rare Earths Problem? Chinese and U.S. Researchers Think So

A research effort funded by China and the U.S. could speed up the discovery of new materials to use in electronics.

Ideas

Why Five New National Quantum Information Science Centers Are a Huge Deal 

Through quantum computers, we’ll tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges, explain Energy Department's Paul Dabbar and IBM Research's Darío Gil.

Emerging Tech

Lawrence Livermore Scientists Model Neural Activity from Living Human Cells on Brain-On-A-Chip Devices

Building on years of multidisciplinary collaboration, the effort could help scientists find countermeasures against brain injury and disease.

Ideas

9 Reasons You Can Be Optimistic that a Vaccine for COVID-19 Will Be Widely Available in 2021

Safety of a new COVID-19 vaccine is improved by researchers’ understanding of potential vaccine side effects and how to avoid them.

Emerging Tech

How the Energy Department Is Powering NASA’s Soon-to-Launch Mars Rover

Undersecretary for Science Paul Dabbar offered a glimpse into the agency’s efforts beyond Earth.

Emerging Tech

DHS Wants COVID-19 Response Tech that Protects Health and Privacy

The Science and Technology Directorate issued a call using its other transaction authority asking for innovative solutions to protect its employees and the public. 

Artificial Intelligence

New Intelligence-Community AI Principles Seek to Make Tools Useful—and Law-Abiding

Over the last five years, AI has grown considerably, as has public concern about its use, particularly for national security purposes.

Emerging Tech

Pentagon Seeks New Means for Detecting Underground Nuclear Tests

The Air Force put out a request for information regarding how to improve detection capabilities.

Ideas

Ransomware Criminals Are Targeting U.S. Universities

The schools are attractive targets because of weak cybersecurity measures and medical research data.

Ideas

AI for Self-Driving Cars Doesn't Account for Crime

Most ethical discussions about self-driving cars focus on whether the vehicle should choose between protecting itself or doing the least damage to humans. What if users have more nefarious motives?

Ideas

Why Are Scientists Trying to Manufacture Organs in Space?

These experiments help researchers optimize tissue growth for use in basic science, personalized medicine and organ transplantation.

Ideas

Filter Protects Against Deepfake Photos and Videos

Researchers have created an algorithm that generates an adversarial attack against facial manipulation systems in order to corrupt and render useless attempted deepfakes.

Ideas

Sloth Robot Is a Very Cute Way to Boost Conservation

The new high-tech tool could help save some of the world’s most endangered species.

Digital Government

NIH Unveils Centralized Resource for COVID-19 Patient Data

Insiders hope it will “serve as the foundation for addressing future public health emergencies.”

Ideas

Preparing for the Coming Quantum World (Pragmatically) 

Waiting around for quantum tech to mature could mean organizational change occurs too late.  

Emerging Tech

Energy Curates New Tools, Unveils Funding to Assist Research Efforts Against COVID-19

Through its COVID-19 Technical Assistance Program, the department will provide roughly $500,000 to support research against the pandemic.