A new report from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences concludes that intelligence agencies are too focused on specific lists of bacteria and viruses, and are not aware of emerging threats.
The US army has successfully tested a radar tag that could allow aircraft to easily identify their own ground vehicles, helping to prevent "friendly fire" incidents.
New spacecraft and satellites must be fitted with lasers to transmit digital signals back to optical telescopes on Earth, argue astronomers in a new analysis. The alternative is that the ever-increasing amount of data collected by their improved sensors will get jammed in a serious communications bottleneck, cramping the exploration of the Earth and Solar System.
A revolutionary new way of fuelling a space shuttle by harvesting liquid oxygen from the atmosphere could one day make space tourism far cheaper than the $20m Dennis Tito has paid for his planned trip to the International Space Station. The technology could even make launches safe enough to fly from civilian airports.
A private company has created a 'make your own spacecraft' kit that once assembled will take you and two friends 200 kilometres up at a top speed of Mach 4.