A Pentagon office is taking advantage of the collaborative nature of the Internet as it studies potential applications for space-based solar power, according to one of the officials leading the effort.
Terrorists attacking British bases in Basra are using aerial footage displayed by the Google Earth internet tool to pinpoint their attacks, say Army intelligence sources.
Since Bahrain's government blocked the Google Earth website earlier this year for its intrusion into private homes and royal palaces, Googling their island kingdom has become a national pastime for many Bahrainis.
About a third of an ounce of botulism toxin poured by bioterrorists into a milk truck en route from a dairy farm to a processing plant could cause hundreds of thousands of deaths and billions of dollars in economic losses, according to a scientific analysis that was published yesterday despite efforts by federal officials to keep the details secret.
Laura Donohue argues that the best way for society to protect itself against both natural threats (ex. pandemics) and unnatural threats (ex. terrorism) is to facilitate the free flow of scientific information.
Recent technological advances in so-called genetic circuits have brought closer a world where cells and viruses could be modified to more effectively serve humans, but also have raised concerns that programmable life could lead to a host of tailored threats similar to Internet worms.
Users of Google's new massive database of satellite imagery are finding some surprises in the images such as street parades in California and bombs in Iraq. This development points to the growing relevance and power of satellite imagery but it also shows the promise of posting massive databases online and letting thousands of users sift through to find what they are interested in.
William Harwood reports on a new U.S. Air Force project to share satellite tracking data over the web. The program has been controversial because it requires for security reasons that all users agree not to share or re-distribute the date, which is frustrating for amateur satellite tracking groups used to sharing data openly.
David Brin argues that the new surveillance technologies "will be the primary countervailing force against tyranny."
Iran's new openness could shed light on a nuclear program that has unsettled international observers because of its secrecy. It may also yield a less obvious advantage: Increased safety expertise from abroad that could curb the risks of a nuclear accident.