Nations with secondary space programs--some of which once joined China in criticizing U.S. space-control policy--are now promoting their own ideas of controlling space through advanced communications and networking. At the Strategic Space and Defense conference in Omaha (Oct. 9 to 11), military leaders from France and India were among those advocating a new role for nations operating in the United States' shadow.
The launch over the weekend by China of a navigation satellite , its first for four years, could signal the country's challenge to the American Global Positioning System (GPS) and Europe's fledgling Galileo network, in which China is already a partner.
The Defense Department is ready to deploy its Active Denial System, its version of a non-lethal stun gun based on gyrotron energy beam technology.
On the eve of a strategic space conference, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has released a long-delayed report on the military uses of space. The report had been held up for more than 15 months, after press reports in May 2005 generated controversy over whether the U.S. is seeking "space dominance."
Ground-based RF jammers and laser "dazzlers" might pose a more immediate threat to satellites than deployments of systems formally defined as space weapons, warns a study published by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Design automation systems tailored to the task of genetic engineering could prove to be double-edged tools. While they represent a central thrust of the emerging synthetic biology movement, they also can lead to the accidental or deliberate creation of pathogenic biological components.
Researchers are designing more and more "serious games" to utilize advances in realistic game-based simulation to deliver educational programs, military training and tools for health maintenance and therapy.
Researchers have developed unmanned surveillance aircraft modelled after birds that can blend into their surroundings and fly in flocklike formations.
A lie detector small enough to fit in the eyeglasses of law enforcement officers can tell whether a passenger is a terrorist by analyzing his answer to questions in real time.
Nano-based sensors and nano-engineered materials could transform the power grid, according to experts speaking at a symposium on energy and nanotechnology.