https://phys.org/ en-us Latest news from DARPA In this video, DARPA program manager Dr. Bruce Draper describes the technology he thinks could usher in the next "do-it-yourself" revolution. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-02-video-generation-ai.html Machine learning & AI Wed, 01 Feb 2023 14:25:22 EST news594483919 DARPA, in partnership with the U.S. Air Force, completed a free flight test of its Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) last week. The missile, built by Raytheon Technologies, was released from an aircraft seconds before its Northrop Grumman scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) engine kicked on. The engine compressed incoming air mixed with its hydrocarbon fuel and began igniting that fast-moving airflow mixture, propelling the cruiser at a speed greater than Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound). https://techxplore.com/news/2021-09-darpa-hypersonic-air-breathing-weapon-concept.html Engineering Thu, 30 Sep 2021 08:42:20 EDT news552210134 Some 330 million Americans rely on the nation's critical infrastructure to keep the country humming. Disruptions to electrical grids, communications systems, and supply chains can be catastrophic, yet all of these are vulnerable to cyberattack. According to the government's 2019 World Wide Threats Hearing, certain adversaries are capable of launching cyberattacks that can disrupt the nation's critical infrastructure—including electrical distribution networks. https://techxplore.com/news/2021-03-technologies-rapidly-electrical-grid-cyberattack.html Energy & Green Tech Mon, 01 Mar 2021 09:50:01 EST news533814031 For decades U.S. warfighters have benefitted from advanced night-vision technology, allowing pilots to fly low-level missions on pitch-black nights and ground forces to conduct operations against adversaries in the dark. But current night-vision goggle (NVG) technology requires cumbersome binocular-like optics mounted on a helmet, offering limited field of view (FOV) and putting unhealthy strain on the wearer's neck. Building on recent scientific advances in photonics and optical materials pioneered in DARPA's Defense Sciences Office (DSO), a new effort seeks to develop next-generation NVGs that are as lightweight and compact as a pair of regular eyeglasses or sunglasses. https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-tech-darpa-aims-night-vision-goggles.html Engineering Mon, 11 Jan 2021 09:19:35 EST news529579173 Two DARPA-developed technologies—a novel decision aid for mission commanders and a rapid software integration tool—played a critical role in the recent Air Force demonstration of the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS). https://techxplore.com/news/2020-09-cross-domain-webs-real.html Machine learning & AI Mon, 21 Sep 2020 09:08:10 EDT news519898086 A recently deployed DARPA CubeSat seeks to demonstrate technology that could improve imaging of distant objects in space and allow powerful space telescopes to fit into small satellites. DARPA's Deformable Mirror (DeMi) CubeSat deployed from the International Space Station July 13, beginning the technology demonstration of a miniature space telescope with a small deformable mirror called a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) mirror. https://phys.org/news/2020-07-miniature-telescope-focuses-sharpening-view.html Astronomy Wed, 29 Jul 2020 09:10:01 EDT news515230537 Today's electromagnetic (EM) spectrum is a scarce resource that is becoming increasingly congested and contested as friendly, unfriendly, and neutral entities vie for available spectrum resources at any given time, location, and frequency. Within the Department of Defense (DoD), radio frequency (RF) systems, such as communications networks and radar, must operate within this congested environment and contend with mission-compromising interference from both self- and externally generated signals. A desire to support wideband EM spectrum operations also adds to the burden, as current approaches to mitigating wideband receiver interference are sub-optimal and force compromises around signal sensitivity, bandwidth usage, and system performance. Further, in the case of self-interference, traditional mitigation approaches such as antenna isolation alone are often not sufficient for protecting wideband receivers. https://techxplore.com/news/2020-01-wideband-rf-congested-electromagnetic-environments.html Telecom Thu, 23 Jan 2020 09:25:41 EST news498993935 There are times when the highest levels of privacy and security are required to protect a piece of information, but there is still a need to prove the information's existence and accuracy. For the Department of Defense (DoD), the proof could be the verification of a relevant capability. How can one verify this capability without revealing any sensitive details about it? In the commercial world, this struggle manifests itself across banking transactions, cybersecurity threat disclosure, and beyond. One approach to addressing this challenge in cryptography is with zero-knowledge proofs. A zero-knowledge proof is a method where one party can prove to another party that they know a certain fact without revealing any sensitive information needed to demonstrate that the fact is true. https://techxplore.com/news/2019-07-zero-knowledge-proofs-defense-capabilities.html Security Mon, 22 Jul 2019 08:27:49 EDT news483002856 Breakthroughs in the science of programmable gene expression inspired DARPA to establish the PReemptive Expression of Protective Alleles and Response Elements (PREPARE) program with the goal of delivering powerful new defenses against public health and national security threats. DARPA has now selected five teams to develop a range of new medical interventions that temporarily and reversibly modulate the expression of protective genes to guard against acute threats from influenza and ionizing radiation, which could be encountered naturally, occupationally, or through a national security event. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-06-tools-programmable-modulation-gene.html Genetics Fri, 28 Jun 2019 09:30:22 EDT news480933003 DARPA has awarded funding to six organizations to support the Next-Generation Nonsurgical Neurotechnology (N3) program, first announced in March 2018. Battelle Memorial Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), Rice University, and Teledyne Scientific are leading multidisciplinary teams to develop high-resolution, bidirectional brain-machine interfaces for use by able-bodied service members. These wearable interfaces could ultimately enable diverse national security applications such as control of active cyber defense systems and swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles, or teaming with computer systems to multitask during complex missions. https://phys.org/news/2019-05-paths-nonsurgical-future-brain-machine-interfaces.html Hi Tech & Innovation Tue, 21 May 2019 08:29:34 EDT news477646156 Artificial intelligence has defeated chess grandmasters, Go champions, professional poker players, and, now, world-class human experts in the online strategy games Dota 2 and StarCraft II. No AI currently exists, however, that can outduel a human strapped into a fighter jet in a high-speed, high-G dogfight. As modern warfare evolves to incorporate more human-machine teaming, DARPA seeks to automate air-to-air combat, enabling reaction times at machine speeds and freeing pilots to concentrate on the larger air battle. https://phys.org/news/2019-05-ai-dogfight.html Machine learning & AI Thu, 09 May 2019 08:57:25 EDT news476611032 Blast injuries, burns, and other wounds experienced by warfighters often catastrophically damage their bones, skin, and nerves, resulting in months to years of recovery for the most severe injuries and often returning imperfect results. This long and limited healing process means prolonged pain and hardship for the patient, and a drop in readiness for the military. However, DARPA believes that recent advances in biosensors, actuators, and artificial intelligence could be extended and integrated to dramatically improve tissue regeneration. To achieve this, the new Bioelectronics for Tissue Regeneration (BETR) program asks researchers to develop bioelectronics that closely track the progress of the wound and then stimulate healing processes in real time to optimize tissue repair and regeneration. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-02-intelligent-complex-wounds.html Medical research Thu, 07 Feb 2019 11:02:03 EST news468759712 Today, machine learning (ML) is coming into its own, ready to serve mankind in a diverse array of applications – from highly efficient manufacturing, medicine and massive information analysis to self-driving transportation, and beyond. However, if misapplied, misused or subverted, ML holds the potential for great harm – this is the double-edged sword of machine learning. https://phys.org/news/2019-02-defending-adversarial-artificial-intelligence.html Security Thu, 07 Feb 2019 11:01:42 EST news468759692 DARPA's Radio Frequency Risk Reduction Deployment Demonstration (R3D2) is set for launch in late February to space-qualify a new type of membrane reflectarray antenna. The antenna, made of a tissue-thin Kapton membrane, packs tightly for stowage during launch and then will deploy to its full size of 2.25 meters in diameter once it reaches low Earth orbit. https://phys.org/news/2019-01-darpa-prototype-reflectarray-antenna-high.html Telecom Wed, 23 Jan 2019 10:10:23 EST news467460333 A new program out of DARPA's Biological Technologies Office could help the Department of Defense enhance and sustain military readiness both by revolutionizing how troops train, perform, and recover, and by mitigating shortages of highly qualified candidates for extremely specialized roles. The anticipated outputs of the Measuring Biological Aptitude (MBA) program are a set of biomarkers—measurable indicators of biological processes—that correspond to traits of highly effective performance in a given role, along with new tools to measure and report on those biomarkers in real time. This information will enable individual warfighters to understand and affect the underlying biological processes that govern their success. MBA technologies could improve training, team formation, mission performance, and post-mission recovery, yielding a better prepared, more effective, more resilient force. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-01-warfighter.html Health Wed, 23 Jan 2019 10:06:33 EST news467460386 When a Service member suffers a traumatic injury or acute infection, the time from event to first medical treatment is usually the single most significant factor in determining the outcome between saving a life or not. First responders must act as quickly as possible, first to ensure a patient's sheer survival and then to prevent permanent disability. The Department of Defense refers to this critical, initial window of time as the "golden hour," but in many cases the opportunity to successfully intervene may extend much less than sixty minutes, which is why the military invests so heavily in moving casualties as rapidly as possible from the battlefield to suitable medical facilities. However, due to the realities of combat, there are often hard limits to the availability of rapid medical transport and care. https://phys.org/news/2018-03-biostasis-aims-death-traumatic-injury.html Biochemistry Mon, 05 Mar 2018 08:40:41 EST news439461609 Here's your task. Build a tiny sensor that detects a signature of infrared (IR) wavelengths characteristic of a hot tailpipe, a wood fire, or perhaps even a human being. Design the sensor so that it can remain dormant and unattended but always alert, even for years, without drawing on battery power. And build the sensor so that the act of detection itself can initiate the emission of a signal that alerts warfighters, firefighters, or others that a "signal-of-interest" has been detected. It's just the sort of intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance (ISR) technology that can increase situational awareness while minimizing the need for potentially dangerous maintenance missions to replace run-down batteries. https://phys.org/news/2017-09-sensor-awakens-presence.html Nanomaterials Tue, 12 Sep 2017 07:36:14 EDT news424420565 Each beat of your heart or burst of brain activity relies on tiny electrophysiological currents that generate minuscule ripples in the surrounding magnetic field. These field variations provide the basis for a range of research tools and diagnostic techniques with mouthful names like magnetoencephalography (MEG) and magnetocardiography (MCG). But tapping into biology's faint magnetic fields requires heroic and costly measures, including high-tech shields to block the larger, potentially confounding magnetic forces all around us and boutique magnetic field sensors that require expensive and cumbersome liquid helium cooling. https://phys.org/news/2017-03-boosting-ability-superweak-magnetic-fields.html General Physics Tue, 21 Mar 2017 06:30:44 EDT news409296624 Additive manufacturing, including emerging "3D printing" technologies, is booming. Last year an astronaut on the International Space Station used a 3D printer to make a socket wrench in space, hinting at a future when digital code will replace the need to launch specialized tools into orbit. Here on Earth, the Navy is considering applications for additive manufacturing aboard ships, and a commercial aircraft engine company recently announced its first FAA-approved 3D-printed part. Despite its revolutionary promise, however, additive manufacturing is still in its infancy when it comes to understanding the impact of subtle differences in manufacturing methods on the properties and capabilities of resulting materials. Overcoming this shortcoming is necessary to enable reliable mass production of additively manufactured structures such as aircraft wings or other complex components of military systems, which must meet demanding specification requirements. https://phys.org/news/2015-06-boosting-confidence-technologies.html Engineering Mon, 01 Jun 2015 10:20:01 EDT news352371613 The initial phase of a DARPA program that used publicly accessible online games to accelerate the verification of software has helped produce hundreds of thousands of program annotations in common software programming languages, adding credence to the idea that digital games can be an effective means of crowdsourcing solutions to software problems. The results have inspired DARPA to launch a new round of games with the goal of extending the successes to date and learning more about the approach's potential.   https://phys.org/news/2015-05-crowd-sourced-formal-verification-thousands-software.html Software Thu, 28 May 2015 09:40:02 EDT news352023700 Conventional optical imaging systems today largely limit themselves to the measurement of light intensity, providing two-dimensional renderings of three-dimensional scenes and ignoring significant amounts of additional information that may be carried by captured light. For example, many photons traverse complex paths punctuated by multiple bounces prior to entering the aperture of a camera or other imager—a process through which these photons pick up information about their surroundings. Beyond such directional variability, light enjoys other aspects or degrees of freedom—including variations in propagation time, polarization state and spectral content, as well as wave-related properties such as coherence, diffraction and interference—all of which provide potential mechanisms by which light can acquire and convey information. Most of this information remains untapped today. https://phys.org/news/2015-05-untapped-photons.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 25 May 2015 08:46:37 EDT news351762388 Many essential military capabilities—including autonomous navigation, chemical-biological sensing, precision targeting and communications—increasingly rely upon laser-scanning technologies such as LIDAR (think radar that uses light instead of radio waves). These technologies provide amazing high-resolution information at long ranges but have a common Achilles heel: They require mechanical assemblies to sweep the laser back and forth. These large, slow opto-mechanical systems are both temperature- and impact-sensitive and often cost tens of thousands of dollars each—all factors that limit widespread adoption of current technologies for military and commercial use. https://phys.org/news/2015-05-sweeper-wide-angle-optical-phased-array.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 22 May 2015 09:40:17 EDT news351506406 The past 10 years have seen an explosion of robotics advances from small businesses and individuals, thanks in part to lower manufacturing costs and the global rise of community workshops such as makerspaces and hackerspaces, which serve as incubators for rapid, low-cost collaboration and innovation. Unfortunately, the small-scale robotics community has tended to fly under the radar of traditional federal agencies and commercial technology providers, which generally rely on multi-year, multi-million-dollar contracts for technology development. This disconnect means that the U.S. government is not benefiting from some of the most cutting-edge robotics developers in the nation. https://phys.org/news/2015-05-fast-track-non-traditional-roboticists-bolster.html Robotics Tue, 19 May 2015 09:20:04 EDT news351245098 Imaging of Earth from satellites in space has vastly improved in recent years. But the opposite challenge—using Earth-based systems to find, track and provide detailed characterization of satellites and other objects in high orbits—has frustrated engineers even as the need for space domain awareness has grown. State-of-the-art imagery of objects in low Earth orbit (LEO), up to 2,000 km (1,200 miles) high, can achieve resolution of 1 pixel for every 10 cm today, providing relatively crisp details. But image resolution for objects in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO), a favorite parking place for space assets roughly 36,000 km (22,000 miles) high, drops to just 1 pixel for every 2 meters, meaning many GEO satellites appear as little more than fuzzy blobs when viewed from Earth. Enabling LEO-quality images of objects in GEO would greatly enhance the nation's ability to keep an eye on the military, civilian and commercial satellites on which society has come to depend, and to coordinate ground-based efforts to make repairs or correct malfunctions when they occur. https://phys.org/news/2015-05-darpa-100x-lens-distant-space.html Engineering Tue, 12 May 2015 09:10:01 EDT news350638073 DARPA's Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance (EXACTO) program, which developed a self-steering bullet to increase hit rates for difficult, long-distance shots, completed in February its most successful round of live-fire tests to date. An experienced shooter using the technology demonstration system repeatedly hit moving and evading targets. Additionally, a novice shooter using the system for the first time hit a moving target. https://phys.org/news/2015-04-bullet.html Engineering Tue, 28 Apr 2015 08:40:01 EDT news349428429 A new DARPA program aims to investigate the role of neural "replay" in the formation and recall of memory, with the goal of helping individuals better remember specific episodic events and learned skills. The 24-month fundamental research program, Restoring Active Memory Replay or RAM Replay, is designed to develop novel and rigorous computational methods to help investigators determine not only which brain components matter in memory formation and recall but also how much they matter. To ensure real-world relevance, those assessments will be validated through performance on DoD-relevant tasks instead of conventional computer-based behavioral paradigms commonly used to assess memory in laboratory settings. New knowledge and paradigms for memory assessment and formation could translate into improved rehabilitation and recovery for injured warfighters challenged by impaired memory. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-04-trauma-memory-impairment-enable-warfighter.html Neuroscience Tue, 28 Apr 2015 08:26:45 EDT news349428397 State-of-the-art military sensors today rely on "active electronics" to detect vibration, light, sound or other signals. That means they constantly consume power, with much of that power and time spent processing what often turns out to be irrelevant data. This power consumption limits sensors' useful lifetimes to a few weeks or months when operating from state-of-the-art batteries, and has slowed the development of new sensor technologies and capabilities. Moreover, the chronic need to redeploy power-depleted sensors is not only costly and time-consuming but also increases warfighter exposure to danger. https://phys.org/news/2015-04-envisions-asleep-yet-aware-electronics-revolutionize-remote.html Engineering Tue, 14 Apr 2015 09:50:02 EDT news348220874 As modern software systems continue inexorably to increase in complexity and capability, users have become accustomed to periodic cycles of updating and upgrading to avoid obsolescence—if at some cost in terms of frustration. In the case of the U.S. military, having access to well-functioning software systems and underlying content is critical to national security, but updates are no less problematic than among civilian users and often demand considerable time and expense. That is why today DARPA announced it will launch an ambitious four-year research project to investigate the fundamental computational and algorithmic requirements necessary for software systems and data to remain robust and functional in excess of 100 years. https://phys.org/news/2015-04-darpa-software-years.html Software Thu, 09 Apr 2015 10:10:01 EDT news347788278 Close air support (CAS)—delivery of airborne munitions to support ground forces—is difficult and dangerous because it requires intricate coordination between combat aircrews and dismounted ground forces (for example, joint terminal attack controllers, or JTACs). DARPA's Persistent Close Air Support (PCAS) program focuses on technologies to enable sharing of real-time situational awareness and weapons systems data through approaches designed to work with almost any aircraft. PCAS envisions more precise, prompt and easy air-ground coordination for CAS and other missions under stressful operational conditions and seeks to minimize the risk of friendly fire and collateral damage by enabling the use of smaller munitions to hit smaller, multiple or moving targets. This capability is critically important in urban environments. https://phys.org/news/2015-04-successful-darpa-persistent-air-pcas.html Engineering Tue, 07 Apr 2015 08:46:38 EDT news347615184 The lifelong human imperative to communicate is so strong that people talk not only to other people but also to their pets, their plants and their computers. Unlike pets and plants, computers might one day reciprocate. DARPA's new Communicating with Computers (CwC) program aims to develop technology to turn computers into good communicators. https://phys.org/news/2015-02-barrier-humans.html Computer Sciences Mon, 23 Feb 2015 08:40:02 EST news343902625