SpaceX Launched Military Satellites Designed to Track

Hypersonic Missiles

source: wired.com  |  image: pexels.com

 
The prototype satellites hitched a ride on a Falcon 9 rocket.

 

Two prototype satellites for the Missile Defense Agency and four missile-tracking satellites for the US Space Force rode a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into orbit Wednesday from Florida’s Space Coast.

These satellites are part of a new generation of spacecraft designed to track hypersonic missiles launched by China or Russia and perhaps emerging missile threats from Iran or North Korea, which are developing their own hypersonic weapons.

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Humanizing a popular holiday with AI

source: https://www.armstrongeconomics.com, contributed by FAN, Steve Jones  |  image: armstrongeconomics.com

 

In his submission, Steve writes “This video is rather interesting from the technology point of view as well as how people are viewed from their image.    I think the impact of a first impression , body language, and  eye contact are more important now-a-days than a handshake.    Similarly the smile gesture and body language is just as important as appearance.”

This short video will undoubtedly “wow!” you…and probably make you want to view it at least a couple of times.  It’s AI at its finest and worthy of a look-see!  Click on the image below.  It’ll take you to the source site where the video resides!

 

NASA’s new supersonic jet goes so fast it can’t have a windshield. Here’s how pilots will fly it

source: fastcompany.com  |  image: nasa.gov

 

Today NASA is officially trotting out the finished version of an experimental aircraft that looks like a stretched-out arrowhead. Painted in red, white, and blue, the plane is called the X-59, and it has a lofty goal: to fly faster than the speed of sound over land, but do so in a quiet enough way that no one below is startled by a sonic boom. (You can watch the event here.)

The aircraft’s most noticeable feature is a nose that measures 38 feet long, which represents more than one-third of its total length of 99 feet and 7 inches. Tucked into a compartment behind that nose will be space for one pilot. But because the cockpit sits totally flush with the top surface of the aircraft—it’s embedded in the body of the plane—there is no forward windshield for the test pilot to look out of when they fly. Instead, they’ll fly using a camera system and a screen inside the cockpit to reveal what’s in front of them. 

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Russian Intelligence Is Pushing False Claims of U.S. Biological Testing in Africa, U.S. Says

 

source: https://www.wsj.com, contributed by FAN Chuck Miller  |  image: pexels.com

 

Media disinformation operation with Wagner Group link takes aim at American influence on continent

 

WSJ: Michael R. Gordon, Gabriele Steinhauser, Dustin Volz, and Ann Simmons

Russian intelligence agencies are trying to undermine U.S. influence in Africa by spreading disinformation that Africans have been the unwitting test subjects in Pentagon biological research programs and casting aspersions on Western public-health programs, U.S. officials said. 

The effort is part of a Russian campaign to counter the U.S. in Africa and Latin America as Washington and Moscow battle for public opinion around the world. 

At the heart of the Russian campaign is “African Initiative,” an online news service set up late last year that has used social media to promote criticism of Western public-health efforts in Africa and convened a conference in which participants disparaged Western pharmaceutical companies.

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Virginia Tech researchers receive grant to create way for developing underground power lines

source: https://www.wdbj7.com, contributed by FAN, Steve Page  |  image: vt.edu

 

BLACKSBURG, Va. (WDBJ) – There are thousands of power lines underground that allow us to use our phones, laptops and devices daily.

A Virginia Tech research team will be using a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy(ARPA-E) to develop new technology that will enhance how underground power lines are made.

“The problem that we’re trying to solve is challenges with the current way our electrical grid [is] set up,” said Dr. Joseph Vatassel, an assistant professor with Virginia Tech’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “So most of our electricity that we get to our homes, or to our businesses is through overhead power lines.”

Dr. Vantassel will lead a team to revamp how underground power lines around the country are built.

“What we’re looking at is the alternative of drilling underneath the ground. And this is something that’s been done. It’s very expensive right now, it’s very risky right now,” Dr. Vantassel adds.

The research is being funded by a $2.5 million grant for technology designed to make underground drilling safer.

“What we’re proposing is a system that is going to allow the drill operator to essentially see ahead of where they’re drilling,” explained Dr. Vantassel. “So we have sensors on the drill head itself. We have complementary sensors at the ground surface. And then we’re going to use this artificial intelligence machine learning predictive model to take the data coming from the drill head, the data we’re measuring at the surface, put that all together and present it to the drill operators.”

Congressman Morgan Griffith (R- 9th District) announced the grant on behalf of ARPA-E. He said he is excited for this project because is important now more than ever

“Whenever you have high winds and cold temperatures, you are more likely to have power outages as we as we see here,” said the Congressman. “Same thing with ice storms. The reason that your power goes out in an ice storm is that ice builds up on the lines and the lines collapse.”

Underground power lines can also help prevent catastrophes like the fires in Maui we saw last year.

“We held a hearing last year related to the Maui fires, which were caused by power line,” explained Congressman Griffith “If they’d been underground, you wouldn’t had those problems.”

Congressman Griffith also mentioned as technology advances, our power grids need to as well.

“There’s so many more electrical devices, we are going to have to put in more power lines and the more that we can do, where we’re able to do some of that underground, the stronger the grid’s going to be. I think that’s important,” he said.

Although the research will be based at Virginia Tech, Dr. Vantassel says the research will not only impact our hometowns; it will help the entire country.

“The idea is really to develop this system to be used across the United States. So we’re looking not just at how do we improve the electrical system here at Virginia Tech, but really across the whole us,” said Dr. Vantassel. The whole United States has these challenges with how do we underground utility lines. And I think that’s why you’re seeing the Department of Energy put so much resources behind developing these projects, funding our project, and all of these.”

Dr. Vantassel is teaming up with colleagues at Virginia Tech along with Brigham Young Universityand the Colorado School of Mines. He plans on using grant money to begin research immediately.

In 2024, Biosensors Are Becoming More Accessible: What It Means for You

source: cnet.com  |  image: medicaldevice-network.com 

New biowearables are giving people with Type 2 diabetes more options. Those without diabetes can get even more insight into their health.

Deep in your body, under your skin, are measurable elements of your health that affect your risk of developing some of the most common diseases worldwide. Some of these things, like blood oxygen and sleep quality, can be detected through a traditional wearable or smartwatch. But some of the other useful data people can actually act on to become more healthy has either been restricted to prescription devices or simply hasn’t been available in the US. Think your blood sugar levels.

Improvements in biosensing technology are inching closer to changing the wearable status quo. At CES this year, companies came forward with the latest developments in biosensors, which have been in the works for years but only recently started to shape into something the “average” consumer could benefit from. This includes the one in three US adults in “prediabetes” territory, where blood sugar levels are high but not yet high enough to constitute a Type 2 diabetes diagnosis. 

Could biosensors, which dig for and retrieve even more information than what we’re used to, benefit someone in a window of opportunity, where choices made today could turn around or reverse a future health condition? If they’re able to reach more people, possibly. 

“People are familiar with wearables, and we see biowearables as the next step in that technology,” said Marc Taub, divisional vice president of technical operations for Abbott’s diabetes care business. The devices can give people “insight into their bodies they never had before,” Taub said during a digital health panel at CES last week.

What are biosensors? 

Biosensors are a wearable you stick to a part of your body, like your arm, to lift health data using a tiny sensor. Continuous glucose monitors, or CGMs, for people with Type 1 diabetes have been the main product. 

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Satya Nadella on the bigger vision behind Microsoft’s new battery

source: fastcompany.com  |  image: pexels.com

Working with a national lab, the software giant used AI to tackle the flaws of today’s lithium batteries—and pave a new path for scientific discovery.

 

Recently, Microsoft built a clock.

Well, “built” may be overstating things. Members of the company’s quantum computing team found a small digital clock in a wood case on Amazon—the kind you might mistake for a nicer-than-usual trade show tchotchke. They hacked it to run off two experimental batteries they’d created in collaboration with staffers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Then they dressed up its enclosure by adding the logo of Azure Quantum Elements, the Microsoft platform for AI-enhanced scientific discovery that had been instrumental in developing the new battery technology.

The point of this little DIY project was to prove the batteries worked in a visceral way: “You want to have a wow moment,” explains Brian Bilodeau, the head of partnerships, strategy, and operations for Azure Quantum. And the person the quantum team hoped to wow was Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

Not that getting Nadella’s attention was such a daunting prospect. Throwing vast amounts of Azure high-performance computing (HPC) resources at a big, hairy technical challenge such as materials research is the sort of challenge he’s predisposed to take a personal interest in. Still, the tangible evidence of success made for a memorable moment: “I was very, very excited to see it come through,” Nadella remembers.

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News Release: DHS S&T Announces Track 3 of the Remote Identity Validation Tech Demo Challenge

source: dhs.gov (contributed by FAN, Steve Jones)  |  image: wikipedia.com

S&T Header banner



News Release: DHS S&T Announces Track 3 of the Remote Identity Validation Tech Demo Challenge

WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced the launch of Track 3 of the Remote Identity Validation Technology Demonstration (RIVTD). Held in partnership with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Homeland Security Investigations Forensic Laboratory, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), RIVTD is a series of technology challenges to evaluate the ability of systems to authenticate identity documents, assess the “liveness” of selfie photos, and evaluate identity verification using images taken with smartphones and similar devices.

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It’s official: Apple’s Find My network

now lets you track twice as many devices

source: techradar.com (contributed by FAN, Steve Page)  |  image: pixabay.com

Apple has quietly confirmed that it has doubled the number of devices that you can track in its Find My app. While no official announcement was made by Apple itself, the change was first reported by Nicolas Alveraz (@nicolas09F9) and shared in a post on X (formerly Twitter). 

In a support document published on January 11, Apple revealed that you can now add up to 32 items in Find My instead of the previous limit of 16 items. This includes AirTags, first-party headphones, selected Beats headphones, newer MagSafe wallets, and third-party accessories and gear such as e-bikes. 

It was confirmed by MacRumors that Apple increased the Find My item limit when iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 was launched in September 2022, but Apple never mentioned the change publicly until now. 

In the Apple document, it details that some AirPods will count as more than one item when paired to Find My. With the exception of the AirPods Max, regular AirPods and AirPods Pro (1st gen) count as two items, and the AirPods Pro (2nd gen) count as three items. With AirPods and the 1st gen AirPods Pros, users can track each AirPod individually, thus marking it as two items. When tracking 2nd gen AirPods Pros, you can use Find My to track the charging case, making it the third item. 

Apple introduced AirTags in 2021, making it easier for you to track your personal belongings as well as other Find My-compatible devices. However, avid Apple users voiced their concerns as they found themselves reaching the original 16-item limit quickly. This meant users would have to strategically decide which items to pair, which became increasingly difficult when Apple opened Find My pairing to third-party products shortly after. 

How to add an AirTag to your Find My network 

This now-official increase to the Find My device limit means that Apple super-users can track more devices and products without the fear of quickly reaching the limit. 

Not sure how to pair more products to your Find My network? Adding AirTags, for example, to the network is pretty easy. 

Hold your AirTag near your iPhone, and from there a pop up will appear on your screen for you to tap ‘Connect’. You’ll then have to name your AirTag from the options that appear in the scrolling list and tap ‘Continue’. 

Once you’ve tapped ‘Continue’ again, register your AirTag with your Apple ID by tapping ‘Done’.  

 

This new cement could become America’s next big bumper crop and help save the world as we know it

source: archdaily.com  |  image: pexels.com

 

Colorado-based Prometheus Materials and other emerging companies are developing new biocements that could help meet the world’s growing concrete demands and avert climate catastrophe.

Innovation thrives when we pause to observe, question, and reimagine the world around us, turning challenges into opportunities for progress. Nature, in particular, serves as a rich source of inspiration. By observing it, studying its daily challenges, and contemplating its processes, we can discover valuable insights that inspire innovative solutions.

One of these current challenges is the production of concrete, an ancient and extremely popular material that is now accountable for a significant portion of global CO₂ emissions, due to the energy-intensive process of cement production and the chemical reactions involved. It is estimated to be responsible for approximately 8% of the world’s annual CO₂ emissions, pumping 11 million tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere every day and consuming 9% of the world’s annual industrial water usage. In addition, the world’s building stock is expected to double by 2060—the equivalent of building an entire New York City every month for the next 36 years, which means an incredible increase in demand for cement and concrete. Faced with this daunting situation, is there anything we can do? In this article, we speak with Loren Burnett, CEO of Prometheus Materials, which has developed a material that mimics nature’s processes to recreate concrete as we know it.

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