Lifeboat Foundation

My new story for VentureBeat on the coming of robot bodyguards. I’ll be speaking about this next week at RoboBusiness 2016, a major robotics conference in San Jose:

I recently consulted with the US Navy on all things “transhuman.” In those conversations about how science and technology can help the human race evolve beyond its natural limits, it was clear that military is keen on replacing human soldiers with both fighting and peacekeeping machines so American military lives never have to come under fire or be in harm’s way.

However, it’s the peacekeeping technology that is particularly interesting for many civilians. While you wouldn’t want an armed Terminator in your home, you might like a robot that travels with you and offers personal protection, like a bodyguard. In a survey by Travelzoo of 6,000 participants, nearly 80 percent of people said they expect robots to be a significant part of their lives by 2020 — and that those robots might even join them on holidays.

Continue reading “The robot bodyguard is coming — and you’ll want one” »

The Russian media revealed that the newest stealth technology produced by the US is not as efficient as it is believed.

The newest U.S. Navy destroyer Zumwalt was not only one of the most expensive in history, but also the most inefficient. New faults were found in its design, reports USNI News. The lubrication system is not working, responsible for the maintenance of the propeller shaft of the ship. It has taken in water, when the destroyer went to sea at the naval base in Norfolk during the current stage of testing. Repairs are expected to take no less than two weeks.

Continue reading “Russian radar can see $4.4 billion stealth destroyer Zumwalt” »

This is definitely something that we should all be aware of, and watching for.

“Over the past year or two, someone has been probing the defenses of the companies that run critical pieces of the Internet,” according to a blog post by security expert Bruce Schneier.

Continue reading “Someone is learning how to take down the Internet” »

When the project started, a “Red Team” of hackers could have taken over the helicopter almost as easily as it could break into your home Wi-Fi. But in the intervening months, engineers from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) had implemented a new kind of security mechanism — a software system that couldn’t be commandeered. Key parts of Little Bird’s computer system were unhackable with existing technology, its code as trustworthy as a mathematical proof. Even though the Red Team was given six weeks with the drone and more access to its computing network than genuine bad actors could ever expect to attain, they failed to crack Little Bird’s defenses.

“They were not able to break out and disrupt the operation in any way,” said Kathleen Fisher, a professor of computer science at Tufts University and the founding program manager of the High-Assurance Cyber Military Systems (HACMS) project. “That result made all of DARPA stand up and say, oh my goodness, we can actually use this technology in systems we care about.”

The technology that repelled the hackers was a style of software programming known as formal verification. Unlike most computer code, which is written informally and evaluated based mainly on whether it works, formally verified software reads like a mathematical proof: Each statement follows logically from the next. An entire program can be tested with the same certainty that mathematicians prove theorems.

The nominee to lead the U.S. Strategic Command warned Congress this week that China and Russia are rapidly building space warfare capabilities and the United States is lagging behind in efforts to counter the threat.

Both Beijing and Moscow are developing anti-satellite missiles and laser guns and maneuvering killer space robots that could cripple strategic U.S. communications, navigation and intelligence satellites, the backbone of American high-technology warfare.

Air Force Gen. John E. Hyten, picked to be the next Stratcom commander, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Chinese and Russian space weapons pose “an emerging challenge” and that the Pentagon is accelerating its efforts to counter the threat.

Continue reading “China, Russia space war weapons on fast track” »

Reaction Engines is firming up plans to build a fighter engine-size ground demonstrator of its reusable hypersonic propulsion system.

SABRE is at heart a rocket engine designed to power aircraft directly into space (single-stage to orbit) to allow reliable, responsive and cost effective space access, and in a different configuration to allow aircraft to cruise at high speeds (five times the speed of sound) within the atmosphere.

If the rocket for space is not used then the US air force could use Skylon and SABRE engine technology to develop a 4000 mph hypersonic fighter plane or spy plane.

Continue reading “Fighter engine-size hypersonic ground demonstrator construction plans moving ahead” »

Lockheed Martin has received a $147.3 million cost-sharing contract from the DARPA to conduct research as part of a prototype agreement for the Tactical Boost Glide program.

The Tactical Boost Glide (TBG) program is a joint DARPA/U.S. Air Force (USAF) effort that aims to develop and demonstrate technologies to enable future air-launched, tactical-range hypersonic boost glide systems. In a boost glide system, a rocket accelerates its payload to high speeds. The payload then separates from the rocket and glides unpowered to its destination.

Continue reading “DARPA gives Lockheed $147.3 million to research Hypersonic Tactical Boost Glide Missiles” »

Pentagon accused Russia that the country is working on “enhanced human operation” to create an army of superhuman soldiers. Russia’s Sputnik issues the news.

U.S. Army chiefs are claiming that Moscow is working to create bionic superhuman soldiers with brain implants. And the soldiers will be fuelled by steroids. Usage of steroid will increase the tolerance capability and make the soldiers more resilient. While the brain implant or chip will assist a soldier to fight for a longer time even in extreme warfare. It will also force the soldiers to fight and obey the command at any cost. The sole purpose is to strengthen the soldiers to make them stronger and tougher in battles.

Yet, the U.S. opponent is working to use microscopic technology so that soldiers can cure themselves without any assistance of physicians.

Nathaniel Mauka, Staff Writer Waking Times

An uncensored look into DARPA, the US government’s secretive agency, reveals exactly how the brain of the military industrial complex operates. Utilizing the super-scientific intellects of men, the agency may have stumbled upon the ultimate code to utterly control the human race, making all other DoD achievements pale in comparison.

DARPA’s arms reach far and wide – touching universities, small businesses, the public, of course, and also the established media. Despite its collaborative success, the brain running the show is acutely flawed, for its aim is not to protect and serve, but to control.

Continue reading “DARPA and the JASON Scientists – The Pentagon’s Maladaptive Brain | Nathaniel Mauka – Waking Times” »