military
President Trump on Thursday authorized the creation of the United States Space Command, citing the need for a centralized unit to protect American interests in what he called “the next war-fighting domain.” He described the command as a precursor to the Space Force, a sixth branch of the military that he has promised to supporters at his rallies and that he wants Congress to create.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency wants custom software that can unearth fakes hidden among more than 500,000 stories, photos, video and audio clips. If successful, the system after four years of trials may expand to detect malicious intent and prevent viral fake news from polarizing society.
O'Sullivan, 34, considers herself part of a "growing backlash against unethical tech," a groundswell in the past two years in which U.S. tech employees have tried to remake the industry from the inside out -- pushing for more control over how their work is used and urging better conditions, job security and wages for affiliated workers.
Air Force scientists have announced that they had tested a robot kit that can turn virtually any plane into a self-piloting drone, through a program called ROBOpilot. Why is that important? For starters, planes and drones are expensive. The drone shot down over Iran last month cost $220 million.
Just weeks after the last of 173 A-10 Thunderbolt IIs received new wings, the Air Force on Wednesday awarded Boeing a $240 million contract to start installing new wings on 27 more aircraft -- the first tranche of a project expected to re-wing a total of 112 aircraft for about $1 billion, according to a Pentagon contract announcement. The contract awarded on Wednesday runs through 2030.
...even if there are significant breakthroughs on the trade front -- and that’s a very big “if” -- it will do little to change the anti-China mood in Washington. Partisan rancor and the president’s Twitter musings may get the headlines, but there is broad agreement in the nation’s capital that the Sino-U.S. relationship has fundamentally changed.
The U.S. Army is struggling to staff, train, and equip its new cyber and electronic warfare units, and officials haven’t assessed how those challenges will affect the Pentagon’s digital capabilities, according to a congressional watchdog.
Last week’s mysterious nuclear accident in Russia became even more mysterious as the government admitted that a small nuclear reactor had exploded, killing seven people. Evidence is piling up that the incident is somehow related to Russia’s development of a nuclear-powered cruise missile, and President Donald Trump took to Twitter to state that the U.S. has a similar system.
It’s no accident that mergers are increasing as our economy continues to transform through technology, which itself is driven by corporate investment. Tech has been a key driver of current economic growth -- likely even greater than we’ve been able to measure -- but the spending on research and development needed to bring new innovations to market is frequently risky, costly and complex.
Veterans already benefit from GI Bill funds to help them earn college degrees. But limitations in the program can make it difficult to complete degrees in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields while retaining those benefits.