IBM’s new radio chips could help unclog wireless data networks

To fix the plumbing with the technical equivalent of a plunger, IBM is creating its 9HP siclion germanium chip technology.

White House drops $100M to help scientists map the human brain

The White House just announced a brand new research initiative focused on mapping the human brain, which sadly, does not involve a magic school bus.

U.S. military funds research to arm unmanned vehicles against cyberattacks

DARPA grants a Carnegie Mellon professor $6 million to develop software that protects unmanned vehicles from attack.

U.S. military makes robo-horse of doom (well, maybe not doom, but it’s cool)

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, makes really freaking cool horse-robots. Or spider-robots. I’m not sure what this thing resembles, but it’s a human-sized robot that can now do more than trot along and get back up if …

MIT researchers create an alternative to silicon chips with indium gallium arsenide

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say they have created the smallest transistor yet from a material that could one day replace silicon in semiconductor chips.

Silicon has ruled for decades. But the team at MIT’s Microsystems Technology Laboratories …

U.S. Army announces latest toy: lightning laser gun

I want to apologize in advance to my editors for this post. I’ve been really really good about writing hard news, actual stories. Doing interviews, getting quotes, and generally keeping my nose to the journalistic grindstone.

But I can’t resist …

DARPA asks: What tech from science fiction would you most like to see as science fact?

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency asked this question on Twitter: what technology from science fiction would you most like to see as science fact?

Here are some of the most interesting responses, from the I-want-that-too to the wow-are-you-serious to …

DARPA invests $3.5M in TechShop to create pop-up weapons factories

A fundamental tenet of the modern maker movement is that everyone wants to build something. Especially the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Today DARPA took a break from funding next-generation weapons systems, advanced hypersonic aircraft, and frickin’ laser beams to …

The U.S. military wants YOU… to build a humanoid robot

DARPA, the U.S. military’s research arm, is getting ready to issue a call to arms — specifically, humanoid arms on a new kind of robot.

DARPA’s Grand Challenge, a prize competition for technological innovation that could be useful in military …

U.S. military building robotic ostrich for recon, search and rescue

While the long-necked flightless ostrich is a puzzling and often humorous creature, the Department of Defense’s thinks it’s the perfect design for a robotic “terror bird” that will help protect human soldiers in combat when it is completed, according to …

IBM produces first working chips modeled on the human brain

IBM has been shipping computers for more than 65 years, and it is finally on the verge of creating a true electronic brain.

Big Blue is announcing today that it, along with four universities and the Defense Advanced Research Projects …

Why security vendors can’t keep up with malware authors — and what to do about it

There’s a reason why malware creators are outrunning the security vendors now. It’s a lot easier to attack computer networks than it is to protect them, according to a cyber security expert at the Pentagon.

Peiter Zatko, a famous hacker …