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Pentagon to shoot down renegade spy satellite
Good news, everyone! Remember that Alien-infested, out of control satellite we told you about a few weeks ago? Well, the US government has finally put together a plan to avoid the civilization-decimating disaster that would have resulted from its impact with Earth: they're gonna blow it up. That's right -- US officials have confirmed that they're going to use modified SM-3 missiles fired from a cruiser and destroyer off the Northwest coast of Hawaii to take the thing out. The weapons have additional fuel and new software which will allow them to reach the object in orbit, thus blasting it to smithereens. The resulting impact will leave nothing but "space junk," which will endlessly pollute the galaxy until we're wiped out by a reverse "Big Bang" or doomsday device. You may now return to your overpriced latté.
Pentagon's "Cyber Storm" war game simulates blogger leaks, train disorder -- wait, blogger leaks?
You've got to give the Pentagon credit for imagining every possible threat scenario in its latest wargame, dubbed "Cyber Storm," but the plotline this time around is pretty wild. Starting with an electronic attack on the Port Authority of New Jersey, major new networks and bloggers spread "believable but misleading" information without revealing their sources -- all while hundreds of people on the "no-fly" list stream into airports, DC's Metro trains shut down, air traffic control towers in Philly and Chicago are disrupted, and mysterious liquids are found on the tube in London. That's quite an afternoon, but we're taking offense to the Pentagon's classification of the press and bloggers as "threats" -- come on guys, we're here to help. We wouldn't spread rumors -- there's nothing at all in the hollowed-out left leg of the front pew at St. Micheal's Church in Fort Walton, Kansas.
Pentagon prepping non-lethal "light and sound" weapon
Blissfully unaware that it's up against a generation raised in the sensory madhouses known as techno clubs, the Pentagon is reportedly working on a non-lethal weapon that utilizes light and sound to sicken and disorient targets. Like Homeland Security's "pukelight," the so-called Distributed Sound and Light Array Debilitator being developed by Penn State's Applied Research Laboratory is meant to induce a feeling of nauseousness, in this case combining light patterns with "aversive noises." So yeah, like we said, sounds pretty effective unless you happen to run into a group of insurgents hardened by years of all-night raving and the accompanying neurological damage.
Space solar power potential highlighted in report
A report into the feasibility of space-based power rigs that would beam solar power down to earth in the form of microwaves has been published, with its findings being along the lines of "yes, it'll happen, but only when the money's there." The Pentagon is itching to get its hands on the technology, which would include mirrors several miles wide focusing sunlight onto solar cells, highlighting the potential for beaming energy to remote regions of the world (read: wherever they're fighting.) The problem is more of an economic one, with the technology behind the project apparently being feasible since the 70s: only now that oil prices have tripled, and the technology has become greatly more efficient, is an actual space installation seeming realistic. In fact, we could see early efforts for the giant mirrors as soon as 2012: any bets that they'll double as death rays?
"Laughing bullets" considered by Pentagon
Taking a slightly different tact than DARPA's very lethal laser-guided bullets, the Pentagon reportedly once considered the Get Smart-esque idea non-lethal "laughing bullets," which would apparently collapse and release laughing gas (or other chemical agents) when they hit their target. According to NewScientist, the bullets would have the advantage of being compatible with regular rifles, and supposedly be safe over their entire range. Judging from the description, they'd also apparently have the ability to send folks into a Three Stooges routine, allowing the military to effectively "punch, slap and hit an individual repetitively from a distance." Despite pouring close to $100,000 into the idea, however, the bullets don't seem to have met with the DoD's satisfaction and were ultimately shelved -- at least, that's what they're saying "officially."[Via Slashdot]
NSSO ponders harvesting solar energy via satellites
When you've already got colleagues dreaming up space sunshades, all of a sudden harvesting energy from outside of the Earth's atmosphere doesn't sound like such a stretch. Apparently, ambitious individuals at the Pentagon's National Security Space Office (NSSO) may "begin a study in the near future on the possibility of using satellites to collect solar energy for use on Earth." Notably, the plan actually seeks to not only provide an alternate source of fuel to the oil-dependent dwellers here on Mother Earth, but it would hopefully provide ample energy "to US troops in bases or on the battlefield." As impossible as it may sound, the present probably isn't a bad time to consider such an endeavor now that solar cells are becoming increasingly efficient, and since an actual deployment wouldn't even be in the cards until "around 20 years" from now, it's not like there's oodles of time to waste.[Via Wired]
Pentagon to implement global DVR-like surveillance?
The Pentagon's Defense Science Board released a report suggesting a pervasive system to observe and record activity in urban areas and hard-to-monitor settings across the globe -- in other words, they'd like to TiVo the entire planet for playback (or at least as much of it as they can for intelligence gathering purposes). The study mentions DVR-like technology that would be used to "run recorded time backwards to help identify and locate even low-level enemy forces," referencing the types of threats U.S. forces encountered in Iraq and Afghanistan. The proposal also seeks to minimize the use of human personnel, and instead, employ various autonomous monitoring methods, from tiny environmental data-collecting sensors to unmanned aerial vehicles. So basically, the plan is to keep a hawk eye on all areas of concern -- up to tens of thousands of square kilometers with targets as specific as an individual person, object, or activity. No word on if, or when, the military might be rolling this out. [Via Slashdot] Read - ReutersRead - Wired
Pentagon plans ultrasonic curtain to muffle loud tanks
Although Macroswiss' giraffe pole could certainly lend our soldiers a hand in peeking across enemy lines, someone with a good bit of execution authority would rather we take a more direct approach to encroaching on the baddies. A Pentagon-based budget layout has revealed plans for an "ultrasonic curtain" to be constructed in a presumed attempt to "significantly" muffle vehicles and loud machinery in order to get our troops closer to foes without being noticed. While the actual construction plans aren't entirely laid out, the device will purportedly use "directed ultrasound technology to enable the capability to significantly reduce sound emissions from large scale tactical military hardware," and they hope to lower noise by "at least 30-decibels" in order to allows troops to operate in close proximity to the enemy without being detected aurally. Of course, cracking trees and unforeseen sneezes could still remain a problem, but there are already plans in place to "validate the theoretical models in laboratory settings," estimate the power required to sustain such a sound shield, and to design a finished product that can cover "a truck-sized vehicle." Sadly, it doesn't seem that this project will be integrating the invisibility cloak already discovered, so a flurry of bubble boy jokes is bound to arise. Wired]
VeriChip wants to chip every US soldier
Despite some pretty significant security concerns, everyone's favorite futurific company VeriChip is looking to get its chips under the skin of the largest group of people yet: the entire US military. According to the DC Examiner, the company is lobbying the Pentagon to choose its RFID tags as a replacement for the famous metal dog tags, making information like a person's name and complete medical record instantly available with the swipe of an RFID reader. Needless to say, not everyone's sold on the idea, with veterans' groups and some members of Congress already raising concerns. There doesn't seem to be any indication as to when a decision might be made, although given VeriChip's political connections, we wouldn't be so quick to bet against it.[Via Newsmax]
Pentagon plan to save endangered satellites not without risks
As you may or may not know (we sure didn't), all those satellites orbiting our little ball of blue are highly susceptible to traumatic events such as intense solar storms or space-based nuclear blasts, and would likely be crippled by the resulting swarm of charged particles. The big brains at the Pentagon are aware of this danger, of course, and have come up with a solution called "radiation belt remediation" that would employ even more sats to broadcast low frequency radio waves into particle filled areas, creating so-called wave-particle interactions that would encourage the pesky molecules to fall harmlessly into the Earth's upper atmosphere. Sounds like a great plan, except a team of researchers at New Zealand's University of Otago believe that all those charged particles in the ionosphere would absorb the vital communications signals that are normally supposed to be reflected back down to terra firma. Long story short, by saving the satellites, communications on the ground would be severely hampered, affecting everyone from military personnel to amateur radio hobbyists -- and in a worst case scenario, GPS signal quality and accuracy could be severely degraded, much to the dismay of the burgeoning geocaching community. Still, if this is the only option we've got in the face of a nuclear attack, losing ground -based communications for a week or so is a small price to pay in order to save hundreds of satellites; we can deal with our in-car sat nav systems acting screwy for a little while, but we must protect our ability to receive XM/Sirius and DISH/DirecTV broadcasts at all costs.
Pentagon: Fear good, facts bad in machinima mix up [update 1]
In their usual sensationalist form, the Pentagon decided to take a machinima fan film of Battlefield 2 and spin it off as a real danger to our national security during a presentation on May 4 in front of the U.S. House intelligence committee. Coming prepared with video clip and fear mongering in tow, these Internet and terrorism "experts" explained how the video was an advertisement for evil doers around the globe simply because it appeared on some insurgent-related Web sites. More specifically, Eric Michael, an Internet specialist with Science Applications International, said the game mentally conditions users to kill coalition forces. Keep in mind, Michael and his SAI buddies are part of a $7 million project to "monitor insurgent Web sites."The real story first broke with a post over at GamePolitics soon after the presentation and recently the original creator of the video -- who goes by the name of Samir -- spoke to ABC's Nightline about how the video was originally intended to be a spoof of Team America: World Police. Oooops. These are your tax dollars at work folks. Why is the government so ready to blame video games for all the world's ills nowadays? I can't wait for the topic of video games and their relationship, or lack thereof, to violence to finally sour as flavor of the day.[Thanks, Rad][Update 1: You can watch the Nightline video here. Also check out Water Cooler Games for Georgia Tech professor -- and Nightline talking-head -- Ian Bogost's thoughts. Thanks, SickNic and Jarbwock]
Flying suicide bomber drones could be almost unstoppable
If you thought the 12-gauge shotgun-wielding AutoCopter was bad news, imagine one of the little menaces in the hands of a terrorist and strapped with several pounds of explosives -- or worse, biological, chemical, or radiological payloads. Several experts are warning that we are nearly defenseless against such attacks, even though terrorists have already shown a propensity for using such tactics in the Middle East and South America, and are known to have purchased so-called "drone" airplanes capable of high-precision navigation even over long distances. One scenario that is particularly disturbing involves a fleet of drones or robotic helicopters launched from an off-shore freighter, sent en masse to attack a large gathering like a sporting event where stampeding from panic would likely cause more deaths than the bombs themselves. The Pentagon is supposedly working on an drone-killing drone of its own, called Peregrine, that would patrol the skies and intercept any hostile aircraft -- but the main problem seems to be finding, not destroying these things, and you'd need a whole lot of Peregrines to cover every potential target in the US.[Via Phys Org]
