Tech Community and Government Come Together for RELIEF

Filed under Social Sciences, STEM by on July 13, 2011 at 9:40 am {no comments}

Mary Topic is a research intern at the Center for Technology and National Security Policy at the National Defense University. She works primarily on the Tranformative Innovation for Development and Emergency Support (TIDES) project. Currently, she is studying at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland.

An evacuation drill being executed at Camp Roberts

An evacuation drill being executed at Camp Roberts (Photo by Sam Bendett)

Situated near Paso Robles in central California, Camp Roberts fits the description of a desert to a tee. The climate that is hot and dry, and the land is mostly devoid of anything but scrub vegetation. It’s also isolated, with the nearest town being a half hour’s drive away. Even network communication can be difficult due to intermittent internet connectivity. Its desolate appearance, however, belies its utility. The setting is precisely the right environment for testing emergency relief and development technologies.

Because of its similarity to many austere environments, Camp Roberts is well suited for hosting a project called Research & Experimentation for Local & International Emergency & First-Responders (RELIEF). RELIEF had its beginning as experiments involving technologies such as portable water purification units that were carried out by the Naval Postgraduate School. Early in 2009 the Tranformative Innovation for Development and Emergency Support (TIDES) and members of the geospatial community joined to conduct these quarterly experiments. Currently, one of the main functions of RELIEF is bringing together people within the “tech” community, such as software developers and engineers, and government agencies. RELIEF now exists as a partnership between the Naval Postgraduate School and the Center for Technology and National Security Policy at the National Defense University (more…)

MMOWGLI: An Experiment in Generating Collective Intelligence

Filed under Education & Culture, Social Sciences, Technology by on April 28, 2011 at 10:10 am {9 comments}




Garth Jensen is currently the Director of Innovation at the Carderock Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center. Garth was previously an Office of Naval Research Science Advisor at the Pentagon.

mmowgli is both the coolest project I have ever worked on and the hardest to describe in words, but here it goes: mmowgli is an experiment in generating collective intelligence and a pilot project being developed by the Office of Naval Research.

Beyond that, mmowgli is ultimately the answer to a few questions, ones that haunted me every day during my tour as a Science Advisor at the Pentagon: why did I experience such a disconnect between technologists and “innovators,” on one hand, and warfighters and end users on the other? Why didn’t “game changing innovations” generate more enthusiasm from those who were “in the game?” And what was I doing to make it better?

As my Pentagon tour drew to a close, these questions nagged at me and morphed into a thousand others: What if we took a heavy, formal approach, and made it lighter and more of a continuous conversation instead of a blueprint? What if you didn’t need a fully formed idea to make a contribution? What if ideas, even half-formed ones, could meet up in space and recombine with other ideas to form new ones? What if this conversation engaged more stakeholders and tolerated more excursions? Finally, what if this conversation became so rich and compelling that, instead of truncating the debate, it actually enlarged the universe of possibilities?

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SENDSim: A New Platform for Understanding Behavior in Cyberspace

Filed under Cyber Security, Social Sciences, STEM, Technology, Videos by on April 4, 2011 at 9:40 am {no comments}




By Carl Hunt, Greg Amis and Rick Raines

As reported in Armed with Science last October, DoD’s Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering’s Rapid Reaction Technology Office (RRTO) has been working with the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology’s Center for Cyberspace Research (CCR) on a project called, “Science Enhanced Networked Domains and Secure Social Spaces” (SENDS). The main mission of SENDS is to examine operational and security challenges the United States faces in the use of cyberspace within the global environment. The focus of these examinations is both broad and innovative. RRTO and CCR have supported this project since late 2009.

SENDS partner Icosystem Corporation is delivering a major component of the SENDS Project: a modeling and simulation platform to understand the behaviors of network users and information technologies as they interact within cyberspace. These simulations help visualize the interdependencies that arise with the convergence of these two sources of vulnerability. As the SENDS Project progresses, we’ve been covering developments in the new SENDS website but now that we are within four months of concluding the Pilot, we want to share the status of this task as a preview.

We call the simulation environment for the SENDS Project SENDSim. In brief, SENDSim is an agent-based simulation and experimentation environment designed to help experts better understand cyberspace security challenges by providing a platform for understanding threats, evaluating solutions, and communicating the benefits of a principled security plan to non-technical decision makers. (more…)

Ten for ’10: Top Armed with Science Blog Posts of the Year

Filed under Challenge, Cyber Security, Earth Sciences, Education & Culture, Featured, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Social Sciences, STEM, Technology, Videos by on January 3, 2011 at 9:25 am {20 comments}
Although it is logistically unlikely that a giant strand of DNA would be able to use a computer, this image represents the fusion of science and blogging.

Although it is logistically unlikely that a giant strand of DNA would be able to use a computer, this image does represent the fusion of science and blogging.

Dr. John Ohab is a new technology strategist at the Department of Defense Public Web Program.

In January 2010, Defense Media Activity launched the Armed with Science blog to share the stories of the amazing men and women involved in cutting-edge research and development at the Department of Defense (DOD).

Our approach was to empower scientists, engineers, and other subject matter experts to directly interface with the public through first-person narratives, Q&A sessions, live scientific lectures, and more. As we look back on 2010, most of our 300 posts during were indeed produced by subject matter experts, both at DOD and collaborating agencies like the Transportation Security Agency and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, as well as academic institutions and business partners.

We also tried to connect our audience with similar opportunities on other websites. The Office of Naval Research’s “Tech Talk” series on Facebook, the Challenge.gov initiative, and DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable interviews are just a few examples.

Which 2010 blog posts were your favorite? Below, I’ve listed the 10 most popular blog posts according to the number of visitors. Leave a comment, and let me know what you think!

Of course, I would be remiss not to mention that this is just a small portion of the science and technology-related awesomeness at DOD. If you’re not into Armed with Science, check out our handy guide to Department of Defense science and technology blogs.

10. DOD Launches Casual Gaming Site
Operation Moonraker In December 2010, Defense Acquisition University (DAU) announced the launch of the first ever DOD casual games site. The DAU games site launches with 13 mini games designed specifically to enhance Acquisition workforce education. DAU’s Global Learning Technologies Center intends to release a new game each month in order to keep players coming back and to keep the content on the site fresh.

9. The Return of Count Spirochete
The Return of Count Spirochete Produced for the National Naval Medical Center in 1973, The Return of Count Spirochete is a delightful animated cartoon dramatizing the medical facts about venereal disease. Be prepared to go on a whirlwind journey through the historical facts, symptoms, course of infection, and the impact of venereal disease on the human body as it was understood in the early 1970s. Also, check out the related commentary on Wired.com and Bioephemera, who helped drive 50K views in less than a week.

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Multi-Touch Research Moves Warfighter Beyond Mouse and Keyboard

Filed under Social Sciences, Technology by on December 2, 2010 at 2:26 pm {2 comments}
COMET is an ongoing effort to explore the possibilities of leveraging touch-driven software (its user experience and its applications) for the Warfighter. (Photo: CERDEC)

COMET is an ongoing effort to explore the possibilities of leveraging touch-driven software (its user experience and its applications) for the Warfighter. (Photo: CERDEC)

The 2010 Army Science Conference concludes today with sessions ranging from power and energy to immersive technology. One of the more “hands on” technologies being displayed is COMET. Robert Beckinger, from the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s communications-electronics center (CERDEC), will join us today to discuss his organization’s work to leverage multitouch technology for the Soldier.

About the Author: Robert Beckinger is a computer scientist with the CERDEC Command & Control Directorate (C2D), where he is the technical lead for the Command and Control Multitouch Enabled Technology (COMET), which falls under the Collaborative Battlespace Reasoning and Awareness (COBRA) ATO.

In this new world of handheld mini computers (iPhone, Android phones, and tablets), all the data you can handle is literally at your fingertips. With this trend in mind, CERDEC, along with various partners in academia, government, and industry, has conducted extensive research over the last four years into the possibilities of leveraging touch-driven software (its user experience and its applications) for the Warfighter.  Our efforts started with a “homegrown” touch-enabled table computer, and now we have a Cooperative Research & Development Agreement with Microsoft. The result is COMET.

The COMET project aims to dive into some of the most promising aspects of touch-enabled computing. Imagine that you are a battalion commander briefing an upcoming operation to your staff. You are all standing around a table in a dusty tent in a hostile land. A worn map is unfurled onto the table and everybody readies their pens, notebooks in hand.

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National Drug Facts Week: Shatter the Myths about Drug Abuse and Addiction

Filed under Education & Culture, Social Sciences by on November 8, 2010 at 8:53 am {8 comments}
It’s time to shatter these myths – ask questions and get honest answers during National Drug Facts Week.

Ask questions and get honest answers during National Drug Facts Week, November 8-14, 2010.

Guest blog post by Cindy Miner, Deputy Director of the Office of Science Policy and Communications at the National Institute on Drug Abuse

Hello Friends in the Military! On behalf of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), I wanted to let you know about National Drug Facts Week so you can help spread the word to our military families across the nation.

This week, November 8-14, NIDA is launching a new national health observance week, to bring together teens and scientific experts to discuss the facts about drug abuse. The aim of National Drug Facts Week is to “shatter the myths” about drugs and drug abuse. Through community-based events and activities on the Web, on TV, and through contests, teens are encouraged to get factual answers on drugs from scientific experts. The week will also include the launch of the first annual “National Drug IQ Challenge,” a 20-question multiple choice interactive quiz that teens and adults can take to test their science based knowledge about drugs..

As we all know, there is a growing awareness that military personnel, veterans and their families need help confronting a variety of war related problems, including substance abuse. Tobacco use, for example, is about 50 percent higher among the Nation’s active duty military personnel and veterans than in the civilian population. And, recent studies indicate that smoking rates are an additional 50 percent higher among personnel who have served in war zones.

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Mood Tracker App Available on Android

Filed under Social Sciences by on October 29, 2010 at 8:39 am {2 comments}
Dr. Greg Gahm, director of T2 and Dr. Tammy Crowder, chief of staff at the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) check out the T2 Mood Tracker App using the link from the QR code. (Photo by Dr. Anita Brown, T2)

Dr. Greg Gahm, director of T2 and Dr. Tammy Crowder, chief of staff at the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) check out the T2 Mood Tracker App using the link from the QR code. (Photo by Dr. Anita Brown, T2)

The National Center for Telehealth and Technology (T2), a DCoE component center, developed a FREE smart phone mobile application that makes it easier for servicemembers and veterans to track their emotional health after deployments.

The T2 Mood Tracker helps users monitor trends of emotions and behaviors from therapy, medication, daily experiences and changes in their environment such as work and home.

“Therapists and physicians often have to rely on patient recall when trying to gather information about symptoms over the previous weeks or months. Research has shown that information collected after the fact, especially about mood, tends to be inaccurate,” said Dr. Perry Bosmajian, a T2 psychologist. “This application can improve the quality of the treatments for the provider and the patient. The best record of an experience is when it’s recorded at the time and place it happens.”

Be among the first to download the T2 Mood Tracker! The application is available for smart phones using the Android operating system. A version for the iPhone is expected to be available early next year.

The mood measuring app was recently recognized as a winner in the “Apps for the Army” (A4A) application development challenge, check out the post here.

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New DoD Project Developing a “Science of Cyberspace”

Filed under Social Sciences, Technology by on October 28, 2010 at 11:12 am {one comment}
Dr. Carl Hunt is the project manager for a DoD project developing "The Science of Cyberspace". (Courtesy photo)

Dr. Carl Hunt is the project manager for a DoD project developing "The Science of Cyberspace". (Courtesy photo)

Dr. Carl Hunt is the Senior Research Director for Information Operations for Arlington, VA-based Directed Technologies, Inc., and is the Project Manager for SENDS. Dr. Hunt is a retired Army officer with extensive experience in network-based operations and defense.

Change happens at the speed of communication and nothing changes human behavior like open communication. The Internet and development of the World Wide Web has changed the way people communicate, it has changed the way they conduct commerce, it has changed the way they live their lives. Cyberspace has not changed any of the physical laws of the universe, but it has brought a new dimension and, as Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn says, for the Dept. of Defense it has brought a new domain. Now, the challenge is learning to maneuver in this new domain.

DoD’s Director of Defense Research and Engineering’s Rapid Reaction Technology Office (RRTO) has been working with the US Air Force Institute of Technology’s Center for Cyberspace Research (CCR) on a project called, “Science Enhanced Networked Domains and Secure Social Spaces” (SENDS). RRTO and CCR have supported this project since late 2009 and SENDS has recently begun posting progress on its work in a new blog called SENDS & The Science of Cyberspace.

A formal SENDS Pilot Project has been underway since June, 2010, and consists of several primary tasks that are highlighted in the blogs. One of the major tasks deals with a sophisticated modeling and simulation effort called SENDSim, which will serve as the primary experimentation environment for the project. Another significant task explores the feasibility of developing a Center for the Science of Cyberspace that will help refine future studies and experiments in cyberspace science and exploration.

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