Armed with Science | Tag Archive

Zombies & The Superhero Bug

Filed under Featured, Videos by jtozer on August 1, 2012 at 7:32 am {no comments}

Imagine a world (I hope you heard that in the deep announcer guy voice like I did) where the aging process slowed significantly. Where you didn’t have to worry about toxic radioactive waste in the environment. Where the threat of infections such as HIV were a thing of the past. Seems like something that could be years (or even decades) away, right?

Well…

I'm going to let the lack of capitalization go on account of the ZOMBIES!

Apparently scientists at the Uniformed Services University say a bug dubbed Conan the Bacterium holds the key to creating vaccines for numerous deadly diseases such as HIV and cancer. Conan has already proven effective in killing MRSA in mice at NIH.

You know what I think when I read this?

ZOMBIIIIES!

I mean come on, who among us hasn’t read the story about the “miracle drug” or “scientific discovery” that accidentally led to the zombie outbreak? Before you know it we’re all huddled in malls and driving over the ocean of our brain-eating neighbors. Okay, maybe I’m reading too much into this. Or maybe not enough.

I’ll let you all be the judge of this. I’m just going to step out and stock up on my one-size-fits-all apocalypse travel kit…

Video provided by The Pentagon Channel

Jessica L. Tozer is a blogger for DoDLive and Armed With Science. She is an Army veteran and an avid science fiction fan, both of which contribute to her enthusiasm for technology in the military.

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Disclaimer: The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense of this website or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities such as military exchanges and Morale, Welfare and Recreation sites, the Department of Defense does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this DoD website.

Release The Railgun

Filed under Featured, Videos by jtozer on July 28, 2012 at 7:53 am {no comments}

The Naval Research Laboratory‘s 5,000 square foot Materials Testing Facility (MTF) houses a “scaled-for-laboratory,” 6-meter Electromagnetic Railgun. A railgun consists of a power supply that drives current through a pair of conductors or rails to accelerate a projectile to high velocity.

MTF demonstrated, October 31, 2011, the one-thousandth successful firing of its Electromagnetic Railgun, reaching a materials testing milestone in the weapon’s technological development and future implementation aboard U.S. Navy warships.

Many of the 1000 shots have been designed to test different barrel designs and to quantify damage generated during high power launch. The innovations and understanding generated by NRL’s science and technology program have been fed directly into the Office of Naval Research’s Electromagnetic Railgun program and transferred to full-scale tests conducted at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren, Va.

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Video provided by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory YouTube Channel

These Robot Legs Were Made For Walkin’

Filed under Robots, Videos by jtozer on June 26, 2012 at 7:40 am {no comments}

"They call me...PETMAN." (No really, they call him Petman)

Remember the $2 million-dollar robot contest I was telling you about a couple of months ago?

Well check out these babies.

This video shows versions of DARPA and Boston Dynamics robots climbing stairs, walking on a treadmill and doing pushups.

A modified platform resembling these robots is expected to be used as government-funded equipment (GFE) for performers in Tracks B and C of the DARPA Robotics Challenge. The GFE Platform is expected to have two arms, two legs, a torso and a head, and will be physically capable of performing all of the tasks required for the disaster response scenarios scheduled in the Challenge.

However, despite the appearance of the robots in the video, the Challenge is decidedly not exclusive to humanoid robot solutions.

Any designs are welcome provided they are compatible with shared human-robot environments, compatible with human tools, and compatible with human operators so that a human without expertise in robotics can give commands and confidently anticipate the response.
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The Opportunity Of A Lifetime

Filed under Space, Videos by jtozer on June 25, 2012 at 7:54 am {no comments}

Ever wonder what it’s like to be part of a NASA team? Well, three student interns have been given the opportunity of a lifetime. They were asked to create a major component for the Balloon Experimental Twin Telescope for Infrared Interferometry (BETTII) mission. Principal Investigator Stephen Rinehart mentored the students and gave them the freedom to be creative in making a star camera, which will study star birth in deep space.

Video provided by the NASA Goddard YouTube Channel

For more info about Goddard Internships, click here.

Or find NASA Goddard Space Flight Center on Facebook. and on Twitter, too!

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Combating Corrosion

Filed under Featured, STEM by jtozer on June 22, 2012 at 7:23 am {no comments}

The Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award presented May 8, 2012, to Mr. Keith Lucas (left) by NRL Commanding Officer, CAPT. Paul Stewart, is the highest Department of the Navy Incentive Awards Program award that the Commanding Officer can confer upon a civilian. (U.S. Naval Research Laboratory - Jamie Hartman)

Corrosion is a very real and expensive problem for DOD and the Navy. Thanks to people like Keith Lucas, combating this problem is becoming easier.

U.S. Naval Research Laboratory materials research engineer Keith Lucas, of the Chemistry Division, is the recipient of the 2012 Department of the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award for comprehensive research in marine corrosion mitigation and effective cost-saving transfer to the U.S. Navy Fleet, increasing operational capabilities and useful life of both submarines and ships.

Re-preservation costs correlated to corrosion damage of U.S. Navy ships has been documented at nearly $3 billion annually, with shipboard tanks and voids being the leading contributor to this expense.

That’s a lot of money dedicated to keeping things shipshape and Bristol fashion.

“Early in his career Lucas and his co-inventors developed a paired reference electrode and instrumented sacrificial anode system and remote data logger that allows for remote assessment of the state of preservation of shipboard tanks and voids,” said Dr. Richard Colton, superintendent, NRL Chemistry Division. “This laid the foundation for the development of tank monitoring systems now being implemented in the surface combatant fleet.”

These systems are projected to provide an annual realized cost avoidance of nearly $10 million a year through the reduction of ballast tank opening, gas-freeing and manned entry for the purpose of tank coating inspections.

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DoD Cyber Crime Conference Call for Papers

Filed under Education & Culture, Featured, STEM by jtozer on June 9, 2012 at 7:18 am {no comments}

The 12th Annual DoD Cyber Crime Conference, sponsored by the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center (DC3), welcomes submission of abstracts for consideration to present a briefing, workshop, or panel discussion. In each of the last four years, we have had more than 220 speakers in 20+ concurrent track sessions. The deadline for abstract submissions is July 6, 2012.

Conferences that bring together government, academia, and industry are increasingly important as cyber criminals band together to access, gain control of, and manipulate the systems that store vital data. The conference provides an opportunity for cyber professionals to network and receive essential training in an open forum that promotes collaboration and innovation.

January’s conference will focus on developing the cyber workforce by setting the standard for degree certifications, validating credentials, and drawing in our talented youth through academic clubs and challenges.

Topics will focus on the areas of:
Cyber Crime Investigations
Digital Forensics
Cyber Crime Law
The Defense Industrial Base
Information Assurance
System Administration
E-Discovery
Research and Development

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Naval Research Lab – The Makers Of The GPS

Filed under Space, STEM, Technology by jtozer on May 19, 2012 at 7:25 am {no comments}

Did you know that the GPS was invented by scientists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory?

Well now you do.

One of NRL’s greatest accomplishments has been the invention and development of the enabling technologies that became the Global Positioning System (GPS).

Like another towering NRL achievement in an earlier generation, radar, GPS has transformed warfare while also providing major benefits to navigation.

GPS is not only a global navigation aid, it is also the means for precision time and time transfer throughout the world, which has wide ranging and influential impact on communications and commerce; these features are a direct outcome of the technology envisioned and introduced by NRL scientists and engineers.

This bibliography is offered as an aid to those who are interested in better understanding the NRL role in the origins of GPS. Bibliographic citations, primarily of published works, are presented.

These are annotated with abstracts, photos, and figures to facilitate selecting which of the referenced papers to examine more closely. A timeline is provided to aid in setting the citations in their context of historical development.

Learn more about what made all our lives easier, or at the very least, a little less lost.

You have arrived.

Inspiring Future Leaders STEMS From Innovative Thinking

Filed under Education & Culture, Life Sciences, STEM by jtozer on May 8, 2012 at 11:05 am {no comments}

Ms. Mariam Cocker, from Eleanor Roosvelt High School in Maryland, takes the controls of an F-35 Simulator, instructed by Lockheed Martin Fighter Demonstration Center.

The 317th Recruiting Squadron, based at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, recently started a program to inspire innovation and creativity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs. They challenged students in Washington D.C., Virginia and Maryland schools with a simple question: Why are STEM careers important to our Nation?

The squadron received an overwhelming response. Recruiters reached out with the Air Force STEM 2020 Challenge contest to hundreds of schools in the region. Upon learning of the program, counselors and teachers in Middle Schools and High Schools responded by posted the contest on their social media sites and web pages.

It went viral from there.

The 317 RCS received submissions from schools all over the DC, Virginia and Maryland area. Eventually, 20 outstanding essay writers were selected in April, and given “golden e-vites” to spend the day learning about innovation in the Department of Defense. They were each allowed to bring a parent with them. “This is the Willy Wonka” of STEM programs,” stated MSgt Buffy Brown, Air Force STEM 2020 coordinator.

Essay contest winners were invited to Washington D.C. for a day of innovation and exploration. They received insider tours of the Pentagon from senior strategy members assigned to the Joint Staff and Air Staff.

I believe we refer to this as the VIP tour.

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