The Pentagon’s mad science arm may have come up with its most radical project yet. Darpa is looking to re-write the laws of evolution to the military’s advantage, creating “synthetic organisms” that can live forever — or can be killed with the flick of a molecular switch.

As part of its budget for the next year, Darpa is investing $6 million into a project called BioDesign, with the goal of eliminating “the randomness of natural evolutionary advancement.” The plan would assemble the latest bio-tech knowledge to come up with living, breathing creatures that are genetically engineered to “produce the intended biological effect.” Darpa wants the organisms to be fortified with molecules that bolster cell resistance to death, so that the lab-monsters can “ultimately be programmed to live indefinitely.”

Of course, Darpa’s got to prevent the super-species from being swayed to do enemy work — so they’ll encode loyalty right into DNA, by developing genetically programmed locks to create “tamper proof” cells. Plus, the synthetic organism will be traceable, using some kind of DNA manipulation, “similar to a serial number on a handgun.” And if that doesn’t work, don’t worry. In case Darpa’s plan somehow goes horribly awry, they’re also tossing in a last-resort, genetically-coded kill switch:

GOOGLE is developing software for the first phone capable of translating foreign languages almost instantly — like the Babel Fish in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

By building on existing technologies in voice recognition and automatic translation, Google hopes to have a basic system ready within a couple of years. If it works, it could eventually transform communication among speakers of the world’s 6,000-plus languages.

The company has already created an automatic system for translating text on computers, which is being honed by scanning millions of multi-lingual websites and documents. So far it covers 52 languages, adding Haitian Creole last week.

Google also has a voice recognition system that enables phone users to conduct web searches by speaking commands into their phones rather than typing them in.

According to technophiles, experts, and that whispering voice in your head, 2010 will be the year that augmented reality makes a breakthrough. In case you don’t know, “augmented reality” is the rather quotidian title given to a smart, gizmo-specific type of software that takes a live camera feed from the real world and superimposes stuff on to it in real time.

Being a gadget designed for people who’d rather look at a screen than the real world, the iPhone inevitably plays host to several examples of this sort of thing. Download the relevant app, hold your iPhone aloft and gawp in astonishment as it magically displays live footage of the actual world directly in front of you – just like the real thing but smaller, and with snazzy direction signs floating over it. You might see a magic hand pointing in the direction of the nearest Starbucks, for instance – a magic hand that repositions itself as you move around. It’s incredibly useful, assuming you’d prefer to cause an almighty logjam by shuffling slowly along the pavement while staring into your palm than stop and ask a fellow human being for directions.

Every time the machine, which will be placed on top of the 689-foot high Montparnasse Tower – Paris’s tallest building – picks up a sub-atomic particle called a muon, a pulse of laser light will flash across the sky of the city’s Latin Quarter from the Paris Observatory.

Muons are debris from protons that are blasted out from the Sun or beyond our Solar System and constantly bombard the Earth.

The protons smash apart when they collide with molecules in the upper atmosphere. Their short-lived remains shoot down to the planet’s surface at nearly the speed of light.

The so-called “cosmic opera”, which will only be visible at night, seeks to inform the public about cosmic particles and pay tribute to an experiment into the phenomenon, conducted at the top of the Eiffel Tower in 1910 by a German physicist, Theodor Wulf.

The week-long event is part of a Europe-wide science festival, during which astroparticle physicists will meet the public to reveal some of the most exciting mysteries of the Universe.

A group of computer scientists is debating whether there should be limits on research that might lead to loss of human control over computer-based systems that carry a growing share of society’s workload.

A robot that can open doors and find electrical outlets to recharge itself. Computer viruses that no one can stop. Predator drones, which, though still controlled remotely by humans, come close to a machine that can kill autonomously.

Impressed and alarmed by advances in artificial intelligence, known as A.I., a group of computer scientists is debating whether there should be limits on research that might lead to loss of human control over computer-based systems that carry a growing share of society’s workload, from waging war to chatting with customers on the phone.

Their concern is that further advances could create profound social disruptions and even have dangerous consequences.

As examples, the scientists pointed to a number of technologies as diverse as experimental medical systems that interact with patients to simulate empathy, and computer worms and viruses that defy extermination and could thus be said to have reached a “cockroach” stage of machine intelligence.

The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology has unveiled a miniature crawling robot (ViRob) that measures just 1 mm in diameter and 14 mm in length. The ViRob has the potential to perform precise medical procedures inside the human body in order to diagnose and potentially treat artery blockage and cancer.

The Technion researchers, led by Professor Moshe Shoham, Head of the Kahn Medical Robotics Laboratory, have developed a basic prototype of the robot, which can move as fast as 9 mm per second.

Using tiny arms which allow it to withstand blood pressure, it can crawl through the inner walls of blood vessels, the digestive tract and the respiratory system in order to progress through veins and arteries. The robot is powered by an external magnetic field allowing it to be controlled for an unlimited amount of time during medical procedures.

The team at the Technion is examining the possibility of using the ViRob as a treatment for lung cancer. ViRob could assist in targeted drug delivery to lung tumours as well as take samples from different areas within the body.

In addition, a number of these micro robots could simultaneously treat a variety of metastases. Researchers also plan to install additional equipment on the robot, including electrodes, miniature drug capsule and other miniature equipment.

Prof. Moshe Shoham said, “This robot is a breakthrough in the biomedical industry, as it allows doctors to access inaccessible areas in the body with minimal invasion. The technology enables a targeted treatment without scattering materials to unnecessary areas in the body.”

Nonlethal weapon which includes (1) a neuro-electromagnetic device which uses microwave transmission of sound into the skull of persons or animals by way of pulse-modulated microwave radiation; and (2) a silent sound device which can transmit sound into the skull of person or animals. NOTE: The sound modulation may be voice or audio subliminal messages. One application of V2K is use as an electronic scarecrow to frighten birds in the vicinity of airports.

New prototype of surveillance and reconnaissance camera.Self-propelling robot,able to broadcast video and sound to monitor and control station. Also able to bring some explosives to detonate itself when it necessary.

A robot snake, capable of recording video and sound on the battlefield, is on the way to join the the IDF’s hi-tech arsenal.

According to a Channel 2 report, click herethe spying robot, which is about two meters long and covered in military camouflage, mimics the movements and appearance of real snakes, slithering around through caves, tunnels, cracks and buildings, while at the same time sending images and sound back to a soldier who controls the device through a laptop computer.

Able to bend its joints so well that it can squeeze through very tight spaces, the new device will be used to find people buried under collapsed buildings. The snake is also able to arch its body, allowing it to see over obstacles through its head camera.

Researchers studied the movements of live snakes in order to create the most natural and realistic robotic version.

The snake’s cost has yet to be determined, as it is still being developed; however, according to Channel 2, the IDF plans to provide combat units with these devices.

Besides recording multimedia, the snake may also be used to carry explosives.

A RIFLE capable of firing explosive bullets that can detonate within a metre of a target could let soldiers fire on snipers hiding in trenches, behind walls or inside buildings.

The US army has developed the XM25 rifle to give its troops an alternative to calling in artillery fire or air strikes when an enemy has taken cover and can’t be targeted by direct fire. “This is the first leap-ahead technology for troops that we’ve been able to develop and deploy,” says Douglas Tamilio, the army’s project manager for new weapons for soldiers. “This gives them another tool in their kitbag.”

The rifle’s gunsight uses a laser rangefinder to calculate the exact distance to the obstruction. The soldier can then add or subtract up to 3 metres from that distance to enable the bullets to clear the barrier and explode above or beside the target (see diagram).

As the 25-millimetre round is fired, the gunsight sends a radio signal to a chip inside the bullet, telling it the precise distance to the target. A spiral groove inside the barrel makes the bullet rotate as it travels, and as it also contains a magnetic transducer, this rotation through the Earth’s magnetic field generates an alternating current. A patent granted to the bullet’s maker, Alliant Techsystems, reveals that the chip uses fluctuations in this current to count each revolution and, as it knows the distance covered in one spin, it can calculate how far it has travelled.

The rifle would allow a soldier faced with a sniper firing from a window to take a distance measurement to the window, add a metre, fire through the window, and have the round detonate 1 metre inside the room. The same method could be used to fire behind a wall or over a trench.

As it stands, Tamilio says, soldiers faced with enemies behind cover have the option of using grenade launchers, which have limited range and accuracy, or asking for artillery fire or air strikes. However, both of those options cover a large area and so have a higher risk of killing civilians, especially in urban areas. They are also expensive. “You could shoot a Javelin missile, and it would cost $70,000. These rounds will end up costing $25 apiece. They’re relatively cheap,” Tamilio says.

“This airburst shell gives the close-combat capability of a grenade launcher, combined with the ability of indirect fire weapons to hit stuff on the other side of the wall,” says John Pike, a defence analyst with Washington DC think tank GlobalSecurity.org.

Pike says it is just one example of “smart” munitions now possible because of microchip advances.

Although the rifle will initially use high-explosive rounds, it might later use versions with smaller explosive charges that aim to stun rather than kill.

The US army plans to field-test prototypes of the rifle soon, possibly in Iraq or Afghanistan, and hopes to begin using it by 2012.

Robots that can self-replicate aren’t new. But a new DARPA initiative is a little more frightening as it looks to create robots that can take part in their own construction, according to The Register. That means they’re “alive” before they’re finished and can help their forebearers put them together.

As if I’m not scared to death enough of robots, it means the robot armies of the future might be able to build themselves faster.

Now, I’m all for science, but DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is a military entity. That means these robots will probably have military uses. That means they’ll probably be born to kill. And they’ll come for me after Sarah Conner.

The initiative is known as the Self-Explanation Learning Framework, or SELF for short. It’s currently in request-for-proposals mode, so don’t go stocking up on the canned food yet. But if someone somehow figures out a realistic way for future AIs to function like this, then it might be time.

The science isn’t quite there yet, so DARPA is holding an orientation day (PDF) for would-be mad scientists on June 10 at the Marriott Crystal Gateway in Arlington, Va. When future freedom fighters get asked where the end of the world started, now they’ve got an answer.

That success is reportedly in part thanks to the mysterious electronic devices, dubbed “chips” or “pathrai” (the Pashto word for a metal device), which have become a source of fear, intrigue and fascination.

“Everyone is talking about it,” said Taj Muhammad Wazir, a student from south Waziristan. “People are scared that if a pathrai comes into your house, a drone will attack it.”

According to residents and Taliban propaganda, the CIA pays tribesmen to plant the electronic devices near farmhouses sheltering al-Qaida and Taliban commanders.

Hours or days later, a drone, guided by the signal from the chip, destroys the building with a salvo of missiles. “There are body parts everywhere,” said Wazir, who witnessed the aftermath of a strike.

Until now the drone strikes were the only threat to militants in Waziristan, where the Pakistani army had, in effect, abandoned the fight.

But now, emboldened by a successful campaign to drive militants out of Swat, a region about 80 miles from Islamabad, the army is preparing to regain lost ground in the more remote tribal belt.

Scientists have genetically modified primates to make them glow green and pass the trait on to their offspring.

Though primates modified to generate a glowing protein have been created before, these are the first to keep the change in their bloodlines.

A MICROCHIP-sized digital camera patented by the California Institute of Technology could provide vision for the US military’s insect-sized aircraft. It is light enough to be carried by these tiny surveillance drones and also uses very little power.

In today’s minicams, the image sensors and support circuitry are on separate microchips, and most of the power goes on communication between the chips. Now with Pentagon and NASA funding, Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena has squeezed all the components of a camera onto one low-power chip, revealed in a US patent filed last week (www.tinyurl.com/ojwmdq).

The gadget can be radio-controlled via a secure frequency-hopping link from up to a kilometre away, say its inventors.

The idea to compete for the Google Lunar X Prize crystallized around the vision of Alberto Rovetta, a professor of robot mechanics at Politecnico di Milano. Rovetta’s designs for lunar robots resemble skittering spiders or crabs that could deploy as a swarm of mobile cameras and sensors on both legs and wheels.

Saya, a life-like female who started her career as a robot receptionist at Japanese companies and was then re-programmed to teach, gave a lesson to fifth-graders at Tokyo’s Kudan Elementary School after being carried to the podium.

A parachute system equipped with a 1.5m (4.9ft)-span delta wing and two micro-turbojets which could propel a paratrooper 200km (110nm) from a drop point could be tested from third-quarter 2007.

The wing has aileron- and flap-like control surfaces along its trailing edge, and around 2 litres (0.5USgal) of jet fuel housed in flexible containers in its leading edge. The surfaces would be controlled by the parachutist using handles linked to servomechanisms.

The engines are likely to be built into the wing, which also has a cargo compartment. The turbojets are expected to weigh around 7kg (15.4lb) each and could be model aircraft engines, industrial impellers or a new design. The wing system will weigh approximately 30kg with engines but no cargo.

“We have a lot of interest from special forces. Jumping from 4,000m [13,000ft] with the propelled system you could fly for 200km,” says civilian skydiving instructor and wing-parachute system test pilot Frank Carreras.

A parachutist could jump from up to 33,000ft using the system, with oxygen equipment and thermal clothing. On reaching an altitude of 3,000-5,000ft, the parachute is opened and the wing lowered on a cord to hang several metres below the user.

Carreras has been working for the parachute system’s developers, German electronics and technology companies ESG and Dräger, which originally developed an unpowered version for the German army. Flight testing of this 14kg system is expected to finish by year-end, after which the prototype will be used for marketing. With the unpowered system a soldier could glide for 50km from a 33,000ft jump.

Click here to see Jet Man video

Earthquakes are feared because they seem to strike without prior warning. Seismologists are good at estimating the probability of large earthquakes within timescales of years or decades: “There is a 62.4% probability that one or more earthquakes of magnitude 6.7 or larger will hit the San Francisco Bay Area before 2032″, says a US Geological Survey website. Clearly, we should be able to do better. In fact, we probably can.

To develop an effective earthquake early warning system we have to first understand what happens in the hypocenter deep in the Earth, where tectonic forces stress rocks to the breaking point. My scientific work on positive hole charge carriers, which is done at the SETI Institute and the NASA Ames Research Center, seems to provide a good start.

Laboratory experiments tell us that, when a rock is stressed, it turns into a battery. Something similar must happen in all hypocenters prior to catastrophic failure.

A battery is a device that can deliver electric currents. However, for a current to flow, the battery circuit must be closed. In other words, if a stream of positive holes is to flow out of a stressed rock volume, the electrons must follow suit.

That’s where the difficulty lies. Rocks are hole conductors but cannot conduct electrons. The electrons, co-activated in the stressed rock volume, have to take a different path. The situation is like in an electrochemical battery, where cations flow through the electrolyte but electrons have to hitch a ride through the wire connecting the anode to the cathode.

It appears that, occasionally, the Earth manages to generate powerful electric currents flowing out of the hypocenter, indicating that the battery circuit had closed. The currents flow in pulses. They produce potentially powerful electromagnetic signals at extremely low and ultralow frequencies (ELF/ULF).

However, there is a catch: ELF/ULF waves coming from below will be totally reflected when they hit the Earth’s surface beyond a certain angle. We don’t know yet how large this angle is, but suspect that it is pretty steep. This means that only ELF/ULF waves within a relatively narrow cone will have a chance to make it through the Earth surface.

To record those ELF/ULF signals directly one has to be close to the epicenter. This is rare.

At the same time any ELF/ULF waves, which make it through the Earth’s surface, will be beamed straight up into the ionosphere. Once there, they will spread within the ionospheric waveguide and travel around the globe. Usually, it is hard to tell from where they came.

The moderate Alum Rock earthquake, magnitude 5.4, rattled the southern San Francisco Bay in late 2007. For those who experienced it at close quarters, it was a brief, hard jolt. Overall this event was unremarkable – except that one of QuakeFinder’s CalMagNet stations, which are spread over California along the San Andreas Fault, was barely 2 km from the epicenter.

A new paper, just published by “Natural Hazards and Earth System Science,” describes that three suspected pre-earthquake indicators were recorded by this QuakeFinder station: (i) short bursts of electromagnetic radiation, 10-30 sec long, increasing in number over the last two weeks before the quake, (ii) a 14-hours long episode of intense air ionization on the day before the earthquake, and (iii) a continuous wave of ULF magnetic pulsations, lasting for nearly 1 hour during the time of the most intense air ionization. In addition, satellites picked up enhanced infrared radiation emitted from several areas around the earthquake site. Together these observations make a strong case that they are all related to this earthquake BEFORE it struck.

With observations like these the future for earthquake early warning looks bright. Once the basic physical processes are understood, we can bring to bear many different techniques, both space-bound and on the ground, each capable of providing a different piece of the puzzle.