Scientists have found a way to use the smallest parts of ultra-hard substances such as diamonds to shape new molecules and create new substances. Applying mechanical pressure on “nano anvils” is a new way of approaching and inducing chemical exchanges between elements. And there’s much more to this new technology than making nano-horseshoes. The inventors speculate about grabbing carbon from the air to use as fuel or nitrogen from the air as fertilizer.
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Can you imagine an attacking division of soldier bots powered on nothing but the air? It’s amazing. But those possibilities are down the road a bit. Right now the inventors are still perfecting their nano-anvil hammering techniques. Learn more.

For the first time ever, engineers have figured out how to charge a smartphone with a laser. This could be a very big deal.

Smart cats at the University of Washington have been able to recharge devices from up to 14 feet safely with a low-powered laser that shuts off automatically if interrupted. The range is likely to increase as they further develop this new technology.

​Needless to say, remote laser charging has all kinds of implied commercial and military uses. We’ll be laser-focused on any investing opportunities that come up. Learn more.

Humans have great 3-D vision, but praying mantises’ 3-D vision is much simpler. Rather than acting on the whole picture, they focus on where the picture changes. That tells the bug that dinner is a movable feast.

So rather than trying to pack all the human brain power into bots’ vision, it’ll be much easier to plug in bug vision instead. It may be that a future enemies’ battlefield movement could be the last thing they do before becoming “dinner” for soldier bots with praying mantis 3-D vision. 

​Learn more.

Apparently, passports, driver licenses and tickets in hand aren’t enough to identify travelers. The TSA is now trying out face recognition software to positively identify you and me.

One snafu is the difficulty that the software has with certain ethnicities that differ from the control group used to test the software. Another is facial hair, different hairstyles, scarves and hats.

​Nope, it’s not yet ready for prime time. Learn more.

As we approach the limit to how much info can be put into the tiniest of microchips, the U.S. military is hustling to find new chip designs. IBM is looking for the answer in the greatest computer ever designed — the one between your ears.

Today’s chip is based on left-brain analytical and language capabilities. IBM’s neurosynaptic chip is more right-brained, using sensory data and interpretation to process more data faster. The ultimate chip will be a combination of both.

We’ll keep both sides of our brains engaged for investing opportunities. Learn more.

Not to be outdone by the developments in China and Russia, next year the DoD will test a next-gen hypervelocity projectile (HVP) — a supersonic round with a 100 nautical-mile range and speeds near Mach 6. This new high-tech gun would add significant firepower to the Pentagon’s current missile defense systems.

The new HVP is adaptable to the Army’s 155 mm howitzers as well as the Navy’s 5-inch deck guns aboard destroyers and cruisers and will serve both offensive and defensive purposes. 

Click here and here for more details.

The Chinese military has been conducting electromagnetic research since the mid-1980s. But as recently as 2015, a Chinese defense firm claimed to have achieved a major breakthrough on applying the technology for close-in weapons systems used for point defense.

Then two weeks ago photos began circulating that appear to show a Chinese navy landing ship, the Haiyang Shan, with the distinct housing of an electromagnetic railgun mounted on the bow. 

​Click here for more details of the Chinese ship.

In an effort to speed new ideas to production, four U.S. Air Force captains decided to turn to technology incubator Techstars to help identify new companies that could be commercially viable outside the DoD.

​Like the CIA’s In-Q-Tel venture capital fund, this Air Force partnership shows real promise. 

​Click here for more.