Tech

War on Autopilot? It Will Be Harder Than the Pentagon Thinks

Despite defense contractors’ glittering demonstrations, difficult realities are challenging the military’s race to network everything.

  • Patrick Tucker, Defense One

U.S. Defense R&D Funding Falls As China’s Keeps Growing

2021 budget request would see Pentagon funding shrink from $64.5 billion to $59 billion.

  • Patrick Tucker, Defense One

NASA Will Only Tolerate So Much Danger

An investigation into what really went wrong with Boeing's last space mission turned up serious issues.

  • Marina Koren, The Atlantic

The Pentagon Is Spending Millions on Hunter Drones With Nets

Shooting drones down over cities isn’t ideal. Nabbing them in midair is an intriguing alternative.

  • Patrick Tucker, Defense One

Who’s Afraid of the IRS? Not Facebook.

The social media behemoth is about to face off with the tax agency in a rare trial to capture billions that the IRS thinks Facebook owes. But onerous budget cuts have hamstrung the agency’s ability to bring the case.

  • Paul Kiel

Think Twice before Shouting Your Virtues Online – Moral Grandstanding Is Toxic

People who act holier than thou aren't necessarily better than the rest of us. In fact, their moral grandstanding may be driving society apart.

  • Joshua B. Grubbs, The Conversation

NASA Mission Finds Its First Exoplanet that May Be Habitable

Thanks to NASA's TESS spacecraft, scientists have discovered two amazing new worlds: A potentially habitable exoplanet and one with two suns.

  • Futurity

Growth In Data Breaches Shows Need For Government Regulations

Failure of corporations to protect data means that government regulation is required to ensure corporation compliance.

  • Michael Parent, The Conversation

The Next Big Milestone in American Spaceflight

This was supposed to be the year NASA astronauts launched into space from U.S. soil again.

  • Marina Koren, The Atlantic

China Has Increasing Sway in U.S. Science, JASON Report Says

Beijing is using better jobs at home, aggressive intelligence agencies, and a greater financial reach to influence American institutions.

  • Patrick Tucker, Defense One

What Can Drones Do to Protect Civilians in Armed Conflict?

Drones could help United Nations peacekeepers save civilians' lives – but there are obstacles.

  • Michael Yekple, The Conversation

FAA to Decommission Decades-Old System that Keeps Pilots Up to Date on Hazardous Weather

It’s all part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to modernize the services it provides.

  • Brandi Vincent

The Mystery at the Center of the Solar System

A spacecraft has finally gotten close enough to the sun to gather clues about some lingering questions.

  • Marina Koren, The Atlantic
Featured eBooks
Life After Government
Securing the Government Cloud
The Cybersecurity Challenge

The $11 Million Dollar Medicare Tool That Gives Seniors the Wrong Insurance Information

The Trump administration redesigned the online Medicare Cost Finder for seniors to compare complex health insurance options. But consumer advocates have identified instances when the tool has malfunctioned and given inaccurate plan and price data.

  • Akilah Johnson, ProPublica

U.S. Vets Targeted by Foreign Actors Aiming to Sway Elections, Experts Tell Congress

Actors from Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Macedonia, and elsewhere gain access to online forums by impersonating vets they find online

  • Patrick Tucker, Defense One

NASA's TESS Spacecraft Is Finding Hundreds of Exoplanets – and Is Poised to Find Thousands More

Beyond the outer edge of the Solar System, mysterious, unknown worlds await by the thousands. Astronomers can now finally find them and explore them - but will we find another Earth?

  • Daniel Apai and Benjamin Rackham, The Conversation

As Secret Pentagon Spending Rises, Defense Firms Cash in

Classified spending has edged up faster than overall defense budget requests, and accounts for nearly 11 percent of the $716 billion proposed for 2020.

  • Marcus Weisgerber, Defense One

U.S. Marines Try Using Drones to Bring Blood to Battle

The light unmanned aircraft made hundreds of supply drops during recent Australian live-fire wargames.

  • Patrick Tucker, Defense One

A Hitch at NASA Headquarters

NASA has carried out its first all-female spacewalk, but hints of outdated thinking about women in space remain.

  • Marina Koren, The Atlantic

The Endless Aerial Surveillance of the Border

New reports suggest that drone activity at the southern border is spreading to nearby cities, erasing the line between police procedures and immigration enforcement.

  • Sidney Fussell, The Atlantic

The Exquisite Boredom of Spacewalking

A trip outside the International Space Station is, at its core, a home-improvement project.

  • Marina Koren, The Atlantic