IEEE Spectrum March 5, 2020 When DARPA launched its Pandemic Preparedness Platform (P3) program two years ago, the pandemic was theoretical. The P3 program’s plan was to start with a new pathogen and to “develop technology to deliver medical countermeasures in under 60 days. The participating teams have proven they can meet this ambitious timeline in previous trials using the influenza and Zika viruses. The DAPRA approach called for employing antibodies, the proteins that our bodies naturally use to fight infectious diseases, which remain in our bodies after an infection. They have built the tools that enable them to screen […]
Tag Archives: DARPA
Gene Editors Could Find New Use as Rapid Detectors of Pathogenic Threats
DARPA News November 15, 2019 The overarching goal of Detect It with Gene Editing Technologies (DIGET) is to provide comprehensive, specific, and trusted information about health threats to medical decision-makers within minutes, even in far-flung regions of the globe, to prevent the spread of disease, enable timely deployment of countermeasures, and improve the standard of care after diagnosis. The DIGET vision incorporates two devices: a handheld, disposable point-of-need device that screens samples for at least 10 pathogens or host biomarkers at once, combined with a massively multiplexed detection platform capable of screening clinical and environmental samples for more than 1,000 […]
Evolving Computers from Tools to Partners in Cyber-Physical System Design
DARPA August 2, 2019 Designing cyber-physical systems (CPS), which are critical for the DOD systems and programs, require an army of skilled engineers, domain-specific tools requiring long design cycles. To address these issues DARPA created the Symbiotic Design for Cyber Physical Systems (Symbiotic Design) a part of DARPA’s AI Next campaign – a multi-year, $2 billion investment into new and existing programs focused on the development and application of “Third Wave” AI technologies. DARPA views the Third Wave of AI as the development of systems that are capable of acquiring new knowledge through generative contextual and explanatory models…read more. Solicitation
Six Paths to the Nonsurgical Future of Brain-Machine Interfaces
DARPA May 20, 2019 Under the Next-Generation Nonsurgical Neurotechnology (N3) program funded by DARPA a team of researchers (Battelle Memorial Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), Rice University, industry) is developing high-resolution, bidirectional brain-machine interfaces for use by able-bodied service members. These wearable interfaces could ultimately enable diverse national security applications such as control of active cyber defense systems and swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles, or teaming with computer systems to multitask during complex missions. Throughout the program, the research will benefit from insights provided by independent legal and ethical experts […]
Can AI and autonomous systems detect hostile intent?
Defense Systems April 24, 2019 The Urban Reconnaissance through Supervised Autonomy (URSA) project aims to use autonomous systems to help the military detect hostile forces in cities and positively identify combatants before any U.S. troops come in contact with them. DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office is hosting a Proposers Day to provide information to potential applicants on the structure and objectives of the new Urban Reconnaissance through Supervised Autonomy (URSA) program. URSA aims to develop technology to enable autonomous systems operated and supervised by U.S. ground forces to detect hostile forces and establish positive identification of combatants before U.S. troops encounter […]
DARPA Seeks to Make Scalable On-Chip Security Pervasive
DARPA News March 25, 2019 There are no common tools, methods, or solutions for chip-level security currently in wide use. This is largely driven by the economic hurdles and technical trade-offs often associated with secure chip design. To ease the burden of developing secure chips, DARPA developed the Automatic Implementation of Secure Silicon (AISS) program. AISS aims to automate the process of incorporating scalable defense mechanisms into chip designs, while allowing designers to explore economics versus security trade-offs and maximize design productivity. The objective of the program is to develop a design tool and IP ecosystem – which includes tool […]
A New Layer of Medical Preparedness to Combat Emerging Infectious Disease
DARPA February 19, 2019 DARPA has selected five teams of researchers to support PREventing EMerging Pathogenic Threats (PREEMPT), a 3.5-year program first announced in January 2018 to reinforce traditional medical preparedness by containing viral infectious diseases in animal reservoirs and insect vectors before they can threaten humans. The PREEMPT researchers will model how viruses might evolve within animal populations and assess the safety and efficacy of potential interventions. According to the World Health Organization approximately 60 percent of emerging infectious diseases reported globally are zoonoses…read more.
Understanding warfighter performance from the inside out
DARPA January 22, 2019 The anticipated outputs of the Measuring Biological Aptitude (MBA) program are a set of biomarkers that correspond to traits of highly effective performance in a given role, along with new tools to measure and report on those biomarkers in real time. This information will enable individual warfighters to understand and affect the underlying biological processes that govern their success. MBA technologies could improve training, team formation, mission performance, and post-mission recovery, yielding a better prepared, more effective, more resilient force. At its core, MBA seeks to shed light on the biological factors and processes that support […]
The US military is testing stratospheric balloons that ride the wind so they never have to come down
MIT Technology Review November 14, 2018 The current balloons shift with the wind and can only stay in one area for a few days at a time. DARPA is currently testing a wind sensor that could allow devices in its Adaptable Lighter-Than-Air (ALTA) balloon program to spot wind speed and direction from a great distance and then make the necessary adjustments to stay in one spot. DARPA has been working on ALTA for some time, but its existence was only revealed in September. ALTA will operate even higher than Google’s Loon at 75,000 to 90,000 feet (22,900 to 27,400 meters […]
60 Years of DARPA’s Favorite Toys
IEEE Spectrum September 26, 2018 DARPA held a conference in Washington, D.C. to celebrate its 60th anniversary. One of the highlights was an exhibit hall full of both current DARPA programs as well as unique artifacts from DARPA’s history. IEEE has put together a gallery of the most interesting exhibits. DARPA also published a 140-page retrospective on what they’ve been up to over the last half century… read more.