In 1911, a Dutch scientist discovered a class of materials which, at temperatures near absolute zero, could conduct electricity with no resistance and therefore zero loss of power. These materials called Superconductors have unique properties including, Zero resistance to direct current;  Extremely high current carrying density; Extremely low resistance at …

The piezoelectric effect was discovered by brothers Pierre and Jacques Curie in 1880, and named after the Greek word piezein, that means to press or squeeze. They found that certain crystals were able to generate an electrical charge when mechanically loaded with tension or pressure. If exposed to an electric …

In quantum computing, a qubit or quantum bit is the basic unit of quantum information—the quantum version of the classical binary bit physically realized with a two-state device. A qubit is a two-state (or two-level) quantum-mechanical system, one of the simplest quantum systems displaying the peculiarity of quantum mechanics. Examples …

JSTARS is a joint development project of the US Air Force and Army which provides a picture of the ground situation equivalent to that of the air situation provided by AWACS. Operating from a stand-off position often in excess of 200 km, it can detect, locate and classify tracks and …

In recent years, there have been increasing interests in utilizing airborne platforms especially unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for various real-time applications such as military reconnaissance, disaster monitoring, border patrol, and airborne communication networks. UAVs carry out a variety of military and civilian missions such as surveillance and reconnaissance, target recognition, …

Researchers have looked into nature for inspiration, understanding the mechanisms animals, insects and plants use to capture and process light and then designing next generation optoelectronics devices and systems like light-emitting diodes (LEDs), sensors and materials. Biomimicry has led to the development of several naturally inspired structures, such as curved …

Nature provides many examples of optical structures whose properties arise from an intricate morphology. The brilliant colors seen in butterfly wings, beetle carapaces, and peacock feathers, for example, are due in large part to their complex structure, says DARPA. These hierarchical structures, scaling from micron to nanometer level, achieve remarkable …

In recent years, precision guided weapons play more and more important role in modern war. One of the greatest strengths of a precision strike missile is a reduction in the number of weapons or aircraft sorties required to destroy a target. Strategy Analytics forecasts the global Smart Weapons (SW) market …

One of the biggest threats to the deployed aerospace and defense electronics systems is radiation. Outside the protective cover of the Earth’s atmosphere, the solar system is filled with radiation. The natural space environment consists of electrons and protons trapped by Earth’s magnetic field, protons and small amount of heavy nuclei …