DARPA Shows Off Their Latest Shinies

coondoggie writes with news that the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has released their top nine strategic research programs via a 57-page report last week. The overarching theme seems to be big long term goals that could result in major advances in technology. "DARPA's projects run the gamut from building extremely fast, secure networks, and developing higher, longer flying unmanned aircraft to bio-related advances that help bring vaccines to a useful state faster and space technologies that offer modular satellite systems."

Comments

Cue Anti-Military Responses

[Anonymous Coward]

In before the usual crowd of peaceniks, hippies, and tree huggers criticize the US military programs and military spending in general.

It is a completely predictable knee jerk response on slashdot. It's totally offtopic, and redundant, but I love how stories like these bring out the dirty pussy hippies.

NOT a DARPA publication

[Red Flayer]

I call fraud. From the supposed DARPA publication (emphasis mine):

-Networks: self-forming, robust, self-defending networks at the strategic and tactical level are the key to network-centric warfare; these networks will use spectrum far more efficiently and resist disruption if the GPS time signal is unavailable.

We all know that no government agency would refer to this as anything but cyberwarfare.

Hence, I am discounting the validity of the entire article.

Editors, please vet the articles a little more thoroughly. I don;t know who is responsible for the slip-up, but it's amazing this sham of an article was allowed through the tight-as-an-ant's-ass controls on the slashdot main page that we have come to love and respect.

With Terminator Salvation coming out..

[TehCable]

"DARPA said it as embarked on an ambitious mission to create a new generation of computing systems - cognitive computers - to dramatically reduce military manpower and extend the capabilities of military personnel. DARPA's cognitive computing research is developing technologies that will enable computer systems to learn, reason and apply knowledge gained through experience, and respond intelligently to new and unforeseen events." ...These people do watch movies, right?

Re:With Terminator Salvation coming out..

[selven]

Can we please stop with the "computers taking over the world" paranoia? There will be bugs but humans are just as bugged, and the same checks and balances that work against humans will work against machine decision-makers. Lastly, there is always an off switch.