"An agile nuclear thermal propulsion vehicle enables the [Defense Department] to maintain space domain awareness."

DARPA's working on a nuclear-powered rocket for easy Moon access

Moonage Daydream

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is developing a nuclear-powered rocket to move cargo around Earth's orbit. For moon access.

DARPA’s Working on a Nuclear-Powered Rocket for Easy Moon Access

A literal moonshot.

It hopes to create an AI that can control 250 robots at a time.

DARPA is using gamers' brain waves to train robot swarms

Think Tank

Artificial intelligence researchers are studying the brain waves and eye movements of gamers to train an AI that can control fleets of military robots.

DARPA Is Using Gamers’ Brain Waves to Train Robot Swarms

If you're a gamer, the military wants to pick your brain.

Boeing quits — and kills — DARPA experimental spaceplane program

Grounded for Good

Boeing has quit DARPA's Experimental Spaceplane (XSP) project, prompting the military agency to announce it was killing the project altogether.

Boeing Quits — and Kills — DARPA Experimental Spaceplane Program

"This effectively ends the XSP program."

Researchers say they could someday grow buildings in space: "There's no way we’re going to carry building materials to space. We'll bring biology with us."

Scientists create "living concrete" that can heal itself

Moving Sidewalks

Scientists working with DARPA developed a living concrete, teeming with bacteria, that resembles Jell-O. It can grow and regenerate itself when it breaks.

Scientists Create “Living Concrete” That Can Heal Itself

"It really does look like a Frankenstein material."

DARPA needs its creepy underground lair by Friday, August 30 — just two days from now.

DARPA needs a creepy underground lair ASAP

Batcave

In an inexplicable tweet, DARPA called all city dwellers to please find them "commercially managed underground urban tunnels and facilities."

DARPA Needs a Creepy Underground Lair ASAP

Nobody knows why. But here's our theory.

Next Generation Robots: Autonomous Subsurface Explorers

"The big question for NASA is: Is there life beyond Earth?"

These robots could one day explore caves on distant planets

Lava Tubular

DARPA's Subterranean Challenge is kicking off today, and robotics teams from across the nation are mapping underground environments with robots.

These Robots Could One Day Explore Caves on Distant Planets

"If there is life in the solar system, these are the most likely places to harbor it."

Squad X Experimentation Exercise

"The human is of course involved with any lethal action, but at this point, it’s about establishing superior situational awareness."

DARPA's "Squad X" teams up soldiers with scout robots

Teamwork is Very Important

DARPA assembled a team called Squad X that uses robots to scout out a battlefield before human soldiers engage in combat.

DARPA’s “Squad X” Teams Up Soldiers With Scout Robots

A training video shows robots scouting an area for human infantry.

"While Loon does routinely fly balloons over the [U.S.] from our launch site in Nevada, we do not currently have balloons in the area."

UFOs over Kansas City turned out to be something strange

Lighter Than Air

Two mysterious white objects that were spotted in the sky over Kansas City, Missouri last night turned out to be DARPA's balloons.

UFOs Over Kansas City Turned Out to Be Something Strange

Spoiler: it wasn't aliens.

"We have a flight test planned for the near future where we will begin flying this particular class of weapon system."

New missile lobs nukes 5x faster than sound

Sudden Death

DARPA wants contractors to develop an "air-breathing" hypersonic weapon. Now Raytheon is ready to test a missile that can travel 5x faster than sound.

New Missile Lobs Nukes 5x Faster Than Sound

The missile comes from a new partnership between Raytheon and Northrop Grumman.

"The idea of a magic universal 'undo' button to revert image edits is still far from reality."

Adobe built an AI to spot Photoshopped faces

Undo Button

Adobe trained a neural net to detect faces that were manipulated using Photoshops' liquify tool, though the company hasn't released it to the public.

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