"An RFID tag consists of a microchip the size of a grain of sand attached to an antenna that transmits information whenever it passes in front of an RFID reader." [more]

An Air Force report sheds light on little-known plans by the U.S. military to develop space-based weapons. Some analysts fear the effort could spark a new arms race. [more]

"The Darpa project, called 'Metabolic Dominance' or 'peak soldier performance,' is part of a wider, future-facing Pentagon research push to develop grunts who are pretty much immune to normal human demands. The agency has sunk millions into programs to reduce the need for sleep and is investigating ways to keep injured GIs pulling the trigger for days on end -- without help from a medic." [more]

"Today's soldiers carry as much as 100 pounds of equipment. That's exhausting, even for the toughest grunt. In the future, the Army wants to dump up to half that gear onto the back of a drone. But military scientists are worried that robots with wheels won't be able to follow their human masters across mountain passes, up stairs and through forest trails." [more]

"While the nation was distracted last month by images of Saddam Hussein's spider hole and dental exam, President George W. Bush quietly signed into law a new bill that gives the FBI increased surveillance powers and dramatically expands the reach of the USA Patriot Act." [more]

"Congress approved a bill on Friday that expands the reach of the Patriot Act, reduces oversight of the FBI and intelligence agencies and, according to critics, shifts the balance of power away from the legislature and the courts." [more]

"Swarthmore College students embroiled in a legal battle against voting machine-maker Diebold Election Systems have received a ground swell of support from universities and colleges nationwide." [more]

" 'We're advocating freedom of information and open-source standards," Smith said. "If there's anything the public has an inherent right to look in on, it's voting technology. That's why we're pushing this.' " [more]

"The archive of internal Diebold Election Systems mailing lists taken from the staff site includes thousands of messages dating from January 1999 through March 2003. ... Diebold's Internet security problems necessitate that the company hire a 'Big Five-caliber' firm to conduct a thorough inspection of its software code, and to insure that malicious outsiders have not tampered with it." [more]

"The United States' arsenal of 10,000 nuclear weapons isn't enough. The country needs more bombs, and the place to make them is the scandal-plagued Los Alamos National Laboratory." [more]