SDFM The Business of Defense
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A quicker, cheaper technique for scanning molecular databases could put scientists on the fast track to developing new drug treatments. It\'s being developed at the Department of Energy\'s Oak Ridge National Lab. A team of researchers have adapted widely-used existing software to allow supercomputers to sift through immense molecular databases - and pinpoint chemical compounds as potential candidates for new drugs. Team leaders call it the missing link between supercomputers and the huge data available in molecular databases like the Human Genome Project. The translation is critical for the first stages of drug development, in which researchers look for appropriate chemicals that interact with a target in the body, typically a protein. With thousands of known proteins and millions of chemicals as potential drugs, the number of possible combination\'s is astronomical. But with supercomputers, millions of molecules can be processed in a single day.
December 20, 2010 -
A benchtop version of the world\'s smallest battery has been created by a team at Sandia National Lab. Its anode is a single nanowire one seven-thousandth the thickness of a human hair. The tiny rechargeable, lithium-based battery was formed inside a transmission electron microscope at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, a Department of Energy research facility. Researchers say, because nanowire-based materials in lithium ion batteries offer the potential for big improvements in power and energy consumption, investigations into their operating properties should improve new generations of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, laptops and cell phones. An unexpected discovery was that the nanowire rod nearly doubles in length during charging - far more than its diameter increases - disputing a common belief of workers in the field.
December 20, 2010 -
Congress has authorized the Pentagon to spend nearly $160 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with no major restrictions on the conduct of operations. This year\'s approved legislation includes $725 billion in defense programs, including $158.7 billion for overseas combat. Among its numerous provisions is a 1.4 percent pay raise for troops and a guarantee that children of service members can stay covered under the military\'s TRICARE health care program until they are 26 years of age.
December 20, 2010 -
From here on, when it comes to telework, it\'ll be a little less talk and lot more action.
December 20, 2010 -
Federal workforce issues have become a hot topic on Capitol Hill. Host Bill Bransford talks the good, the bad, and the ugly with Dan Adcock of NARFE and Jessica Klement of FMA. December 17, 2010
December 17, 2010 -
December 15th, 2010 October is Cybersecurity month. Jane Norris, host of the new FedCentral program, will be joined by Karen Evans, partner at KE&T Partners, LLC, and former Administrator for E-Government and IT at OMB along with JR Reagan, principal with Deloitte & Touche LLP to discuss Cyber Workforce trends including key findings from the Human Capital Crisis in Cybersecurity study.
December 15, 2010 -
There are consequences to posting those Wikileaks documents. The Air Force has blocked access on its network to more than two dozen media outlets who have posted them. The Pentagon has warned personnel not to go to the Wikileaks site, but this takes it a step further. Meaning, US Air Force personnel will not be able to get to those sites from their military networks. Among those blocked are the Guardian and the New York Times.
December 15, 2010 -
As military operations becoming increasingly urban centric - soldiers\' ability to locate combatants is severely hindered as enemies may retreat and hide inside buildings. The Army has been developing the capability to locate potentially hostile targets with sense-through-the-wall (or S-T-T-W) technology. Newly developed sensors weigh less than six pounds and can be operated up to 20 meters away from a wall, providing information for warfighters regarding the number and locations of hidden adversaries. Researchers continue to develop ways to detect humans, concealed weapons and explosives and other devices of interest in complex and urban terrain through partnerships with the Army Research Lab and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
December 14, 2010 -
High-resolution computer systems capable of networking around the world are being used by researchers at the Air Force Research Lab to build a new supercomputer. It holds the distinction of being one of the cheapest - and one of the greenest - supercomputers in the world because the systems being used are Sony PlayStation 3 game consoles - over 17-hundred of them. It\'s called the Condor Cluster project and it\'s being built entirely from off-the-shelf commercial components. Its creators say it could change the supercomputing landscape. The system is capable of making 500 trillion calculations per second -- and represents new ways for supercomputers to increase computational resources while using less energy. The Condor is currently considered the seventh-greenest computer in the world. It cost only 2 million dollars to build, whereas the cheapest comparable supercomputers would cost $50 million or more.
December 14, 2010 -
The Department of Energy has given out the largest ever awards of the Department\'s supercomputing time to 57 innovative research projects. Computer simulations will be used to perform virtual experiments that in most cases would be impossible or impractical. Using two world-leading supercomputers with a computational capacity roughly equal to 135,000 laptops, officials say the research could, for example, help speed the development of more efficient solar cells, make improvements in the production of biofuels, or develop medications that can help slow the progression of certain diseases. Selected projects were chosen for their potential to advance scientific discoveries, speed technological innovations, and strengthen industrial competitiveness.
December 14, 2010 -
Telework surfaces on the pay debate radar.
December 13, 2010 -
Lingering concerns about Iran\'s nuclear ambitions and al-Qaida-linked terrorists plotting attacks against the West in Yemen are at the top of the list of concerns for Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. He expressed those concerns during remarks at the U.S. embassy in Kabul. He said that the U.S. must be willing to do more financially, diplomatically and economically for countries that have problems before they erupt and trigger military action.
December 09, 2010 -
Jacque Simon AFGE Public Policy Director Tim Shamble President, AFGE Voice of America Local 1812 Gerald Swanke AFGE 11th District National Vice President Fredna White AFGE 10th District Women\'s Coordinator
December 09, 2010 -
A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced the son of a convicted spy to five years of probation for helping his father contact his old Russian handlers. Nathan Nicholson, son of ex-CIA agent Harold \"Jim\" Nicholson, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges. The son had been used as the middle man in an attempt to try to collect money from the Russians while behind bars. The younger Nicholson apologized to the court and said he was embarrassed by his actions. Harold Nicholson is one of the highest-ranking CIA officers ever convicted of espionage.
December 08, 2010 -
The long-term fallout of the Wikileaks disclosure is turning up already. Some foreign governments appear to be pulling back already. Col. Dave Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman, says \"We have gotten indications that there is at least some change in how individuals and governments cooperate with us, and share information,\" Lapan repeated the concern that would-be informants or established intelligence sources might not be coming forward out of fear they could be exposed, or that governments might become more \"circumspect with the information they share.\"
December 08, 2010