It stands for: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
If you haven't heard of them, you might have heard some of the inventions that DARPA research helped bring to reality:
- the Internet
- Windows and the World Wide Web
- Video conferencing
- Google maps
- GPS
- Stealth aircraft
Your tax dollars, ladies and gentleman, hard at work.
Here are 10 incredible, mind boggling research projects they're working on right now!
- Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance (EXACTO) - that is bullets that can change directions!
- Flying trucks
- Transformer program flying cars
- Legged Squad Support System (LS3) - a four legged robot meant to go where the soldiers go and carry their burdens.
- Z-man helps soldiers crawl up walls like a spider or lizard.
- BOLT! Doesn't that awesome? Broad Operational Language Translator - to break down language barriers.
- Solar Eagle - a drone that can stay in the air for years.
- A contact lens that increases optical awareness
- Upward Falling Payloads - one of the problems that the Navy has is with restocking/obtaining supplies. What if they were stored on the ocean floor easily available?
- On demand satellite imaging
In my novel WASP, Zoe Kealoha is a micro roboticist who is contracted with DARPA. She is working to save lives after she was influenced by the 9-11 water rescues to do everything she could for the greater good. Her research is geared toward doing just that - keeping innocent people out of jail. Pinpointing the terrorists so innocent bystanders aren't swept up in events -- but not everyone has her level of compassion. In fact, there are a whole bunch of people who want the information in Zoe's head. They just don't care how they get it from her. READ IT TODAY!
Resource information for this article came from HERE
Back in my early military days I worked with the NSA. NSA worked hand in hand with DARPA (and contractors like Wang and IBM...remember them?) developing the intel gathering equipment and computer systems we used. DARPA folks were always around. Over the years, I forgot all about them. Nice to know the great minds over there are still hard at work!
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