Technology

The U.S. Army patented a net-carrying grenade-sized weapon that the service built to catch and deter unmanned aerial systems, C4ISRnet reported Monday. The grenade works in a standard 40mm launcher and features sensors that detect the target before launching the net onto the drones. Initial testing of the tool showed it can effectively engage and stop a UAS threat, according to the patent. 

The Department of Health and Human Services is proposing to streamline patients’ access to electronic health information and mandate providers’ use of open data sharing platforms to foster transparency, HHS said Monday. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have issued the proposed rules calling for the healthcare industry to implement standardized application programming interfaces to enable easy and free access to patient health data through devices such as smartphones.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has found a method to improve security for smart manufacturing systems with blockchain that provides tamper-proof transmission of data and traceability of information in the production process. NIST issued a report on Monday detailing how blockchain can help detect and deter potential digital threats in the manufacturing process.

NASA plans to reduce the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission’s orbit around the red planet to support data exchange between the agency and its future rovers on Mars. The space agency said Monday that it will lower MAVEN spacecraft's elliptical orbit from 3,850 to 2,800 miles above the planet’s surface to serve as data-relay satellite for the Mars 2020 rover. 

The Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service is transitioning from a traditional enterprise data warehouse into a cloud-based “data lake” to support the bureau’s call center operations, Federal New Network reported Monday. The data lake serves as an inventory of raw data which the call centers will use to assist people who want to settle delinquent debts.

A new Defense Intelligence Agency report concludes that the U.S. should continue to develop space-based capabilities to keep its advantage in the space domain, the Department of Defense reported Monday. The “Challenges to Security in Space” report deals with the efforts of Russia and China to challenge the ability of the U.S. and other countries to use space.

Max Everett, chief information officer at the Department of Energy, has said the department will be moving email systems to the cloud with a $15M loan from the Technology Modernization Fund Board, Federal News Network reported Friday. In late 2018, DOE received an initial $4M from TMF to start the cloud migration and has moved nearly 6,000 email accounts to the platform. The department operates 64 email systems that support over 184,000 mailboxes.

The Department of Energy is investing $30M to fund research on data science applications in the chemistry and materials science areas. The effort, under the department's Basic Energy Sciences program, is seeking projects that apply data science to uncover mechanisms behind the chemical and material aspects of energy, DOE said Friday. 

Secretaries of the U.S. Air Force, Army and Navy said the ongoing reforms across the military should focus on force modernization, more lethality and readiness. Army Secretary Mark Esper, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer and Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson discussed their reform efforts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, the Department of Defense said Friday. 

Army Secretary Mark Esper, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson and Navy Secretary Richard Spencer have signed a new memorandum that establishes common standards of data sharing between weapon systems across domains. The Air Force said Friday the joint memo requires acquisition executives within service branches to publish implementation guidelines for procurement programs, determine gaps and suggest new standards.