The Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday passed a $740.5 billion defense policy bill for fiscal year 2021 in a 25-2 vote.

The proposed FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act will advance four priorities based on the National Defense Strategy: supporting troops, families and the civilian workforce; reinforcing and accelerating NDS implementation; building a modern, innovative and lethal force; and reshaping Pentagon management to maximize performance, lethality and accountability, according to a summary of the measure.

The Senate panel said the U.S. military advantage in ground, aerial, space, cyber space and maritime domains should be protected and the FY21 NDAA seeks accelerate innovation to allow the country to better compete with Russia and China.

The bill seeks to authorize over $300 million above the president’s budget request for the Department of Defense’s science and technology research efforts and supports the development of hypersonic weapons, 5G wireless networks, artificial intelligence and quantum information science, according to the summary.

The measure would earmark $21.3 billion for shipbuilding initiatives, $9.1 billion for the procurement of 95 F-35 fighter jets and $3.7 billion for weapons programs. It also details plans to further develop joint capabilities, strengthen alliances and maintain superiority in ground, air, cyber, maritime and space domains.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) conducted a research that studied the preferences of university students and instructors in various class formats. The instructors preferred handling physical classes while the 18 students involved in the research were split between remote learning and attending classes in person, NSF said Wednesday.

Amid their preferences, the instructors noted that most classes prefer the usage of telepresence robots as distance learning tools. The students added the robots have the capacity to make them expressive and self-aware in classes.

"Research experience for undergraduates has become a big challenge during the ongoing pandemic, and telepresence robots can help not only in education but also in possibilities for undergraduates to hone their research skills through remote participation," said Prabhakaran Balakrishnan, program director at NSF's Division of Information and Intelligent Systems.

A separate study by Oregon State University suggested that telepresence robots allow students to be more engaged with their classes.

The U.S. Navy will tap 1,629 reserve personnel to help the service branch maintain submarines and aircraft carriers at four public shipyards in efforts to lower maintenance backlog. The reservists will be deployed to their respective shipyards in batches by July and will carry out mobilization orders for one year as part of the Surge Maintenance program, the Navy said Wednesday.

The selected personnel are required to wear protective gear, follow the Department of Defense's travel protocols and undergo temperature checks prior to their entrance to the shipyard. Norfolk Naval Shipyard will receive 486 reservists, while Portsmouth Naval Shipyard expects 267 personnel.

Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard will take in 200 personnel and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility will receive 676 personnel. The SurgeMain program is established to support the Navy's civilian shipyard workforce when needed. The effort has listed 245 reserve officers and 2,200 reserve sailors from 75 various units.