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Marines tested an augmented reality system from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) last week that could revolutionize the way they prepare for battle, allowing them to transform any location into a dynamic training ground.

A dynamic era in naval oceanography recently ended as the iconic Floating Instrument Platform — popularly known as FLIP — was officially retired from service. Built in 1962 with funding from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), FLIP helped generations of scientists and oceanographers better understand the mysteries of the sea, including internal waves, air-sea interaction and long-range sound propagation. Sadly, age and exorbitant life-extension costs resulted in the platform being disestablished. On Aug. 3, a solemn gathering of well-wishers watched as FLIP was towed, at sunset, to a dismantling and recycling facility. Last month, a formal good-bye ceremony was hosted by the Marine Physical Laboratory at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Though retired, FLIP will live on at Scripps. One of its booms (crane-like arms for suspending instruments) will be installed on the Scripps research pier in La Jolla and used to deploy instruments. Also, artifacts from the platform will be displayed in a permanent exhibit at Scripps’ Birch Aquarium.

Seeking out new technology or exciting ideas at the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global is something of a treasure hunt. Dr. Scott Walper, science director, ONR Global, says the search for innovative projects can take him and his team of program officers all over the world, relying on a bit of luck — or serendipity — to strike gold. But recently, Walper said he and his predecessor for Synthetic Biology at ONR Global, Dr. Patrick Rose, who is now with SPRIND (Germany’s Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation) had an idea to try something a little different. Walper said, “The thought was we would put out a call for a ‘Serendipity Collective,’ where we would sponsor a workshop and ask people to tell us their craziest ideas”. To attract innovators, the team worked with the company IdeatePlus. Walper said Kevin D'Silva, IdeatePlus CEO, and his team were instrumental in helping develop and manage the event, setting up a web-based platform to crowdsource and push out a social media campaign. The website generated 73 concepts from more than 225 active participants. The information was collected and shared it with a team of experts, including an artist, engineer, scientist and someone from the humanities. The experts scored proposals based on originality and feasibility. Eight teams were then invited to the “Serendipity Collective” held in Berlin in May. From those core concepts, another panel of experts composed of representatives from ONR Global, DEVCOM, the VW (Volkswagen) Foundation and SPRIND picked the ones they wanted to sponsor with an award of $50,000 to kick-start their efforts.

The DoN HBCU/MI Program recently hosted its Distinguished Fellows Symposium at the Office of Naval Research. The DoN HBCU/MI Distinguished Fellows Program provides HBCU/MI professors with faculty release time for three years, enabling them to focus exclusively on naval-relevant research.

The Office of Naval Research recently sponsored the Defend the Republic STEM competition at George Mason University in Virginia. The contest featured lighter-than-air vehicles, also called blimps.

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has sponsored the development of an integrated tool to make fluid and fuel analysis faster, easier and mobile. It’s called the Portable Fluid Analyzer Plus (PFA+).

The U.S. Navy recently celebrated the 60th anniversary of the ONR-sponsored Trieste dive to the Challenger Deep, the deepest part of the ocean.

Since its creation in 1946, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) has supported the early-career research of more than 60 Nobel laureates. ONR is proud to add two new names to that prestigious list — Dr. David Baker of the University of Washington (UW) and Dr. John Hopfield of Princeton University, who received the 2024 Nobel Prize in chemistry and physics, respectively.

Quantum computers may be able to help create new pharmaceuticals, understand chemical reactions, solve certain problems that are otherwise intractable, create new materials and allow for highly disruptive applications in numerous sectors.

On Sept. 29, Dr. Michael Traweek answered questions about flow noise on Facebook and Twitter. See a transcript.