Portfolio Brief: DARPA focuses on avoiding scientific surprise, and DSO is DARPA’s vanguard. DSO avoids surprise by searching for gaps between the improbable and the impossible, and then challenging the scientific community to explore as much of this Terra Incognita as they can. This session will explore three areas of importance to national security through the lens of physics, actively engaging the audience to provide perspective and insight about how DARPA’s DSO approaches high-impact, high-risk, basic research.