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Lab-on-a-chip detects pollutants, disease, and biological weapons
Researchers develop nano-sized laboratory, complete with a microscopic workbench, to measure water quality in real time; breakthrough will help keep water safe from pollution and bioterrorist threats
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TSA wants to screen your baggage -- emotional baggage, that is
To improve on X-ray and millimeter-wave scanning and go beyond group profiling, some suggest screening passengers for hostile intentions
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DHS receives IT money in stimulus package
DHS receives a $2.8 billion boost from the new stimulus package; largest single item is for TSA’s installation of checked baggage explosive detection systems
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U.K. pilots oppose government's ID card plan
Lawyers for U.K. pilots’ association said they are examining whether there are legal grounds to challenge Home Office plans to force pilots to take up the cards from Autumn this year
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New liquid detection system for airports
Los Alamos national Lab develops a device which enhances airport security by spotting liquids that could prove to be potential threats
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House overwhelmingly approves "white list" of non-terrorists
Congress wants DHS to create a “white list” — a database of people who are not terrorists, but are routinely flagged at airports anyway
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Random checks as effective as terrorist profiling
Profiling is a waste of time and resources in security screening; the problem is that too much time is spent repeatedly screening members of the profiled group who are not actually terrorists,
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Square root bias and airport security screening
Say someone from profiled Group P is 16 times more likely to be a terrorist than someone from the average Group A; using the square root bias, people from Group P should be screened only four times more often then people in Group A (4 is the square root of 16); this reduces the number of people from Group P who are subjected to repeated screenings from 16 to 4 — but it still screens people from Group P more than the average person
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Airport screening machines to stimulate the U.S. economy?
A $500 million piece of the proposed economic stimulus plan
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Ireland examines need for radioactive waste facility near Shannon
Terrorists may try to smuggle nuclear materials into the United States through Ireland; Irish government will build radioactive waste facility near Shannon airport in case radiological screening of aircraft bound for the United States discovers such material
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NASA working on sonic boom-less jets
Sonic booms are one of the major downsides of supersonic jets; they may not matter much over the battlefield, but are a hindrance in civilian aviation — the noise was sufficient to restrict the Mach-2 Concorde to subsonic speeds when over land
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Midwest states critical of DHS's Large Aircraft Security Program
In the large, sparsely populated states of the U.S. Midwest, many businesses rely on small aircraft transportation to get from here to there; Kansas is also home to general aviation manufacturers Cessna Aircraft Company and Hawker Beechcraft
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Smiths Detection shows active mm-wave detection system
Passive mm-wave detection systems pick up the mm-wave heat energy emitted by the body, which is used as a background reference point; active systems transmit mm-wave into the detection area to boost the level of energy overall, give a better return and a more detailed image
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N.Y. policeman illegally obtains, uses U.S. terror watch-list information
NYPD sergeant uses a colleague username and password to access the FBI terrorist watch-list; he then obtains information about an individual on the list — an individual locked in a child custody fight with a friend of the sergeant — and provide the information to the friend’s lawyer
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Atlanta's small airports bristle at security plan
DHS wants small U.S. airports to enact security measures; owners and operators of these airports criticize some aspects of the plan
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