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A shoebox-size chemical sensor to detect toxins, pollution
Quantum cascade lasers were first demonstrated by Harvard’s Federico Capasso and colleagues in 1994; now Capasso is using the technology to develop a portable array of lasers to be used to monitor pollution and detect toxins
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New ultrasensitive assay detects most poisonous substance known
One gram of botulinum toxin could kill more than one million people — little wonder, then, that CDC identifies botulinum neurotoxin as one of six “maximum threat” bioterrorism agents; researchers have now developed a new ultrasensitive assay to detect botulinum neurotoxin
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Israelis buy hand-held assays for anthrax detection from UDTT
In Israel they like to be self-reliant when it comes to antiterror technologies, and they have the scientific and industrial base to do so; still, an Israeli company turns to UDTT for anthrax detection technology
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AWWA urges scientific approach to pharmaceuticals in drinking water
The sky may not be falling: Stories about pharmaceutical traces in U.S. drinking water abound, but an expert from Southern Nevada Water Authority testifies before Senate subcommittee that worries about the ill effects of such traces are exaggerated
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New airborne pathogen detector
An Austrian company joins forces with a German specialist to develop autonomous lab-on-a-chip based detection system for the European Defense Agency
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Palestinian terrorists planned to poison diners at Israel restaurant
Two Palestinians staying illegally in Israel and working in a restaurant in a Tel Aviv suburb, planned to use poison supplied by Hezbollah to kill restaurant patrons
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Next-generation nuclear fuel may be too hot to handle: report
It sounded like a good idea: Enrich the uranium used to power nuclear reactors further so that operators will be able to extract more electricity from a given amount of fuel; trouble is, burn-up rates above a certain point would violate U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s safety standards unless new methods were devised for packaging the fuel
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UDTT's anthrax detection featured on Chinese TV
The Chinese Government has warned that terrorists pose the biggest risk to this summer’s Olympic Games; officials say they foiled two plots, one to bring down an airliner, and another to disrupt the summer games; they are also worried about bioterrorism
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Cannister containing iridium 192 stolen in Japan
Worries about a dirty bomb increase as a container containing 48.4 pounds of iridium 192 is stolen from an inspection company in Japan
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Iran accelerates march toward the bomb
The Bush administration December 2007 National Intelligence Estimate asserted that Iran had “halted” its nuclear weapons plans; that assertion did not impress the Iranians, as their effort to acquire nuclear bombs, far from having been “halted,” is now accelerating
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Regional nuclear war would create near-global ozone hole
A limited nuclear weapons exchange between Pakistan and India using their current arsenals could create a near-global ozone hole, triggering human health problems and wreaking environmental havoc for at least a decade, according to a study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder
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GD in U.S. Army contract for biological detection system
General Dynamics tapped by the U.S. Army to produce and test the Joint Biological Point Detection System; the JBPDS comes in different configuration and is a Joint Service program
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Lockheed Martin in £100 million U.K. situational awareness contract
Lockheed Martin will merge several technologies — its own and other companies’ — in a £100 million MoD contract to increase soldiers’ situational awareness
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U.S. officials warn of Al-Qaeda's nuclear ambitions
DHS, DOE, and intelligence officials tell Congress al-Qaeda is continuing its pursuit of a nuclear weapon; monitoring the progress of the organization in reaching this goal is difficult: “We must find something that is tactical in size but strategic in impact,” says one official
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The U.S. on course to deactivating all its chemical weapons
On 25 November 1969 President Richard Nixon unilaterally renounced the first use of chemical weapons and renounced all methods of biological warfare; the United States has been deactivating chemical weapons ever since, and to date has destroyed about 45 percent of the chemical weapons it had produced; it is not likely, though, that the United States would achieve the complete destruction of its chemical weapons stockpile by 2012, as mandated by the Chemical Weapons Treaty
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The long view
Improving the Safety of Next-Generation Reactors
On 11 March 2011, in response to a massive earthquake, the nuclear reactors at Fukushima-Daiichi automatically shut down, as designed. The emergency systems, which would have helped maintain the necessary cooling of the core, were destroyed by the subsequent tsunami. Because the reactor could no longer cool itself, the core overheated, resulting in a severe nuclear meltdown. Since then, reactors have improved exponentially in terms of safety, sustainability and efficiency. Unlike the light-water reactors at Fukushima, which had liquid coolant and uranium fuel, the current generation of reactors has a variety of coolant options, including molten-salt mixtures, supercritical water and even gases like helium.
Protecting the U.S. Food Supply Chain
An attack on our food supply—whether from intentional tampering, or due to contagious animal disease—could be dangerous to human health and could cause long-lasting economic impacts. DHS S&T is working to protect the U.S. food supply chain – from the farm to the table.
New Biodefense Lab to Focus on Food Security
The University of Nebraska has launched a 5-year project to help safeguard the U.S. food supply. The project will address agricultural and natural resources security, defense, and countermeasures; biological defense in support of the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and other government stakeholders; development and deployment of biosurveillance, biodetection and diagnostic tools; and pandemic preparedness related to human, livestock and crop plant diseases that could result in disruptions to the U.S. and global food systems.
Invisible Scourge: The Investigation, Legacy, and Lessons of the 2001 Anthrax Attacks
The anthrax incidents of 2001 represented a major milestone for the national security community, in that they highlighted the vulnerabilities of the United States to a very unique domestic threat. While the number of initial casualties were few, the anthrax-filled letters created a nation-wide panic because they were unattributed, and the biological agent was perhaps the most dangerous organism that had been weaponized. This “invisible scourge” also shook the public health community, which was not prepared to respond to deliberate biological threats.