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DARPA works on equipping insects with reconnaissance gear
DARPA hopes cyborg insects with embedded microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) will run remotely controlled reconnaissance missions for the military and law enforcement
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Liquid explosives detection technology is almost here
After the plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airlines with liquid explosives was uncovered in London in August 2006, pressure has grown to find new ways to detect liquids in baggage and on airline passengers and figure out what they are
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DHS awards $33 million for radiation detection demonstrations
DHS wants a tehcnology which will be able to detect radiation from a distance — and determine the direction, flux, energy, and isotope of the detected radiation; three companies win the Stand-Off Radiation Detector System (SORDS) demonstration contracts
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DHS funds nuclear training
One-third of the current U.S. nuclear workforce will reach retirement in the next ten years; DHS joins with NSF to foster the training of the next generation of nuclear workers
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UC Berkeley to examine new methods of screening for nuclear materials
The Academic Research Initiative, a new DHS-NSF project, give a UC Berekeley scientists $1.4 million to develop new methods for screening for nuclear materials
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Smiths, GE call off JV
Smiths and GE thought that bringing their considerable detection know-how and assets together in a JV would create a mighty player in homeland security; but Smiths’s detection unit has been doing very well on its own, so the rationale for a JV was no longer as compelling
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Bruker in Phase III of automatic, unattended chemical detector
DHS awards Bruker $1.3 follow-on Phase III contract for the Autonomous Rapid Facility Chemical Agent Monitor project
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South Carolina equips first responders with personal radiation detectors
South Carolina buys 300 GammaRAE II from RAE Systems; the portable detector provides prompt detection of gamma-ray sources
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RAE Systems refocuses, cuts costs
RAE Systems develops good chemical and radiation detectors for industry and homeland security; it tried its hand in the DVR market, and did not enjoy much success; now it is going back to what it is good at
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Pollution-sniffing flea-like robot unveiled
Italian researchers demonstrate the exploits of a mechanical, insect-look-alike robot, capable of sniffing out mercury and other pollutants
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GE Security shows dual-mode detection system
MobileTrace, developed with funding support from the Joint IED Defeat Organization, detects both explosives and narcotics
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DHS increases size of Nanomix grant
In January DHS awarded a grant to a specialist in nanoelectronic detection; the department liked the company’s progress, and increased the amount of the grant
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Sandia tests new approach to radiation detection
Sandia physicists have an idea: Scan freight containers for radiation not at the port, but at sea: “You’ve got days on the ocean, and you only get minutes in the port,” says one of them
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U.S. Army buys 300 Peroxide Explosive Testers from ACRO
Peroxide-based explosives are easy to make and hard to detect; more and more terrorist organizations are using them, including in IEDs; U.S. Army wants to improve its ability to tackle such explosives
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Train carrying highly toxic phosphorous derailed in Ukraine
Hundreds evacuated from several villages as a 35 square miles area is covered by toxic phosphorous leaking from a derailed train
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The long view
Lawmakers Seek Probe of Controversial Bioweapons Defense System
The Trump administration’s attempt to deploy a scientifically disputed system for detecting airborne anthrax or other infectious agents in terrorist attacks is facing increased scrutiny from a bipartisan group of House members. in a three-page letter, four Democrats and Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked the Government Accountability Office to conduct an in-depth scientific evaluation of the new system, called BioDetection 21. Officials from the GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, signaled that they plan to open the inquiry.
Can Nuclear Power Be Saved?
Whither nuclear power? That question has become more important as energy policies evolve to emphasize emissions-free “green” energy and an increased electrification of the U.S. economy. Some environmentalists consider nuclear power to be crucial to reducing carbon emissions; others continue to vehemently oppose nuclear power and believe that our energy must come solely from renewable sources. The public, encouraged into hysteria by dramatizations of nuclear-plant accidents such as the film The China Syndrome and HBO’s Chernobyl, is split. Meanwhile, the nuclear-power industry itself is in a parlous state for a variety of tangled reasons.
Hackers Could Have Breached U.S. Bioterrorism Defenses for Years, Records Show. We’ll Never Know Whether They Did
The Department of Homeland Security stored sensitive data from the nation’s bioterrorism defense program on an insecure website where it was vulnerable to attacks by hackers for over a decade, according to government documents reviewed by the Los Angeles Times. The data included the locations of at least some BioWatch air samplers, which are installed at subway stations and other public locations in more than 30 U.S. cities and are designed to detect anthrax or other airborne biological weapons, Homeland Security officials confirmed. It also included the results of tests for possible pathogens, a list of biological agents that could be detected and response plans that would be put in place in the event of an attack.
The Once and Future Threat of Nuclear Weapon Testing
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is the central security instrument of the United States and the world community. It is based on a strategic bargain between the five nuclear weapon states in the NPT (the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and China) and the 185 non-nuclear-weapon parties to the treaty. The current worldwide moratorium on nuclear weapon testing and the intended ultimate conversion of that ban to legally binding treaty status by bringing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) into force are essential to the long-term viability of this strategic bargain.