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Congress looks to expands America's K-9 ranks
Canine Detection Improvement Act of 2007 sets out standards for an increased push at explosives detection; airports and other critical infrastructure suffer from a lack of trained dogs; “breed American” is the new watchword, as congressmen try to take the German out of German shepherd
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Coda Octopus announces new Underwater Inspection System
Device creates real-time 3D images of subsea objects; port security the primary market for this intriguing new sonar product; company already known for its oil exploration-enhancing echoscope; government delivery pending
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Moths inspire explosives-hunting alorithim
Scent-tracking behavior provides a model for uncertain robot sniffers; Infotaxis algorithim developed by U.S. and U.K. researchers helps the robot develop and react to a “probability map”; exploration and exploitation tendencies are coordinated
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Sandia looks to the terahertz spectrum for next-gen explosives detection
Sitting between microwave and infrarerd, terahertz has long been neglected; technology is already used to detect chemical compounds in space, and so researchers look to miniaturize the system and create a library of spectral signatures
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ScanTech wins Chesapeake Innovation Center contest
Company, developer of X-ray technology capable of detecting uranium, explosives, and drugs, wins $50,000 but declines to put down roots in Maryland; other finalists include TIRF Technologies, Armada Group, and Riverglass
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SET Corp. to marry radar-imaging to gait recognition technology
Virginia company’s CounterBomber is proven effective at identifying hidden weapons on moving individuals; addition of gait recognition will allow constant surveillance of suspects, as well as point out a few new ones as well
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Smiths Group plays its cards tight
Smiths Groups sells its aerospace division to GE for $4.8 billion, proposing investors a £2.1 billion return — and then forms a detection JV with that company, with both companies hopingt o benefit from increased spending on WMD dection
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ICRC delivers first responder vehicles to Michigan National Guard
Heavy-duty truck is first to incorporate IRCS’s national guard vehicle information system for interoperability and networking; flexible communications, NBS detection, and nighttime surveillance among the features of this interesting vehicle
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Implant Science explores teaming up with RAE's senor networks
Companies will discuss technology-sharing possibilities; RAE’s AreaRAE system looks to expand into the explosives detection business; ISC’s device identifies TNT, black powder, ammonium nitrate, and more
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New radiation countermeasure to be tested on humans
As worries about radiation attack by terorists — whether on a large scale, or for the killing of a single individual, as was the case in the recent London poisioning of Alexander Litvinenko — the FDA approves human trials of new radiation countermeasure from a Minnesota company
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Bruker Daltonics wins $1.7 million Army contract
RAID-M chemical weapons detectors already a hit with German and Danish forces; devices will support the National Guard WMD Civil Support Teams’ Analytical Laboratory System
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DHS releases 2007 state and municipal grant funding levels
Urban Areas Security Initiative and Citizen Corps Program receive mild funding boosts; other programs see minor losses; DHS gives risk assessment the old college try
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Colorado researcher to test natural mustard gas cure
Milk thistle has shown remarkable ability to prevent skin cancer; $2.7 million contract will explore whether similar mechanism may obtain for mustard gas exposure; researcher hopes to create an ointment to be applied post-attack
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UPDATE: NNSA chief fired for Los Alamos security lapses
Linton Brooks gets the axe after a series of breaches expose the weakness of lab cyber-security; failure to do away with removable storage devices in weapons-related computers cited; Energy Department starts the hunt for a replacement
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SAIC wins $53 million deal to move WMD models on-line
Integrated Weapons of Mass Destruction Toolset has been in development since 2004; moving on-line critical to dispersing data to first responders; physics-based models assess terrain, wind patterns, and other factors
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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.
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.
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.
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.