Detection

Tiny gas sensor to detect explosive vapors and chemical agents
EU-funded project aims to develop a tiny sensor — sensor will be less than two centimeters in length and at least twice as sensitive as other sensors of its size
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Small hand-held detector for security, health threats
Researchers develop the world’s smallest detection system: The size of a shoe box, the complete mass spectrometer identifies tiny amounts of chemicals in the environment
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EU votes down millimeter wave scanners
Millimeter wave scanners offer a new level of security at airport checkpoints, but they also offer anatomically correct images of people’s private parts; EU votes against using them
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Expert: Fear of nuclear terrorism may be overblown
A RAND expert says the fear of al Qaeda obtaining a nuclear weapon has already allowed the organization to inflict nuclear terror, even though it is not entirely clear that the terrorists can get their hands or use such a weapon
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Innovative shoe scanner to make travel safer, lines shorter
University of Manchester researcher develops a technology which allows security personnel to spot people with concealed items in their shoes as they walk through passport control or through traditional security checks
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DHS to use TeraView's terahertz technology in chemical detection
Goodrich chose U.K. terahertz technology specialist TeraView for developing a DHS-sponsored chemical detection system for government and public buildings, and on the battlefield
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TSA meets initial screening cargo goal
Congress has mandated through the 9/11 law that 50 percent of cargo on passenger carrying aircraft be screened by February 2009 and 100 percent of cargo be screened by August 2010; TSA says it currently screens all cargo on narrow body, passenger-carrying aircraft; these account for more than 90 percent of all passenger carrying aircraft in the United States
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GE shows a chemical sensor that does not need batteries
Researchers develop a chemical sensor that can detect minute quantities of chemicals in the air or water; it has no batters: it receives its power wirelessly from a sensor reader
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Briefly noted
Iraqi military looks at unmanned air force… Iraqi brass confirm interest in F-16s, armed Helos… Lockheed Martin establishes Center for Cyber Security Innovation… Nuke detection is latest fallout from Georgia war
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Battery-free, multi-detection wireless sensors
Home food and beverage safety monitoring, remote water purity testing, more effective chemical and biological sensors are all potential applications
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SAIC to develop artificial nose
DARPA awards SAIC a contract under the RealNose program; the project aims to create a device which emulates dogs’ olfactory system
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TSA to deploy remote detection machines at airports
Terrorists may not only blow up a plane, but also explode a bomb in an airport lounge or near a crowded ticket counter; TSA tests machines that can detect explosives at a distance
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Briefly noted
The financial crisis and homeland security… Airport security: shoe salvation has arrived… UNDT to market anthrax detection equipment in Israel… Canada’s new emergency management and business continuity standard
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DHS, NSF announce $3.1 million awards for radiological detection
DHS and NSF give awards to academic institutions to advance research in radiological and nuclear detection
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Breakthrough: Radioactive waste may no longer be dangerous to store
Aussie researchers have created a material which has the potential to filter and safely lock away radioactive ions from waste water; nanofibers which are millionths of a millimeter in size could permanently lock away radioactive cations by displacing the existing sodium ions in the fiber
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