• Analyzing Forensic Signatures of Nuclear Materials to Prevent Smuggling

    A scientific exercise scenario involved seized nuclear materials for which law enforcement requested nuclear forensic analysis to help discern whether the process histories of the two seized materials were consistent with one another and related to similar materials seized previously by authorities. The exercise was part of an international nuclear forensic drill in support of a simulated nuclear smuggling investigation.

  • Nuclear Waste Storage Canisters to Be Tested

    Three 22.5-ton, 16.5-feet-long stainless-steel storage canisters, with heaters and instrumentation to simulate nuclear waste so researchers can study their durability, will be tested at Sandia National Lab. The three canisters have never contained any nuclear materials. They will be used to study how much salt gathers on canisters over time. Sandia will also study the potential for cracks caused by salt- and stress-induced corrosion with additional canisters that will be delivered during the next stage of the project.

  • New Bioweapons to Target Specific Groups of People or Individuals

    Genomic technologies develop and converge with artificial intelligence, machine learning, automation, affective computing, and robotics, means that increasingly refined records of biometrics, emotions, and behaviors will be captured and analyzed. These data will enable game-changing developments which will enable the development of novel bioweapons which target specific groups of people or individuals.

  • Countries with Advanced Digital Skills and Safety Nets Doing Better in Pandemic, Report Says

    In this year’s Global Competitiveness Report, the World Economic Forum measures the ability of countries to weather and recover from the devastation caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Because of the pandemic and the inability to collect necessary data, country rankings in the report have been suspended. Instead, it examines the factors that help economies better manage and recover from the pandemic.

  • Identity Verification in the Age of COVID-19

    Face masks have become a way of life due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We now wear them nearly everywhere we go—at grocery stores, on public transportation, in schools, at work—any situation that requires us to be around others. But what about at places that require a higher level of security, like airports?

  • K-12 Schools Need to Take Cyberattacks More Seriously

    There has been an uptick of ransomware attacks in which cybercriminals have targeted public schools throughout the United States – from Hartford, Connecticut, to Huntsville, Alabama – since the 2020-21 school year began. Federal cybersecurity officials say the attacks – which involve things that range from the theft of sensitive student data to the disruption of online classes – are expected to continue. As a researcher who specializes in cybercrime and cybersecurity, I know that public schools represent easy and attractive targets for cybercriminals.

  • K9 Chemistry: A Safer Way to Train Detection Dogs

    Trained dogs are incredible chemical sensors, far better at detecting explosives, narcotics and other substances than even the most advanced technological device. But one challenge is that dogs have to be trained, and training them with real hazardous substances can be inconvenient and dangerous.

  • Face Recognition Software Improving in Recognizing Masked Faces

    A new study of face recognition technology created after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic shows that some software developers have made demonstrable progress at recognizing masked faces.

  • The Future of Autonomous Aircraft

    Imagine a world of aerial delivery drones bringing goods right to your door, small air taxis with fewer than six passengers flying about cities, supersonic airliners crossing continents and oceans, and sixth-generation fighter aircraft patrolling battle zones – and all without the intervention or even supervision of a human pilot. That may sound like the far-off future, but it’s already arriving thanks to autonomous flight systems that may one day make pilots an optional extra.

  • Guns, Drones and Poison: The New Age of Assassination

    We are living in the greatest-ever age of assassination as states, fearful of the twin threats of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, are using increasingly sophisticated intelligence to track and kill dangerous people and deprive other states of dangerous knowledge.

  • Virtual Reality Battlefield Technology Designed to Train Military Leaders

    Researchers have developed battlefield simulation technology that they used to produce a virtual reality tour of the D-Day beaches in Normandy, France. Their work is part of the FORCES (4S) – Strategy, Security and Social Systems Initiative at Purdue University. The initiative supports the use of social scientific research in strategy and security activities to shape long-range and global military, political and organizational decision-making.

  • DHS S&T Launches Hacking for Homeland Security Program

    DHS S&T is launching Hacking for Homeland Security(H4HS)  to provide DHS with the capability to drive innovative solutions and identify future interns with applied knowledge to work on DHS mission-relevant topics.H4HSis modeled on Hacking for Defense (H4D). The national academic course is taught at 54 universities and represents a new platform for national service, teaching teams of university students how to use modern entrepreneurial tools and techniques to solve critical national security and intelligence community problems at start-up speed.

  • Brazil: Apps Warn Residents of Shootings

    Every year there are thousands of shooting incidents on Brazil’s streets in which innocent bystanders are injured or killed. In some cities, apps now give real-time warnings to residents about areas to avoid. This year alone, there have been at least 3,000 shootings in the state of Rio de Janeiro. But this statistic does not come from the authorities. The number is taken from data supplied by “Onde Tem Tiroteio” (OTT), a crowdsourcing app that warns users about shootouts and where users can report shooting incidents themselves. In English, “Onde Tem Tiroteio” literally means “Where is a shootout.”

  • High Rises Made of Timber

    With an increasing demand for a more sustainable alternative for high-rise construction, new points to timber as a sustainable and effective way to make tall, high-density, and renewable buildings. Tall mass-timber buildings are a safe and sustainable alternative for high-rise construction,

  • How Disasters Can Spur Resilience in the Gulf

    Communities in the Gulf of Mexico are all too familiar with the whims of nature and power of the sea. This year’s hurricane season brought power outages, heavy rain, downed trees, property damage, and death and injury. As disasters cascade and compound, progress toward resiliency is made by people working together and using science to decide next steps.