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Opponnents say Social Security is not the way to track illegal immigrants
Opponents of DHS’s tightening of no-match rule say this is not a good way to control illegal immigration; AFL-CIO estimates that 600,000 of its workers could be vulnerable to firing
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A first: Quantum cryptography secures ballots in Swiss election
Quantum cryptograhpy finds real-world application in guaranteeing integrity of 21 October ballot in the canton of Geneva
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Quantum communication nearer as entanglement swapping realized
Security and computing experts cannot wait for quantum communcation to be mastered; good thing, then, that Swiss researchers show, for the first time, photon pairs entanglement swapping
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Exceedingly strong composite plastic for personal, vehicle protection
University of Michigan scientists, emulating the molecular structure found in seashells, create a composite plastic which is as strong as steel but lighter and transparent; ideal for personal and vehicle protection
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Formula One technologies help U.K. military
BAE collaborates with Motorsport Industry Association for the purpose of using suitable motor sports tehcnologies for making military vehicles more secure and durable
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Questions raised about certification of new nuclear warhead design
The Bush administrattion wants to replace cold war-era nuclear warheads with a newly designed Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW); trouble is, a 1992 U.S.-Russia treaty imposed a moratorium on all nuclear tests, so the new design cannot be tested
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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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First true invisibility cloak created
University of Maryland researchers develop first true invisibility cloak; it is still small — well, at 10 micrometres in diameter, very small — and works only in two dimensions, but shows that true invisibility is practicable
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Army researchers develop IED-detecting radar
Researchers at the Army Research Lab develop new low-frequency, ultra-wideband radar which detects IEDs, senses through walls, and supports robotic ground vehicles
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Stanford researchers offer revolutionary design for computer chips
Moore’s law stipulates that the number of transistors squeezed onto a computer chip can be doubled about every two years; the law was threteaned by the damaging heat generated by the chips as their transistors become more densely packed; new design solves problem; “What we managed to do is basically get rid of the magnetic field,” says lead researcher
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NASA engineers develop FISMA compliance tool
NASA engineers are good at developing complex space exploration systems, but they were frustrated by the demanding FISMA compliance and reporting requirements; so they developed an automated tool to take care of it
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Argneitna warms up to UAVs
Argentina plans to increase use of UAVs for various homeland security and law enforcement missions
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DuPont to invest $500 million to expand Kevlar production
Growing demand for personal and vehicle protection conveniences company to increase Kevlar production capacity by 25 perent
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Mechanical mole seeks out disaster survivors under collapsed buildings
Robots already roll, walk, slither, and even “swarm” to locate or help survivors, so why not dig and burrow? University of Manchester rsearchers build a digging robot which imitates the common European mole
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InRob Tech leverages military technology in civilian markets
A remote-control and robotics specialist uses technologies developed for defense and homeland security for civilian market applications
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The long view
China exerting “sharp power” influence on American institutions
China is penetrating American institutions in ways that are coercive and corrupt, while the United States has not fully grasped the gravity of the situation, a Hoover Institution expert says. “An ultimate ambition for global hegemony” is driving China’s multifront efforts to manipulate US state and local governments, universities, think tanks, media, corporations, and the Chinese American community, said Larry Diamond, a senior fellow at Hoover.
Airport security screening without queues
Researchers have invented a device that could be developed into ultra-sensitive cameras for security screening which would not require people to queue at airports. Other applications could include smaller and safer sensors for driverless vehicles.
Significance vulnerabilities discovered in high-performance computer chips
Researchers have uncovered significant and previously unknown vulnerabilities in high-performance computer chips that could lead to failures in modern electronics. The researchers found they could damage the on-chip communications system and shorten the lifetime of the whole computer chip significantly by deliberately adding malicious workload.
Friendly electromagnetic pulse improves survival for electronics
An electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, emitted by a nuclear weapon exploded high above the United States could disable the electronic circuits of many devices vital to military defense and modern living. These could include complicated weapon systems as well as phones, laptops, credit cards and car computers. Also, in trouble might be home appliances, gas station pumps and bank accounts. Military equipment – and some civilian equipment, too — are designed to be immune to various levels of EMP, and the validity of these designs has been tested and improved by a “friendly” EMP generator installed in a recently renovated facility at Sandia National Laboratories.
Foldable drone flies through narrow passages in rescue missions
Researchers have developed a new drone that can retract its propeller arms in flight and make itself small to fit through narrow gaps and holes. This is particularly useful when searching for victims of natural disasters.
National Climate Assessment: Will U.S. water problems worsen?
Upmanu Lall is director of the Columbia Water Center, chair of Earth and Environmental Engineering, and the lead author of the chapter on water resources in the latest U.S. National Climate Assessment. The report, issued two weeks ago, paints a troubling picture of the nation’s climate future, including projected droughts and extreme precipitation events that could worsen already existing problems with U.S. water supplies and infrastructure. Lall discusses the climate change-driven water challenges the U.S. faces, and ideas for how the nation can respond.