• French forces push deep into north Mali, capture Gao

    French military forces, supported by Malian forces, continue to push north into Islamist-controlled north Mali, and on Saturday captured the strategic city of Gao. French prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said that having chased the Islamists out of the Gao region, the French force was closing in on Timbuktu, north Mali’s main city. The initial phase of the military operation consists of liberating the large population centers of north Mali from Islamist control, and chasing the jihadists into the empty desert – and do so before the rainy season begins in March.

  • U.S. bolsters its military capabilities in the Gulf

    The United States has bolstered its military capabilities in the Gulf by stationing six stealth F-22 Raptors at the al Dafra air base, 150 miles from Iran. The F-22 is the most advanced plane in the U.S. arsenal – and also the most expensive, at about $150 million a plane. The F-22 can carry eight smart bombs which it can simultaneously direct at four different targets on the ground – and do so at supersonic speed while evading enemy’s radar.

  • Nebraska lawmakers look to limit police drone use

    The Federal Aviation Administration says there will be around 30,000 commercial and government drones  flying over the United States in the next ten years. The business of selling and servicing domestic drones is projected to grow into a $90 billion industry. Lawmakers at the federal and state level say that to prevent these drone from encroaching on citizens’ privacy, it is time to define what they can do, where, and when.

  • “Live burns” to benefit research and firefighter training

    See video

    Fire researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and colleagues from fire service organizations will turn abandoned wood-frame, single-family houses near the site of an old Spartanburg, South Carolina, textile mill into proving and training grounds for new science-driven fire-fighting techniques. The objective of the study is to improve firefighter safety and effectiveness.

  • Active-shooter training programs for local law enforcement

    Active-shooter training sessions have been in high demand as law enforcement agencies have increased the attention they pay school security after the Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting. More than twenty-four officers from various northern California law enforcement agencies participated in a two-day active shooter training course funded by DHS.

  • Lawmaker unveils bill banning sale, manufacturing of 157 types of semiautomatic guns

    Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) yesterday unveiled the details of legislation that would ban the sale and manufacture of 157 types of semiautomatic guns and magazines holding more than ten rounds of ammunition. The bill would exempt firearms used for hunting and would grandfather in some guns and magazines. The senator said the bill aims “to dry up the supply of these weapons over time.”

  • NRA leader tells gun owners Obama does not understand them

    Reacting to President Obama proposals for tighter gun controls, Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), told gun owners on Tuesday that President Obama does not understand them. He said the president  wanted to institute a national registry of firearms so he can tax or confiscate their weapons.

  • New imaging technique for identifying the age and sex of a corpse

    Researchers have developed a new technique for identifying the age and sex of a corpse. It is based on a computing system which relies on free software, and has a reliability of 95 percent.

  • Uranium mining debate divides Virginia

    In Virginia a fight has begun over whether to drill for uranium. Some feel the drilling, which would create about 1,000 jobs and bounty of tax revenue in addition to nuclear fuel, is important for a state whose main industries, such as tobacco and textiles, are failing. Those who oppose the drilling fear the contamination of drinking water in case of an accident, and a stigma from uranium which would deter people and businesses from moving to the area.

  • Mexican officials hope for real changes in U.S. gun policy

    The majority of the guns used in drug-related violence in Mexico have come from the United States. Numbers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives show that  almost 70 percent of the 99,000 weapons seized in Mexico in 2012 came from the United States. Mexican officials are hoping that president Obama’s speeches on changing the U.S. gun policy will be more than just talk.

  • Controversial full-body scanners at U.S. airports to be replaced

    The  controversial full-body airport scanners which  upset many  passengers because of the anatomically accurate images they produced, will be removed from U.S. airports by June, according to the Transportation Security Administration(TSA), ending a $40 million contract with Rapiscan Systems, the manufacturer of the scanners. Rapiscan’s backscatter X-ray scanners are being replaced by less intrusive millimeter wave scanners.

  • Algeria: use of overwhelming force against hostage-takers was necessary

    As the grim toll of the 4-day operation to wrest control of the Algerian gas drilling site becomes clearer, debate continues about the tactics the Algerian military pursued, which some in Western capitals consider rushed and heavy-handed. Algeria says it had no choice: the initial plan of the terrorists was to grab two-dozen foreign workers, take them to the nearby airport of Amena, hijack a plane, and fly them to Mali, then ask Western government for a hefty ransom. When that plan failed, the terrorists began preparations to blow up the entire complex, killing themselves and the 790 workers kept as prisoners on the site. Algeria says that if it did not act quickly, and with overwhelming force, the death toll would have been far higher.

  • More states move to restrict access to personal information of gun holders

    Currently, thirty-five states do not provide access to information on people who have gun licenses, except to law enforcement. Some of the states where access to such information is permitted, are now moving toward restricting such access.

  • New approach to military manufacturing

    In the past, fighter aircraft, tanks, and other complex military systems have been built in a craftsman-like process by a small number of highly specialized contractors. This is a costly approach and DARPA is attempting to replace it with a more efficient “correct by construction” process similar to that practiced by the semiconductor industry, which has an impressive track record in getting systems right in the first place.

  • Revealing full-body scanners to be removed from airports

    One of the more controversial post-9/11 security devices, the ubiquitous and uncomfortably intrusive full-body scanners, will be removed from service by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). On Friday, the agency announced it would begin to remove the scanners from U.S. airports this summer. The anatomically revealing backscatter scanners are being replaced by the ore discreet millimeter wave devices.