• New York State gives company 45 days to fix problems

    New York State awarded M/A Com a contract for building the infrastructure for the statewide wireless network for first responders; the contract was to be completed by December 2006; state comptroller office, citing the delay and nearly 20 other deficiencies, gives company 45 days to fix problem or see its contract revoked

  • New first response RFID system developed

    In a scene of a disaster, first responders want to make sure they know where each member of the rescue team is; they often also need to tag and monitor the whereabouts of equipment and gear; long-range RFID is the solution

  • Anti-invisibility cloak would render invisible objects visible again

    A perfect invisibility cloak guides rays so effectively that none reaches the cloaked object within, keeping it in total darkness — a disadvantage if invisibility cloaks are ever to be used to shield tanks, steer microwaves in space, or hide humans; scientists find a solution

  • Germany tightens data protection laws after scandals

    After a wistle-blower revealtions, the German authorities decided o find for themselves how easy it was managed to obtain personal information on consumers; government agents managed, in only a few days, to buy six million items of personal data — for just €850 euros ($1,230); the government decided that tightening of regulations was necessary

  • Handgun to the front

    Defending against a handgun threat is more difficult on the street than in a training facility; the right training under the right conditions would increase the chances of surviving a possibly lethal encounter with an armed assailant

  • Israel foils Hezbollah attempts to kidnap Israelis abroad

    In February, Hezbollah’s secretive head of operation, Imad Mughniyeh, was killed in a brilliant covert operation in the middle of Damascus; Israel denied any involvement, but the Lebanese organization said it would retaliate; Israel has since been worried about Israelis abroad being kidnapped

  • Bureaucratic bafflegab hobbles Canada's disaster readiness, report says

    New Senate report slams the Canadian government’s disaster coordination efforts; the report suggests that past floods, ice storms, the SARs epidemic, blackouts in Canada, and the 9/11 attacks should have — but have not — served as a wake up call for various levels of government to hatch concrete plans to work together to ward off disaster

  • Sprint's preparations for Gustav

    Sprint Nextel invested $59 million in network preparations in coastal communities; bolstering preparations aimed to help both customers and first responders

  • Virtualization is important for back up and recovery

    Server virtualization, that is, the separation of functionality from the underlying hardware, offers organizations many advantages in preparing for coping with and recovering from disasters, but it is not a panacea

  • D.C. tests interoperable public safety system

    Interoperability between radio and mobile Internet sought, and new technology — called Radio Over Wireless Broadband, or ROW-B — has the potential to save first responders time in an emergency

  • Modified helicopters help in search and rescue missions

    Researchers in Hong Kong develop a helicopter installed with a video camera and linked to the Global Positioning System (GPS), and which flies on its own on a preset course; helicopter used to survey the Sichuan earthquake area; researchers in U.K. work on a similar concept — but one which envisions using a swarm of self-coordinating helicopters

  • New fingerprint analysis technique to be used to identify bomb makers

    University of Leicester researchers develop new technique to identify fingerprints on metal; technique can pick up fingerprints on metal even after they have been wiped off

  • U.K. to spend £40 million on mobile biometrics for police

    Project Midas will allow police to use fingerprint information to identify people at the scene of incidents in real or near real time

  • Prisons of the future: High-rise structures, smart cards for inmates

    Israel is building new prisons based on new concepts: High-rise structures which will deter escapes (how many prisoners will risk a jump from the tenth floor?), and smart cards which will allow inmates to roam unescorted — but monitored

  • Science and the anthrax case: Case closed?

    The authoritative scientific journal Nature says that the FBI’s evidence against Bruce Ivins is impressive, but that the case is not closed as many important questions remain unanswered