• Plastic lasers shed light on hidden explosives

    Detecting hidden explosives is a difficult task but now researchers in the United Kingdom have developed a new way of detecting them, with a laser sensor capable of detecting molecules of explosives at concentrations of 10 parts per billion (ppb) or less

  • A good nose for explosives

    There is a new breed of explosive-sniffing dogs: vapor—wake dogs; genetically bred and trained by Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, vapor-wake dogs are taught to detect the scent plume of air that comes wafting off a person, such as a suicide bomber, wearing an explosive device

  • Scientists raise health questions about full-body scanners

    A group of scientists from the University of California-San Francisco wrote the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, saying they fear that the scanners may expose the skin to high doses of X-rays that could increase the risk of cancer and other health problems, particularly among older travelers, pregnant women and people with weak immune systems

  • Russia plans to install explosives detectors in metro

    Russia will install explosive detectors in train stations in major cities; the sophisticated security system will be installed by 2014, and will feature security checkpoints at entrances in all transportation hubs, registration of all passengers, and ID-verified sales of tickets on all means of public transport, including inter-city buses

  • Dolphins, sea lions find explosives, cuff and restrain hostile divers

    The annual Golden Guardian homeland security and disaster preparedness exercise was an occasion for U.S. Navy-trained dolphins and sea lions to demonstrate their superior skills in locating underwater mines and hostile divers; the animals not only detect mines and divers in murky waters — they also demonstrated their dexterity in cuffing and restraining hostile divers while signaling for help from their human counterparts

  • BAE and Portendo join forces on IED detector

    The device aims a laser beam at a particular area suspected to hide an IED; the reflected light is collected by the apparatus and is analyzed using a Raman scattering method, which provides a unique molecular signature which can be compared against an explosives database; Raman spectroscopy has long been thought to hold promise for such applications, but it typically provides a very weak signal; until now

  • South Africa lax attitude to airport security worries FIFA

    South Africa promised FIFA that it would tighten security at airports ahead of the World Cup games which open in three weeks; investigative reporters proved that promise hollow when they managed easily to pass security checks on ten flights — out of the twenty they tried to board — in the country with steak knives, screwdrivers, razors, pairs of scissors, and even syringes in their luggage

  • Cobham develops more accurate, cost-effective landmine detector

    The Red Cross estimates that 60-100 million mines are in place in 62 countries, causing 800 deaths each month; clearing mines is an expensive proposition, averaging £1m/km2; much of this cost is owed to high number of false alarms from metal detectors; British company develops a dual-sensor mine detector that enables nearly 33 percent more land to be cleared within existing budgets

  • Drive-by sniffing out of homemade bomb factories

    Terrorists may not be safe for long — stealthily developing home-made explosives in their bath tubs; Swedish researchers are working on developing an explosive detection systems to be mounted atop police vehicles; the system would effectively monitor urban areas for possible bomb-making activities while on normal patrol; the system’s sensors would detect elevated levels of suspicious substances and then use integrated GPS technology to record the time and location the molecules are being emitted from

  • How to protect Times Square -- and other highly traveled areas

    New Yorkers were lucky that a T-shirt vendor notices the suspicious SUV left by Faisal Shazad in Times Square, but there are ways to improve on luck in trying to secure highly traveled areas; more coordinated CCTV system, blast-mitigation, and more call boxes are a few of the measures

  • Karachi airport screeners stop man wearing therapeutic vibro-shoes

    Pakistani airport security screeners stop a man wearing therapeutic vibro-shoes; X-ray operators were alarmed to note batteries and circuitry built into the soles of his shoes, but the gadgetry is meant to deliver soothing foot massage, not to explode a bomb

  • EU to lift ban of on-board liquids by 2013

    EU airports will be required to install new technology at checkpoints capable of detecting liquid explosives; the goal is to lift the ban on liquids taken on board by 2013; U.S. TSA has begun discussions with software companies about upgrading existing screening equipment so that it can detect liquid explosives

  • Hiding explosives in plain sight: Searchers thrown off by multiple targets

    Researchers find that one strategy a terrorist might adopt is to carry explosives on his body - and liquid jell in his luggage; screeners would likely spot the jell, ask the passenger-terrorist to discard it - and, subconsciously influenced by “satisfaction of search,” move on to screen the next passenger; the research suggests that security might be improved if the screeners worked in a space where they could not see how many travelers were waiting in line and therefore did not feel pressure to hurry with the searches

  • DHS IG identifies weaknesses in airport passenger screening

    DHS IG inspects the operation of advanced passenger scanning technologies in sixteen unnamed U.S. airport, and reports: “We identified vulnerabilities in the screening process at the passenger screening checkpoint at the eight domestic airports we conducted testing”

  • Scent of a man: Odor-killing machine for hunters may aid terrorists

    A Texas-based company has developed a device for hunters which eliminates human odor, thus allowing hunters to get much closer to their prey unnoticed; trouble is, the same device may be used by terrorists to destroy the odor of explosives, thus allowing them to evade bomb-sniffing dogs at airports