Infrastructure protection

Using cell phones to predict floods
Researchers show that variations in microwave transmissions, specifically those used to connect up cell towers, can be used to measure humidity and thus predict flooding
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Experts: local and regional approach better for addressing radioactive waste
The Obama administration has stopped funding for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, so experts say it is now time for a regional and local approach to solving the nuclear waste problem
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Smith & Wesson moves into perimeter security market
Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation to acquire Universal Safety Response, Inc. (USR); USR is the creator of the GRAB vehicle safety barrier; the move expands S&W’s revenue base into commercial, non-firearms categories
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Pervious concrete may eliminate need for storm drains
A Minnesota town experiments with a new concrete paving method that lets rainwater pass right through the street surface to prevent damaging runoff
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Hiding buildings from earthquakes
The seismic waves of an earthquake fall into two main groups: body waves that propagate through the Earth, and surface waves that travel only across the surface; invisibility cloaks could be used to make buildings invisible to surface waves
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House panel votes for mandating safer technology at chemical plants
In a setback to the chemical industry, the House Homeland Security Committee approved a bill yesterday that could make chemical facilities use safer technologies and open them to civil lawsuits when they violate regulations
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Building sturdier structures in hurricane-prone areas
The hurricane season is upon us; an architecture professor offers tips on how to build — and how not to build — sturdier structures in hurricane-prone regions
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Chemical industry urges Congress not to alter chemical facility security law
The Chemical Facility Security Act of 2006 introduced federal seafety standards to govern chemical plants, but also contained major concessions to the industry; the industry wants Congress to reauthorize the act without alterations
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Palestinians in Gaza try to build new foundations from the ruins of old ones
Tight Israeli and Egyptian economic blockade of the Gaza Strip prevents building materials from entering the Hamas-controlled area; Gazans have come up with ingenious ways of rebuilding their city
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GPO reveals confidential U.S. nuclear information by mistake
A 2004 agreement between the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) requires the United States to submit to the agency a detailed list of the addresses and specifications of hundreds of U.S. nuclear-weapons-related facilities, laboratories, reactors, and research activities, including the location of fuel for bombs; the Department of Energy (DOE) prepared the report, and Government Printing Office (GPO) printed it so it could be submitted to the IAEA — but the GPO went ahead and, mistakenly, posted 268-page dossier on its Web site
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Sweden selects location for central nuclear waste repository
The Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository project now appears doomed, but in Sweden a location has been selected for that country’s central nuclear waste disposal site
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New flood warning system developed
Researchers from the United Kingdom and China develop a software-based flood warning system which takes into account both climate change and corresponding hydrological effects
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Flood-proofing New York City with storm barriers
New York City faces two problems with water: rising ocean level and surges created by hurricanes and Nor’easters; engineers propose a system of barriers to prevent New Orleans-like flooding
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Melting Greenland ice threatens northeast U.S., Canada
The melting of Greenland’s ice sheets is driving more and more water toward the already threatened coastlines of New York, Boston, Halifax, and other cities in the northeastern United States
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A fish called WANDA
Aussie researchers develop a robotic fish that can swim toward objects of interest to investigate; the Wireless Aquatic Navigator for Detection and Analysis (WANDA) is propelled by a flexible joint tail fin that is activated through artificial muscles made from a conducting polymer
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