• RECONNAISSANCEHow Reliable and Robust Is Human Ability to Recognize Suspicious Activity?

    Security procedures at large public venues and transportation hubs rely upon vigilant and engaged security officers who are tasked, in part, with timely and appropriate responses to suspicious behavior of potential hostile actors. But how capable are individuals at detecting suspicious behavior?

  • ANOMALIESBolstering Security by Detecting Hidden Anomalies

    The ability to assess deviations from expected movement requires a deep characterization of normal activity across times of day, days of the week, weeks of the year as well as across different types of people. Current human mobility modeling techniques can provide high-level insight into human movement for the study of disease spread or population migration, but they don’t provide the complex, fine-grained modeling the Intelligence Community (IC) needs to identify more subtle anomalies with confidence.

  • DetectionData science improves lie detection

    Someone is fidgeting in a long line at an airport security gate. Is that person simply nervous about the wait? Or is this a passenger who has something sinister to hide? Even highly trained Transportation Security Administration (TSA) airport security officers still have a hard time telling whether someone is lying or telling the truth – despite the billions of dollars and years of study that have been devoted to the subject. Researchers are using data science and an online crowdsourcing framework called ADDR (Automated Dyadic Data Recorder) to further our understanding of deception based on facial and verbal cues.

  • Cow avoidanceAutomated, real-time automobile cow-avoidance device

    India has the second largest road network in the world, and a large number of traffic accidents: 1 in 20,000 people die there in a road traffic accident, and 12 in 70,000 are seriously injured in such accidents. India also has a large number of cows roaming streets and roads, and a large number of incidents in which cars run into loitering cows. India researchers have developed a real-time automatic obstacle detection and alert system which determines whether an object near the vehicle is an on-road cow and whether or not its movements represent a risk to the vehicle. If the cow poses a risk to the vehicle, an audio or visual indicator then alerts the driver to apply the brakes.

  • DetectionUsing sound waves to spot cracks in pipes, aircraft engines, and nuclear power plants

    Researchers have developed a system for using sound waves to spot potentially dangerous cracks in pipes, aircraft engines, and nuclear power plants. The system is a model for a form of non-destructive testing (NDT), which uses high-frequency mechanical waves to inspect structure parts, and ensure they operate reliably, without compromising their integrity. It will be developed further and could potentially also have applications in medical imaging and seismology.

  • DetectionCutting the costs of night vision, thermal imaging

    Presently, night vision and thermal imagers are costly, in part because they are made with specialty semiconductor devices or need isolation from the environment.. Researchers have created an electronic device with affordable technology that detects electromagnetic waves to create images at nearly ten terahertz, which is the highest frequency for electronic devices. The device could make night vision and heat-based imaging affordable. The device is created using Schottky diodes in Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) technology.

  • DetectionWi-Fi signals enable through-wall detection

    Engineers prove the concept that local Wi-Fi signals can be used to monitor moving objects and bodies that are otherwise visually obscured. Although fundamentally similar to traditional radar systems, their novel approach is entirely passive — utilizing the wireless signals that already swamp our urban airways. This technology has a wide range of applications from healthcare monitoring, security and emergency disaster relief, to finding earthquake survivors in fallen buildings.

  • DetectionImproved terahertz technology to benefit passenger screening, food inspection, MRIs

    Researchers are developing new terahertz detectors based on carbon nanotubes that could lead to significant improvements in medical imaging, airport passenger screening, food inspection and other applications.Historically, the terahertz frequency range — which falls between the more conventional ranges used for electronics on one end and optics on another — has presented great promise along with vexing challenges for researchers.A major problem is that the photonic energy in the terahertz range is much smaller than for visible light, and currently there are nota lot of materials to absorb that light efficiently and convert it into an electronic signal.The researchers say there is a need to solve this technical problem to take advantage of the many beneficial applications for terahertz radiation.

  • 3D printed firearmsSecurity agencies concerned about plastic guns

    The Undetectable firearms Act of 1988, which makes it illegal to manufacture, import, sell, ship, deliver, process, transfer, or receive a firearm which is not detectable by walk-through metal detection, is set to expire on 9 December 2013. If Congress fails to reauthorize the law, plastic guns will no longer require metal components which are detectable by metal detectors. “When these 3D firearms are manufactured, some of the weapons can defeat normal detection such as metal detectors, wands, and it could present a problem to public safety in a venue such as an airport, an arena, a courthouse,” says ATF assistant director Richard Marianos.

  • AviationGAO says TSA’s costly behavioral detection program falls short

    The Government Accountability Office(GAO) said last week that DHS may have wasted $1 billion on the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) program. SPOT aims to spot terrorists by detecting “anomalous” or suspicious behavior. The anomalous behavior – perspiration, fidgeting, restlessness – is supposed to be the result of high levels of stress, fear, or deception. Individuals who exhibit anomalous behavior are subject to additional security screening.

  • DetectionDetecting threats in a crowd

    Around a military camp situated close to a built-up area there are always people moving about. Scientists at FOI, the Swedish Defense Research Agency, have created a multi-sensor system designed to be able to detect threats by identifying unusual patterns of movement involving individuals or groups.

  • Radiation riskRadiation dose passengers receive from airport scanners is low

    An independent task force examining X-ray backscatter scanners at LAX airport determines that that people absorb less radiation from airport X-ray backscatter scanner than they do while standing in line waiting for the scan.

  • A toxic gas detecting wristband for first responders

    To protect first responders from deadly toxic gases that are invisible to the human eye, Morphix Technologies has developed the Chameleon chemical detection wrist band

  • Rapiscan to develop advanced nuke detection tech for DHS

    DHS’ Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) recently awarded Rapiscan Systems a contract worth as much as $7 million to develop advanced new technologies to address the nation’s most pressing challenges in detecting nuclear materials

  • DetectionBrain, not eyes, performs near-optimal visual search

    In the wild, mammals survive because they can see and evade predators lurking in the shadowy bushes; this ability translates to the human world — Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screeners can pick out dangerous objects in an image of our messy and stuffed suitcases