• Using quantum physics to make better detectors

    MIT researcher shows how entanglement, a peculiar property of quantum physics, may be harnessed for surveillance systems which are as much as a million times more efficient than existing systems

  • Studying Osama bin Laden's audio tapes

    University of California, Davis researcher is studying more than 1,500 audiotapes seized in Afghanistan in 2001; the tapes are recording of conversations from the late 1960s through 2000 among bin Laden and more than 200 of his associates

  • France delays Big Brother database

    The French government, in an effort to fight crime and juvenile delinquency, launched a police database aimed at gathering information on suspects as young as thirteen; civil libertarian groups protested the scope of the information to be gathered, and the government, for now, has relented

  • Russian army adopts new reconnaissance drones

    The Russian army has ordered a large number of Tipchak UAV systems from Vega Radio Engineering Corp.; the UAVs will serve in intelligence gathering, but company president says: “Our next project is the development of an attack drone based on the current design”

  • U.S. gets a C grade in WMD report

    A blue ribbon panel of former high security official says terrorism threat remains real, and that the U.S. government’s efforts to counter WMD threats leave much to be desired

  • Rethinking strategy for finding bin Laden

    The effort to bring Osama bin Laden to justice has so far failed; there are many reasons for that: Half-hearted efforts by the Pakistani authorities; failure to win the hearts and minds of tribal leaders in Pakistan’s Northwest Territories; limits Pakistan imposed on direct U.S. action inside Pakistan; the invasion of Iraq, which consumed vast resources which otherwise would have been invested in the effort against al-Qaeda; and more; U.S., Pakistan, are now rethinking the strategy

  • Canada replaces Sperwer UAV with Heron, Skylark

    The Canadian military has spent more than a quarter billion dollars on the French-built Sperwer UAV over the past five years; the military has concluded that the Israeli-built Heron and Skylark would provide Canadian troops in Afghanistan with better protection

  • Forecast: AeroVironment Warms Up

    AeroVironment reports its first quarterly earnings numbers for fiscal 2009 today; the tiny UAV company has proven its competitiveness over bigger hitters in its, well, airspace

  • U.S. start-up develops uncloneable RFID chips

    Silicon Valley start-up says it has developed RFID chips which cannot be cloned; the company uses technology called Physically Unclonable Functions (PUF) which was developed by researchers at MIT

  • 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

  • Protecting wireless sensor networks

    Detecting compromised sensors in a wireless sensor network is of vital importance to homeland security as well as for successfully tracking natural events with the potential to devastate cities; by countering sabotage, false alarms that waste response efforts could be minimized in times of impending crisis

  • Analyzing shadows to catch terrorists

    NASA scientist says that one way to catch terrorists is by marrying space-based surveillance with gait analysis biometrics: By analyzing the movements of human shadows in aerial and satellite footage it should be possible to identify people from the way they walk

  • Environment-friendly spook: Solar-powered UAV breaks endurance record

    Qinetiq’s Zephyr high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) aircraft flies for 82 hours and 37 minutes

  • 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

  • U.K. start-up to demo serious flying robo-saucer in 2009

    Innovative British company will demonstrate a robotic flying saucer next year; the hovering craft is based on the Coanda effect, and will be of help to soldiers and first responders in urban settings