• Taser death leads to $10 million payout

    The manufacturer of police Tasers recently awarded $10 million to a North Carolina family after a teenager was killed when he was shocked with a stun gun; Darryl Turner, a seventeen year old boy, died in a supermarket after a police officer shot him in the chest with a Taser Model X26 electronic control device in 2008

  • Detecting fake Web sites

    A team of researchers develop a new — and more reliable — way to detect fake Web sites; the team developed five categories with thousands of cues, finding that the best results were attained when utilizing thousands of highly visible and also deeply embedded cues, such as placement, URL length, the number of links, characters types on the site and how thorough the site’s “frequently asked questions” section is detailed, among other features

  • Gwinnet County, Georgia to issue instant e-tickets

    In the past, in Gwinnet County, Georgia, like in many counties across the United States, residents would not see a traffic ticket on their records until several weeks later, but now thanks to new technology, police officers, fire marshals, and animal control agents will be able to issue and print citations immediately

  • Taser, Metal Storm collaborate on less lethal ammunition

    TASER International has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Metal Storm Limited and to develop and market TASER less-lethal ammunition for the Metal Storm MAUL weapon; Metal Storm’s MAUL weighs 800 grams can be fitted as an accessory to an assault rifle, or operated from its own shoulder stock or pistol grip attachments

  • Next generation firewall market to grow 24 percent annually through 2014

    The global next-generation firewall market will grow at a CAGR of 24 percent over the period of 2010-14; the market is currently being driven by the increasing number and intensity of security threats on the Web

  • Water purification unit generates its own energy

    A new biological water purification facility developed by Siemens generates enough methane gas to power its own operations; it also produces much less sludge than conventional systems; the test facility is mlocated in Singapore, and the city state is building a much larger pilot facility — one that will process 300 times more effluent than its predecessor, or about as much sewage water as is produced by around 1,000 people

  • Heathrow deploys face-recognition scanners

    Heathrow Airport is deploying facial recognition scanners at two of the airport’s terminals; the technology aims to help prevent a scenario in which an international passenger swaps tickets with a domestic passenger in the departure lounge

  • Anthrax vaccine program demonstrates 36 month product stability

    Maryland-based PharmAthene has achieved an important program milestone in its recombinant protective antigen (rPA) anthrax vaccine program, and demonstrated thirty-six month stability of its rPA drug product candidate; the data suggest that the rPA product candidate is both highly stable and potent; stability has historically been a stumbling block for other recombinant anthrax vaccine programs

  • The economic costs of natural disasters

    It appears that the verdict is still on out on the economic effects of natural disasters with researchers reaching diverging conclusions on the matter; New Zealand’s economy has actually grown 0.8 percent in the first quarter of this year, despite the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that rocked Christchurch, New Zealand in February; New Zealand may have escaped with little economic repercussions, but studies show that this is not always the case with natural disasters

  • Private contractors outnumber government security two to one

    A recent survey found that the number of private security contractors outnumber police officers two to one around the world; in some countries, the difference between private security contractors and law enforcement officials is even more significant; the report also noted several critical emerging issues as a result of the increasing use of private contractors including oversight, the role of government, and concerns for public safety

  • Biometrics for Indian cabs

    Officials at India’s New Delhi International Airport will soon begin using biometrics to monitor taxi drivers; the move comes after a Saudi businessman was abducted and murdered by two cab drivers in 2008

  • L-1 Identity, Safran merger given green light

    The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) recently gave the go ahead to French defense firm Safran SA to close its bid for L-1 Identity for $1.6 billion

  • BVS combats jail cell phone smuggling

    Prisons across the United States are struggling to prevent cell phones from falling into inmates’ hands; in 2010 more than 10,000 contraband cell phones were confiscated from inmates in California prisons; to help officials crack down on these contraband items, Berkeley Varitronics Systems has developed a suite of sophisticated cell phone detectors that can “sniff” out phones even when they are hidden in the most obscure places

  • Immigration and the Aussie resources boom

    Australian businesses claim that unless overseas migration into Australia is kept at 180,000 people a year or higher, there will not be enough skilled workers to meet employer requirements and to sustain the country’s aggregate economic growth; a new study challenges many of the assumptions reinforcing the arguments for continued high levels of immigration, and shows that Australia’s economic growth can be maintained with overseas migration at 90,000 people a year

  • PositiveID releases groundbreaking new biothreat detector

    PositiveID Corporation recently unveiled its new Multiplex BioThreat Assay, which the company says is the first of its kind; according to PostiveID, its latest device is the first commercially available detector that can diagnose up to six bio-threat organisms in the Centers for Disease Control’s category A and B lists in a far shorter time than existing methods