• Market for counter-IED technologies growing

    Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are a significant threat in many conflict zones, most notably in Afghanistan and Iraq; the United States has spent billions of dollars on IED countermeasures, but still IEDs are a number one threat to U.S. military personnel in the theater; there is a large market for IED countermeasures and defense, with leading and developing countries worldwide investing steadily in those products

  • Boeing, Edison awarded part of $620 million to build smart grid

    The Department of Energy the other day awarded $620 million in funding for building a more efficient and resilient power grid

  • Experts call for changes in U.S. vaccine creation process

    The current U.S. vaccine-manufacturing plan was developed prior to the cold war, and has never been updated; currently, the United States grows its vaccines in eggs over the course of six to eight months, and as there has been no real financial incentive to upgrade the vaccine making process, pharmaceutical manufacturers have instead focused on more profitable medications rather than vaccines

  • U.S. grid-security measures may hurt Canadian companies

    The growing concern in the United States over the security of the national grid has lead to security measures — and proposed legislation — aiming to make the security of the grid more robust; trouble is, much of the U.S. electricity comes from Canada, and some of the contemplated security measures my disrupt transmission of power from across the border

  • Decode's demise raises privacy worries

    Icelandic company with genetic and medical records of thousands of customers closed its doors; the data might be sold on and end up in the hands of an unscrupulous company or individual

  • Pentagon looking for airborne IR sensor for ballistic missile defense

    The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has issued a request for information for airborne infrared (ABIR) sensor capable of fire-control-quality tracking of ballistic missiles at the end of the missiles’ boost phases

  • Senate panel approves food safety bill

    The Senate last week passed a new food safety bill which would impose user fees, allow mandatory recalls, set performance standards, and impose civil penalties; some business associations are uncomfortable

  • TSA considers repair station rule exemptions

    New TSA repair-shop proposal provides flexibility and recognizes differences between large and small shops, industry leaders believe, but those leaders also cautioned that many of the details of the requirements, and their impacts on small business, are still unclear

  • Trusted shippers program attracts drug smugglers

    The Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, or C-TPAT, program was supposed to list trusted shippers with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency, so that these shippers’ trucks would have to spend less time at border checkpoints; trouble is, drug traffickers know this, and they use the system to smuggle their shipments into the United States

  • Cumbria flood bridges facing safety checks

    Heavy rains in north-west U.K. cause six bridges in Cumbria to collapse; engineers are now examining the safety of the county’s 1,800 bridges; forty waste treatment works which have been put out of action, and 1,300 homes were flooded

  • Governments worry about more cases of drug-resistant H1N1

    Health officials in the United Kingdom and the United States report the likely person-to-person spread of a drug-resistant strain of H1N1; most patients thus far infected with the strain have already been immune-deficient

  • If disaster struck, most U.S. employees could not work remotely

    If major business interruptions — such as severe weather, mass illness, major road closings, or public transit strikes — occurred, the majority of employees in U.S. organizations could not work remotely

  • Using rope to fight pirates

    New antipiracy device uses compressed air to fire a plastic cylinder containing either a coiled rope or net up to a range of 400 meters; the coiled line of net or rope, which has a parachute attached to the end, will unravel and lay out across the surface of the water; as a pirate boat travels through the water its propeller shaft will pick up the line and become entangled

  • Axxana, a data storage and recovery specialist raises $9 million

    Axxana, an Israeli developer of data disaster recovery solutions, has raised $9 million in Series B funding; Carmel Ventures led the round, and was joined by return backers Gemini Israel Funds and serial investor Moshe Yanai

  • Gene synthesis companies establish measures to counter bioterrorism

    The five largest synthetic DNA companies will establish common security measures to prevent the use of synthetic DNA by bioterrorists; among other things, the “Harmonized Screening Protocol” will screen gene sequences against a regulated pathogen database