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Clorox announces plans to transition U.S. operations to high-strength bleach
In an important step toward better chemical plant safety, Clorox says it will begin modifying manufacturing processes in its U.S. bleach operations; the company will move from chlorine to high-strength bleach as a raw material for making its namesake bleach
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Black-market cigarettes could fund terrorism, RCMP fear
Canadian authorities worry that the booming black market trade in cigarettes could be used to finance terrorism; many Indian reservations are used as bases for the illicit trade
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First space hotel taking bookings for 2012 opening
Space tourism is nearing, with the first space hotel set to open in 2012; the Barcelona-based company is already taking bookings; the cost of three nights (plus a two-month training course on a Caribbean island beforehand) will be $4.4 million per guest
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CBP orders advanced cargo and customs screening from OSI
OSI’s Security division, Rapiscan Systems, has received approximately $29 million in orders from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to provide multiple units of its cargo and vehicle inspection solutions
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CSC wins DHS IT infrastructure and cyber security task order
CSC won a contract to provide information technology infrastructure and cyber support to the National Protection and Programs Directorate’s Office of Cyber Security and Communications; among other things, the company will design and build an expanded watch floor that will integrate national security capabilities from the U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team (US CERT) and the National Coordinating Center of the National Communications System
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M86 Security acquires Finjan
Acquisition adds enterprise-class secure Web gateway and hybrid SaaS solutions to M86’s Web and e-mail products; this is M86’s second acquisition in the last six months – in March 2009 acquisition of behavioral malware detection company Avinti, Inc.
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No acoustic detection system for Indianapolis housing project
The Indianapolis Housing Authority secured a $100,000 grant and the Department of Public Safety had awarded a contract ShotSpotter in July; the vendor backed out of the contract, the grant expired, and the deal fell apart
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IBM opens new business continuity facility in Izmir, Turkey
IBM has opened a new Business Continuity and Resiliency Services (BCRS) Center in Izmir, Turkey, replacing the former facility, which has been in operation since 1995; Big Blue operates more than 150 business resilience centers worldwide
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Growth trends in software security favor Beyond Encryption
Irish company specializing in developing software for protecting sensitive data stands to benefit from growth trends in the global security software market; most encryption products rely on the user having to remember a password to unlock their data; the approach of Beyond Encryption is to have access controlled by an administrator so that the data is protected wherever it goes
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New technology to boost food security
A scientist in the Philippines develops a new method for keeping food fresh; brine-immersion freezing, or BIF, allows fish and meat can be stored for two to three days in styrofoam boxes without using ice, and up to six months when stored in freezers or chillers
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H1N1-induced work-from-home may clog Internet
Telecommuting is a good idea — up to a point; if, as a result of a pandemic, too many people decide to work from home, this could threaten to overwhelm the Internet, rendering it useless as a way for communicating and conducting transactions vital to public safety and the economy
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Canadian farm exports snagged in world safety net
Canadian farm products have recently been banned in several countries, driving down prices at the farm gate; Canadians believe these restrictions have less to do with worries about food safety, and more to do with governments trying to placate the domestic farming sector in a recessionary period
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Obama's approach to illegal immigration has businesses worried
The Bush administration tried to reduce that number by trying to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the country; the Obama administration announced a new strategy: going after an illegal immigrant’s employer and its managers
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Vulnerability identified in Amazon's cloud computing
Researchers show that it is possible to find would-be victims within cloud hardware; cloud technologies use virtual machines — remote versions of traditional onsite computer systems; the number of these virtual machines can be expanded or contracted on the fly to meet demand, creating tremendous efficiencies — but the actual computing is performed within one or more physical data centers, creating troubling vulnerabilities
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More headlines
The long view
Are We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?
Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”
A Brief History of Federal Funding for Basic Science
Biomedical science in the United States is at a crossroads. For 75 years, the federal government has partnered with academic institutions, fueling discoveries that have transformed medicine and saved lives. Recent moves by the Trump administration — including funding cuts and proposed changes to how research support is allocated — now threaten this legacy.
Bookshelf: Preserving the U.S. Technological Republic
The United States since its founding has always been a technological republic, one whose place in the world has been made possible and advanced by its capacity for innovation. But our present advantage cannot be taken for granted.
Critical Minerals Don’t Belong in Landfills – Microwave Tech Offers a Cleaner Way to Reclaim Them from E-waste
E-waste recycling focuses on retrieving steel, copper, aluminum, but ignores tiny specks of critical materials. Once technology becomes available to recover these tiny but valuable specks of critical materials quickly and affordably, the U.S. can transform domestic recycling and take a big step toward solving its shortage of critical materials.
Microbes That Extract Rare Earth Elements Also Can Capture Carbon
A small but mighty microbe can safely extract the rare earth and other critical elements for building everything from satellites to solar panels – and it has another superpower: capturing carbon dioxide.