• Day of smart fabrics nears

    Researchers report progress toward a simple, low-cost method to make smart fabrics — electronic textiles capable of detecting diseases, monitoring heart rates, and other vital signs

  • New chemical contamination wipe developed

    New, nonwoven dry wipe material proves itself in cleaning up chemical warfare agents and toxic chemicals

  • Day of 4G technology -- mobile WiMax -- nears

    Clearwire and Sprint Nextel completes transaction to combine their next-generation wireless Internet businesses; companies announce $3.2 billion investment to launch 4G mobile Internet company

  • Briefly noted

    Feds get high marks for aviation security efforts…. Newest U.S. missile detection satellite may be failing… QinetIQ North America in $58 million TALON contract… Measuring effectiveness of emergency response

  • Video games as a training tool for first responders

    The U.S. video game market is booming — consumer spending for console and handheld games will reach $11.7 billion in 2012, a noticeable increase over the $8.6 billion in 2007 the firm recorded; within this market there is a small niche dedicated to training and education

  • Experts call for establishing near-earth asteroid surveillance network

    Scientists have identified almost 6,000 near-earth objects (NEOs) whose orbits intersect with the Earth’s; five-hundred to 1,000 NEOs have a diameter of over 150 kilometers

  • Making cloud computing safer

    As the cost and other benefits of cloud computing become apparent, more and more companies move parts of their infrastructure out of their data centers; there is a need, though, to think long and hard about disaster-proofing the cloud

  • Seattle successfully tests emergency response policy

    Can local public health providers can handle a major earthquake, pandemic flu, or some other really big disaster? King County, Washington, says it is ready

  • Can China's future earthquakes be predicted?

    To predict earthquakes, China relied on GPS data, which showed movements of two millimeters per year in certain areas of Szechwan province where a May 2008 earthquake killed 70,000 people (20,000 are still missing) and destroyed more than eight million homes; scientists examine a better way to predict disasters

  • Briefly noted

    Obama preparing comprehensive technology policy… Germans advance surveillance bill… Report warns incoming administration of of “future military failure”… Senator Clinton welcomes more than $18,000 for Long Island Fire Department

  • Google offers flu-tracking tool

    The tool developed by Google.org, the company’s philanthropic department, uses search terms that are commonly entered into the Internet to work out possible flu clusters

  • Harris to demonstrate innovative radios at ShakeOut

    Great Southern California ShakeOut is the largest-ever earthquake preparedness drill in the United States; the exercise, scheduled for tomorrow, 13 November, will model the effects of a magnitude 7.8 earthquake along the San Andreas Fault; Harris will demonstrate advanced systems for restoring first responder communication links

  • 1918 U.K. Spanish flu records help in solving future pandemics

    The 1918-19 Spanish flu killed more than fifty million people worldwide; Aussie scientists study record of the flu out break in the United Kingdom in search for answers about the pandemic quick spread and lethality

  • DHS releases FY2009 guidance for $3 billion worth of grants

    FEMA requests applications for 14 programs for which it has allocated $3 billion; funded programs concentrate on state and local governments and strengthening community preparedness

  • Earthquake's trampoline effect

    During earthquakes the ground not only shakes from side to side, but also bounces up and down; this has important implications for designing quake-proof structures