-
AMTI to lead TOPOFF-4 exercises
Company defeats Northrop and Lockheed in winning the $24 million contract; planning for the ten day event will take eighteeen months; bid accepted on the strength of AMTI’s presentation, as well as on strong performance in earlier TOPOFF events
-
-
Air Force frequency jams Denver garage door openers
Emergency band shares frequency with remote control devices; altitude at Cheyenne Mountain means thousands effected; Air Force will try to tweak transmission, otherwise Denverites will have to buy new garage door openers
-
-
Prepared Response to protect Huntington Library
Deal makes a significant foray into the private market; Rapid Responder, company’s crisis management software, already a hit among emergency response agencies
-
-
FSSCC warns that "work at home" may strain emergency telecommunications
Banking and securities industry is extremely reliant on the nation’s communications networks, but remote labor may bring down an already injured system
-
-
Indian business continuity market on the rise
IBM leads the way in this tech-happy country beset with natural disasters and a lingering terrorist threat; China and Japan are said to lag behind their Asian neighbors; Malaysia and Hong King are ripe targets
-
-
LWG releases corrosion retardant for circuit boards and equipment
Product a boon to health and communications personnel; application keeps equipment in shape until repairs can be made; salvage value of components is maintained in case the damage is irreperable
-
-
Critics get tough on emergency preparedness drills
High cost a major factor, especially when real-life consistently befuddles even the most exercised of agencies; consultants often sell cookie-cutter drills of little value; after-action anlaysis is often more important than the program itself
-
-
The MEDSI project offers scalable, efficient crisis management tool
Information sharing and improved coordination are key to a successful effort to mitigate and contain the consequences of a terorist act or natural disaster; MEDSI offers crisis managers a useful tool
-
-
Japanese tsunami alert system proves itself after recent earthquake
Thousands take heed of televised warnings to head to higher ground; system relies on hundreds of seismographs and marine sensors; government officials have the power to automatically turn on home televison sets to warn citizenry
-
-
SPRUCE system permits emergency supercomputing
Scientists need access to TeraGrid computers in order to predict dangerous weather patterns; once notified by an emergency call, computers and servers linked into the SPRUCE system preempt less-critical work
-
-
Buffalo researchers use nano-sensors to locate power outages
Technology will save utilities from block to block searches for downed wires; nanosensors monitor any electrical system that runs on 120 volts — including refrigerators, freezers, home theatre systems, and even home medical systems
-
-
Sealegs unveils new emergency rescue amphibious craft
Crushing demand for the fiberglass ARC forces the company to open a larger factory; at a price of $58,850, Sealegs sees a great opportunity in the American homeland security market
-
-
New England planners look to athenahealth to track epidemic health outcomes
Exercise at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center will test an Internet-based approach to handling patient care; ability to provide surge capacity and manage patient records key factors; athenaNet platform supports the system
-
-
FEMA rapped for failure to maintain emergency housing units
$4 million in units have been rendered unihabitable after officials at an Arkansas storage facility failed to properly store them; Trimarro’s modular homes the biggest victim, in large part due to FEMA’s failure to require proper weather-resistant containers; tarping seen as futile
-
-
ManTech wins DHS iCAV management contract
Company will build out and integrate the geospatial mapping system intended to provide real-time data on natural and man-made disasters
-
The long view
Faster-Developing, Wetter Hurricanes to Come
Climate change sets the stage for hurricanes to rapidly intensify faster, bringing wetter storms to the U.S. Atlantic Coast and other coastlines. A warmer world heightens the risk of flooding.
It Is Double Trouble When Two Disasters Strike the Electrical Transmission Infrastructure
One natural disaster can knock out electric service to millions. A new study suggests that back-to-back disasters could cause catastrophic damage, but the research also identifies new ways to monitor and maintain power grids. The study, using AI, highlights the fragility of power grid networks.
The “Cassandra of the Subways” on Hurricane Sandy, Ten Years Later
Starting in the 1990s, geophysicist Klaus Jacob started warning publicly that New York could eventually see a catastrophic storm abetted by climate change. From 2008 to 2019, he served on the New York City Panel on Climate Change, a scientific body that informs the city’s efforts to adapt infrastructure to changing climate. Most famously, he produced eearily precise projectionof where the subways would flood.
Hydropower Delivers Electricity, Even During Lengthy Droughts
The megadrought in the Southwestern United States is the driest—and longest—in the last 1,200 years, depleting water reservoir levels to critically low levels over the past 22 years. Droughts particularly impact hydroelectric power dams as well as some thermoelectric power plants that require large amounts of water for cooling. But a new report suggests that the relationship between drought and hydroelectric power is more nuanced than it might seem. Drought-strained hydropower sustains 80 percent average power generation capacity.
Method for Decoding Asteroid Interiors Could Help Aim Asteroid-Deflecting Missions
Knowing how the density is distributed inside an asteroid could help scientists plan the most effective defense. For instance, if an asteroid were made of relatively light and uniform matter, a DART-like spacecraft could be aimed differently than if it were deflecting an asteroid with a denser, less balanced interior. Astronomers have found a way to determine an asteroid’s interior structure based on how its spin changes during a close encounter with Earth.
Why Not Use Space Mirrors for Reflecting Sunlight to Cool the Planet?
Given the potential consequences of climate change and a danger of reaching irreversible “tipping points,” there is an argument to be made that all options should be carefully considered. Sending giant mirrors into space to reflect solar radiation away from the Earth is one such option. The problem is that the many such geoengineering approaches have been so taboo that there is not enough information from researchers to definitively decide what options are still viable.