• New explosives detectors: sniffer mice

    An Israeli company is training mice to sniff explosives; mice beat dogs for olfactory talent, and by much more than a nose: dogs have 756 olfactory receptor genes, while mice have 1,120, resulting in a more acute sense of smell; unlike dogs, which are often trained for explosives and drugs detection, mice do not require constant interaction with their trainers or treats to keep them motivated

  • TSA halts private security screener program

    In an about face, the TSA has halted its private screening program at airports; last December the TSA declared that it was neutral on the program, however last Friday the TSA denied an airport in Missouri its request for private screeners and declared that it would reject all incoming proposals; Representative John Mica, a vocal advocate for the program, was shocked to hear of TSA’s new plan and promised to launch an investigation into the matter; currently less than twenty airports use private security screeners

  • Syracuse mayor determined to use private contractors at airport

    With more than 100 police officers working overtime at the Syracuse airport, the average cost to the city, after salary, pension costs, and Social Security taxes amounts to $63 an hour per officer; the city mayor says that high air fares from the major air carriers affiliated with Syracuse’s Hancock International Airport are mostly due to security costs — and one way to reduce these costs is to replace the officers with a private sector contractor

  • Air laser will sniff bombs, pollutants from great distance

    Princeton University engineers have developed a new laser-sensing technology that may allow soldiers to detect hidden bombs from a distance and scientists better to measure airborne environmental pollutants and greenhouse gases; the new technique differs from previous remote laser-sensing methods in that the returning beam of light is not just a reflection or scattering of the outgoing beam; it is an entirely new laser beam generated by oxygen atoms whose electrons have been “excited” to high energy levels

  • Handlers' beliefs affect explosive- and drug-sniffing dog performance

    Drug- and explosives-sniffing dog/handler teams’ performance is affected by human handlers’ beliefs, possibly in response to subtle, unintentional handler cues; a new study found that detection-dog/handler teams erroneously “alerted,” or identified a scent, when there was no scent present more than 200 times — particularly when the handler believed that there was scent present

  • U.S. urged to update chem-bio defense efforts

    A new report highlights one of the major problems in preparing defenses against chemical and biological (CB) agents: “Given the inherent secrecy with which states and other actors will conduct CB agent development, adversary programs could acquire new CB agents years before U.S. defense planners recognize those agents—- And, after the U.S. intelligence community recognizes those CB agents as threats, the United States will probably need many more years to establish a comprehensive defense against them. Such gaps in CB agent defense capabilities pose a potentially serious risk to U.S. military operations”

  • Medical isotopes could be made without a nuclear reactor

    Canadian researchers are racing to perfect a safe, clean, inexpensive, and reliable method for making isotopes used in medical-imaging and diagnostic procedures — a method which would not require a nuclear reactor and could, therefore, eliminate future shortages of technetium-99m, the most widely used medical isotope today; what is more, the new method generates virtually no radioactive waste materials that must be stored indefinitely

  • Missing vial of VX nerve agent causes Army base lockdown

    VX is an amber-colored, odorless, tasteless oily liquid that evaporates very slowly, almost like motor oil; one of the most lethal chemical weapons agents ever synthesized, it can be absorbed through the skin or inhaled as a vapor; VX affects the body’s ability to carry messages through the nerves, causing rapid death by paralysis; the U.S. Army’s Dugway Proving Ground in Utah was locked down over night — with between 1,200 and 1,400 people inside the facility — after a small vial of VX went missing; the missing vial was found at 3 a.m.; the base commander told reporters that the mishap resulted from VX liquid “misplaced into a different container that was improperly marked.”

  • New bomb detection tool: Ferns

    Researchers engineered fern proteins to turn airport plants into bomb detectors; the researchers rewrite the fern’s natural signaling process so the plant turns from green to white when chemicals are detected in air or soil

  • United States susceptible to Moscow-style bombing

    The TSA has invested $212 million to train hundreds of Behavioral Detection Officers (BDOs) in the Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) program; the program is supposed to train security personnel to notice suspicious behavior by people in crowds, but lawmakers and academics question its value

  • "Sniffer technology" may replace detection dogs

    Humans have approximately 5,000,000 sensory “smelling” cells, while certain breeds of dogs, such as the Alsation, can have up to 220,000,000; dogs trained for detection jobs are effective enough, but require much more maintenance than a machine — and researchers have just developed a sniffer machine which may well compete with dogs; the new device uses what is called quantum cascade (QC) lasers to detect any trace vapors of explosive material emitted by a passenger, without the passengers having to remove any article of clothing in the process

  • Enzyme provides protection against nerve gas

    Nerve agents disrupt the chemical messages sent between nerve and muscle cells, causing loss of muscle control, and ultimately leading to death by suffocation; protection against nerve gas attack is a significant component of the defense system of many countries around the world; nerve gases are used by armies and terrorist organizations, and constitute a threat to both the military and civilian populations, but existing drug solutions against them have limited efficiency; a multidisciplinary team of scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, succeeded in developing an enzyme that breaks down nerve agents efficiently before damage to nerves and muscles is caused

  • Sensors to detect explosives, monitor food

    University of Houston (UH) chemist and his team have developed materials for use in creating sensors for detection devices — able to monitor everything from explosives to tainted milk; the materials are based on what the team calls “the artificial receptor concept”: this is akin to an enzyme functioning as a biochemical catalyst within a cell, like an antibody, binding with specific molecules to produce a specific effect in the cell

  • Port radiation detectors not properly tested

    A new report by the National Academy of Sciences says that DHS officials responsible for defending against radiological and nuclear terror attacks did not properly test high-tech radiation detectors for use at the nation’s ports of entry

  • Materials for fertilizer bombs not regulated

    Mixtures of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil (ANFO) are used in about 80 percent of all explosives used in North America each year, mostly in the mining and demolition industries; they were also used by Timothy McVeigh in Oklahoma City, and in insurgents’ IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan; explosives-grade ammonium nitrate can be refined from commercial-grade fertilizers using processes readily found online; there are even YouTube videos that break down the process step by step; commercial grade fertilizers are not regulated; those states that address the issue typically require merchants to keep records of who buys what, but there are no limitations on who can buy what and no reporting requirements