• Iraqis use "magic wand" at checkpoints to detect explosives; U.S. officer: this is "laughable"

    The Iraqi government has spent tens of millions of U.S. aid dollars to buy thousands of “magic wands” which are supposed to detect explosives at checkpoints; one American officer says the device works “on the same principle as a Ouija board”; another officer says that to believe the claims of the British company which is selling the device, and of the Iraqi authorities that swear by it, “would be laughable” — except that people are dying as a result; “[the company and Iraqi government have] crossed an insupportable line into moral depravity” he says

  • Gait-recognition biometric technology to help soldiers manning checkpoints

    SET Corporation is developing a technology which directs low-power radar beams at people — who can be 50 yards or more away; early research indicates that this method could one day be augmented with video-analysis software that spots bombers by discerning subtle differences in gait that occur when people carry heavy objects

  • 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

  • Robot fish could monitor water quality

    Michigan State University researchers develop robots that use advanced materials to swim like fish to probe underwater environments; robotic fish — perhaps schools of them operating autonomously for months — could give researchers far more precise data on aquatic conditions, and the quality — and security — of the water supply

  • New airport security scanners raise concerns

    Canada’s privacy watchdog said it agreed with federal authorities that full-body scans should be used at Canada’s airports; security personnel would be in a separate room while viewing the image and would never come in contact with the person being screened

  • New high-precision chemical detector to be commercialized

    A start-up launched by the University of Delaware is preparing to commercialize a high-precision detector — a planar-array infrared spectrograph — that can identify biological and chemical agents in solids, liquids, and gases present at low levels in less than a second

  • Washington State will put seismic sensors on viaduct

    Alaskan Way Viaduct in Washington State is crumbling, but it still carries more than 100,000 cars per day, and remains the city’s second-busiest north-south arterial after Interstate 5; until a $4.2 billion replacement project opens in 2015, the state will place sensors that on the viaduct which will close the elevated roadway at the first sign of seismic activity

  • New tool detects -- and neutralizes -- pathogens in mail

    Using the mail as a tool for bioterror attacks may or may not kill many people, but it will paralyze a company or an organization; the psychological damage is incalculable; new tool offers mail-room protection

  • New device to "smell" human fear

    City University London’s researchers launch a project aims to develop two sensor systems that can detect the unique chemical signature of the fear pheromone, assessing the stress of an individual and interpreting it in security-critical contexts

  • New method takes 0.2 second to test for explosive liquids

    German scientists develop a novel nanoelectronic device which uses electromagnetic radiation to identify explosive liquids, or liquid components for the fabrication of explosives, in usual plastic bottles almost instantly

  • DARPA seeking to improve bio-threat detectors

    The agency is requesting proposals for a device that would enable faster, more accurate detection of a broad range of biological agents; DARPA hopes to create a biosensor that would identify viral and bacterial threats, and do so using a natural first-line of defense: human antibodies

  • NRC rejects Westinghouse's new nuclear reactor design

    In what must be seen as a setback for the nuclear power industry, the NRC said that a key component of Westinghouse’s new reactor design might not withstand events like earthquakes and tornadoes

  • Landslide detector to be developed

    Researchers are working in developing an early-warning acoustic sensor for the detection of landslides; current devices available for the early detection of slope failures are costly and technically limited

  • Reveal Imaging awarded $3.9 million for personnel inspection system

    The company said it plans to use multiple sensor technologies and automation to avoid the need for human operators to separate threats from harmless objects using multiple monitors

  • A terrorist nuclear attack on the U.S. is a "preventable catastrophe"

    Graham Allison assesses the likelihood of a terrorist nuclear attack on the United States — and offers the “Doctrine of Three No’s” to prevent such an attack; the central points of this doctrine: “No unsecured nuclear weapons and weapons-usable material”; “no new national capabilities to enrich uranium or reprocess plutonium” and “no expansion of the nuclear club beyond its current 8.5 members”