Detection

Moths inspire explosives-hunting alorithim
Scent-tracking behavior provides a model for uncertain robot sniffers; Infotaxis algorithim developed by U.S. and U.K. researchers helps the robot develop and react to a “probability map”; exploration and exploitation tendencies are coordinated
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Sandia looks to the terahertz spectrum for next-gen explosives detection
Sitting between microwave and infrarerd, terahertz has long been neglected; technology is already used to detect chemical compounds in space, and so researchers look to miniaturize the system and create a library of spectral signatures
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ScanTech wins Chesapeake Innovation Center contest
Company, developer of X-ray technology capable of detecting uranium, explosives, and drugs, wins $50,000 but declines to put down roots in Maryland; other finalists include TIRF Technologies, Armada Group, and Riverglass
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SET Corp. to marry radar-imaging to gait recognition technology
Virginia company’s CounterBomber is proven effective at identifying hidden weapons on moving individuals; addition of gait recognition will allow constant surveillance of suspects, as well as point out a few new ones as well
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Smiths Group plays its cards tight
Smiths Groups sells its aerospace division to GE for $4.8 billion, proposing investors a £2.1 billion return — and then forms a detection JV with that company, with both companies hopingt o benefit from increased spending on WMD dection
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ICRC delivers first responder vehicles to Michigan National Guard
Heavy-duty truck is first to incorporate IRCS’s national guard vehicle information system for interoperability and networking; flexible communications, NBS detection, and nighttime surveillance among the features of this interesting vehicle
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Implant Science explores teaming up with RAE's senor networks
Companies will discuss technology-sharing possibilities; RAE’s AreaRAE system looks to expand into the explosives detection business; ISC’s device identifies TNT, black powder, ammonium nitrate, and more
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New radiation countermeasure to be tested on humans
As worries about radiation attack by terorists — whether on a large scale, or for the killing of a single individual, as was the case in the recent London poisioning of Alexander Litvinenko — the FDA approves human trials of new radiation countermeasure from a Minnesota company
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Bruker Daltonics wins $1.7 million Army contract
RAID-M chemical weapons detectors already a hit with German and Danish forces; devices will support the National Guard WMD Civil Support Teams’ Analytical Laboratory System
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DHS releases 2007 state and municipal grant funding levels
Urban Areas Security Initiative and Citizen Corps Program receive mild funding boosts; other programs see minor losses; DHS gives risk assessment the old college try
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Colorado researcher to test natural mustard gas cure
Milk thistle has shown remarkable ability to prevent skin cancer; $2.7 million contract will explore whether similar mechanism may obtain for mustard gas exposure; researcher hopes to create an ointment to be applied post-attack
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UPDATE: NNSA chief fired for Los Alamos security lapses
Linton Brooks gets the axe after a series of breaches expose the weakness of lab cyber-security; failure to do away with removable storage devices in weapons-related computers cited; Energy Department starts the hunt for a replacement
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SAIC wins $53 million deal to move WMD models on-line
Integrated Weapons of Mass Destruction Toolset has been in development since 2004; moving on-line critical to dispersing data to first responders; physics-based models assess terrain, wind patterns, and other factors
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Michigan professor offers polymerase assay for fifty pathogens
Portable, polymerase-based, hand-held device relies on a DNA biochip; flexibility a major selling point; field testing to be done by university spin-off AquaBioChip
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SRI wins 9.5 million NIH contract to counteract chemical attacks
Contract awarded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke as part of the CounterACT program; SRI to focus on preclinical development that can lead to potential therapeutic candidates
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