• Yeast Material Developed for Training First Responders on Biothreats

    First responders who train for emergencies involving threats from biological agents such as bacterial or viral pathogens, need to do so in a safe and careful manner. To help meet their needs, researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a reference material based on yeast cells.

  • Preparing More STEM Students for Careers in Nuclear Science and Security

    New funds will support efforts to educate and train the next generation of scientists and engineers and provide innovative solutions to challenges related to nuclear security.

  • The Cold War Legacy Lurking in U.S. Groundwater

    In America’s rush to build the nuclear arsenal that won the Cold War, safety was sacrificed for speed. ProPublica has cataloged cleanup efforts at the 50-plus sites where uranium was processed to fuel the nation’s nuclear arsenal. Even after regulators say cleanup is complete, polluted water and sickness are often left behind.

  • Low-Cost Sensor Records the Level of Rivers

    Researchers have developed a method that allows the water level of rivers to be monitored around the clock. The cost-effective sensor is for instance suitable for area-wide flood warning systems.

  • Zaporizhzhia: What Would Be the Consequences of an Accident?

    Although it’s impossible to say for sure what consequences an accident at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant might have on human health in the environment nearby, experts can make some predictions.

  • What Would Happen If a Nuclear Bomb Was Used in Ukraine?

    Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and meltdowns at the Chernobyl and Fukushima power plants clearly affected people’s health. But experts say it’s hard to predict the fallout from a nuclear war today.

  • Sensor Technology Detects Fires Before They Start

    Fire alarms generally operate by detecting the presence of smoke, open flame, or higher-than-normal levels of carbon monoxide. Such indicators, however, are byproducts of a fire once it has already started. By using functional nanomaterials-based fire sensor technology, researchers hope to take a step forward from existing detection methods.

  • Mobile Data Collected While Traveling Over Bridges Could Help Evaluate Their Integrity

    A new study suggests mobile data collected while traveling over bridges could help evaluate their integrity.

  • Seismic Sensing Reveals Flood Damage Potential

    Rapidly evolving floods are a major and growing hazard worldwide. Currently, their onset and evolution are hard to identify using existing systems. Seismic sensors already in place to detect earthquakes could be a solution to this problem.

  • The Next Generation of Explosives Trace Detection is Here

    Launched in fiscal year 2020, NextGen Explosives Trace Detection (ETD) expands the scope of aviation checkpoints technology, resulting in the advancement of technologies that can quickly and accurately collect and analyze samples in a variety of ways, including from direct contact with the subject, non-contact sampling via vapors, and even through barriers.

  • Identifying and Neutralizing New Explosive Threats

    The IED threats from insurgent characterized the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but now the U.S. military is focusing on neutralizing bombs and mines that it could face in future conflicts against more advanced adversaries. DSI October 2022 EOD/IED & Countermine Symposium will highlight current initiatives toward identifying and neutralizing explosive threats to the homeland and critical infrastructure.

  • New System Could Provide Early Warning of Whakaari Eruption Risk

    Kiwi volcanologists and engineers have finished testing an automated system that provides a warning when an eruption on Whakaari (White Island) becomes more likely.

  • Iran Nuclear Weapons Breakout Time Remains at Zero

    A new report from the Institute for Science and International Security summarizes and assesses information in the (IAEA) quarterly safeguards report for 7 September 2022. The main finding: Iran’s breakout time, that is, the time between a political decision to produce a nuclear weapon and the completion of such weapon, remains at zero.

  • A Protein Could Prevent Chemical Warfare Attack

    A team of scientists has designed a synthetic protein that quickly detects molecules of a deadly nerve agent that has been classified by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruction and could be used in a chemical warfare attack.

  • Next Generation Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Alerting Technology

    DHS S&T concluded a proof-of-concept demonstration of the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) integration model. The model integrates next generation technologies with FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert Warning System (IPAWS) enabling alerting authorities to disseminate Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) with new capabilities.