• New sensor detects minute traces of explosives

    MIT chemical engineers develop a new sensor that can detect minute traces of explosives; the new sensors would be more sensitive than existing explosives detectors — those commonly used at airports, for example — which use spectrometry to analyze charged particles as they move through the air

  • New insect repellant may be thousands of times stronger than DEET

    The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been supporting a major interdisciplinary research project to develop new ways to control the spread of malaria by disrupting a mosquito’s sense of smell; as part of the project, Vanderbilt University researchers developed an insect repellant which is not only thousands of times more effective than DEET — the active ingredient in most commercial mosquito repellants — but also works against all types of insects, including flies, moths, and ants

  • Direct removal of carbon dioxide from air infeasible

    A group of experts looked at technologies known as Direct Air Capture, or DAC, which would involve using chemicals to absorb carbon dioxide from the open air, concentrating the carbon dioxide, and then storing it safely underground; they conclude that these technologies are unlikely to offer an economically feasible way to slow human-driven climate change for several decades

  • New anti-piracy tool: 1,000-participant Internet wargame

    The U.S. Navy is recruiting a community of more than 1,000 players from across the U.S. government to collaborate on solving real-world problems facing the U.S. Navy: high-seas piracy; the participants will be asked to suggest ways to combating piracy off the coast of Somalia

  • Search-and-rescue robot operators get better with practice

    Urban search and rescue (USAR) task forces are essential for locating, stabilizing, and extricating people who become trapped in confined spaces following a catastrophic event; sometimes the search area is too unstable for a live rescue team, so rescuers have turned to robots carrying video cameras; trouble is, research shows that more often than not, the human beings who remotely operate the robots have a view of their robot-control skills which is at variance with reality, causing robots to get stuck

  • U.S. agriculture escaped impacts of global warming -- for now

    Global warming is likely already taking a toll on world wheat and corn production, according to a new study led by Stanford University researchers, but the United States, Canada and northern Mexico have largely escaped the trend; the researchers found that global wheat production was 5.5 percent lower than it would have been had the climate remained stable, and global corn production was lower by almost 4 percent; Global rice and soybean production were not significantly affected

  • APDN helps prevent government use of fake microchips

    Applied DNA Sciences Inc. (APDN) recently announced that it is working with the U.S. government to prevent the use of counterfeit microchips in mission-critical hardware that can lead to potential life-threatening equipment failures; the company is launching a pilot program in conjunction with the government that is designed to ensure that phony microchips do not enter critical supply chains; with the growth of outsourcing and global production chains, pirated microchips have begun appearing in everything from cell phones to fighter jets; the New York based firm specializes in the development of plant based DNA markers that can be safely inserted into any material to ensure its authenticity

  • Phantom Ray completes maiden flight

    Phantom Ray, Boeing’s fighter-sized unmanned airborne system (UAS), took to the early morning skies on 27 April at Edwards Air Force Base in California for its maiden flight; Phantom Ray is one of several programs in Boeing’s Phantom Works division, including Phantom Eye, which is part of a rapid prototyping initiative to design, develop, and build advanced aircraft and then demonstrate their capabilities

  • Portable technology provides drinking water, power to villages, military

    Researchers have developed an aluminum alloy that could be used in a new type of mobile technology to convert non-potable water into drinking water while also extracting hydrogen to generate electricity; such a technology might be used to provide power and drinking water to villages and also for military operations

  • Michelin developing puncture-proof tires

    Michelin, the French tire manufacturer, has invented the “Tweel” which could make vehicles impervious to punctures or even explosions; The Tweel is a combination tire and wheel that infuses the best elements of both designs; the Tweel has no pneumatic rubber shell leaving nothing to deflate or puncture; the Tweel resembles a wagon wheel with polyurethane spokes and rubber for the treads, but is not entirely rigid as the spokes are flexible; despite these improvements in design, Tweels have several flaws that have kept them from being widely implemented

  • What past rises of sea levels tell us about future rises

    During a period of high atmospheric carbon dioxide levels three million years ago — the mid-Pliocene climate optimum — sea levels were anywhere between 15 and 100 feet higher than at present because water that is now locked up in glaciers as ice circulated freely through the oceans; by understanding the extent of sea level rise three million years ago, scientists hope more accurately to predict just how high the seas will rise in the coming decades and centuries due to global warming

  • U.K. universities accused of being "hotbeds of Islamic extremism"

    British universities have been accused of being fertile breeding grounds for violent extremism; a recent investigation by British MPs claims that Islamic fundamentalism has flourished at universities and school officials have done little to stop it; school officials have denied these charges and insist that the report is entirely lacking in factual evidence; university vice-chancellors said the parliamentary report conflates the fact that young people are susceptible to radicalization and that a very large percentage of young people in the United Kingdom attend universities

  • Homeland security solution competition

    HSTV announced its Ideas for a Secure Tomorrow awards — a video competition that seeks the best ideas for improving security at both the local and national level; entries are due by 1 August 2011

  • Study finds natural gas releases twice as much greenhouse gas as coal

    A new study shows that natural gas is not as environmentally friendly as previously thought, dealing a major blow to environmentalists who viewed it as a “bridge fuel” to cleaner energy alternatives; researchers found that the greenhouse-gas footprint of shale gas over a twenty year period was at least 20 percent higher than coal and could even be “more than twice as great”; the study was quick to draw criticism from oil and gas companies for its use of shoddy data; the study also outlines multiple ways that the oil and gas companies could reduce methane emissions by up to 90 percent during the drilling process

  • West Texas towns face impending water shortage

    West Texas is facing a dire drought that has local officials scrambling to find additional sources of water for thirsty residents; since last October, West Texas has only seen about one-tenth of an inch of rain, and now two of the three reservoirs that cities in the Permian Basin depend upon are nearly empty; the third reservoir is 30 percent below capacity; without significant rain soon, all three reservoirs will be dry by January 2013; residents have been restricted to only three days of outdoor watering; the region faces limited options for additional sources of water and plans will be expensive to implement