• Scientific conference in India to focus on explosives and advanced propellants systems

    Explosive detection is a pressing issue for military leaders and law enforcement, a challenging issue for scientists and researchers, and a growing and attractive field for businesses and investors; leading Indian research organizations host a major conference on the subject

  • Irish government urged to heed entrepreneurs to rebuild economy

    An Irish scientist and entrepreneur urges to government must do more to protect investment in research to encourage the creation of ‘‘world class’’ Irish companies; Donald Fitzmaurice said there were three ‘‘key enabling technologies’’ in the world — biotechnology, nanotechnology, and information and communications technology. ‘‘They are important on their own but when they converge, they open up new important possibilities, such as new materials, artificial intelligence, modified biological entities”

  • U.K. to launch IT skills school next year

    The U.K. government has given the green light for launching an IT skills school; the U.K. technology sector requires 140,000 new IT recruits each year; the skills academy aims to turn out the kind of IT pros the industry is crying out for: those with both technical and business skills

  • DHS looks to tamper-proof cargo containers

    DHS has been looking into many different technologies to protect U.S. boarders since 9/11. Now, the department is looking to the for ideas to help enhance security where some argue it is needed most — down by the docks.

  • Cyber security certification is not a panacea for cybersecurity woes

    The U.S. Congress is deliberating proposals to require cybersecurity certification for cyber security professionals; although a good certification standard might be a measure of a baseline level of competence, it is not an indicator of job performance; having certified employees does not mean firewalls will be configured securely, computers will have up-to-date patches, and employees won’t write passwords on the backs of keyboards

  • New ID cards will come with built-in holograms

    The new Secure ID Technology is much more secure than current technologies because the holograms are built into the volume of the plastic rather than being stamped on the surface

  • INL develops safer, more efficient nuclear fuel for next-generation reactors

    The advanced nuclear fuel, which would be used in next-generation high-temperature gas reactors, has set a particle fuel record by consuming approximately 19 percent of its low-enriched uranium; this is more than double the previous record set by German scientists in the 1980s, and more than three times that achieved by current commercial light water reactor fuel

  • Environmental sensor network trials in Japan

    DoCoMo will launch the trial operation of a network of environmental sensors on 21 December that measure pollen, carbon dioxide (CO2), ultraviolet (UV) sunlight, and other atmospheric conditions

  • Oklahoma State rejects anthrax study over euthanasia of primates

    The U.S. National Institutes of Health wanted OSU to conduct research on treatment for anthrax; the study involves baboons, which must be destroyed after anthrax exposure to ensure they do not infect others; In April, OSU announced that animals will no longer be euthanized in teaching labs at the veterinary school; measure was the result of pressure by Madeleine Pickens, the wife of billionaire benefactor and OSU alumnus T. Boone Pickens

  • Computer scientists report progress on world-simulation tool

    Computer scientists say that advances in different fields now make modeling of world events more realistic as an aid in high-level decision making

  • Climate change threatens Canada North's infrastructure

    Climate change is felt more acutely in the arctic, and a Canadian government’s report says that winter roads melting earlier in the spring could force communities to airlift supplies, while increased snowfall and changing ice conditions can add stress to buildings as well as energy and communications infrastructure

  • U.S. Army funds a new discipline: Network Science

    The U.S. Army gives Rensselaer Polytechnic in New York State $16.75 million to launch the Center for Social and Cognitive Networks; the new center will link together top social scientists, neuroscientists, and cognitive scientists with leading physicists, computer scientists, mathematicians, and engineers in the search to uncover, model, understand, and foresee the complex social interactions that take place in today’s society

  • Experts call for changes in U.S. vaccine creation process

    The current U.S. vaccine-manufacturing plan was developed prior to the cold war, and has never been updated; currently, the United States grows its vaccines in eggs over the course of six to eight months, and as there has been no real financial incentive to upgrade the vaccine making process, pharmaceutical manufacturers have instead focused on more profitable medications rather than vaccines

  • Better method to detect cracks in nuclear plants

    At the moment, cracks in nuclear plant components are detected by using ultrasonic scanners that carry a number of different probes; new device will use a single phased-array probe that will be safer, cheaper, and more accurate than existing systems

  • Climate change will lead to more wars and deaths in Africa

    Researchers predict that spikes in temperature will lead to a 54 percent rise in the incidence of civil conflict in Africa by 2030, resulting in an extra 393,000 combat deaths;