• Earthquake-resistant building structure developed

    The system dissipates energy through the movement of steel frames that are situated around the building’s core or along exterior walls; the frames rock off their foundation under large earthquakes

  • Army heli-UAV hops to avoid obstacle trouble

    The U.S. Army funds development of a hopping rotochute — a UAV designed to travel deep into obstacle-ridden spaces such as caves and rubble-laden buildings to video what it finds

  • Improving home computer security

    Researchers have developed a specification for security policy on home networks that can guarantee reliability and availability; the specification also takes into account authentication, authorization, security policy deployment so that all users in the home are not only protected from malware but also can help ensure everyone can use the network when they need to

  • Fuel cells for UAVs

    Massachusetts company awarded a contract to increase the power density of its existing fuel cell while also increasing the power output of the overall system

  • DARPA looking for space sweeper

    The age of space exploration allowed mankind to look deep into space, but it has also created a glut of space junk orbiting Earth and threatening future space missions; DARPA seeks ideas on cleaning space debris, noting that it looking for systems capable of dealing with everything from rubbish up to “derelict spaceship” size

  • Biometric surveillance checkpoint technology would notice the imperceptible

    Draper Laboratory and collaborators develop technology which will home in on irregular physiological and behavioral biometrics of the individual being screened, such as heart rate, blink rate, and even fidgeting

  • Roboboat to fight pirates

    An American company has developed an automated counterpiracy system that could be outfitted to a vessel and set loose on patrol

  • Malware lingers on for months on infected PCs

    New study says that if computer systems are not disinfected quickly after infection, then infection tends to linger around indefinitely, possibly until the point users exchange compromised boxes for new machines

  • U.S. government takes leap into the Internet cloud

    Vivek Kundra, the White House CIO, said wider adoption of cloud computing solutions would allow federal agencies to “fulfill their missions at lower cost, faster, and ultimately, in a more sustainable manner”

  • The day of the "iSniff" nears

    Pocket-size pollution sensors hold promise of big improvement in monitoring personal environment; wearable sensors to be used for identifying air-borne causes of disease

  • How cloud computing can help the U.S. government -- and citizens

    The administration has seen benefits in the way private industry uses cloud computing, and intends to mirror these benefits; ultimately, the idea is to make it simple for agencies to procure the applications they need

  • Mafia's new business: sinking nuclear waste at sea

    The Sicilian Mafia had muscled in on the lucrative business of radioactive waste disposal; to increase the profit margin, mafia operatives blow up and sink the ships at sea rather than process the nuclear waste on board

  • More efficient nuclear fuel sought

    DoE funds research to address the shortcomings of uranium dioxide — the fuel most commonly used to generate nuclear energy

  • Methane mining in Africa could unleash deadly gas cloud

    Lake Kivu, on the Rwanda-Congo border, contains a vast reservoir of dissolved methane; many companies are extracting the gas to burn for electricity production, and both Rwanda and Congo are aggressively courting further investment in extraction plants; scientists say that the rush to extract the methane might trigger an outburst of gas that could wash a deadly, suffocating blanket over the 2 million people

  • Swayze's death, Williams's outburst, exploited to serve up fake anti-virus

    Cyber criminals exploit the interest of people in breaking news by creating Web sites designed to rip off users searching for more information; surfers visiting these sites are warned of non-existent security problems in a bid to trick them into buying software of little or no utility