• Robots perform fire-fighting duties in London

    The robots, built by defense contractor QinetiQ, have been in use for a year; London’s fire brigade has been impressed by the robots’ performance

  • DARPA searches for instant repair of soldiers' injuries

    DARPA is soliciting proposals for a device that can use adult stem cells for a regenerative free-for-all, producing whatever needed to repair injured body parts, including nerves, bone, and skin

  • Millimeter-wave imaging comes to Cleveland, Houston airports

    TSA expands its testing of millimeter wave and backscatter imaging systems, deploying them in Cleveland and Houston; TSA claims passengers’ privacy is guaranteed, but passengers can opt out of being screened and choose body pat instead

  • Anti-theft software creates security hole

    A piece of anti-theft software built into many laptops at the factory opens a serious security hole

  • U r pwned: text messaging as a hacking tool

    Text messages appear on mobile phones without any interaction from the user, and sometimes with limited interference from the cellular network operators — giving criminals an opening to break into those devices

  • New technology locks up Biometrics

    Communication encryption relies on authentication being symmetric to work: the user’s password or PIN must match the password or PIN stored by the recipient (online shop, bank, etc.) to lock and unlock the data; biometric may be used for encryption — but biometrics is not a symmetric process; South African researchers now show how biometrics can nevertheless be used to make a consistent secret key for encryption

  • Encouraging student technology start-ups

    Wolverhampton University’s program gives students the opportunity to set up their own business while they are still at university

  • Soldiers, first responders will self-power their gear

    Soldiers and first responders will soon power electronic devices such as personal radios using just their own movements

  • Life-saving location device to help in rescuing trapped disaster victims

    There is usually a 24-hour window when people that are injured and trapped can be saved, followed by a three-day window for those that are unhurt; by analyzing the levels of carbon dioxide and ammonia, chemical sensors could detect whether a trapped person is still alive faster than traditional methods

  • IBM acquires Ounce Labs

    Securing software code is a growing business, and IBM is buying code security specialist Ounce Labs

  • TSA's new lab tests new bomb detection technologies

    The Transportation Security Laboratory in Atlantic City uses the latest intelligence from the military, CIA, FBI, and friendly foreign governments to manufacture improvised explosive devices like those being built by terrorists — in order to defeat them

  • Biometrics tunnel helps identify individuals' unique walking patterns

    The University of Southampton’s biometric tunnel provides the technology to analyze the way people walk as a unique identifier; university researchers have developed a technology which captures the unique walking patterns, and then characterizes and records them to a database

  • South Korean researchers turn science fiction into fact

    The state-financed Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) was set up in 1971; its new leaders wants it to lead the nation in innovation and education; among the center’s projects: a computer screen that folds up like a pocket handkerchief, a harbor that goes out to a ship, and a road which recharges electric vehicles

  • Israel successfully tests anti-ship missile defense

    During the summer 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, the Shi’ia organization almost sank an Israeli ship with an advanced Iran-made anti-ship missile; Israel has now successfully tested a sophisticated defense against anti-ship missile — a defensive system which should be of interest to U.S. Navy ships on patrol at the Persian Gulf

  • Defcon, Black Hat to open this week

    Leading cybersecurity events to open in Las Vegas this week; if you prefer security shows at which the speakers favor black T-shirts and dyed hair over suits and ties, and where goth-attired groupies and script kiddies hunkered over laptops line the hallways at all hours of the night, you should attend