• Briefly noted

    Laser raygun plane gets $30m extended evaluation… Security wonks warn of cell phone zombie uprising… Aladdin’s cyber security center… Gartner: Top 10 strategic technologies for 2009

  • Thales opens European security center

    More than 25 percent of Thales’s revenues come from its security systems, which totalled approximately €3.4 billion in 2007; the French giant launches a security research center dedicated to homeland security

  • Technology start-ups, investment, and the financial crisis

    The U.S. financial crisis need not spell doom for technology start-ups, says Kevin Maney; one of the main reasons: “The cost of starting a tech company has dropped precipitously, thanks to cheaper/better/faster technology”

  • U Kentucky researchers demonstrate milk transportation safety system

    Wildcats researchers develop a milk tracking system which will dramatically improve the safety of bulk milk transport

  • UAVs-mounted aircraft defense system demonstrated

    Until now there have been two leading approaches to protecting civilian aircraft from shoulder-fired missiles: One approach proposed placing the defensive systems on the planes to be protected, the other advocated surrounding airports with a protective umbrella; a third approach has now been demonstrated: Mounting defensive systems on UAVs loitering high in the sky

  • "Guilt" detector to catching smugglers

    Researchers are looking to increase security at border crossings by developing a computer system that can detect guilt

  • Portable imaging system helps response to natural disasters

    Yellow Jackets researchers develop an imaging system which can be affixed to a helicopter to create a detailed picture of an area devastated by a hurricane or other natural disaster

  • IT security hinders innovation

    New IDC reports says businesses are struggling to find the right balance between security and innovation; information security concerns have caused 80 percent of companies surveyed to back away from new innovation opportunities

  • Better coastal defenses against large waves

    Coastal defenses have to withstand great forces and there is always a risk of water overtopping or penetrating these structures; Liverpool University’s mathematician says we need new concepts for coastal defenses

  • More on the danger of GPS spoofing

    The military version of GPS includes security features such as encryption, but civilian signals are transmitted in the clear, unencrypted; a suitcase-size transmitting device can easily fool a GPS receiver; the power grid may be disrupted, and ankle-bracelet-wearing criminals walk about freely

  • Northrop Grumman delivers first, if under-powered, raygun to U.S. military

    The U.S. military wants a beam weapon capable of at least 100 KW to shoot down incoming artillery shells or missiles; Northrop’s Vesta II can offer only 15 KW — capable of disrupting cellphone towers, car engines, and unexploded munitions; it is a start

  • DARPA seeks ultrasonic tourniquets

    New device, placed on the arm or a leg of an injured soldier or first responder will use ultrasound scanning to pinpoint internal bleeding, before focusing “high-power energy” on the bleed sites

  • UCLA group discovers largest Mersenne prime yet

    Bruins researchers discover the 46th — and largest yet — Mersenne Prime; the 13 million-digit prime number is a long-sought milestone, and its discovery makes the researchers eligible for a $100,000 prize

  • Invisibility cloak as a protection against tsunamis

    Rather than fortifying sea platforms and coastal towns to withstand tsunamis, it may be possible to use invisibility cloaks to make off-shore platforms, islands, and even cities “invisible” to waves

  • Northrop tests Guardian anti-missile system

    On 8-9 September, Northrop Grumman successfully tested the Guardian anti-missile system; from heights exceeding 50,000 feet, the system successfully detected, tracked, and directed a laser to intercept a target missile