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A first: Reaper armed UAV fires first Hellfire missile in combat
The U.S. Air Force deployed MQ-9A Reaper armed reconnaissance UAVs to Afghanistan, and last week a Reaper launched a missile at enemy combatants some seventy miles from the UAV’s base at Kandahar; al-Queda operatives across the border in Pakistan’s North-West Territories would do well to go even deeper underground
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Maryland State Police to gather critical infrastructure data from air
Johns Hopkins’s APL develops new technology which allows officers to monitor critical infrastructure facilities digitally from the air and quickly locate, inspect important structures during patrols
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Winners announced in two new-approach building competitions
The Solar Decathlon and Lifecycle Building Challenge aim to promote energy independence and better environment through greater reliance on alternative energy and better building design and materials
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Six teams cut in Urban Challenge qualifying round
In qualifying rounds in California, robotic vehicles are tested in self-navigation — no driver, no remote control — through a series of urban challenges; some teams don’t make it
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Belgian police employ blind officers to analyze wiretap recordings
As wiretapping of potential criminal and terrorist-related activity in Belgium grows, so is the need of the Belgian police for individuals with acute and sensitive hearing to analyze wiretaps; police found that some blind individuals have that extra sensitivity to sounds which allows them better to analyze wiretaps
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New bomb detector spray
Israeli chemist develops spray that can detect urea nitrate, a powerful explosive that can be created by amateurs; urea nitrate is commonly used by suicide bombers, and was also used in the first attempt on the World Trade Center in 1993
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Battery-powered textile allows for glowing garments
University of Manchester researchers develop yarns which glow in the dark; this is good news for cyclists, joggers, and pedestrians on dark winter days — but also for first responders and police having to operate in buildings or city streets darkened as a result of power outage
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New baggage screening tool
U.K. researchers to combine scattered X-ray signals with high-resolution 3D X-ray images to give baggage screeners previously unseen information regarding luggage size, shape, and chemical composition of the contents contained in the luggage
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TSA tests Auto-EDS at BWI
Last week TSA sent randomly selected passengers at BWI to be screened by a new screening device from a Massachusetts company; the devices use computed axial tomography (CAT), similar to medical scanners
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ICx delivers underwater radiation detection devices
The Coast Guard is bolstering its ability to detect underwater smuggling of nuclear materials into the U.S.; one way to do so is to equip the service with ICx’s identiFINDER-U
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Tartans' “Boss” enters Urban Challenge qualifying rounds
DARPA’s Urban Challenge competition heats up, and “Boss,” Carnegie Mellon University’s Tartan racing team’s modified Chevrolet Tahoe enters the qualifying rounds
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Air Force completes overhaul of global weather sensing system
USAF upgrades, improves global weather monitoring system, allowing “weather conditions almost anywhere to be factored into large-scale operations”
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Chertoff highlights DHS's approach to counter IEDs
IEDs are the signature weapon of the insurgency in Iraq, but they will soon find their way here; DHS secretary discusses the key points at which the IED threat may be countered; technology companies, investors should listen
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Researchers find three never-before-observed isotopes
Michigan State researchers find three never-before-observed isotopes of silicon, aluminum, and magnesium; discovery will allow design engineers to more accurately tailor future materials to applications’ needs
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A few good technologies
DHS’s S&T Directorate helps the IEEE in a conference aiming to explore next-generation technologies capable of deployment within three to five years
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More headlines
The long view
Autonomous Vehicle Technology Vulnerable to Road Object Spoofing and Vanishing Attacks
Researchers have demonstrated the potentially hazardous vulnerabilities associated with the technology called LiDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging, many autonomous vehicles use to navigate streets, roads and highways. The researchers have shown how to use lasers to fool LiDAR into “seeing” objects that are not present and missing those that are – deficiencies that can cause unwarranted and unsafe braking or collisions.
Tantalizing Method to Study Cyberdeterrence
Tantalus is unlike most war games because it is experimental instead of experiential — the immersive game differs by overlapping scientific rigor and quantitative assessment methods with the experimental sciences, and experimental war gaming provides insightful data for real-world cyberattacks.
Prototype Self-Service Screening System Unveiled
TSA and DHS S&T unveiled a prototype checkpoint technology, the self-service screening system, at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas, NV. The aim is to provide a near self-sufficient passenger screening process while enabling passengers to directly receive on-person alarm information and allow for the passenger self-resolution of those alarms.
Falling Space Debris: How High Is the Risk I'll Get Hit?
An International Space Station battery fell back to Earth and, luckily, splashed down harmlessly in the Atlantic. Should we have worried? Space debris reenters our atmosphere every week.
Testing Cutting-Edge Counter-Drone Technology
Drones have many positive applications, bad actors can use them for nefarious purposes. Two recent field demonstrations brought government, academia, and industry together to evaluate innovative counter-unmanned aircraft systems.
Strengthening the Grid’s ‘Backbone’ with Hydropower
Argonne-led studies investigate how hydropower could help add more clean energy to the grid, how it generates value as grids add more renewable energy, and how liner technology can improve hydropower efficiency.