• Short-range missile tracking satellite demonstrated

    There are two weapons the weak can employ against the strong: the first is terror; the second are rockets and short range missiles; to operate rockets and short range missiles, though, the weaker side must be in control of some territory and must have a state ready to supply it with these more advanced weapon systems; Hezbollah (in May 2000) and Hamas (in June 2007) came into control of territory, and are being supplied by Iran and Syria with missiles and rockets; Israel last Sunday deployed the first batteries of its Iron Dome short-range missile defense; the United States is not lagging far behind

  • Special rural training for NM park rangers

    New Mexico State Park Rangers are currently receiving specialized training from the state’s Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management; the training is designed to prepare first responders to conduct operations in rural terrain. In particular the program will address the needs of officers working along the state’s southern border with Mexico and in rural areas

  • $200,000 grant for upstate N.Y. fire department

    Last week the city of Tonawanda in western New York received nearly $200,000 from DHS to purchase new firefighting equipment; the money will be used to purchase harnesses, ropes, victim removal devices, enhanced air supply equipment, and a new communications system; funding comes from the DHS Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program; the grant comes at a critical time as the city is struggling with its budget; several local fire departments nearby also received grants last month including those in Rochester, Youngstown, and Ridge-Culver

  • Curry spice could be used to detect explosives

    The main chemical in the curry spice turmeric could be the basis for cheap explosives detectors, say researchers; the curcumin molecule is already well-known in medicine for its anti-cancer and anti-oxidant properties. Now, research presented at the American Physical Society meeting suggests it could replace more complex solutions to spot explosives like TNT

  • Robot swarm to aid rescue teams

    A new system of autonomous flying robots being developed at the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) could establish wireless communication networks to aid rescue teams in the event of a disaster

  • Senators target apps that help drunk drivers avoid police

    Four U.S. senators recently urged Apple, Google, and RIM to remove all apps from their online application stores that could assist drunk drivers or other criminals evade law enforcement officials; in response to the senator’s letter, RIM, announced that it would stop selling apps that help drunk drivers or criminals avoid police detection; the PhantomALERT app taps into a phone’s GPS device and alerts the driver of any active law enforcement zone including checkpoints, speed cameras, and speed traps; since the senator’s letter sales have increased nearly 3,000 percent and downloads were up by 5,000 percent; another similar app has eleven million users

  • Three dolphins found dead after U.S. Navy training exercise

    Three dolphins died this month during a U.S. Navy training exercise using underwater explosives near the San Diego County coast; environmentalists have argued that the Navy’s sonar exercises can deafen and even kill whales and other marine life; the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the military in 2008

  • Israel unveils Iron Dome anti-rocket defense system

    Israel on Sunday stationed the first batteries of its Iron Dome short-range missile defense system in the south of the country; the military stressed the initial deployment was experimental; after being deployed in the south, the system will then be deployed along the Lebanese border, from where Hezbollah militants fired some 4,000 rockets into northern Israel during a 2006 war; the most obvious and immediate benefit of the defensive system would be the de-fanging of the two more radical groups in the region, Hezbollah and Hamas; the system, though, is more significant in what it will allow Israel to do vis-à-vis the Palestinians: if the same rockets Hamas is firing at Israel from the Gaza Strip were to be fired from the West Bank, all of Israel’s population and economic centers will be under threat; if Iron Dome proved effective, it would make it easier for Israel to consider deep withdrawals from the West Bank, thus allowing the establishment of a viable Palestinian state without compromising Israeli security

  • Indian Point 50-mile evacuation plan unrealistic

    Located only thirty-five miles north of New York City, the most populous area in the United States, is the Indian Point nuclear reactor; safety officials are questioning the wisdom of operating a plant so close to New York City; a fifty mile evacuation radius around the plant would affect nearly twenty million people and some say evacuating that many people on short notice is a “fantasy”; NRC is currently conducting a thorough safety review of U.S. nuclear plants and the Indian Point reactor is one of seventeen under scrutiny; New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently called for the plant to be shut down

  • DigiSensory cameras predict crime before it happens

    With DigiSensory Technologies’ sophisticated cameras and sensor systems, law enforcement agencies and transportation departments across the United States are now able to proactively monitor and respond to crimes or accidents as they unfold; the company’s Avista sensors process the images that its 3.2 megapixel high-resolution camera records in real time and can automatically detect when a crime is occurring; when it senses something it will alert law enforcement officials instantly; the sensors can also assist transportation departments in analyzing traffic patterns in real time; the system could allow officials to change one way streets, design real time traffic signals, and multiple speed limits to make traffic flow more smoothly

  • Lockheed developing autonomous and covert rover

    A surveillance robot aims to operate around humans without being detected by them; the machine uses a laser scanner to builds a 3D computer model of its surroundings and uses a set of acoustic sensors to distinguish the proximity and direction of footsteps

  • CT scans help doctors treat sniper wounds

    Determining a bullet or bomb fragment’s path through flesh and bone can help doctors treat injuries and decide which patients to prioritize; instead of relying solely on visual cues and a possibly deviated bullet path, researchers are working to develop high-resolution computed tomography (CT)-based methods of accurately determining a bullet’s trajectory

  • Smart traffic system to reduce first responder deaths

    Nearly 13 percent of the firefighters and police officers who die in the line of duty are killed in vehicle-related incidents, and fire trucks are involved in 10 times as many collisions as other heavy truck; University of Arizona researchers have teamed up with the Maricopa County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) to create a system that will make intersections safer for emergency responders and the general public

  • U.S. works closely with Mexico to curb power of cartels

    The United States is already involved in the spiraling violence which threatens to make Mexico into a failed state: hundreds of thousands of U.S.-made firearms are bought at U.S. gun shows and then smuggled into Mexico to arm the cartels; but there is another aspect to U.S. involvement: more and more American agents are operating in Mexico to stem the flow off drugs into the United States and curb the power of the cartels; U.S. agents generally provide intelligence and training, while Mexicans do the hands-on work; neither side will say exactly how many agents are in Mexico, citing security concerns

  • Border agent seizes student's laptop without warrant

    On 1 May when a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent stopped Pascal Abidor, an Islamic studies doctoral student at McGill University in Montreal, at Champlain, New York’s port of entry; the agent turned on Abidor’s computer and found a picture of a rally by the Hamas militant group, something he had downloaded from the Internet for schoolwork; Abidor’s life has not been the same since