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Critics of dog-scent lineups charge such lineups are "junk science"
Law enforcement has relied on dogs for many years for scent tracking or sniffing out drugs or explosives; dogs have become more and more popular in what is called dog-scent lineups, in which dogs are supposed to determine whether the scent of anyone in a police lineup was present at the crime scene; critics say this not much more than junk science
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No acoustic detection system for Indianapolis housing project
The Indianapolis Housing Authority secured a $100,000 grant and the Department of Public Safety had awarded a contract ShotSpotter in July; the vendor backed out of the contract, the grant expired, and the deal fell apart
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FBI says facial recognition not ready for prime time
An FBI expert said that facial recognition does not figure in the FBI’s biometric strategy; he said facial recognition could have been a killer application — but it cannot; “The algorithms just do not exist to deliver the highly reliable verification required. This is even though the FBI has been evaluating facial recognition technology since 1963,” he said
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DHS in trials of next generation multiband radio
Emergency communication interoperability is getting closer as the day of the single-band radio is coming to an end; DHS’ S&T is testing a multiband radio for emergency services
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New device to "smell" human fear
City University London’s researchers launch a project aims to develop two sensor systems that can detect the unique chemical signature of the fear pheromone, assessing the stress of an individual and interpreting it in security-critical contexts
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Awareness of DHS's NECP is low, but its promise is high
CDW-G reports finds that just half of public-safety communications professionals were familiar with the NECP, yet when briefed, almost all believe it could address their communications challenges
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Guarding the guardians in South Africa
Criminals in South Africa found a new way to make money: they open security companies; there are two advantages to these ventures: they get paid for their “security” services, and they are able to learn all they need to know, for their own criminal purposes, about the organizations they are supposedly protecting
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Humanoid robots to help people in hazardous environments
Current calculations required for robots’ handling objects and avoiding collisions are based on movements in the XYZ coordinates, and are sensitive to any minor deformations in the environment, such as a flexible object that would cause the calculations to be invalid; researchers offer a new way to govern robots’ movement
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Dallas cops cite drivers for "not speaking English"
Is it a crime not to speak English? It is — in Dallas, Texas: half a dozen Dallas cops have given tickets to thirty-eight drivers for having an inadequate command of the English language
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A-T Solutions acquires anti-terrorism firm
Trancite software products help with crime and accident scene investigations; other products help with site inspections and surveys; the company also has tools for investigating and analyzing terrorist attacks; this is A-T Solutions’ second acquisition in four months
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Pentagon orders accelerated production of 15-ton bunker buster
The Obama administration is inching toward a dialog with Iran over the latter’s nuclear weapons program, but at the same time it readies the means to destroy Iran’s capabilities should the dialog fail
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Worries grow about safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons facilities
All the terror strikes in Pakistan in the recent past have been suicide attacks, but the attack on the Pakistan Army’s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi three days ago was more of a commando attack carried out by well-trained jihadists; experts worry that such military-style tactics could be used against Pakistani nuclear sites
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A first: Criminals steal nuclear material, than demand ransom for its return
Criminals in Argentina steal cesium-137 from a drilling company, then demand $500,000 and threaten “to make this city glow” if they did not get the money
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Radioactive rabbit poo found at plutonium production site
A clean-up survey at the Hanford site in Washington State, where military-grade plutonium was produced during the early years of the cold war, discovered radioactive jackrabbit droppings around the site; the rabbits burrowed in the area and discovered the tanks in which nuclear waste is stored; they liked the salty taste of the radioactive cesium and strontium salts, so they began drinking and licking them routinely
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U.S. cannot track foreign visitors who overstay their visas
Last year, 39 million foreign travelers were admitted into the United States on temporary visas; based on the paper stubs, homeland security officials said, they confirmed the departure of 92.5 percent of them; most of the remaining visitors did depart, officials said, but failed to check out because they did not know how to do so; more than 200,000 of them are believed to have overstayed intentionally
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More headlines
The long view
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.
Using Drone Swarms to Fight Forest Fires
Forest fires are becoming increasingly catastrophic across the world, accelerated by climate change. Researchers are using multiple swarms of drones to tackle natural disasters like forest fires.
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.
European Arms Imports Nearly Double, U.S. and French Exports Rise, and Russian Exports Fall Sharply
States in Europe almost doubled their imports of major arms (+94 per cent) between 2014–18 and 2019–23. The United States increased its arms exports by 17 per cent between 2014–18 and 2019–23, while Russia’s arms exports halved. Russia was for the first time the third largest arms exporter, falling just behind France.
How Climate Change Will Affect Conflict and U.S. Military Operations
“People talk about climate change as a threat multiplier,” said Karen Sudkamp, an associate director of the Infrastructure, Immigration, and Security Operations Program within the RAND Homeland Security Research Division. “But at what point do we need to start talking about the threat multiplier actually becoming a significant threat all its own?”
The Tech Apocalypse Panic is Driven by AI Boosters, Military Tacticians, and Movies
From popular films like a War Games or The Terminator to a U.S. State Department-commissioned report on the security risk of weaponized AI, there has been a tremendous amount of hand wringing and nervousness about how so-called artificial intelligence might end up destroying the world. There is one easy way to avoid a lot of this and prevent a self-inflicted doomsday: don’t give computers the capability to launch devastating weapons.