• DARPA looking for military iPhone and Android apps

    Pentagon’s research arm is looking for apps to be written for the iPhone or for handsets running Google’s Android OS — “with potential relevance to the military specifically and the national security community more generally”

  • U.S. Army looking for robots to extract wounded soldiers from battlefield

    Rescuing wounded soldiers under fire is itself a major cause of military death and injury; the U.S. Army asks inventors to come with idea for a Robotic Combat Casualty Extraction device; the robot should not only be strong and dexterous, but should also be capable of planning an approach and escape route without prior knowledge of the local terrain and geography

  • U.S. buys iris scanners for prisons to prevent mistaken release of inmates

    The U.S. government has allocated funds for prisons to purchase iris recognition scanning machines; the purpose is create fool-proof system which would prevent inmates from impersonating other inmates to gain early release

  • Breast implants save California woman's life

    A woman who had breast implants was shot at her work place; the doctor who treated her and a firearm expert with the LAPD say that it was the implant that absorbed the bullet fragments, preventing them from reaching her heart and thus saving her life; the firearms expert adds, though that he would not suggest that breast augmentation is the equivalent of a bulletproof vest

  • The unprecedented role of SMS in disaster response

    In Haiti, volunteers set up an SMS messaging system which allow individuals in earthquake-affected areas to text their location and urgent needs in real time for free; since the majority of incoming text messages were in Creole, thousands of volunteers agreed to serve as instant translators

  • Hughes shows digital signage iPhone application for instant emergency response

    Hughes’s mobile application enables single-touch, instant delivery of emergency notifications for Hughes MediaSignage networks; application allows network administrators instantly to disseminate critical information and emergency notifications from their iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad devices

  • Oakton, NIU to offer degree program in emergency provider fields

    Oakton Community College and Northern Illinois University offers police officers, firefighters, and emergency management personnel taking courses there the chance to earn a Northern Illinois University bachelor’s degree; bachelor’s degrees for first responders have become increasingly important in light of comprehensive training requirements enacted since 9/11

  • Israel's latest UAV -- world's largest -- is no game changer

    On Sunday Israel has unveiled the Eitan, the world’s largest UAV (it has the wingspan of Boeing 737); it will undoubtedly allow the country to look deep inside Iran to provide detailed intelligence, but it is not likely to be a wonder weapon to knock out the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities

  • Mathematicians suggest ways to deal with criminal hotspots

    Mathematicians suggest that there are two kinds of crime hotspots: “supercritical” and “subcritical”; the mathematicians’ equations indicated that rigorous policing could completely eliminate the subcritical hotspots, but would simply displace the supercritical variety

  • Identical DNA a problem for Georgia police: Which identical twin committed the crime?

    DNA found at the scene of a murder in Georgia pointed to a felon known to the police; when he was arrested, he insisted the crime was committed by his identical twin; the two twins share identical DNA — but fingerprints, and cell phone records, pointed to the second brother, who confessed to the crime

  • Israel unveils world's largest UAV

    The Eitan is 79 feet long, has a wingspan of 86 feet — about the size of a Boeing 737 airliner — and can stay aloft for 20 hours at high altitude; powered by a 1,200-horsepower turbojet engine, it has a maximum altitude of 40,000 feet and can carry hundreds of pounds of equipment, such as high-resolution cameras and electronic systems and presumably weapons; Israel says the UAV has the capability of reaching the Gulf

  • U.S. cyberattack drill exposes unsettling vulnerabilities

    Experts, including current and former officials, conduct a cyberattack-on-the-U.S. drill; the results show that the peril is real and growing; no grand plan emerged, but the group did agree to advise the president to federalize the National Guard, even if governors objected, and deploy the troops — perhaps backed by the U.S. military — to guard power lines and prevent unrest

  • Home-made poisons pose risks for first responders

    A 23-year old St. Petersburg, Florida resident committed suicide by filling his car with gas which was a custom-made combination of pesticides and cleaning products; he learned about the deadly concoction from the Internet

  • Northrop Grumman successfully demonstrates VADER dismount detection

    Northrop Grumman’s Vehicle and Dismount Exploitation Radar (VADER) capable of tracking vehicles and foot traffic over a wide area; it is used with medium altitude, long endurance UAVs and smaller manned aircraft; it should help U.S. and Coalition forces better detect militants as they try to plant IEDs

  • New technologies unveiled to protect U.K. 75 million mobile phone users from crime

    U.K. e-commerce, or contatcless, mobile transactions, will account for £151 billion by 2013. the U.K. government’s Design Council unveils three solutions aiming to make mobile phones – and, hence, e-commerce – safer