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Cost versus safety debated at Albany, N.Y. chemical plant location
Greenpeace backs federal proposal for tougher chemical plant safety rules, but an Albany firm — and the chemical industry more generally — fear expense
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The technology: Israeli scientists find way to combat forged DNA
Forensic DNA profiling is today one of the most powerful tools applied on crime scenes, and is often used to convict or acquit suspects in rape and murder cases
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The company: Nucleix fighting biological identity theft
Its assay technology is in advanced stages of development. Several patents have already been granted; CEO Elon Ganor made his name mainly at VocalTec, a company that pioneered telephony over Internet
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Über-hacker Albert "Segvec" Gonzalez's plea scuttled by indictment
Gonzalez’s attorney was close to taking responsibility for his crimes and agreeing to a sentence of about twenty years when hew was indicted on new counts on Monday
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Compressed-air gun stops terrorist boats in their tracks
Compressed air is used on the shoulder-held device to propel a line from a pursuing boat which drags with it a high-tech, high tensile net to disable the target craft’s propulsion system
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Police to use DNA "mugshots" as a predictive tool to narrow search
Scientist say that rather than simply try to match DNA to individuals already in their database, DNA should be used to suggest what a suspect might look like
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A Delaware chemical ID startup earns a state grant
AlphaSense is working on developing a prototype, which will look like a shoebox; the user will put a swab of the material into the box and the device will sense emissions in the terahertz range to identify the chemical compound
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Georgia cat awarded online high school diploma
A Macon, Georgia-based cat won a GED from Jefferson High School Online; all the cat needed to do to earn her sheepskin was answer fourteen questions — but it could nit have been too difficult: each question offers four possible answers, and you have four tries — with hints — to get each of them correct; there is no time limit
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Officials look for a place for Gitmo detainees
Standish Maximum Correctional Facility in Michigan and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas are the two finalists to host the remaining Gitmo prisoners
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Pentagon asks Congress for funds for 30,000 bunker-busting bombs
Intensifying the preparations for an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the Obama administration has asked Congress for funds to accelerate production of a 30,000-pound “ultra-large bunker-buster” bomb designed to destroy deeply buried installations
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International conference on piracy to meet in December
Scheduled to take place 6-9 December in Dubai, the International Quality and Productivity Center says the conference will host a forum and feature case studies to address complex issues surrounding piracy
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Teenager passes grueling "getting on bus" test
A 15-year old Briton was surprised to be awarded “Using Public Transport (Unit 1)” certificate; it turned out he had successfully met the challenge by catching a bus while on a summer outdoor activities scheme at the city of Bury
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The cat did it: man blames cat for child porn downloads
A Florida man who was arrested for possessing child pornography says his cat jumped onto his computer keyboard while he was in another room; according to the man, the cat’s walking back and forth on the keyboard resulted in 1,000 images of child porn being downloaded from the Web and stored on the PC’s hard drive
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Second part of Secure Flight is phased in beginning Saturday
Starting Saturday, some travelers will begin providing their birth date and sex when booking their airline reservations; Secure Flight aims to match passengers’ names against the government’s terrorism watch list
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Pakistani jihadists attacked Pakistani nuclear sites three times since 2007
When Pakistan was developing its nuclear weapons infrastructure in the 1970s and 1980s, its main concern was that India would overrun these nuclear weapons facilities in an armored offensive; Pakistan thus chose to locate much of its nuclear weapons infrastructure to the north and west of the country — but this decision means that most of Pakistan’s nuclear sites are close to or even within areas dominated by Pakistani Taliban militants and home to al-Qaeda
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The long view
Factories First: Winning the Drone War Before It Starts
Wars are won by factories before they are won on the battlefield,Martin C. Feldmann writes, noting that the United States lacks the manufacturing depth for the coming drone age. Rectifying this situation “will take far more than procurement tweaks,” Feldmann writes. “It demands a national-level, wartime-scale industrial mobilization.”
No Nation Is an Island: The Dangers of Modern U.S. Isolationism
The resurgence of isolationist sentiment in American politics is understandable but misguided. While the desire to refocus on domestic renewal is justified, retreating from the world will not bring the security, prosperity, or sovereignty that its proponents promise. On the contrary, it invites instability, diminishes U.S. influence, and erodes the democratic order the U.S. helped forge.
Fragmented by Design: USAID’s Dismantling and the Future of American Foreign Aid
The Trump administration launched an aggressive restructuring of U.S. foreign aid, effectively dismantling the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The humanitarian and geopolitical fallout of the demise of USAID includes shuttered clinics, destroyed food aid, and China’s growing influence in the global south. This new era of American soft power will determine how, and whether, the U.S. continues to lead in global development.
Water Wars: A Historic Agreement Between Mexico and US Is Ramping Up Border Tension
As climate change drives rising temperatures and changes in rainfall, Mexico and the US are in the middle of a conflict over water, putting an additional strain on their relationship. Partly due to constant droughts, Mexico has struggled to maintain its water deliveries for much of the last 25 years, deliveries to which it is obligated by a 1944 water-sharing agreement between the two countries.
How Disastrous Was the Trump-Putin Meeting?
In Alaska, Trump got played by Putin. Therefore, Steven Pifer writes, the European leaders and Zelensky have to “diplomatically offer suggestions to walk Trump back from a position that he does not appear to understand would be bad for Ukraine, bad for Europe, and bad for American interests. And they have to do so without setting off an explosion that could disrupt U.S.-Ukrainian and U.S.-European relations—all to the delight of Putin and the Kremlin.”
How Male Grievance Fuels Radicalization and Extremist Violence
Social extremism is evolving in reach and form. While traditional racial supremacy ideologies remain, contemporary movements are now often fueled by something more personal and emotionally resonant: male grievance.