• Power companies seek federal funds for smart grid

    The Obama administration has placed a priority on smart grid technology, and Congress has approved $3.4 billion in federal grants for smart grid projects nationwide

  • Study highlights air cargo security failings

    New study: “these weak spots [in air cargo security] increase the security risk of worldwide transport, which can result in the disruption of logistical processes with considerable economic losses”

  • Kemesa: Solving the identity theft problem

    The ideal solution to the online identity theft problem is to not transmit personal information to Web sites in the first place; with Kemesa’s Shop Shield, personal information can not be stolen because it is never revealed during the online transaction process

  • University of Detroit Mercy receives cyber security research contract

    The aim of the $551,500 federal contract is to develop and disseminate the knowledge necessary to ensure that the software that enables America’s business and critical infrastructure is safe and secure

  • phd 4 u: British researcher receives first ever doctor of texting

    Texts are much more about maintaining and building relationships rather than passing on raw facts; as such they tend to include a lot of information which is irrelevant but entertaining

  • Israel equips its tanks with anti-missile systems

    During the summer 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, twenty-two Israeli Merkava tanks were damaged by Russian Kornet anti-tank guided missiles fired by Hezbollah fighters; the Israeli military determined that most of the missile hits could have been averted if the tanks had been equipped with available anti-missile systems

  • U.K. authorities made more than 500,000 surveillance requests last year

    U.K. police, councils, and the intelligence services made about 1,500 surveillance requests every day last year; this is the annual equivalent to one in every 78 people being targeted

  • NRC seeks tighter oversight of often-lost radioactive devices

    A 3 August proposal by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) would expand the agency’s oversight, giving federal and state officials more muscle by stiffening regulations on almost 2,000 items — mostly industrial gauges containing radioactive material; there are approximately 2 million radioactive devices in factories, hospitals, research facilities — and the GAO estimates that up to 500,000 of those devices are unaccounted for

  • In-building public-safety communication a growing business

    The 9/11 attacks exposed a major weakness: rescue personnel had no communication coverage inside the towers; regulations now require that first responders have communications coverage everywhere in a building — or at least 95 percent of it; as businesses and local governments face deadlines for complying with these requirements, businesses offering in-building communication services will benefit

  • Study: No high engineering dropout rate

    New study from Purdue University busts two education-related myths - - that engineering has a higher dropout rate than other majors and that women do not as well as men

  • New titanium alloys offer better IED protection

    Titanium deforms and retains damage from strong impacts and fast applied forces — such compression on the metal can happen when it is hit by bullets or explosives; metallurgy theory provides a greater understanding of the material at the atomic scale — an understanding which will lead to the production of more resilient titanium

  • U.K. MPs have doubts about a biometrics IT system for screening students

    The Home Affairs Committee looked at the role of the National Biometric Identity Service (NBIS) in student visa applications as part of a report into migration processes; universities have already voiced their concerns that the enrollment of students will depend on the untested NBIS, and the MPs say they share this concern

  • U.S. military speeds up preparation for attack on Iran's nuclear facilities

    The Obama administration’s six-month exploration of ways short of war to persuade Iran to halt its accelerated march to the bomb has, so far, yielded nothing; these efforts, however, have allowed Iran more time and space to build more centrifuges, enrich more uranium, launch a plutonium path to the bomb, and test more sophisticated missiles; the administration can take a hint, and it is now accelerating preparations for a military attack on Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities

  • DHS wants your comments

    DHS wants concerned Americans to comment on the department’s initiatives; the department seeks comments on strategies in six categories; the deadline for comments is 9 August

  • DHS authorization bill more likely next year

    An authorization bill sets policy and spending priorities for a departmental budget; since its creation in 2003, DHS has never operated under an authorization bill — and the administration has asked Congressional committees not to mark up the FY 2010 DHS bill