Infrastructure protection

Rules about hazmat trains worry Pennsylvania officials
Officials in Pennsylvania’s York and Adams counties are uneasy about the prospect of having hazardous material roll through their counties
- Read more
Fly ash as source material for fireproof concrete
Australia’s coal-fired power plants produce 13.5 million tons of fly ash every year; researchers show that this ash may be used as valuable source material for fireproof concrete;
- Read more

Opposition growing to LNG project near Baltimore
Virginia-based gas company AES wants to build a liquefied natural gas terminal in eastern Baltimore County; the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission placed 169 conditions, mostly related to safety and environment, on its approval of the project; residents in the neighboring communities say the company is far from meeting these conditions
- Read more
Dounreay nuclear dismantling team to use giant robot
The U.K.’s experimental fusion nuclear reactor was ordered shut down and dismantled; dismantling team unveils a design for a 75-ton robot which will cut up radioactive equipment
- Read more

Glass-based coating for reinforcement bars for sturdier infrastructure
Researchers develop glass-based coating for reinforcement bars that helps prevent corrosion and strengthens the bond between steel and concrete; the material could help engineers build stronger bridges and increase the longevity of other steel-reinforced structures
- Read more
SCADA more vulnerable than ever
Modern SCADA networks are more vulnerable than ever because they use open networking standards (such as TCP/IP), are now deployed under less secure operating systems (Windows), are connected to other networks (including Internet), and cannot be easily updated and rebooted
- Read more

U.S. reassesses safe water levels in New Orleans' outfall canals
New Orleans has three outfall canals, the role of which is similar to that of a storm drain under a city street; since Katrina, there have been disagreements among engineers as to how much water would it be safe for each of the three canals to handle during a storm
- Read more
Oregon needs to raise Hagg Lake dam for fear of earthquakes
In Oregon they expect the Big One — a massive earthquake — sometime in the next fifty years; one measure of preparation is to raise the height of dams so that earthquake-generated waves in the reservoirs behind the dams would not spill over and flood the neighboring territory
- Read more

China deploys secure computer operating system
China has installed a secure operating system known as “Kylin” on government and military computers designed to be impenetrable to U.S. military and intelligence agencies
- Read more
Drinking water monitored by CSIRO-developed sensor network
Lake Wivenhoe, which spans an area about the size of the city of Brisbane, supplies water to 1.5 million residents in south-east Queensland; CSIRO deploys its FLECK smart wireless sensor network technology to monitor water quality
- Read more

NERC approves strengthened cyber security standards
The North American Electric Reliability Corp.’s (NERC) independent Board of Trustees last week approved eight revised cyber security standards; entities found in violation of the standards can be fined up to $1 million per day, per violation in the United States
- Read more
Greece bans Google Street View mapping service
The Greek government bans Google from gathering detailed, street-level images within the country for a planned expansion of the company’s panoramic Street View mapping service; government wants assurances about privacy issues
- Read more

New Orleans channel may have exacerbated post-Katrina floods
Witness for the prosecution: New Orleans residents sue the U.S. government over a channel dug by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; computer models show that channel may have exacerbated post-Katrina floods
- Read more
Mechanical stress leads to self-sensing in solid polymers
Fighting Illini researchers develop force-sensitive polymers; when pushed or pulled with a certain force, specific chemical reactions are triggered in the mechanophores; such polymers may be used in aircraft components or bridges to report damage and warn of potential component failure, slow the spread of damage to extend a material’s lifetime, or even repair damage in early stages to avoid catastrophic failure
- Read more
U.S. air traffic vulnerable to "serious harm" from cyber attacks
New FAA report: “{U}nless effective action is taken quickly, it is likely to be a matter of when, not if, ATC [air traffic control] systems encounter attacks that do serious harm to ATC operations”
- Read more

More headlines