• More than 100 levees in 16 states are in an "unacceptable" state of disrepair

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gives “unacceptable” maintenance ratings to 114 levees in 16 states; these levees are in such a bad shape, that it can be “reasonably foreseen” that they will not perform properly in a major flood; 30 of the levees are in Arkansas

  • Dire climate scenario: Mass migrations and war

    Lord Nicholas Stern, the eminent economist, says severe climate shifts and sea-level rises would “transform where people can live”: “People would move on a massive scale. Hundreds of millions, probably billions of people would have to move if you talk about 4-, 5-, 6-degree increases” (7 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit)

  • Engineering institute calls on engineers to take climate change into account

    A new report considers four areas of engineering under different climate scenarios: energy, water, buildings, and transport, and how they will need to be adapted to deliver a more resilient and robust adaptive management system

  • U.S. under growing cyber attacks

    The number of cyber attacks on U.S. government computers and networks grow; there were 5,488 tracked incidents of unauthorized access to U.S. government computers and installations of hostile programs in 2008, compared to 3,928 such incidents in 2007, and 2,172 in 2006

  • DHS receives IT money in stimulus package

    DHS receives a $2.8 billion boost from the new stimulus package; largest single item is for TSA’s installation of checked baggage explosive detection systems

  • Public support for infrastructure investment grows

    University of Chicago NORC survey finds growing public support for investment in mass transit and infrastructure; support remains high for expenditures on education and health care

  • Better detection with self-healing wireless sensor network

    New self-forming, self-healing wireless mesh sensor network can detect railway embankment landslides, humidity in art museums, water quality in water treatment facilities — and has military and security applications such as a perimeter network that can detect intrusion through breaking a light beam, or triggering a tripwire, or proximity sensor

  • Ocean water rising unevenly; Washington, D.C. may be submerged

    Rather than spreading out evenly across all the oceans, water from melted Antarctic ice sheets will gather around North America and the Indian Ocean;this is bad news for the U.S. East Coast, which could bear the brunt of one of these oceanic bulges

  • Scientists: weight of water in reservoir may have triggered China quake

    The May 2007 magnitude-7.9 quake in Sichuan province killed 70,000 and forced 5 million to be relocated; Just 550 yards from the fault line and 3.5 miles from the epicenter stands the 511-foot-high Zipingpu dam; scientists say that the immense weight of Zipingpu reservoir’s waters — 315 million tons — likely affected the timing and magnitude of the quake

  • Doubling the service life of concrete

    NIST researchers double the service life of concrete The key to the idea is a nano-sized additive that slows down penetration of chloride and sulphate ions from road salt, sea water, and soils into the concrete

  • Data loss cost companies $6.6 million per breach

    Customers lose faith in organizations that cannot keep data safe and take their business elsewhere; study of data breaches show that negligent companies lose on average more than $6 million per breach

  • ASCE assigns Grade of D to U.S. infrastructure

    Civil engineers association assigns a D grade to U.S. infrastructure, and says $2.2 trillion in repairs needed

  • Bomb-proof concrete developed

    Liverpool University researchers develop blast-resistant concrete; the Ultra High Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete is able to absorb a thousand times more energy than conventional mixtures

  • Smiths Detection shows active mm-wave detection system

    Passive mm-wave detection systems pick up the mm-wave heat energy emitted by the body, which is used as a background reference point; active systems transmit mm-wave into the detection area to boost the level of energy overall, give a better return and a more detailed image

  • Napolitano issues first action directives

    On her first day in office, new DHS secretary issues five action directives centering on protection of critical infrastructure, transportation, and on better intelligence sharing among federal, state, and local levels of government