• China lacks earthquake early-warning system

    Earthquake alerts are still in their infancy and few nations deploy them; China is one of the many countries which is yet to do so; such systems offer but a few seconds warning of a coming quake, but these few seconds may be enough to save many from death or injury

  • Worries about damage to Chinese dam

    Damage to a large Chinese dam near the epicenter of Monday’s earthquake raises worries about more troubles to come in the devastated region

  • The economics of cyber - and infrastructure -- security

    New book explores the economics of protecting cyberspace; the book “links our nation’s critical infrastructures across public and private institutions in sectors ranging from food and agriculture, water supply and public health, to energy, transportation and financial services,” says one of the authors

  • Scientists debate link between climate change and storm ferocity

    Cyclone Nargis, just before it smashed into Myanmar, suddenly changed gear from a Category One to a Category Four cyclone just before it made landfall; similar changes were noted in other recent tropical storms; are changes linked to global warming?

  • Reno urged to prepare for worse as earthquakes continue

    Scientists call on Reno residents to brace themselves for more earthquakes; more than 100 aftershocks were recorded on the western edge of the city after a magnitude 4.7 quake hit Friday night

  • Safeguarding Infrastructure // by Christopher Doyle

    The key to protecting national infrastructure and facilitating lifesaving responses in the event of an incident is preparedness; the Infrastructure and Geophysical Division (IGD) of the Science & Technology (S&T) Directorate at DHS is working to find methods and technologies to improve the ability to protect buildings, facilities, and other kinds of physical structures

  • Business praises proposed foreign investment rules

    The U.S. Treausry Department has proposed new rules to govern foreign investment in U.S. critical infrastructure assets; business and industry groups welcom new rules

  • Weather service offers Chicago HAZMAT support page

    The U.S. National Weather Service offers Chicago-area critical infrastructure plants area-specific information on weather patterns so that can better cope with accidents and disasters

  • ADT acquires FirstService Security for $187 million

    ADT, a division of Tyco, is acquiring FirstService Security, a commercial security systems integrator providing a full range of integrated security systems services

  • DHS launches massive effort to bolster cyber security

    Last week DHS secretary announced a Manhattan Project-like campaign to bolster federal cyber security; a key element of the project: Federal agencies will cut the number of communication points through which agencies connect to the Internet from 4,000 to less than 100

  • Forecast: The Big One is coming

    Geologists say that there is a 99.7 percent chance a magnitude 6.7 quake or larger will strike by 2037; California is one of the most seismically active regions in the world, where more than 300 faults crisscross the state

  • Fines for nuclear operator

    Security guards at a Florida nuclear power plant are found asleep on the job; other guards disable their weapons, making it impossible for them to protect the plant in the event of an incident; the NRC imposes fines

  • Unusual tremors measured off Oregon

    Tremors measured off the coast of Oregon typically precede volcanic eruptions, but there are no volcanoes in the area; quakes have also not followed the typical pattern of a major shock followed by a series of diminishing aftershocks

  • Unprepared: Canada lacks plan to protect critical infrastructure, II

    After the shock of the 9/11 attacks, Canada’s decentralized structure for protecting the country’s critical infrastructure was supposed to made tighter, more cohesive, and more effective; white papers were written, plans were unveiled, Web sites were designed — but not much else has happened; experts are worried

  • New way to estimate size and frequency of meteorite impacts

    How large was the meteorite which hit Earth 65 million years ago, leading to the extinction of the dinosaurs? Now we know: Four to six kilometers in diameter; scientists offer new methods to measure the size and frequency of meteorite impact