• On the water front // by Ben Frankel: UN secretary-general says "Water is running out"

    Serious water shortages are afflicting ever-larger swaths of the globe, with global warming exacerbating the problem; there are 192 countries in the world, with a population of nearly 6 billion: Experts say that in 102 of these countries — with a combined population of 3.9 billion — water-related crises create a high risk of violent conflict; there are opportunities here for investors and technology companies

  • Magnetic fingerprinting to contribute to air traffic safety

    European researchers develop an innovative system which monitors tiny fluctuations in the Earth’s magnetic field caused by a passing plane; system increases airport safety even in the worst weather conditions

  • Estonian student convicted for 2007 attack against Estonian Web sites

    A 20-year-old Estonian student has been fined $1,642 for launching a cyber attack which crippled the Web sites of banks, schools, and government agencies

  • GAO critical of DOE's handling of Russian nuclear scientists program

    In 1994, the U.S. Department of Energy established the Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention (IPP) program to engage former Soviet weapons scientists in nonmilitary work in the short term and create private sector jobs for these scientists in the long term; GAO finds problems in how the program was managed, and questions accuracy of reported achievements

  • Purdue researchers turn cell phones into radiation detectors

    Boilermaker scientists equip cell phones with radiation sensors able to detect even light residues of radioactive material; many cell phones already contain global positioning locators, so the detector-equipped network of phones would serve as a national radiation tracking system

  • Westinghouse wins $200 million Watts Bar contract

    The rising price of oil and anxiety about global warming make nuclear power generation more attractive; companies servicing the nuclear power industry benefit

  • FERC approves eight critical infrastructure protection standards

    SCADA systems’ vulnerability offers business opportunities: The CIA revealed last week — well, “hinted” or “allowed” would be more accurate — that criminal gangs now extort cities by threatening to cut off these cities’ power; what gangs can do, hostile governments and terrorist organizations can do, too (and they will not demand money, either); there is a commercial opportunity here for IT suppliers

  • Acergy to develop Victoria Field

    As the price of oil rises, the exploitation of difficult-to-reach oil and gas fields becomes more attractive; contract signed to develop Victoria Field in the southern North Sea

  • SPARQL is a new, format-independent query technology

    Many successful query languages exist, including standards such as SQL and XQuery, but they were primarily designed for queries limited to a single product, format, type of information, or local data store; SPARQL is the key standard for opening up data on the Semantic Web, and the goal of the Semantic Web is to enable people to share, merge, and reuse data globally

  • Animation shows how cities will cope with devastating earthquakes

    How do we know what damage will be sustained by a city located in an earthquake-prone region? Purdue University researchers have an ambitious idea: Create a mini satellite city to cope with the aftermath of such a catastrophe; Boilermakers have created a 3D fly-through animation showing what the city would look like

  • CIA: Utilities threatened by cyber attacks

    CIA says U.S. utilities are at risk for cyber attack; security experts said the CIA’s acknowledgment of the problem indicates how seriously they are taking it, as CIA policy had been not to disclose such things

  • New device helps radiation mapping in nuclear power plants

    U.K. company develops radiation-mapping device which allows repairs to be carried out in small contaminated areas of nuclear power plants; device is based on technology used for radiation therapy delivery

  • Pac-Man-like molecule chews up uranium contamination

    Uranium leaches into groundwater from natural deposits of its ore, depleted uranium munitions, nuclear facilities, and the detritus of uranium mining; removing uranium from groundwater is very difficult: Not only does uranium bind very strongly to oxygen — it is also soluble, making dissolved uranium virtually impossible to remove; British scientists find an innovative solution

  • As nuclear power spreads, so do worries about safety

    Of the more than 100 nuclear reactors now being built, planned, or on order, about half are in China, India, and other developing nations; China has 11 nuclear plants and plans to bring more than 30 others on line by 2020; MIT report says China may need to add as many as 200 reactors by 2050; imagine China bringing to nuclear matters the same rigor and corruption-free approach it brings to inspection of food, children toys, and medicines

  • Hand-held near-infrared chemical detector developed

    Welsh company ZiNIR develops a hand-held near-infrared detector which can identify the chemical content of a substance within a few seconds on a “point, click, read” basis; company sees big opportunity in U.S. security market