• 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

  • Cobham acquires MMI Research

    Large U.K. defense contractor acquires specialist in cellular telecommunications for the law enforcement and national security markets

  • 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

  • Short on water, Saudis phase out wheat production

    In the 1970s the Saudi government launched an ambitious plan to make the kingdom self-sufficient on wheat; the Saudis now reverse course and plan to phase out wheat production by 2016; the reason: Wheat production requires water, and if current water consumption patterns continue, the kingdom will run out of fossil water in 20 years

  • Unprepared: Canada lacks plan to protect critical infrastructure

    Seven years after 9/11, Canada lacks a coherent, coordinated plan to protect the nation’s critical infrastructure; in a recent report experts dismissed natural disasters, terrorism, cyber attacks, and pandemics as the major threats to Canada; rather, the greatest threat, they said, is a “lack of clarity around governance” during a disaster

  • Next-generation nuclear fuel may be too hot to handle: report

    It sounded like a good idea: Enrich the uranium used to power nuclear reactors further so that operators will be able to extract more electricity from a given amount of fuel; trouble is, burn-up rates above a certain point would violate U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s safety standards unless new methods were devised for packaging the fuel

  • Simulating hurricanes to test buildings' resilience

    Researchers built a system of “blower boxes” which exert pressure on buildings similar to the buffeting of winds from gusts exceeding 250 kilometers per hour; the goal is to find ways to construct sturdier, more resilient structures

  • The future of U.K. nuclear power

    In the last five years the U.K. government has been vigorously promoting the idea of a U.K. nuclear power revival; John Hutton, Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform explains the government’s policy

  • One VC's view: "Water is the next oil"

    VC hopes to capitalize on an increasingly scarce resource

  • Japanese firms to begin IT security rating

    Eighteen Japanese firms announced they were creating the world’s first ratings agency looking at data security, which they said was a rising concern for companies

  • Underwater ears offer information about hurricane strength

    MIT researchers find that hydrophones planted on the ocean floor can “listen” to hurricanes as they form; the sound hurricanes make varies with their intensity — so early listening to hurricanes would help first responders better prepare

  • SyTech Corporation and communication interoperability, I

    The lack of communication interoperability among first response, rescue teams, and law enforcement during the 9/11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina was only the most dramatic and poignant demonstration of a persistent and debilitating flaw in U.S. agencies’ planning for disaster — and performing during disaster; communication interoperability is essential not only in disasters, but for routine, every-day operations of law enforcement; SyTech’s comprehensive approach to interoperability offers a solution

  • Predicting earthquakes and volcanic eruptions

    New satellite will measure anomalies in the Earth’s gravitational field; such anomalies allow scientists to predict earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and allow communities to better prepare for them

  • Clean Diesel licenses WMF technology to China's Headway

    The U.S. EPA gave Clean Diesel’s Wire Mesh Filter technology high marks, and China needs it: At the beginning of the year it signed up to the Euro IV PM emission standards for light and medium duty trucks; a clean diesel technology will allow it to meet the treaty’s standards

  • Cannister containing iridium 192 stolen in Japan

    Worries about a dirty bomb increase as a container containing 48.4 pounds of iridium 192 is stolen from an inspection company in Japan