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Seattle successfully tests emergency response policy
Can local public health providers can handle a major earthquake, pandemic flu, or some other really big disaster? King County, Washington, says it is ready
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Can China's future earthquakes be predicted?
To predict earthquakes, China relied on GPS data, which showed movements of two millimeters per year in certain areas of Szechwan province where a May 2008 earthquake killed 70,000 people (20,000 are still missing) and destroyed more than eight million homes; scientists examine a better way to predict disasters
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1918 U.K. Spanish flu records help in solving future pandemics
The 1918-19 Spanish flu killed more than fifty million people worldwide; Aussie scientists study record of the flu out break in the United Kingdom in search for answers about the pandemic quick spread and lethality
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Earthquake's trampoline effect
During earthquakes the ground not only shakes from side to side, but also bounces up and down; this has important implications for designing quake-proof structures
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Using laptops to detect earthquakes
Laptops have a small accelerometer chip built into them in order to protect the delicate moving parts of the hard disk from sudden jolts; same chip is a pretty good earthquake sensor, too
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U.K. businesses lack understanding of threats they face
U.K. companies invest billions in software for intrusion detection, encryption, and identity management, but are still struggling with basic security processes
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Spanish mathematicians model submarine avalanches and tsunamis
Mathematicians develop a new model to explain submarine avalanches and certain types of tsunamis.
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Mini-UAV helps in monitoring natural disasters
Scandicraft provides geo-tagged aerial images taken from mini-UAV via satellite link; accurate images will make responses to natural disasters more effective
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Portable imaging system helps response to natural disasters
Yellow Jackets researchers develop an imaging system which can be affixed to a helicopter to create a detailed picture of an area devastated by a hurricane or other natural disaster
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Better coastal defenses against large waves
Coastal defenses have to withstand great forces and there is always a risk of water overtopping or penetrating these structures; Liverpool University’s mathematician says we need new concepts for coastal defenses
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Hurricane proofing Houston's power
In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, residents, politicians, and utility officials say it is time to consider burying electric lines underground in order to hurricane-proof Houston
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Invisibility cloak as a protection against tsunamis
Rather than fortifying sea platforms and coastal towns to withstand tsunamis, it may be possible to use invisibility cloaks to make off-shore platforms, islands, and even cities “invisible” to waves
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Engineers to quake-proof Cal stadium on free-floating blocks
Engineers have solved one of the world’s great retrofit puzzles: how to keep UC Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium from crumbling into a pile of concrete rubble during a major earthquake
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Satellite phone company Iridium acquired for $591 million
Iridium made a name for itself for going bankrupt eight years ago and being bought for $25 million; it later donated satellite phones to first responders in the aftermath of Katrina; now it is being acquired for half a billion dollars
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Computer model to help in smoother hurricane evacuation
Software developed at MIT could save lives and money by improving hurricane planning
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The long view
Revising the Cost of Climate Change
Climate scientists have warned of calamitous consequences if global temperatures continue their rise. But macroeconomists have largely told a less alarming story, predicting modest reductions in productivity and spending as the world warms. Until now. New study of economic toll yields projections ‘six times larger than previous estimates’.
Efforts to Build Wildfire Resilience Are Heating Up
Stanford’s campus has become a living lab for testing innovative fire management techniques, from AI-powered environmental sensors to a firebreak-creating “BurnBot.”
Autonomous Disaster Response Technology Successfully Applied to Fire Extinguishing System of a 3,200-ton Vessel
An innovative technology for autonomously responding, without crew intervention, to ruptures to the pipes within the fire extinguishing system of vessels has been successfully verified for the first time in Korea.
Reducing Vulnerability to Sea-Level Rise in Virginia
As the climate changes and sea levels rise, there is concern that sinking coastlines could exacerbate risks to infrastructure, as well as human and environmental health in coastal communities. The Virginia Coastal Plain is one of the fastest-sinking regions on the East Coast.