• Hardware ProtectionProtecting Hardware from Software Attacks

    In order to break the endless cycle of software patch-and-pray, DARPA’s System Security Integration Through Hardware and firmware (SSITH) program aims to develop ASIC hardware with novel protections proven in mitigating against software attacks on hardware.

     

  • Military TechnologyThe Drivers of Invention of Military Technologies

    Researchers tested competing theories about what drove the evolution of war machines throughout world history.

  • Energy SecurityFrance Sets to Invest in Small Modular Nuclear Reactors

    By Lisa Louis

    France plans to invest in small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). Some experts question whether this is ecologically and economically sensible, but it may be that France’s interests in SMRs is as much about geopolitical strategy as it is about energy.

  • Weapons DetectionWeapons-Detection Algorithm Studied at Las Vegas International Airport

    This summer, DHS S&T demonstrated a new advanced algorithm to better detect non-explosive weapons like guns, knives, and other items that are prohibited on commercial aircraft in a real-world setting at Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport.

  • Nuclear DetectionQuick Detection of Uranium Isotopes Helps Safeguard Nuclear Materials

    Researchers have developed a rapid way to measure isotopic ratios of uranium and plutonium collected on environmental swipes, which could help International Atomic Energy Agency analysts detect the presence of undeclared nuclear activities or material.

  • Water SecurityMaking Desalinated Water Safer, Cheaper

    Approximately 80 percent of drinking water in Israel is desalinated water, coming from the Mediterranean Sea. Israeli scientists and colleagues develop an effective and low-cost way to remove toxic boron from water in the process of desalination.

  • ForensicsForensic Analysis of Lipstick Trace

    Forensic scientists find a new way of identifying brands of lipstick at a crime scene without removing evidence from its bag.

  • Transportation SecurityDeep Learning Helps Predict Traffic Crashes Before They Happen

    By Rachel Gordon

    A deep model was trained on historical crash data, road maps, satellite imagery, and GPS to enable high-resolution crash maps that could lead to safer roads.

  • Nuclear WasteNew Treatment Technology Could Reduce Nuclear Waste Burden

    Researchers have developed a novel treatment technology that may help to significantly reduce the burden of nuclear waste. This breakthrough could therefore significantly speed up disposal of such material and reduce the overall cost of dealing with our legacy waste.

  • EarthquakesEarthquake System Model with Better Detection Capabilities

    researchers developed a machine learning model that improves the accuracy of detecting earthquakes by 14.5 percent compared to the most accurate current existing model.

  • Water SecurityNuclear Physics Used to probe Floridan Aquifer Threatened by Climate Change

    Florida is known for water. Between its beaches, swamps, storms and humidity, the state is soaked. And below its entire surface lies the largest freshwater aquifer in the nation. As rising sea levels threaten coastal areas, scientists are using an emerging nuclear dating technique to track the ins and outs of water flow.

  • Energy SecurityHydrogen Can Play Key Role in U.S. Decarbonization

    “Hydrogen is not really an energy source. It is rather an energy carrier or what we often call an energy vector,” says Berkeley Lab’s Ahmet Kusoglu. “So, you have to produce hydrogen from another energy source, store it, and then use or convert it. Hydrogen is a versatile and flexible energy carrier because it can be produced from various sources and for different applications. This flexibility is a key benefit of hydrogen versus other hydrocarbon fuels or energy storage technologies like batteries.”

  • Planetary SecurityDisrupting Asteroids to Protect the Earth

    If an asteroid is on an Earth-impacting trajectory, scientists typically want to stage a deflection, where the asteroid is gently nudged by a relatively small change in velocity, while keeping the bulk of the asteroid together. Researchers have examined how different asteroid orbits and different fragment velocity distributions affect the fate of the fragments, using initial conditions from a hydrodynamics calculation, where a 1-Megaton-yield device was deployed a few meters off the surface of a 100-meter diameter asteroid.

  • DronesSafe Airspace in the Age of Drones

    Drones are becoming more and more ubiquitous, and are being used for everything from backyard fun to military operations. As the technologies for UAS continues to improve, so has the potential for them to be used in illegal and dangerous ways.

  • Border SecurityInnovative Air Domain Awareness Technology

    DHS S&T is evaluating an innovative air domain awareness technologies to help protect the airspace along our northern border with Canada.