• New device uses sniffer bees to detect explosives

    The unassuming honeybees have a hidden talent — an even keener sense of smell than anyone first expected — which could make them one of the U.K.’s most ruthless and worst-feared weapons against terrorism; researchers developed a portable handheld sensor that holds thirty-six trained bees gently restrained in six cassettes inside the device; each is taught to recognize a particular odor and associate that smell with a food reward; the researchers have already trained their honeybees to detect a wide variety of explosive compounds and mixtures, including Semtex, C4, PE4, TNT, DMNB, gunpowder, and hydrogen peroxide

  • Ultra-sensitive sensor technology detects explosives, cancer

    Princeton researchers have invented an extremely sensitive sensor that opens up new ways to detect a wide range of substances, from tell-tale signs of cancer to hidden explosives; the sensor, which is the most sensitive of its kind to date, relies on a completely new architecture and fabrication technique developed by the Princeton researchers; the device boosts faint signals generated by the scattering of laser light from a material placed on it, allowing the identification of various substances based on the color of light they reflect; the sample could be as small as a single molecule

  • Innovative decontamination cloth reaches market

    A new decontamination cloth, developed for use by soldiers and first responders, is now available in several forms — as preshaped mitts for personal wipedowns if someone is exposed to toxins or chemicals, individual wipe cloths and pads, and in rolls perforated to produces 12-inch by 12-inch sheets, like paper towels in a kitchen

  • Vallon showcases innovative mine detector

    German company Vallon unveiled its latest mine detection system; one of its advantages is that it can detect mines made with no metal parts (the device can detect metal-free particles at a depth of 40 cm, and metal objects at greater depths); the UN is already deploying the device in mine-clearance operations in thirty countries

  • Day of invisibility cloak nears

    In physics, the Doppler Effect describes the change in frequency of light or sound waves whenever there is a relative movement between an observer and a wave’s source; thus, when an object and an observer move closer together, light frequency increases from red wavelengths to blue ones; when they move further apart, light frequency decreases from blue to red; researchers have for the first time ever demonstrated a reversal of the optical Doppler Effect — a promising sign for the future development of science fiction-inspired technology such as invisibility cloaks; this technology, which has already been demonstrated on a micro-scale by U.S. researchers, may be closer to becoming a reality than most people think

  • Invisibility cloaks are hiding around the corner

    In 1897 H. G. Wells created a fictional scientist who became invisible by changing his refractive index to that of air, so that his body could not absorb or reflect light; more recently, Harry Potter disappeared from sight after wrapping himself in a cloak spun from the pelts of magical herbivores; now, a Michigan Technology University researcher has found ways to use magnetic resonance to capture rays of visible light and route them around objects, rendering those objects invisible to the human eye

  • Engineers use Xbox Kinect to find earthquake survivors

    A team of engineers at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom has been working to develop a robot capable of entering unstable buildings and searching for survivors, such as the 200 purportedly missing after the 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand; until now, technology has relied on expensive laser-based equipment, but Warwick’s team has reconfigured Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect to identify places in which survivors may be

  • Engineering competition features Blue Tooth-capable trebuchet

    During the first Storm the Citadel Trebuchet Competition in Charleston over the weekend, Google employees combined Android cell phones, a computer the size of a credit card, and a Blue Tooth receiver to trigger a medieval weapon used in the twelfth century to destroy enemy fortifications

  • Wine testing technology to scan for liquids at airports

    Scanner technology originally developed at the University of California, Davis, to test wine in the bottle is being re-engineered to tell shampoo from explosives at airports; this means travelers could be able to carry soda cans or full-size tubes of toothpaste through security and onto jetliners in the not-too-distant future

  • Acoustic gunfire detection devices heading to the field

    Technological developments may one day create artificial soldiers, but until they come along, the United States and other countries will continue to rely on human soldiers; the militaries thus want to preserve as many of their soldier’s lives as possible; to that end, Shoulder-Worn Acoustic Targeting System (SWATS), which helps Marines zero in on enemy sniper fire, is a godsend to the United States; asymmetric warfare favors the forces that can strike and runaway unharmed, but with plentiful acoustic sensors in the field it will be that much harder for snipers to ambush U.S. soldiers and live to escape

  • To boldly go -- but at a leisurely pace

    In 1961 President John Kennedy committed the United States to land a man on the moon “before this decade is out”; DARPA new space project has a more lackadaisical time table: building an interstellar starship capable of carrying people to other star systems than our own by the year 2100AD

  • Aussie "thinking cap" makes brain waves

    Scientists in Australia say they are encouraged by initial results of a revolutionary “thinking cap” that aims to promote creativity by passing low levels of electricity through the brain; the device works by suppressing the left side of the brain, associated with knowledge, and stimulating the right side, linked to creativity.

  • A fast, simple test for detecting cholera

    The new detection method uses specially prepared nanoparticles of iron oxide, each barely 1/50,000th the width of a single human hair, coated with a type of sugar called dextran; to achieve this, the scientists looked for specific characteristics of the cholera toxin receptor (GM1) found on cells’ surface in the victim’s gut, and then they introduced these features to their nanoparticles; when the magnetic nanoparticles are added to water, blood, or other fluids to be tested, the cholera toxin binds to the nanoparticles in a way that can be easily detected by instruments

  • Smart fence distinguishes real from imagined threats

    A new sensor system can tell between someone simply leaning against a fence and a ne’er-do-well sneaking around; the device, developed by researchers at the University of Southern California, contains signal processing based on the way the brain works

  • Breakthrough in free-electron laser development

    Breakthroughs in Free-Electron Laser (FEL) technology could mean a virtually impenetrable defense system for Navy ships; the laser weapon has the capability to detect and engage incoming cruise missiles at the speed of light without running out of ammunition