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Messaging pictures as a safety device
A Pittsburgh-based startup allows you to take pictures of threatening individuals you may encounter in hairy situations, and message these pictures to a secure “vault”; if you do not come back to your home or office by a specified time, the date- and time-stamped pictures are made available to the police
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Pentagon interested in submersible aircraft
DARPA asks for proposals for a submersible airplane; the agency admits that this has never been done before, and that many of the design requirements of airplanes contradict the design requirements of submarines; still, the agency says that we may solve the contradiction if we were to think not of a flying submarine, but of a submersible aircraft
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EU votes down millimeter wave scanners
Millimeter wave scanners offer a new level of security at airport checkpoints, but they also offer anatomically correct images of people’s private parts; EU votes against using them
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New technique to detect individual molecules
Even very small numbers of deadly infectious agents or allergenic pollen molecules can cause major problems for humans — but detecting such trace amounts has been difficult to accomplish with enough speed to do any good; new detection technique solves the problem
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Better baggage security through simulation
Aussie researcher develops software which allows airport managers to examine how baggage handling operations at a typical airport would cope with upgrades to security systems
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New reactor design lessens risk of weapon proliferation
Nuclear materials for power reactors cannot be stolen by those interested in using it for nuclear weapons while the material is in the reactor — it is too hot to handle; the risks of diversion are during the enrichment process, and while the material is being transported; to lessen the risk, researchers offer innovative reactor design
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Debate over safety of taser-proof vests
A U.S. body-armor company is selling taser-proof vests to police units; some argue that the vests make officers less safe because taser-toting bad guys would now aim for the officer’s head; the response: this is like arguing that bullet-proof vests make officer less safe because the bad guy would aim for the head
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Debate over safety of taser-proof vests
A U.S. body-armor company is selling taser-proof vests to police units; some argue that the vests make officers less safe because taser-toting bad guys would now aim for the officer’s head; the response: this is like arguing that bullet-proof vests make officer less safe because the bad guy would aim for the head
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Innovative shoe scanner to make travel safer, lines shorter
University of Manchester researcher develops a technology which allows security personnel to spot people with concealed items in their shoes as they walk through passport control or through traditional security checks
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DHS to use TeraView's terahertz technology in chemical detection
Goodrich chose U.K. terahertz technology specialist TeraView for developing a DHS-sponsored chemical detection system for government and public buildings, and on the battlefield
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Using pre-cast abutments to build bridges faster
Wisconsin contractor using pre-cast, segmental abutments for the first time to build a bridge in Wisconsin; technique may allow building bridges 30 percent faster
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GE shows a chemical sensor that does not need batteries
Researchers develop a chemical sensor that can detect minute quantities of chemicals in the air or water; it has no batters: it receives its power wirelessly from a sensor reader
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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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Battery-free, multi-detection wireless sensors
Home food and beverage safety monitoring, remote water purity testing, more effective chemical and biological sensors are all potential applications
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U.S. government looking for game-changing cyberspace ideas
With an RFI published yesterday in the Federal Register, the Bush administration has launched its Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI); initiative seeks “the most promising game-changing ideas with the potential to reduce vulnerabilities to cyber exploitations by altering the cybersecurity landscape”
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More headlines
The long view
Leveraging U.S. Capital Markets to Support the Future Industrial Network
$56 trillion is nearly three times the size of the U.S. economy. This vast pool of capital in U.S. capital markets — $46 trillion in public capitalization and another $10 trillion in private money – dwarfs that of China. Tapping U.S. equity and debt markets would enable the Department of Defense to remedy current capability shortfalls, fund technological advances from leading private-sector innovators, invest in generational transformation efforts across the military services, and upgrade antiquated global infrastructure to sustain U.S. forces.
Using Blockchain to Increase Electric Grid Resiliency
Blockchain is best known for securing digital currency payments, but researchers are using it to track a different kind of exchange: It’s the first time blockchain has ever been used to validate communication among devices on the electric grid.
Hydrogen Changing Power Dynamics in Energy Sector
As the EU tries to finalize its hydrogen rules, Asian countries are moving fast to secure deliveries and the US is committing money to set up local supply chains. Can the Middle East collaborate with both continents?