• Measuring the size of waves

    Surfers — and wave energy converters — benefit from a having more accurate sense of the size and intensity of waves; Scottish researchers developed a technique to make the exploitation of wave energy more efficient with a device that measures the size of each wave approaching the converter

  • Invisibility cloak for nanoparticles designed

    Researchers design invisibility cloak for nanoparticles; the new particle invisibility cloak will help create a vast array of new material technologies that combine unknown property combinations such as strength and durability with optical transparency

  • Sea cucumber inspires new plastic for body armor, brain implants

    Sea cucumbers’ skin is usually supple, allowing them to slide through narrow spaces between rocks and corals; when touched, however, a defensive reaction makes their skin go rigid in seconds, thanks to enzymes that bind protein fibers together; researchers apply this process to clothing, creating garments which switch stiffness in response to a pulse of electricity

  • Researchers show principles of mind-reading machine

    Researchers have developed a more sophisticated way to extract visual stimuli from brain signals; they developed a computational model that uses functional MRI (fMRI) data to decode information from an individual’s visual cortex; system may help in decoding dreams, and may offer a more humane interrogation technique

  • Growing interest in multi-view X-ray technology

    Multi-view X-ray machines offer several different views of objects within each piece of luggage, and they also automatically detect the presence of improvised explosive devices; TranSec World Expo in June will showcase the technology

  • GE Security, Schiphol to collaborate on security technology

    Leading security developer and major European airport will work to develop advanced technology aviation security; collaboration will lead to a real-world evaluation of existing and emerging security products and technologies “from the European perspective”

  • Taming food poisoning and bioterrorism toxins

    Rutgers researchers offer new insights into how plant toxin ricin kills cells; insights could help scientists develop drugs to counteract poisonings, reducing the threat of ricin as a bioterror weapon

  • New consortium to develop safety critical software

    High Integrity and Safety Critical Software (HI&SCS) is “the critical enabling technology” (U.K. Ministry of Defense’s words) for modern defense platforms, network enabled capability, and complex infrastructure; York University to lead a industry-academia consortium to develop such software; consortium will emulate the U.S. Software Engineering Institute

  • New sensor detects airborne pathogens

    MIT lab develops an advanced sensor for airborne pathogen; current sensors take at least twenty minutes to detect harmful bacteria or viruses in the air, but the PANTHER sensors can perform detection and identification in less than three minutes

  • Breakthrough: Transcribing entanglement into and out of quantum memory

    Caltech researchers demonstrate for the first time an important capability required for the control of quantum information and quantum networks: Coherent conversion of photonic entanglement into and out of separated quantum memories

  • New material can find a needle in a nuclear waste haystack

    Nuclear power has advantages, but it also comes with a big problem: Nuclear waste; making nuclear power viable long term requires discovering new solutions to radioactive waste disposal and other problems

  • iRobot brings robotic WLAN to urban battlefield

    Everything you want a robot to be: Portable, small, inexpensive, intelligent, and robust; iRobot will develop robots to serve as relay node for urban battle-field WLAN

  • Snake-like robots to help in search and rescue missions

    Robots can perform many missions, but they have difficulties operating on uneven, obstacle-strewn surfaces; Norwegian researchers develop a snake-like robot, equipped with sensors, cameras, and communication gear, to slither under, over, and around the rubble of collapsed buildings in search of trapped victims, chemical and biological agents, unexploded munitions, and more — and report back to the command center in real-time

  • Israel tests suicide bomber-resistant buses

    Since the mid-1990s, Palestinian terrorist organizations have killed and injured hundreds of Israelis by sending suicide bombers to explode themselves on crowded buses; in the last few years, Israeli security measures have prevented this particular form of terrorism, but just to be on the safe side, on of the country’s military contractors is testing fortified buses

  • Innovators hitch a ride on drive for national security

    Three U.K. companies share their experience in penetrating the U.S. homeland security market; their advice: Identify the right market, build relationships with industry leaders, talk about your programs, and prepare your family for the long hours at the office