• GAO unimpressed with new radiation detectors

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended further testing of next-generation radiation detectors; at more than $800,000 apiece, the new devices cost nearly 300 percent more than the machines in operation

  • Hiding buildings from earthquakes

    The seismic waves of an earthquake fall into two main groups: body waves that propagate through the Earth, and surface waves that travel only across the surface; invisibility cloaks could be used to make buildings invisible to surface waves

  • Trust but verify, II

    British and Norwegian scientists ran the first field trials of a device that could solve the problem of reliable verification: a gamma ray detector linked to a hand-held “information barrier”

  • Iran tests radar-evading UAV

    Commander of the Iranian air force says the service has successfully tested a home-grown, radar-evading UAV; the UAV is intended for both surveillance and bombing missions

  • Global Security Challenge's final to be held 13 November

    The deadline for submission of entries to the Global Security Challenge open competition is over; now we wait to see the regional winners who will gather in London on 13 November

  • BAE promotes intelligence, security start-ups

    BAE’s inviting SMEs in the intelligence and security sector to come forward with innovative technologies as part of its Investment in Innovation program

  • USAF looks for more discriminating UAVs

    The increased use of UAVs in Pakistan has also increased the number of civilians being killed in attacks on insurgents; one of the main reasons is the fact that the least powerful munition they fire is Hellfire missiles, which are intended to puncture the tough armor of tanks; USAF plans to build smaller, even microscopic drones with smaller weapons that can hunt in swarms and engage targets in the close quarters of urban battlefields

  • Drug smuggling becomes more sophisticated, II

    Drug smugglers now use semi-submersibles which are 60 foot long and 12 feet wide fiberglass boats powered by a diesel engine, with a very low freeboard and a small “conning tower” providing the crew (usually of four) and engine with fresh air, and permitting the crew to navigate the boat

  • Eye-tracking device could keep drowsing drivers awake

    Swedish company develops an eye-tracking device embedded on a single chip; device may keep drivers awake on long drives

  • U.K. government to give up on massive Internet snoop scheme

    The Home Office admits that its IMP (Interception Modernization Program) — the cost of which was to be £2 billion over ten years — cannot be realized because the technology does not yet exist

  • Israel shows -- and sells -- sophisticated loitering munition system

    Israel used the Paris Air Show to display the Harop, a robo-kamikaze device; the defense-suppressing weapon loiters in the air and transmits back video to its control station just like a surveillance drone; if a target is found — typically, an enemy radar —the Harop can then fly down and crash into it with unerring precision, detonating its 50 lb warhead as it does so

  • Researchers find ways to slow down deformation of concrete

    Concrete is used in practically all forms of construction — buildings, bridges, tunnels, dams; trouble is, it deforms and crumbles over time; MIT researchers discover the reasons for the gradual deformation of concrete, a discovery which will lead to concrete infrastructures capable of lasting hundreds of years rather than tens

  • Building sturdier structures in hurricane-prone areas

    The hurricane season is upon us; an architecture professor offers tips on how to build — and how not to build — sturdier structures in hurricane-prone regions

  • Quantum computing nears with European QAP project

    QAP co-coordinator Professor Ian Walmsley: “Quantum computing, when it arrives, could make all current cryptographic technology obsolete”

  • Robotic ferret to secure cargo containers

    The U.S. maritime system consists of more than 300 seaports and more than 3,700 cargo and passenger terminals; more than 6 million cargo containers enter U.S. seaports annually; new robotic ferret will help detect radioactive materials, explosives, drugs, and illegal immigrants smuggled inside such containers