• EXTREMISMExtremists Co-opt Norfolk Southern Train Derailment in East Palestine, Ohio

    In the aftermath of the February 3, 2023, freight train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, a range of misinformation and unfounded claims has emerged as extremists and conspiracy theorists leverage the event for their own political and ideological gain.

  • RAIL SAFETYIn a Growing Petrochemical Hub, the East Palestine Derailment Triggers “an Uneasy Feeling”

    By Eve Andrews

    The Upper Ohio River Valley has been layered in industrial pollution for centuries, and residents are fed up.

  • RAIL SECURITYCan You Tell Whether a “Bomb Train” Is Coming to Your Town? It’s Complicated.

    By John McCracken

    This information about trains carrying hazardous materials is out there, but it is not always readily accessible. With the derailment of the Norfolk Southern train receiving international attention, more railroad communities are now asking what is traveling through their backyard, and how to avoid the fate of East Palestine, Ohio.

  • RAIL SAFETYOhio Chemical Spill Draws Focus on Railroad Dangers

    By Alistair Walsh

    The U.S. has one of the most extensive rail networks in the world, but diminishing safety standards puts people and the environment at risk. The latest accident has drawn sharp focus onto the safety standards of the highly profitable freight rail industry and its prolific lobbying against regulation.

  • RAIL SAFETYThe Train Derailment in Ohio Was a Disaster Waiting to Happen

    By John McCracken

    The derailment of a freight train filled with volatile chemicals in rural Ohio earlier this month captured the headlines, but researchers and chemical spill experts say it’s a situation that plays out far too often across the country. Trains carry hazardous chemicals everyday. They’re also dangerously unregulated.

  • AIRPORT SECURITYImproving the Speed and Safety of Airport Security Screening

    By Anne McGovern

    For decades, airports around the nation have employed sensitive canine noses to detect concealed explosives. While this four-legged fleet has been effective and efficient, researchers have yet to build a mechanical method that can mimic their abilities. Researchers seek ways to build non-contact screening methods that can detect concealed explosives at airports.

  • HAZARDOUS MATERIALTrain Derailments Get More Headlines, but Truck Crashes Involving Hazardous Chemicals Are More Frequent and Deadly in U.S.

    By Michael F. Gorman

    Highway crash of hazmat-carrying trucks do not draw national attention the way train derailments do, or trigger a flood of calls for more trucking regulation like the U.S. is seeing for train regulation. Truck crashes tend to be local and less dramatic than a pile of derailed train cars on fire, even if they’re deadlier. Federal data shows that rail has had far fewer incidents, deaths and damage when moving hazardous materials in the U.S. than trucks.

  • HAZARDOUS MATERIALSHow Dangerous Was the Ohio Chemical Train Derailment? An Environmental Engineer Assesses the Long-Term risks

    By Andrew J. Whelton

    Headaches and lingering chemical smells from a fiery train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, have left residents worried about their air and water – and misinformation on social media hasn’t helped. The slow release of information after the derailment has left many questions unanswered about the risks and longer-term impact.

  • HAZARDOUS MATERIALSTrain Cars Which Derailed in Ohio Were Labeled Non-Hazardous

    By John McCracken

    Nearly two weeks after a train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in rural Ohio, questions still linger about the lasting effects of the incident and the speed at which residents were returned to their homes. What we do know is that the train cars were marked as non-hazardous, and thus officials weren’t notified that the train would be crossing through the state.

  • PUBLIC HEALTHTackling Crowd Management in Subways During Pandemics

    Mass transit, and subways in particular, are essential to the economic viability and environmental sustainability of cities across the globe. Researchers are working with NYC’s MTA to develop machine learning and traffic models to optimize traffic flow during pandemics.

  • TRANSPORTATION SECUERITYTesting Environments Help Secure Transportation Infrastructure

    “All critical infrastructure sectors—including the energy, manufacturing, and transportation sectors—rely heavily on sophisticated technologies like industrial control systems, cellular networks, and artificial intelligence,” said DHS S&T’s Alex Karr. “These are all accessed, monitored, and controlled via the internet, which, in turn, makes them susceptible to hacking, malware attacks, and other malicious activities.”

  • COASTAL CHALLENGESMajority of California's Coastal Airports Are Vulnerable to Increased Flooding Caused by Climate Change

    Most of California’s population and its largest airports are located along the Pacific coastline, which is increasingly impacted by storm surges, sea level rise, and erosion due to climate change. In the next 30 years, sea level along the coast is expected to rise as much as 8 inches.

  • RAIL TRANSPORTATIONRailroad Unions and Their Employers at an Impasse: Freight-Halting Strikes Are Rare, and This Would Be the First in 3 Decades

    By Erik Loomis

    The prospect of a potentially devastating rail workers strike is looming again. Strikes that obstruct transportation rarely occur in the United States, and the last one involving rail workers happened three decades ago. But when these workers do walk off the job, it can thrash the economy, inconveniencing millions of people and creating a large-scale crisis.

  • CYBERSECURITYWhy Do Self-Driving Cars Crash?

    As they traverse the air, land, or sea, encountering one another or other obstacles, these autonomous vehicles will need to talk to each other. Experts say we need to inject cybersecurity at every level of the autonomous vehicle networks of the future.

  • LIGHTHOUSESDHS to Stabilize Its Historic Lighthouse on Plum Island

    DHS S&T is leading a project aiming to stabilize the historic Plum Island Light Station. The lighthouse was constructed in 1869 and put into service in 1870. Plum Island, New York, is located approximately 1.5 miles from the eastern end of Long Island’s North Fork. The island is wholly owned by the DHS and primarily serves as a secure location for DHS S&T’s Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC).