• Travelers uneasy about new airport security device

    Scanner can see through clothing to search for concealed weapons; travelers have diverse opinions about its use

  • Safety in (random) numbers

    USC researchers posit that a key to airport security is making security unpredictable (from the point of view of a potential terrorist); there is a difference between merely mixing things up and making police operations truly, systematically random

  • Millimeter wave scanners to be deployed at JFK, LAX

    At JFK, passengers sent to secondary screening will be given the option of a pat-down or a trip through the body imager; at LAX, the millimeter wave machine will be located just beyond the checkpoint magnetometers

  • New methods for detecting IEDs

    Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have exerted a painful toll on coalition forces in Iraq, and now in Afghanistan; DHS is worried that IEDs will soon make their deadly appearance on U.S. soil; Wolverines researchers offer a novel methods for detecting IEDs

  • U.K. to set up massive national drivers' surveillance scheme

    Hundreds of monitoring stations would be used to track cars every five seconds — with daily itemized accounts of all trips made by Britain’s thirty million drivers; move is part of a national pay-as-you-drive road pricing plan; government says plan will reduce congestion and pollution

  • Quota for visas for professionals met on first day; lottery set

    US authorities said Tuesday they had received too many applications for a visa program for skilled workers for the coming year, meaning a random lottery will determine the winners

  • Behavioral observation program questioned

    TSDA has been training security officers in behavioral observation, then placed them in major U.S. airports to observe passengers and note suspicious behavior; in the past four years, 104,000 passengers were pulled out of line to answer to more serious security measures, but fewer than 700 were arrested – all on criminal, rather than terror, charges; critics are not sure the $45 million annual tab is justified

  • Kinder, gentler security checkpoints

    TSA wants to try a new approach to airport security checkpoints: Mauve lights glowing softly, soothing music hums, smiling employees offer quiet greetings and assistance

  • Israeli carriers on high alert

    Number of security guards on flights boosted, helicopters escort takeoffs and arrivals in several airports worldwide for fear of missile launching; fear of Hezbollah’s attack

  • Ballast-free cargo ship design to reduce invasion of non-native species

    As worries about non-native species invading the great Lakes mount, Wolverines researchers develop ballast-free cargo ship design; at least 185 non-native aquatic species have been identified in the Great Lakes, and ballast water is blamed for the introduction of most

  • EU drops border security controls with 9 more countries

    Nine more countries enter the Schengen area as of Sunday; air border checks will no longer be necessary for European passengers to go to of from these new area members

  • U.S. hi-tech companies brace for new squeeze on high-tech visas

    U.S. companies can apply for H1-B visa for a skilled foreign employee beginning 1 April for the fiscal year which begins 1 October; last year, all 65,000 H1-B visas were filled on the first day of application; tomorrow will be no different

  • Sunday protest against rail tunnel through Italian Alps

    Protesters in the thousands continue to oppose a super-fast rail link between Turin and Lyon; plan calls for digging a new tunnel through the Italian Alps

  • As Real ID kicks in 11 May, some states may be left in limbo

    Beginning 11 May, individuals who want to enter federal buildings or board a plane will have to show a state driver’s license complying with the Real ID Act — unless their state has been granted an extension by DHS (the extension is until 11 October 2009); Maine and South Carolina do not have Real ID-compliant licenses, and they are yet to apply for an extension (the deadline is today)

  • Egypt installs CCTVs along Suez Canal

    A small motor boat approached an American cargo ship, chartered by the U.S. Navy, sailing through the Suez Canal; after the small boat refused to turn away and kept approaching, warning shots were fired, killing one Egyptian; the canal authorities now install CCTVs along the waterway