• Arktis closes $2 million financing round

    Zürich, Switzerland-based Arktis Radiation Detectors Ltd., developer of a proprietary fast neutron detection technology which offers an innovative detection method for discovering well-shielded nuclear materials, successfully closed a round of financing worth $2 million.

  • Avira unveils free mobile security app for Apple iPhone, iPad, iPod

    Tettnang, Germany-based security firm Avira yesterday unveiled Avira Mobile Security app for Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod. The company said that in addition to scanning for malicious processes that may be corrupting your iOS device, Avira Mobile Security integrates a free 5GB cloud storage account to let users free up space to take more pictures or videos, or to access and share media while on the go.

  • Drug-resistant Salmonella outbreak in seven states

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that seven strains of Salmonella Heidelberg bacteria have been identified as being linked to an outbreak in seven states. The outbreak, associated with Foster Farm chicken product, has so far sickened 278 people. The outbreak strains of Salmonella Heidelberg are resistant to several commonly prescribed antibiotics. The CDC unit tracking disease outbreaks has been working with less than half its personnel since the government shutdown began, and had had to call back thirty furloughed inspectors.

  • Harnessing lightning power to charge a mobile phone

    Scientists from the University of Southampton have collaborated with Nokia on ground-breaking, proof-of-concept research into harnessing the power of lightning for personal use, an industry first that could potentially see consumers tap one of nature’s significant energy sources to charge their devices in a sustainable manner.

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  • Evaluating the IT security posture of business partners

    Evaluating the IT security of businesses is increasingly becoming a necessity when forming new business relationships. A start-up has launched a rating service, similar to a credit rating, to measure the security posture of a company based on a number of factors.

  • Navy blimp conducts aerial mapping operations in the Washington D.C. Flight Restriction Zone

    The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and the Navy’s sole Science & Technology research squadron, Scientific Development Squadron ONE (VXS-1), began operating the MZ-3A lighter-than-air blimp in the regions surrounding Washington, D.C. on 21 September. The Navy MZ-3A is conducting aerial mapping operations within the Washington D.C. Flight Restriction Zone (DCA-FRZ).

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  • Compact aerostat offers affordable, portable surveillance solution

    Columbia, Maryland-based TCOM last week unveiled its newest aerostat platform, the 12M Tactical Aerostat. The system is designed to meet the needs of soldiers and first responders who require a compact, affordable, persistent surveillance solution which can be transported anywhere, rapidly deployed, and easily retrieved.

  • Accessible critical rare Earth deposit confirmed in Montana

    U.S. Rare Earths, Inc. (UREE) the other day announced the results of its 2013 exploration in Lemhi Pass, Montana. The company says the results confirmed that its properties have the highest accessible rare earth deposit in North America.

  • Superbug crisis shows progress in antibiotic development “alarmingly elusive”

    Despite the desperate need for new antibiotics to combat increasingly deadly resistant bacteria, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved only one new systemic antibiotic since the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) launched its 10 x ’20 Initiative in 2010 — and that drug was approved two and a half years ago.The IDSA says that time is running out for meeting the IDSA Goal of ten new antibiotics by 2020.

  • iOS security weaknesses uncovered

    Researchers have discovered two security weaknesses that permit installation of malware onto Apple mobile devices using seemingly innocuous applications and peripherals, uncovering significant security threats to the iOS platform.

  • Cars’ computers could be the next targets of cyberattacks

    Computers, known as Electronic Control Units (ECUs), were first installed more than thirty years ago, during the first gas crisis, to serve as computerized carburetors. Eventually these computers were upgraded for innovations like cruise control and anti-lock brakes. In modern cars, ECUs “talk” to each other, and “listen” and respond to the messages they receive, over an open network, making them vulnerable to hacking, and potentially dangerous.

  • HID Global selected as prime contractor for USCIS Green Card

    Irvine, California-based HID Global the other day announced the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has selected the company as the prime contractor for the USCIS Permanent Resident Card, commonly known as the Green Card.

  • 7-Eleven stores used stolen social security numbers to pay illegal immigrants

    Federal authorities shut down fourteen 7-Eleven stores in New York and Virginia on Monday, charging nine owners with hiring and harboring illegal immigrants and paying them with social security numbers of other citizens. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and federal prosecutors say forty additional 7-Eleven’s are still under investigation.

  • Georgia’s Plant Vogtle may determine future of nuclear energy

    Analysts say that the future of the U.S. nuclear industry, and of nuclear power generation in the United States, will largely depend on the success of two reactors, called Vogtle 3 and 4, at the Alvin Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia. For the nuclear industry, the Plant Vogtle project and another project in South Carolina may be the last hope of what many analysts consider to be a dying energy source.

  • Second NSA domestic surveillance scheme revealed: data mining from nine U.S. ISPs

    A day after it was revealed that the NSA was collecting communication information on millions of Verizon’s U.S. customers, another NSA domestic surveillance scheme was exposed: the NSA and the FBI have been tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet service providers for the purpose of harvesting audio, video, photographs, e-mails, documents, and connection logs. The information collected allowed intelligence analysts to track an individual’s movements and contacts over time.