• New bomb detection tool: Ferns

    Researchers engineered fern proteins to turn airport plants into bomb detectors; the researchers rewrite the fern’s natural signaling process so the plant turns from green to white when chemicals are detected in air or soil

  • United States susceptible to Moscow-style bombing

    The TSA has invested $212 million to train hundreds of Behavioral Detection Officers (BDOs) in the Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) program; the program is supposed to train security personnel to notice suspicious behavior by people in crowds, but lawmakers and academics question its value

  • "Sniffer technology" may replace detection dogs

    Humans have approximately 5,000,000 sensory “smelling” cells, while certain breeds of dogs, such as the Alsation, can have up to 220,000,000; dogs trained for detection jobs are effective enough, but require much more maintenance than a machine — and researchers have just developed a sniffer machine which may well compete with dogs; the new device uses what is called quantum cascade (QC) lasers to detect any trace vapors of explosive material emitted by a passenger, without the passengers having to remove any article of clothing in the process

  • Sensors to detect explosives, monitor food

    University of Houston (UH) chemist and his team have developed materials for use in creating sensors for detection devices — able to monitor everything from explosives to tainted milk; the materials are based on what the team calls “the artificial receptor concept”: this is akin to an enzyme functioning as a biochemical catalyst within a cell, like an antibody, binding with specific molecules to produce a specific effect in the cell

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  • Materials for fertilizer bombs not regulated

    Mixtures of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil (ANFO) are used in about 80 percent of all explosives used in North America each year, mostly in the mining and demolition industries; they were also used by Timothy McVeigh in Oklahoma City, and in insurgents’ IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan; explosives-grade ammonium nitrate can be refined from commercial-grade fertilizers using processes readily found online; there are even YouTube videos that break down the process step by step; commercial grade fertilizers are not regulated; those states that address the issue typically require merchants to keep records of who buys what, but there are no limitations on who can buy what and no reporting requirements

  • Napolitano says Israeli-style security is not suitable for U.S.

    DHS secretary Janet Napolitano is in Israel on a visit; during her private briefing with Israeli officials at Ben-Gurion Airport, they discussed cargo screening and how to stop non-metallic explosives, such as those used in the recent plots, from getting onto a plane; Napolitano was also briefed on other airport security measures used in Israel; Napolitano said, however, that what is effective in Israel, a nation of 7.3 million, would not necessarily work for 310 million Americans; Ben-Gurion is Israel’s only major international airport; the United States has 450 such facilities; about eleven million people pass through Israeli airports each year, while seventy times that many passengers go through American airports each year

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  • Privacy pants for airport security

    “Privacy pants” would allow airport security personnel to do their job while keeping passengers’ privacy and dignity intact

  • TSA to pay special attention to insulated beverage containers

    TSA announced terrorists might use insulated beverage containers to conceal explosives, so in the coming days, passengers flying within and to the United States may notice additional security measures related to insulated beverage containers

  • Questions about TSA's approach to security technology

    The massive push to improve airport security in the United States after the attacks of 9/11 led to a gold rush in technology contracts for an industry that mushroomed almost overnight; since it was founded in 2001, the TSA has spent roughly $14 billion in more than 20,900 transactions with dozens of contractors; in addition to beefing up the fleets of X-ray machines and traditional security systems at airports nationwide, about $8 billion also paid for ambitious new technologies; critics question whether TSA was too eager to look for technological solutions to basic security problem, and willing to write checks for unproven products

  • Hope for terahertz: laser operates at higher temperatures than thought possible

    Terahertz rays — radiation between microwaves and infrared rays on the electromagnetic spectrum — are a promising means of detecting explosives, but they have proven hard to generate cost effectively. So far, solid-state lasers — the cheap, miniature type of laser found in CD players — have been unable to produce terahertz rays unless they are super-cooled, which makes them impractical for mass deployment; now a group of researchers report a solid-state terahertz laser that operates at nearly twice the temperature that putative proportionality would have predicted

  • A woman wearing only black underwear gets hour-long airport security search

    An Oklahoma woman tried to avoid being subjected to an enhanced pat-down at the Oklahoma City airport by showing up for the flight wearing only her underwear; the fact that she was wearing black knickers and a black bra did not make a difference, though: after traces of nitrate were found on her body, she was given an enhanced search, which made her miss her flight to Phoenix

  • Third lawsuit filed over TSA airport screening

    A Colorado attorney has asked a federal judge to order the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to abandon its airport screening procedures for U.S. citizens; the suit claims that the patdowns the plaintiff, his two daughters, ages 9 and 15, and a family friend were subjected to in San Diego were “disgusting, unconscionable, sexual in nature” and in violation of the Constitution’s protections against unreasonable searches; nationally, at least two other lawsuits have been filed over the TSA’s new procedures; public opinion appears to be shifting against TSA’s “enhanced patdowns,” even as support for full-body scanning appears to remains high

  • Versatile terahertz technology could help aircraft to land

    Terahertz scanners detect a type of high-frequency electromagnetic radiation emitted by anything with temperatures higher than around 10 kelvin; it can penetrate dry, non-metallic materials such as clothing or sand, but is absorbed by water and metal; terahertz thus makes for very accurate airport scanners — but the technology can also be used to help aircraft land in poor visibility or power high-bandwidth communication systems

  • Napolitano says scanners may be used for trains, subways, and boats

    DHS secretary Janet Napolitano says that full-body scanners may be deployed in train stations, on subway platforms, and in marinas; experts point out that terrorists would not necessarily need to board a train to do damage: train graffiti is one indication how easy it to access parked trains — and trains roll on miles and miles of exposed track in open landscapes

  • Full-body scanner privacy concerns could be easily solved

    A U.S. government scientists involved in developing the full-body scanner says privacy concerns can be easily addressed by adding a simple algorithm to the scanners’ computer code; the algorithm distorts the body image into “grotesque” shapes without degrading the scanner’s detection capabilities