• Table-top nuclear detector shows exact location of radiation sources

    A table-top gamma-ray detector created at the University of Michigan can not only identify the presence of dangerous nuclear materials, but can pinpoint and show their exact location and type, unlike conventional detectors

  • Yemen may impose 100% air freight screening

    In the wake of explosives being shipped from Yemen to the U.S. on 29 October, Yemeni authorities are stepping up efforts to boost security; one measure likely to be adopted is 100 percent air freight screening; government officials warn that tighter screening alone is not the answer; Qatar Airways confirmed it moved one of the packages from Yemen, via its Doha hub, to Dubai, where the explosive device was discovered; the airline CEO, Akbar Al Baker, stresses, however, that it was not the airline’s responsibility, but that of authorities. to conduct the searches

  • Experts: cargo bombs raise questions about adequacy of technology

    The PETN bombs found onboard cargo aircraft at East Midlands airport and Dubai airport were hidden inside computer printers; the deadly devices were not picked up by X-ray screening or sniffer dogs; intelligence will continue to play a major role in maintaining air security as even advanced screening technologies are not perfect and checking every piece of cargo would be impractical

  • False alarm at U.S., U.K. airports

    Several United Parcel Service flights arriving at U.S and U.K. were moved to areas isolated from other aircraft, and searched for explosive devices; to this point no explosives have been found

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  • Japan to test walk-through explosive sniffers

    Japan will test a walk-through explosive detectors during the November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit; not many details about the Hitachi-built sniffer have been released, but a description of how it operates brings to mind the troubled Puffer Machine, which was tried at U.S. airports in 2008 and later rejected

  • Pentagon: dogs better than technology at bomb detection

    The most sophisticated detectors the Pentagon came up with tend to locate only 50 percent of IEDs in Afghanistan and Iraq; when soldiers are accompanied by bomb-sniffing dogs, this number goes up to 80 percent; the Pentagon now spends less money on IED detection and more money on drones to find those planting IEDs, radio jammers to disrupt the frequencies used to detonate the bombs, and lots of aerial sensors to scan bomb-heavy areas

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  • Drive-by X-ray vans raise privacy, health worries

    DHS, the U.S. military, and even local law enforcement agencies are buying and deploying mobile X-ray vans that can see into the interior of vehicles around them; the Z Backscatter Van (ZBV), manufactured by American Science and Engineering (AS&E), can be used to detect contraband such as car bombs, drugs, and people in hiding; the van looks like a standard delivery van, and it takes less than fifteen seconds to scan passing vehicles; it can be operated remotely from more than 1,500 feet and can be equipped with optional technology to identify radioactivity as well; the vans, which can also see through clothing and into some buildings, are raising privacy concerns as well as questions about health risks — and what might happen if the technology gets into the wrong hands

  • Bomb-sniffing dogs in Afghanistan, Iraq may not be up to the task

    The U.S. State Department uses nearly 200 bomb-sniffing dogs in Iraq and Afghanistan to protect U.S. diplomatic facilities; the department inspector general says that bomb-sniffing dogs in Afghanistan and Iraq are not being tested properly and may not be able effectively to detect explosives

  • Local resistance to bomb sniffing-dogs training facility

    As fear of domestic terrorism grows, so does the need for explosive-sniffing dogs; company with DHS detection credentials wants to convert a horse barn in New York into a commercial kennel for bomb-sniffing dogs, but the neighbors object

  • New way to sniff out shoe bombs

    Triacetone triperoxide (TATP) is a high-powered explosive that in recent years has been used in several bombing attempts. TATP is easy to prepare from readily available components and has been difficult to detect. It defies most standard methods of chemical sensing: It does not fluoresce, absorb ultraviolet light, or readily ionize; University of Illinois researchers offers a solution that overcomes these problems

  • End to limits on carrying liquids on board in sight

    New bottled liquid scanners unveiled; researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory developed a magnetic resonance device to read liquids’ molecular makeup, even when the substances are in metal containers; the device is so sensitive it can tell the difference between red and white wine, and between different types of soda; satisfactory test result may spell the end of limitations on carrying liquids on board

  • Italian airport security drop body scanners

    After a six-month test, Italy is giving up full-body scanners for security checks in airports; officials said it takes longer to check a person by scanner — about thirty seconds — than by hand, and privacy measures reduced the scanners’ effectiveness

  • New TNT detector 1,000 more sensitive than sniffer dogs

    Israeli researchers develop an explosives detector that can detect extremely small traces of commonly used explosives in liquid or air in a few seconds; the device is a thousand times more sensitive than the current gold standard in explosives detection: the sniffer dog

  • DHS announces $98 million for advanced X-ray technologies

    Next-generation advanced technology (AT) X-ray systems screen carry-on baggage for explosives or prohibited items at checkpoints; currently, TSA employs more than 940 AT X-ray units at airports nationwide; $98 million will fund the deployment of additional units

  • New upgrades will make full-body scanners less privacy-offensive

    New software upgrade to full-body scanners would replace the images of a passenger’s naked body with an avatar and alert authorities to a potential hidden threat, eliminating the need to keep an employee in a remote room