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Search and rescueSelf-learning robots to be used in earthquake, disaster rescue missions
Rescue robots capable of understanding the changing and unpredictable environment of disaster scenarios may one day be deployed to search for survivors in the aftermath of earthquakes; a robot equipped with a newly developed software, for example, would be able to recognize how something such as a stick could be used as a tool to push an object through an area too small for the robot to go into
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DetectionNew smell sensor uses genetically engineered frog eggs
Researchers use genetically engineered frog cells to develop a sensor that detects gasses; the researchers embedded the sensor into a mannequin, so that it could shake its head when a gas was detected, making it easier to observe
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HAZMATRailroads do not let HAZMAT teams know what is on train
Lethal chemicals roll through the backyards of cities and towns without the knowledge of these towns; residents; railroads do not share information about the schedule and contents of HAZMAT cargo with these towns' emergency services, so the services cannot prepare for catastrophe; if chlorine or ammonia were to escape from a punctured tanker -- in an accident or derailment -- it would form a toxic cloud; a compromised 90-ton rail car of chlorine could create a plume fifteen miles long by five miles wide; the U.S. railroad industry transported some 75,000 tank cars of toxic inhalants nationwide in 2009
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First responseRobots huddle together to boost communication in urban disaster areas
Communicating with robots on the ground gets harder once they move beyond the line of sight, but equipping a group with the "sparse antenna" technology improves communications by extending the radio range; first responders will note that this could make it easier to communicate with robots working in hard-to-reach environments, such as urban disaster areas
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Search and rescueRescue 21 bolsters Coast Guard's search-and-rescue capablilities
Rescue 21 is already covering portions of the U.S. coastline and, as of last week, officially includes the coasts of Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and the upper Chesapeake Bay
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Law-enforcement technologyNorthern Ireland gets upgraded license plate readers
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is planning to spend some of £12.9 million in additional government security funding on automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras; U.K. police use of ANPR cameras is set to change following a Home Office ruling: the police ANPR database that currently holds 7.6 billion records of the movement of motorists in England and Wales will be operated with tougher accountability and safeguards
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First respondersHow to move forward on nationwide wireless emergency-response network
One of the lessons of 9/11 and Katrina was that there was a need for a nationwide wireless public safety and emergency-response network; trouble is, politics, arguments about spectrum allocation, business competition, and technology have all contributed to holding things up; one observer says that the way forward is for government to make a national emergency response network a wireless priority and devote dedicated, unencumbered spectrum to it
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Aviation securityFull-body scanner sit unused at Nigeria airports
After the failed Christmas Day bombing, the Nigerian government purchased ten body scanners; months later, the scanners still remain unused; the bombing attempt did, however, push Nigeria into signing an agreement allowing U.S. air marshals aboard international flights between the United States and Nigeria
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WMD preparednessIraqi army trains in biological, chemical weapons removal
The Iraqi military is training in removing suspected weapons of mass destruction, including biological and chemical weapon; there are no reliable figures for the amount of unexploded ordinance located in Iraq, let alone those that may contain degraded but still dangerous substances, such as sarin nerve gas or mustard gas
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Law enforcement technologyIndoor locator device for firefighter, first responders on the horizon
After several years of research and slow, halting progress, development of an indoor locator device to be worn by firefighters and other emergency response personnel could reach the production stage next year
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DisastersCholera spreads in flood-ravaged Pakistan
With stagnant water throughout Pakistan, water-borne diseases such as gastroenteritis, malaria, and typhoid, now threaten the nation; there are reports of diarrhoea and cholera among the hundreds of thousands left homeless, and food and drinking water are in short supply
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Japanese rescue robot can sniff out, and help, buried disaster survivors
Japanese emergency services are testing a search-and-rescue robot that can search rubble for survivors and deliver water, food, or cellphones in disaster zones; the device has a robotic arm that can be remote-controlled to turn doorknobs, maneuver through rubble and carry crucial survival items after an earthquake or other disaster
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Georgia will be base for WMD homeland security response force
DHS is setting up ten regional Homeland Response Forces tasked with handling weapons of mass destruction incidents; each will be assigned 570 personnel; the force will be trained to respond within six to twelve hours to regional disasters like chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high yield explosive incidents
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Ambulance radios in London do not work in the rain
Ambulances in London have a problem: ambulance crews often working without radios especially in heavy rain when their radios seem to have reception problems; ambulance panic buttons either did not work, or did not elicit any response when set off by staff; Airwave, the Airwave system is getting a £39 million upgrade in time for the 2012 London Olympics
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Biometric business round-upOmiperception and MaxVision to join forces
Partnership between two companies will enhance marketing offering; ruggedized portable computer adds facial recognition biometrics to allow law enforcement, first responders to collect and process biometric and other relevant in-the-field information
The Long View
New chemical contamination wipe developed
New, nonwoven dry wipe material proves itself in cleaning up chemical warfare agents and toxic chemicals
