It took nearly a decade before University of Maryland researchers were allowed to talk about their work identifying the anthrax strain used in the deadly letter attacks. But now, they and the other key members of the science team have published the first account of the pioneering work, allowing bioterrorism investigators to “fingerprint” bacteria.
Institute for Genome Sciences led pioneering investigation in new field of microbial forensics.
The DHS Science and Technology Directorate's First Responder Communities of Practice* launches a Virtual Social Media Working Group (VSMWG) to provide recommendations to the emergency preparedness, response, and homeland security communities on the safe and sustainable use of social media technologies before, during, and after emergencies.
This year's DHS Science Conference will focus on the role of transportation systems in preventing, mitigating, responding to, and recovering from natural or man-made disasters. In interactive sessions, leading researchers, innovators, and experts will explore transportation as a complex system of infrastructure, networks, and people. In addition, all the DHS Centers of Excellence will demonstrate their tools and technologies.
Plants can detect environmental contaminants, perhaps even explosives, by rewiring their natural signaling process so that detection of the bad stuff results in the loss of green color.
With help from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate (S&T), the Secret Service is giving training scenarios a high-tech edge: moving from static tabletop models to virtual kiosks with gaming technology and 3D modeling.
Jens David Ohlin, an expert on domestic terror and assistant professor of Law at Cornell University, comments on First Amendment issues raised by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s assertion that homegrown terror is a rising threat in the U.S.
Observers of the recent suicide bombing at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport were surprised that despite the carnage, the airport remained open for business. While some claimed that this response was an example of Russian toughness and stoicism in the face of a crisis, Lisa Baglione, Ph.D., chair and professor of political science at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, believes that something else was at work.
Viewing TV coverage of terrorist events causes deterioration of psychological resources, such as commitment and a sense of success, and to feeling threatened, which in turn can also lead to loss of resources and other negative affects.
The frequency of suicide terrorism has increased in recent years, with over 90% of all suicide attacks from 1970-2008 occurring between 2000 and 2008. Following a suicide bombing at Domodedovo Airport in Moscow, the START Terrorism Center at the University of Maryland has compiled background information on related terrorist activity.
A new disaster preparedness tool from Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate calculates casualty estimates.
At the Weizmann Institute, an interdisciplinary team of scientists have used “natural selection” in a test tube to modify the PON1 enzyme so that it provides protection against nerve agents. This ability to tailor enzymes could be used to develop defensive treatments against all known nerve agents.
Two Kansas State University professors developed a model predicting which countries will likely experience an escalation in domestic political violence against their governments within the next five years. The model is currently five for five, most recently predicting Tunisia.
University at Buffalo faculty experts are available to comment on the Arizona shootings and their relationship to recent political rhetoric from a historical and legal perspective. For example, recent rhetoric is similar to that during the Reconstruction period and appears to legitimize violence. And that while the vast majority of mentally ill will never commit a violent crime, commentators who preach hatred should shoulder some of the blame for this violent attack.
A Washington and Lee University journalism professor who studies the impact of social media points to the Arizona shooting as illustrative of a change in the way breaking news is reported.
Binghamton University faculty members are available to discuss a range of issues related to the tragic shootings that took place on Saturday, January 8, 2011, in Arizona. Topics include the dangers that public officials face, the recent magnification of public anger and the dangers of inflammatory rhetoric. To arrange interviews, please contact Gail Glover or Ryan Yarosh at 607-759-7445.
Professors are available to comment on various topics surrounding this weekend's shootings in Arizona, including how the press handled the news with advent of social media, America's increasingly heated political rhetoric, and brain injuries and recovery.
UTHealth Trauma Experts are available for interviews to discuss trauma surgery and recovery in the wake of the near-fatal shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) at an event in Tucson.
In the wake of the near-fatal shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) at an event in Tucson, Kansas Statue University communication studies expert Dr. David Procter is available to discuss U.S. politics and civil discourse.
University of Maryland's homeland security professor Michael Greenberger to comment on bomb explostions today in two state government buildings in Maryland, including in Annapolis.
In the new book Coping with Terrorism: Origins, Escalation, Counterstrategies, and Responses, political scientists analyze various facets of terrorism from theoretical and empirical perspectives in a series of scholarly essays.
Despite reporters’ goal of objectivity, some broadcast accounts and articles about rumors that President Barack Obama is Muslim suggest that being an Arab or a Muslim automatically is “a sinister accusation,” according to a study by Baylor University researchers published online in the American Communication Journal.
NIST and a coalition of federal, state and local agencies and other organizations have updated a standard and provided overall guidance and recommendations to help the nation's first responders and law enforcement agencies deal with collecting and managing samples of suspicious powders.
Americans passing through airport security lines this week will find themselves victims of overaggressive, theatrical safety precautions that waste resources and do almost nothing to protect travelers, a privacy expert says.
University at Buffalo faculty experts are available to comment on the following topics: Safe driving tips for the holiday and the uphill battle of a possible legal challenge to the body scans. The thoughts of the UB faculty members are summarized below. For more information or to search the university’s Newstips blog, go to the Newstips Web site http://newstips.buffalo.edu/.
UAB psychologist Josh Klapow, Ph.D., believes new security measures at the nation’s airports are the straws that broke the travelers’ backs. UAB forensic scientist Jason Linville, Ph.D., says serious questions about the validity of the forensic data generated by full body scanners need to be answered.
Evidence is no match against the belief in false rumors concerning the proposed Islamic cultural center and mosque near Ground Zero in New York City, a new study finds.
Researchers in the Radiation Oncology Department at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have received a $14 million grant to develop countermeasures that will help treat damage caused by radiological or nuclear threats such as a dirty bomb attack.
People who believe false rumors about the proposed Islamic cultural center and mosque near Ground Zero in New York City not only are more likely to oppose that project – they are more likely to oppose building of a mosque in their own neighborhood.
Study shows why terrorists would have a hard time bringing down the US electric grid.
To put an end to suicide bombings, the United States needs a new strategy that would reposition troops and work with local allies to boost their fighting capacity. Despite a popular belief that suicide terrorism is the result of religious fanaticism, such bombings are really a calculated response to occupations by outsiders, according to new research.
When a bomb technician inspects a potential explosive device, the bulky protective suit might be the only defense he or she has.
An Iowa State University sociologist examined media coverage of the 9/11 attacks for a book he published this year. The knowledge he learned now applies to new controversies surrounding Saturday's anniversary.
Using Washington, D.C. As a model, study urges sheltering option as saving tens of thousands of lives versus evacuation.
Safeguarding the world’s most dangerous biological agents has been a top priority for a dedicated group of Sandia scientists for more than a decade, and now, this team is training laboratory leaders from around the world to secure deadly agents such as anthrax and HIV from accidental or intentional misuse.
A new report by terrorism researchers at the University of Maryland concludes that the deadly hostage-taking incident at the Discovery Communications headquarters in suburban Washington, D.C. meets the criteria of a terrorist act - a rare one for media organizations and the nation's capital region. Hostage-taking, though, is a familiar pattern in capital-region terror, the researchers add.
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers and ASME-Innovative Technologies Institute, LLC (ASME-ITI) have announced the new ASME-ITI Higher Education Risk Standard. “A Risk Analysis Standard for Natural and Man-Made Hazards to Higher Education Institutions” is designed to identify, analyze and address risks on college and university campuses.
Student research teams are preparing for the 2012 international autonomous vehicle competition, which will require nabbing an unsecured USB flash drive kept in a remote and highly secured office. The vehicle must enter through a broken window, and then decide how to proceed once inside the building.
A document, even one created by persons determined to remain unknown, can reveal more than its authors intended.
Recently named interim chair for the U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, NAU pathogen biology expert Paul Keim finds himself the national spokesperson when significant scientific findings are released.
A major breakthrough in remote wave sensing by a team of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers opens the way for detecting hidden explosives, chemical or biological agents, and illegal drugs from a distance of 20 meters.
University of Utah researchers are using eye-tracking technology to pioneer a promising alternative to the polygraph for lie detection. The university recently licensed the technology to Credibility Assessment Technologies, of Park City.
The number of new active terror groups is rising globally, but the kind of highly coordinated attacks that rocked London on 7/7 are declining, finds a new report from the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), based at the University of Maryland. The report is based on analysis of the Global Terrorism Database.
A new study by an international team of researchers led by neuropsychiatrist Jeff Victoroff, an expert on human aggression at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC), suggests that support for religo-political aggression (RPA) in the Autonomous Palestinian Territory of Gaza is more closely linked to past trauma and perceived political injustice, rather than to aggression.
Programs to de-radicalize imprisoned terrorists show promise, if well-run, says a report from researchers at the University of Maryland and Kings College. It concludes that programs in Saudi-Arabia, Singapore and Indonesia can ‘make a difference’ and could inform policy regarding detainees in Guantanamo, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Efforts to de-radicalize imprisoned terrorists can work, such as programs in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Singapore, says a joint report by the START Consortium at the University of Maryland and London’s International Centre for Radicalisation Studies. The research could inform policy on prisoners in Guantanamo and Afghanistan says START’s Gary LaFree.
The Pakistan bomber in Time Square, the five American born Virginians who went to fight with the Taliban, and Major Hasan at Fort Hood all support the undeniable fact that incidents of homegrown terrorism are on the rise. But what is homegrown terrorism? What contributes to it and why won’t it go away? Akbar Ahmed, former Pakistani Ambassador to Great Britain and current Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University's School of International Service, sheds light on one of today’s most complex problems, giving practical advice to ALL Americans when it comes to understanding today’s conflicting views about the American Muslim communities.
The Pakistan bomber in Time Square, the five American born Virginians who went to fight with the Taliban, and Major Hasan at Fort Hood all support the undeniable fact that incidents of homegrown terrorism are on the rise. But what is homegrown terrorism? What contributes to it and why won’t it go away? Akbar Ahmed, former Pakistani Ambassador to Great Britain and current Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University's School of International Service, sheds light on one of today’s most complex problems, giving practical advice to ALL Americans when it comes to understanding today’s conflicting views about the American Muslim communities.
North Carolina will be the national model for a new system to detect the earliest signs of an impending bioterrorism attack and provide warnings in time to minimize damage to human and animal life as well as the environment.
Superconductor cable prevents electric grid blackouts.
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