Countermeasures
Thanks to data unveiled through Freedom of Information Act requests, the nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance launched the largest scale database of U.S. animal imports in history last week and, in the process, revealed that the nation imported more than 3.2 billion live animals over 15 years.
The data... Read More »
A technology system developed and licensed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to track and secure radiological material will be produced and deployed into Latin America under a new arrangement between PNNL and Golden Security Services of Miami.
The Mobile Source Transit Security... Read More »
BAE Systems has acquired Collins Aerospace’s Military Global Positioning System (GPS) business, as well as Raytheon’s Airborne Tactical Radio operation.
The asset purchase agreement for the Collins enterprise calls for cash totaling $1.925 billion, with an expected tax benefit of... Read More »
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) officials recently announced the preliminary results of its initial Gremlins program testing initiative, which seeks to enhance aircraft retrieve efficiently and turnaround preparation efforts.
The X-61A vehicle test conducted in late November at... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued a report examining how agencies designate individuals and entities under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act).
The report also examines how the agencies monitor, enforce, and report on sanctions under the Kingpin... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) introduced a bill to provide veteran firefighters with improved compensation and benefits.
The Michael Lecik Military Firefighters Protection Act would protect veteran firefighters who become disabled by serious diseases—including heart disease, lung... Read More »
SecuLore Solutions was awarded $750,000 by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) to improve the resiliency of the nation’s emergency communications infrastructure.
SecuLore will work to eliminate cybersecurity attacks against emergency... Read More »
All travelers from Wuhan, China, to the United States will have to undergo public health screening at the three U.S. airports that receive the most travelers from the Chinese city - San Francisco, New York, or Los Angeles - in response to a novel coronavirus outbreak that is continuing to grow.... Read More »
A pair of reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows a weak incoming pipeline of antibiotics, and, according to the organization, this lack of innovation is only going to degrade efforts to counter drug-resistant infections.
Research and development, according to the twin reports,... Read More »
Pandemic preparedness collaboration among private businesses with the public sector is critically important at this time, say experts at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, the World Economic Forum, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“The next severe pandemic will not only... Read More »
The U.S. Army’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded Lockheed Martin a $31.9 million hypersonic missile contract.
The award is for the Operational Fires (OpFires) Phase 3 Weapon System Integration program, a ground-launched hypersonic boost glide missile system designed... Read More »
The U.S. Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM) awarded KBR a three-year contract to provide video evidence management services for the Mobile Federal Law Enforcement Enterprise Technology Service (M-FLEETS) program.
As part of the contract, KBR will install dash cameras, digital video... Read More »
Pennsylvania’s Nonprofit Security Grant Fund Program will provide $5 million in funding to nonprofit organizations for security enhancement projects.
Applicants must be a nonprofit organization that owns or operates a facility that is seeking to protect the safety and security of the... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) personnel recently joined St. Louis, Mo., officials in integrating the final phases of smart city technologies.
The effort also included the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and the T-REX Innovation Center (T-REX), as... Read More »
Biologists from the University of California San Diego, along with a team of researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, recently engineered synthetic mosquitoes capable of neutralizing many types of dengue virus.
The study focuses on Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which spread dengue to... Read More »
As the world researchers try to identify the cause of a mysterious, novel coronavirus from China, researchers from the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) have made headway on at least tracking its existing, with the creation of a new assay protocol that allows quick testing of suspected... Read More »
Testifying before a U.S. House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, experts said Tuesday that more flexibility and stability in funding is necessary to battle the next phase in the war against opioid addiction.
During the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee hearing entitled, "A Public Health... Read More »
The House Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism of the Committee on Homeland Security held a hearing this week to discuss the rise of anti-Semitic attacks in the country.
The hearing -- called Confronting the Rise in Anti-Semitic Domestic Terrorism – featured testimony from U.S.... Read More »
Congressional leaders are asking Trump administration officials for briefings on efforts to secure America’s telecommunications networks in the wake of the killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani.
Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Mike Doyle (D-PA) sent letters to the heads of the Federal... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will publish a report in 180 days that includes timelines, specific deliverables, and metrics for measuring results to fight human trafficking.
The report, called Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking, the Importation of Goods Produced with Forced Labor,... Read More »
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) is cheering a win in the form of the Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Act (VRIPA) recently passed into law, for the tax benefits it will provide to volunteer firefighters all year.
VRIPA exempts all nominal incentives for volunteer... Read More »
With drones becoming more incorporated into modern life, the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) is getting in on the action and has created a working group to create a template governing law enforcement use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) nationwide.
The need for such a template has... Read More »
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) personnel are reporting a record-setting year for officers stationed at airport security checkpoints, noting more firearm seizures than at any other point in the agency’s history.
“The continued increase in the number of firearms that travelers... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) recently awarded Stranger Labs $197,021 in Phase 1 funding.
The company will develop a method that makes digital credentials verifiable offline so they offer the same convenience of paper-based... Read More »
Legislation that would invest about $1 billion to invest in 5G technology and innovation was introduced in the U.S. Senate this week.
The Utilizing Strategic Allied (USA) Telecommunications Act would encourage competition with Chinese provider Huawei by accelerating the development of an... Read More »
As the U.S. opioid epidemic continues, and with a criminalization order against fentanyl-related substances set to expire, U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) took to the Senate floor this week urging legislation to permanently schedule the drugs.
The existing scheduling order against fentanyl --... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) voiced concerns over the U.S. State Departmentʻs plans to address the surge of offensive cyberactivity by Iran.
In a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Warner is seeking answers from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on how the State Department plans to defend... Read More »
Citing a deadly year and the threat of domestic terrorism, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) have reintroduced the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2020--legislation to enhance federal abilities to crack down on domestic terror.
The bill would give the federal... Read More »
Seventeen years after the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) global epidemic, its shadow lingers in an ongoing outbreak of mysterious pneumonia cases in China, which an international group of researchers says showcase the potential for pathogens to appear suddenly and wreak deadly global... Read More »
The U.S. Navy recently awarded Lockheed Martin a $13.9 million engineering services contract to continue supporting engineering and fielding efforts for the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP).
The contract is part of a five-year agreement that will total $75 million if all... Read More »
U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation awarded $2.3 million to three groups to develop advanced technologies for homeland security.
The BIRD Foundation is an initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate... Read More »
CARB-X has awarded $3.2 million to Trellis Bioscience and dangled the possibility of $3.8 million more for the creation of a monoclonal antibody that can disrupt superbugs’ protective coating.
The bacteria that become superbugs have a biofilm coating that protects them from antibiotics. By... Read More »
The Partnership for Research on Ebola Vaccination (PREVAC) recently launched a new project called PREVAC-UP, which will evaluate three Ebola vaccine regimens for five years after vaccination.
The study will assess several factors within these treatments: their long-term safety, the durability... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. got the go-ahead from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to pursue its proposed development plan for its chikungunya virus vaccine candidate.
The company has proposed conducting a Phase 3 trial using Serum Neutralizing Antibodies (SNA) to predict clinical benefit of... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) commended the Trump Administration for imposing sanctions on eight senior Iranian officials and key sectors of Iran’s economy, including steel and iron manufacturers.
“Today’s announcement of sanctions against senior Iranian officials and Iran’s... Read More »
