Countermeasures
FLIR Systems, Inc. recently received a delivery order valued at $54.2 million from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) for 50 U.S. Army chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear dismounted reconnaissance sets, kits and outfit (CBRN DR-SKO) systems.
The order is part of a five-year... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-GA) recently introduced a bill that aims to strengthen immigration enforcement by targeting undocumented migrants who have a criminal record and bringing them into law enforcement custody.
The bill, titled the Assuring Law Enforcement Requests are Timely... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Donald M. Payne, Jr. (D-NJ), David Young (R-IA) and Dan Donovan (R-NY) recently introduced a bill to ensure the safety of the nation’s food supply by combating the threat of potential agro-terrorism.
The Securing our Agriculture and Food Act would require the Secretary of Homeland... Read More »
In the years since the United States ceased developing new nuclear weapons systems, Sandia National Laboratories have been conducting and developing a series of assessments for each nuclear weapons system to detect or anticipate potential functionality issues as the weapons themselves continue to... Read More »
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) SIGMA program, a project aimed at preventing attacks from radiological or “dirty” bombs, recently completed its biggest test deployment of vehicle-mounted radiation detectors in Washington, D.C.
The test, which began last July and... Read More »
A research team at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine (PennVet) recently identified new therapeutic targets for the tropical disease leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease that can cause painful skin ulcers that can become metastatic after a period of time.
The... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), chairman of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, along with U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham (R-LA), recently introduced a bill to examine the cybersecurity capabilities of various federal agencies and require regular audits of their progress as more... Read More »
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) recently selected Kacey Ernst, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Arizona’s Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, as a 2017-2018 public engagement fellow.
As part of her fellowship, Ernst will... Read More »
Since its creation in 2006, the Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority (BARDA) has taken a lead role in helping to procure an arsenal of medical countermeasures that the agency says should serve as a deterrent to anthrax, smallpox and botulism being weaponized in a future biological... Read More »
Two members of the House Republican Caucus recently sent a public letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in an effort to examine the agency’s Laboratory Response Network (LRN), a system established to boost the government’s preparedness for bioterrorism.
U.S. Rep.... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) introduced legislation last week to require a “stress test” of U.S. government programs against potential terrorist travel.
The Task Force on Combating Terrorist and Foreign Fighter Travel, on which McSally served, made the stress test recommendation to help... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) introduced legislation last week to help protect against a terror-style attack on the nation’s agriculture industry and ensure food safety for American consumers.
The Securing our Agriculture and Food Act would require the Secretary of... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Cory Gardner (R-CO) introduced a bill last week to help state, local, and tribal governments to identify, detect, protect, respond and recover from various cyber threats.
The State Cyber Resiliency Act establishes a cybersecurity grant program to provide the... Read More »
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators recently sent a public letter to the Senate Homeland Security Committee, urging the committee to conduct hearings on the growing number of threats and attacks against faith-based community centers in the United States.
U.S. Sens. Dean Heller (R-NV) and Martin... Read More »
Meenakshi Malik, associate professor at the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, was recently awarded a $480,000 grant to expand her study into Francisella tularensis, the bacteria that causes the potentially fatal disease tularemia.
The three-year grant was funded by the National... Read More »
According to a recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has made progress in planning for a biometric air exit system and reporting traveler overstays, but certain challenges have persisted in its efforts.
GAO conducted the... Read More »
Fifteen member states of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) took part in a training course last month aimed at preparing each member in handling emergency response to chemical incidents.
The course was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from Feb. 6-10 and was the fifth... Read More »
Utah’s Davis Chamber of Commerce recently named BAE Systems Air Force Strategic Programs at the Hill Air Force Base as its Innovation Business of the Year at its annual awards banquet.
The award is given to businesses that “demonstrate the ability to drive innovation in their business... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework, Assessment, and Auditing Act of 2017 (H.R. 1224) this week, which examines the cybersecurity capabilities of various federal agencies and requires regular audits of their... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) published a list of 12 anti-biotic resistant priority pathogens this week, which represent the 12 families of bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human health.
WHO said the list was made to promote research and development of new antibiotics and is part... Read More »
A team of scientists at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health recently discovered a new method to accurately predict the timing and intensity of West Nile virus outbreaks.
The method uses a computer model to forecast multiple situations that imitate potential behaviors of an... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop (R-MI) recently re-introduced legislation that urges the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member nations either meet or exceed a two percent gross domestic product (GDP) commitment to defense spending.
The resolution was introduced with bipartisan support in the... Read More »
A team of scientists at the University of California, Riverside, recently explored ways small regulatory RNA molecules, called microRNAs, play in the mosquito egg maturation process.
The team hopes that by studying microRNAs of Aedes aegypti species mosquitos, they might be able to find ways to... Read More »
A panel of counterterrorism experts told lawmakers on Tuesday of a growing threat of domestic terrorism that appears to be coming over the Internet from overseas affiliates of ISIS, al-Qaida and other jihadist groups.
Thomas Joscelyn, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies,... Read More »
Aeolus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. recently announced the launch of a Phase 1 study to examine the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of the company’s treatment for the lung and delayed effects of acute radiation exposure, called AEOL 10150.
The treatment is being developed under a $118.4... Read More »
According to a recent study conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), an investigational malaria vaccine protected a small number of healthy adults from infection with a malaria strain different from that contained in the vaccine.
Results of the Phase 1... Read More »
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee scheduled a hearing, set for Mar. 1, to examine Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a provision that allows government entities to collect the communications of foreign terrorist seeking to harm the United States.
The committee said the... Read More »
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) recently began a Phase 1 clinical trial to examine an investigational vaccine that provides protection against a range of common mosquito-transmitted diseases, such as Zika virus, malaria, West Nile, and dengue fever.
The... Read More »
U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the San Diego Sector recently apprehended a known Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang member after he was spotted illegally crossing the border near Potrero, California.
The incident began as agents responded to report of a suspected illegal border crossing near... Read More »
A group of Democratic senators recently criticized a reported plan by the Trump Administration that aims to reorganize U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) efforts on countering violent extremism of all types to instead focus its efforts solely on Islamic extremism.
The group includes... Read More »
The President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, H.E. Evo Morales recently visited the headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague, Netherlands, to discuss various issues related to the implementation of provisions of the Chemical Weapons... Read More »
According to a recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) needs to strengthen its data collection practices related to the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and aerostats.
The study was commissioned by the Department of Homeland... Read More »
In the wake of the Zika virus outbreak in the Americas and the Caribbean, a university professor recently developed a biological-behavioral-operational computer model designed to help lawmakers choose the best intervention strategies to help contain the spread of infectious diseases.
Eva Lee,... Read More »
The European Commission recently heard testimony from three European Supervisory Authorities (ESA) on the various problems regarding money laundering and terrorist financing affecting the European Union’s (EU) financial sector.
The groups, the European Banking Authority, the European... Read More »
According to a recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) needs to address its data collection practices regarding border fencing in order to assess what contributions it makes to the agency’s overall mission.
The report’s... Read More »
