Countermeasures
U.S. Reps. Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Ken Calvert (R-CA), co-chairs of the California Aerospace Caucus, sent a letter to U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall III last week, urging for the permanent relocation of the U.S. Space Force (USSF) upcoming Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM)... Read More »
In an effort to stock up for emergencies involving nerve agents, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) announced last week it will work with French developer Crossject to gain ZENEO needle-free autoinjectors for the anticonvulsant midazolam.
Midazolam works to treat... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently forwarded correspondence to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), advocating support for a CMS proposal encouraging hospitals to buy domestically-produced masks.
U.S. Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) joined six colleagues in sending... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and Israel National Cyber Directorate (INCD) recently formed the Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Cyber program-managed joint initiative, which would enhance critical infrastructure cyber... Read More »
The efforts of an interdisciplinary research team funded by the National Institutes of Health’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) Tech program have yielded a quick, cost-effective new means of detecting and identifying known variants and subvariants of SARS-CoV-2.
The results of the... Read More »
Aerospace and defense company Raytheon Technologies is touting the accomplishments of its subsidiary, Raytheon Intelligence & Space (RI&S), amid the recent Defense Department Valiant Shield 22 exercise.
Authorities noted the demonstration successfully indicated the ability to collect data on a... Read More »
Struggling to contain a national opioid epidemic, the United States Justice Department (DOJ) Criminal Division this week gathered various law enforcement operations together under the New England Prescription Opioid (NEPO) Strike Force.
The strike force represents a renewed focus on unlawful... Read More »
Public health policy organization Trust for America’s Health and the nonprofit collective known as the Coalition for Health Funding assembled expert panelists and public health officials last week to discuss public health funding in the post-COVID landscape.
While COVID-19’s effects are... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently detailed an agreement to purchase 105 million doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for a fall vaccination campaign.
HHS collaborated with the U.S. Department of Defense on the $3.2 billion contract that includes a combination of... Read More »
A new study conducted by consulting firm Trail of Bits and funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) concluded that despite claims to the contrary, blockchains are not impenetrable but can be subverted to dishonest means.
Despite the growing prevalence of blockchains... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) is requesting the Biden administration reopen the northern border and recently encouraged the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to end the trucker and traveler vaccination mandate.
Tester recently implored Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro... Read More »
Inoculations began this week at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, for up to 100 participants in a phase 1 trial of novel universal flu vaccine candidate BPL-1357.
Testing will be conducted at this site alone and will focus on volunteers between 18 and 55... Read More »
Security and aerospace company Lockheed Martin is building a new missile facility on its campus in Huntsville, Ala., to serve as an investment in innovation while advancing capability.
During the recent groundbreaking ceremony, Lockheed Martin officials said the $16.5 million Missile System... Read More »
With the acceptance of a biologics license application (BLA) from Emergent BioSolutions Inc. last week, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is set to review the potential of AV7909, an anthrax vaccine candidate.
“Over the last 20 years, Emergent has partnered with the U.S.... Read More »
U.S. government officials said the Lockheed Martin company Sikorsky has agreed to a five-year contract to provide a baseline of 120 H-60M Black Hawk helicopters.
The agreement includes options to reach a total of 255 aircraft to be delivered to the U.S. Army and Foreign Military Sales (FMS)... Read More »
At the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Machine Common Sense (MCS) program, researchers last week offered demonstrations of improvements to robotic system performance, showcasing advancements in intuitive physics, intentional actors, and spatial navigation.
Comparing the... Read More »
As encouragement for proof-of-concept research into homeland security technology, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) divided up $4.479 million in competitive research contracts to 30 small businesses.
This first phase of the DHS Small... Read More »
Following the advancement of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Rep. David N. Cicilline said the momentum must be used to pass other gun violence combating measures.
“This is the first time in nearly 28 years that Congress has sent a comprehensive gun violence prevention bill to the... Read More »
After a final vote last week, the House’s $850 billion version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023 advanced toward reconciliation with its Senate counterpart.
Notably, the NDAA as written surpassed President Joe Biden’s own proposal for $813 billion and... Read More »
At a conference jointly hosted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Grace Farms Foundation last week, hundreds of law enforcement officials gathered to discuss transnational threats, as well as the information sharing and best practices needed to tackle them.
“U.S. Customs and... Read More »
Late-stage biopharmaceutical company Soligenix, Inc. announced last week that it has created and tested a bivalent filovirus vaccine that offered 100 percent protection to non-human primate test subjects against the lethal Marburg and Ebola viruses.
"Filoviruses such as Zaire ebolavirus, Sudan... Read More »
BAE Systems recently secured a $7.8 million Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) contract to develop Multi-Sensor Exploitation for Tactical Autonomy (META) program machine learning software.
“With the addition of environmentally adaptive processing, this solution bridges a critical gap in... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) recently introduced the Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Surveillance Act, which seeks to create protections against selling or transferring domestic sensitive... Read More »
Working through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) began shipping monkeypox tests to five commercial lab companies this week.
It aims to boost the nation’s monkeypox testing capacity at large, with assistance from Aegis... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI), John Hoeven (R-ND), and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) recently applauded the enactment of their legislation to recruit, develop and retain skilled cybersecurity professionals in the federal workforce.
The Federal Rotational Cyber Workforce Program Act became law in the wake... Read More »
A new partnership arranged between SC Johnson and the Global Fund this week will focus on resource development for malaria, one of the world’s oldest and deadliest diseases.
Together, the pair intend to push for social impact in some of the places malaria has proven most stubborn: Burundi, the... Read More »
In an official visit to Washington, D.C., the Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ambassador Fernando Arias, met with various U.S. officials to address current international security and prevent the re-emergence of chemical weapons.
Under... Read More »
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued two recommendations to the Treasury Department and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding cyber risks and cyber insurance assessments.
Per the GAO, the agency conducted the study amid cyber threats to critical... Read More »
This week, a bipartisan call from four senators urged the U.S. Department of Defense to dispatch more advanced artillery rocket systems and ammunition to Ukraine in support of its efforts to repel a Russian invasion.
In a letter, U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dick... Read More »
A bipartisan collection of 34 senators expressed concern this week amid reports that the Pentagon may downgrade the U.S. Security Coordinator (USSC) position based in Israel to a colonel rather than a three-star general.
The senators argue that the change could disrupt operations at a key U.S.... Read More »
Over the course of a week, the latest iteration of the Raven’s Challenge, an improvised explosive devices (IED) training exercise for state, federal, and international partners in public safety and military, gathered more than 100 personnel in New York’s Oneida County this month.
The State... Read More »
Battelle officials have indicated the company has developed a proven solution to eliminate the source of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contaminated drinking water.
The PFAS ANNIHILATOR, which destroys the chemicals by preventing them from entering drinking water systems, stemmed... Read More »
According to a letter from the Republican leads on three House committees, not enough is being done to deter Russia from utilizing nuclear weapons in its assault on Ukraine – and they urged President Joe Biden to be clearer and more combative in his approaches.
At this point, said U.S. Reps.... Read More »
Following up on the demands made by the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last week published its official strategy for barring importations from China’s Xinjiang region and cracking down on goods made from forced labor.
China has come... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) announced the reintroduction of the Default Proceed Sale Transparency Act, which seeks to close a loophole enabling some gun sales to be completed without Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background check results.
U.S. Reps. Mike Quigley (D-IL), Jimmy... Read More »
