Recent News

By Category: Countermeasures

Northrop Grumman Europe debuts CBRN monitor system

LONDON, March 28 (UPI) — A man-portable system for monitoring chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents has been launched by Northrop Grumman’s British subsidiary. Called the Integrated Tactical Rapid Assessment of CBRN Environments — I-TRACE — the system facilitates decision support and enhances situational awareness and information sharing among emergency response organizations.

San Francisco Moves to Combat Bioterror False Alarms

While they haven’t presented a big — or apparently any — problem in San Francisco yet, city officials are moving to rein bio-detection devices owned and operated by private businesses, building owners and institutions to screen for anthrax, tularemia and other viruses and bacteria deliberately…

Open-Source Software Designed to Minimize Synthetic Biology Risks is Released

(Nanowerk News) A software package designed to minimize the potential risks of synthetic biology for the nation’s defense and security is now available to the gene synthesis industry and synthetic biology community in an open-source format. Virginia Tech has licensed GenoTHREAT, a software tool that helps detect the use of synthetic DNA as bioterrorism agents.  Read More »

NYPD purchases $5 million anti-terror boat

The New York Police Department recently announced the purchase of a $5 million patrol boat designed to withstand chemical and biological attacks.The craft will contain steel doors and windows and a positive-pressure-protected cabin that can be activated in the case of a chemical, biological or radiological incident. An onboard decontamination unit will be capable of  Read More »

Manassas, VA undertakes anthrax training exercise

Hundreds turned out Monday for an exercise at George C. Round Elementary School in Manassas that tested how local emergency responders fared when under terrorist attack. “The scenario is that anthrax has been released. The scenario says that it came on a region-wide newspaper … and we’ve been activated and told that we need to  Read More »