The following snapshots were posted before January 1, 2014.
For current articles, visit the S&T Newsroom.
- Training First Responders for Active Shooter Response: The Enhanced Dynamic Geo-Social Environment (EDGE) is a virtual training platform developed from existing technology that allows first responders to participate in complex training scenarios—improving coordination and communication across all jurisdictions, as well as mitigating injuries and loss of lives. (Nov. 20, 2013 -- First Responders)
- Detecting Heartbeats in Rubble: DHS and NASA Team up to Save Victims of Disasters: When natural disasters or man-made catastrophes topple buildings, search and rescue teams immediately set out to recover victims trapped beneath the wreckage. During these missions, time is imperative, and quickly detecting living victims greatly increases chances for rescue and survival. (Sept. 5, 2013 -- First Responders)
- Smart Scavenging—Tech Foraging at DHS: When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is looking for a new technology to help fight terrorism, recover from a natural disaster, or support the nation’s first responders, it turns to its Science and Technology Directorate (S&T). S&T then collaborates with its federal partners, as well as industry, and academia, and finds these solutions more efficiently and economically than ever before. (July 19, 2013)
- Interoperable Communications Across Borders: On the morning of December 6, 1917, in the port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, near the U.S. border in Maine, a French ship, the Mont Blanc, filled with military explosives collided with another vessel. Twenty minutes later, a fire set off the Mont Blanc’s volatile cargo and caused a catastrophic explosion—killing thousands and destroying an entire section of the nearby city. Rescue efforts were dispatched immediately from the Canadian mainland as well as the United States, but confusion and lack of immediate information delayed some of the rescue efforts for hours. (Mar. 25, 2013)
- Arresting a Fleeing Vehicle at the Push of a Button: In 2010, the characteristics of a squid’s sticky tendrils were combined with the concept of Spiderman’s super-strong webbing to create a prototype of the first remote device to stop vehicles in their tracks: the Safe, Quick, Undercarriage Immobilization Device (SQUID) (Feb. 28, 2013) .