Autonomous robots fitted with tiny chemical sensors that listen to the 'sounds’ coming off gases will instantly detect gas leaks in petrochemical plants and pipelines to dramatically improve disaster responses.

The risk of a petrol plant explosion or a potential disaster on an oil refinery could be dramatically reduced thanks to a new generation of tiny chemical sensors that use light and sound to 'listen to’ gas leaks.

Fitted to an autonomous patrolling robot, the tiny 'Photo-Acoustic’ gas sensors will be part of a wireless network continuously monitoring pipelines that can instantly identify petroleum, hydrogen sulphide, and a number of toxic gases, before alerting operatives in an oil rig or chemical plant.

Current state of the art technologies can take anything up to 8 minutes per measurement and give off 'false positives’ when detecting gas leaks. However, a group of EU researchers are exploiting new techniques to positively identify a leak in milliseconds.

On October 12, MyDefence co-hosted the event Electric Storm to demonstrate the capability of the latest MyDefence Counter UAS products for dismounted soldiers. The event featured a live demonstration of the detection and jamming capabilities of the WINGMAN 103 drone detector and the PITBULL Counter UAS jammer.

Last month, DeDrone announced the capability to detect drone swarms, and assuming the same conditions, MyDefence is now announcing drone swarm jamming capability, which was demonstrated at Electric Storm. During the event, five drone operators attempted to execute a coordinated drone attack. The coordinated attack was effectively neutralized using the MyDefence PITBULL Counter UAS jammer, and all drone operators lost control of their drones.

Siga Technologies announced this month that they have entered in to an agreement with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases USAMRIID) to study the post-exposure prophylactic use of TPOXX.

TPOXX is currently being stockpiled by the government as a treatment for smallpox, and is the first, and only, FDA-approved smallpox antiviral treatment. There is also currently an IV formulation under development.

DuPont Safety & Construction today announced the launch of Nomex® Comfort, an innovative lightweight fabric combining the legendary flame resistant (FR) protection of Nomex® with enhanced comfort and breathability.

DuPont™ Nomex® is synonymous in the industry with the term protection and delivers proven protection to millions of people and critical processes around the world – empowering endless possibilities. New Nomex® Comfort provides inherent FR protection you expect from Nomex® with an optimized blend that enhances comfort and breathability – delivering comfort without compromise.

Counter terrorism officers in the UK are to be equipped with a fleet of 10 nuclear and radiological detection vehicles in a bid to trace weapons-grade materials in the UK.

The Home Office lodged a procurement notice last month stating that ministers are inviting bids for between five and 10 “modern vehicle-based gamma and neutron radiation detection systems for various national security and radiological and nuclear counter-terrorism activities.”

Leidos Australia has awarded a contract to AirBoss Defense for the delivery of protective equipment to the Australian Defence Force’s (ADF) Land 2110 Phase 1B programme.

The Land 2110 Phase 1B CBRN defence capability facilities project will provide force protection to its deployed personnel, assigned coalition personnel and Phase 1B designated civilians, both offshore and within Australia.

Following a recent pre-clinical study, Inovio have announced that their Ebola Vaccine, INO-4212 provided 100% protection following a challenge with a lethal dose of the Ebola virus.

An article in the Journal of Infectious Diseases highlights that regimens of Inovio’s INO-4212 vaccine delivered by intramuscular administration provided 100% protection against a lethal Ebola challenge in all preclinical subjects. Impressively, just two injections of a simple, dose-sparing intradermal administration generated strong immunogenicity and provided 100% protection against a lethal Ebola challenge in a separate study. Scientists observed that vaccination induced long-term immune responses in monkeys that were detectable for at least one year after the final vaccination.

By looking at biomarkers in blood, scientists may be able to diagnose low-level opioid exposure as long as two weeks after the event, according to groundbreaking research at the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (RDECOM ECBC).

These findings, presented in a paper by research biologist Trevor Glaros, Ph.D., and his team at RDECOM ECBC, forge new ground in the field, set an innovative example and provide novel insights to guide future research. Glaros noted that the research paper was recently accepted into Toxicological Sciences, considered the most influential research journal in the field of toxicology, following a vote by its editorial board.

A strategic partnership will expand between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and Johnson & Johnson of New Brunswick, New Jersey. The expansion will focus on the development of innovative products to combat the potentially deadly health effects of chemical, biological, radiation and nuclear threats, emerging infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistant infections.

AirBoss of America Corp. (TSX: BOS) announced today that AirBoss Defense, the defense products line of its Engineered Products segment, has been awarded the Joint Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear General Service Respirator (J CBRN GSR) contract for the Canadian Department of National Defense (DND). AirBoss Defense will deliver critical capability in the area of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (CBRN) to the DND by supplying up to 77,800 of its recently-commercialized Low Burden Mask (LBM) and up to 155,600 of its newly developed canister. The contract is expected to be worth up to an aggregate amount of C$29.8 Million plus any potential revenue from an 8-year in-service support contract. Deliveries under the contract are expected to commence in 2019 and continue through 2020.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced today the selection of Texas A&M University to lead a consortium of U.S. academic institutions and other partners for a new Center of Excellence (COE) for Cross-Border Threat Screening and Supply Chain Defense (CBTS). S&T will provide CBTS with a $3.85 million grant for its first operating year of a 10-year grant period.

Rigaku ResQ CQL offers first responders, border protection, and law enforcement with an advanced method for identifying potential threats in an improved tactical form factor, thus improving functionality particularly in high stress environments. By combining the 1064nm Raman advantage with improved ergonomics and sample presentation, ResQ CQL makes it even easier to perform chemical analysis of powders, liquids, gels, mixtures and more.