Explosives vapor detection technology: The new 'sniff test'

Feb. 20, 2013 ? A quick, accurate and highly sensitive process to reliably detect minute traces of explosives on luggage, cargo or travelling passengers has been demonstrated by scientists at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The vapor detection technology accurately detects and identifies the vapors of even very low-volatility explosives in real time at ambient temperature and without sample pre-concentration. Details are outlined in a recent issue of Analytical Chemistry.

Rather than searching for particle residue using a typical method like surface swipes or using pulses of air to dislodge particles for analysis, the system 'sniffs' directly for explosives vapors, much the way bomb-sniffing canines do.

"We have demonstrated direct, real-time vapor detection for the low-volatility explosive compound RDX, which is used in many types of explosives," said David Atkinson, senior research scientist at PNNL. Low-volatility compounds are those which release very small amounts of the explosive vapor typically at parts per trillion levels or lower, making it extremely difficult to detect. The PNNL system easily detects vapors from a fingerprint-sized sample of RDX at levels below 25 parts per quadrillion.

"The system correctly identified the RDX vapor using selective atmospheric pressure chemical ionization with mass spectrometry," explained Atkinson. The approach involves pulling an air sample stream and ionizing it within a reaction region in an atmospheric flow tube. The ionized sample moves to a mass spectrometer for ion detection and identification. These air samples need no heating or pre-concentrating. Analysis happens in about one second.

"The key part is ionization," said Atkinson. "We tailored the chemistry to greatly enhance both ionization efficiency and selectivity, which results in the best possible detection."

Only a limited number of ultra-sensitive detection methods have been found capable of detecting low-volatility explosive compounds at levels below parts-per-trillion. But these methods typically take much longer and require pre-concentration of the sample from the vapor phase.

Currently, most airport security agents use cloth-like material to swipe luggage and cargo to collect explosives particles for detection. The samples are then analyzed one at a time in a process that requires the swipe to be heated to a temperature needed to volatilize the particles for detection.

In some cases, airport security will turn to canines for detection, especially for large items where size such as vehicles or cargo make particle sampling impractical.

"What we are attempting to develop is an instrument that replicates or surpasses the capabilities of a dog," said Atkinson. However, while canine olfactory systems are highly developed, dogs present issues that machines don't. Man's best friend only works limited hours, must be fed, exercised regularly and rested. While a dog's ability to smell and detect explosives is extremely sensitive, instruments may soon surpass their capabilities and perform at a lower cost.

Robert Ewing, PNNL senior research scientist, sees a bright future for the technology and is hoping to push the performance even further.

"Currently we have demonstrated the detection of explosive compounds such as RDX, PETN, nitroglycerine and tetryl, along with plastic explosives that contain these materials at low parts per quadrillion levels," said Ewing. "Future research will focus on detecting other explosive threats by manipulating the ionization chemistry and lowering detection limits."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Robert G. Ewing, David A. Atkinson, Brian H. Clowers. Direct Real-Time Detection of RDX Vapors Under Ambient Conditions. Analytical Chemistry, 2013; 85 (1): 389 DOI: 10.1021/ac302828g

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/ADC0m0T4GFs/130221092008.htm

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How Google Makes Android Understand You

It's the future, and that being the case, you're going to want to talk to your smartphone and have it make heads or tails of what you're saying. Getting that to work can be a pretty tough job however, unless your phone can learn like a human. And as Wired explains, that's exactly what Google's Jelly Bean operating system does. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/6COhPQk_h60/how-google-makes-android-understand-you

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Activists say Syrian missile strike kills 19

BEIRUT (AP) ? A Syrian missile strike leveled a stretch of buildings and killed at least 19 people in the city of Aleppo, leaving residents combing through the rubble to find those trapped beneath it, anti-regime activists said Tuesday.

The strike was the latest salvo in a fierce and bloody 7-month battle for Syria's largest city and economic center, a key prize in the civil war.

Rebels have slowly expanded their control over parts of Aleppo since first storming it last summer. The city is now divided between rebel- and regime-controlled zones.

Rebel forces have been trying for weeks to capture the city's international airport and two military airbases nearby, while the government is bringing in reinforcements from areas it still controls further south and regularly bombing rebel areas from the air.

The Britain-based activist group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 19 people were confirmed dead in the attack late Monday night, including six children and three women.

The activist Aleppo Media Center said more than 40 were killed, though it did not provide names or videos of the dead. There was no way to reconcile the differing tolls.

Both groups said the strike appeared to be from a ground-to-ground missile. The Syrian government did not comment.

Activist Mohammed al-Khatib of the AMC said via Skype that the death toll could rise further as residents search the site for more bodies.

"There are still many martyrs under the rubble. ... There are still lots of people missing from the area," he said.

He said the strike appeared to be from a large ground-to-ground missile because of the scale of the destruction and because residents did not report hearing a fighter jet, as they usually do during airstrikes.

Videos posted online showed scores of men searching the destroyed buildings in the poor Jabal Badro neighborhood for the dead and wounded. One man swung a sledgehammer to break through concrete while a bulldozer hauled off rubble. In another video, a man covered in grey dust struggled under pile of concrete.

The videos appeared authentic and corresponded with other Associated Press reporting.

Although President Bashar Assad's forces regularly shell and launch airstrikes on areas held by anti-government rebels, their use of large missiles has been limited.

In December, U.S. and NATO officials confirmed rebel reports that Syrian forces had fired Scud missiles at rebel areas in northern Syria. That was the last confirmed use of such weapons.

Also Wednesday, rebels clashed with government forces near Aleppo's international airport and the Kweiras military airport nearby, the Observatory said. Clashes have halted air traffic to the two airports for weeks, since rebels launched their offensive to try to capture them.

The Observatory also reported government shelling and airstrikes and clashes between government forces and rebels east and south of the capital, Damascus.

The Syrian state news agency said the army had carried out "successful operations against terrorists" in Aleppo, mentioning a number of neighborhoods that did not include Jabal Badro.

Syria refers to rebels seeking to topple Assad as "terrorists" and blames the conflict on an international conspiracy to weaken the country.

The U.N. says some 70,000 have been killed since Syria's uprising against Assad's rule began in March 2011.

The violence has spread humanitarian suffering across much of Syria.

The U.N. warned in a report released Monday that contaminated water and poor hygiene practices in populated areas have led to an increase in waterborne diseases such as Hepatitis A and Typhoid.

The World Health Organization said the health situation on the ground is rapidly deteriorating, with an estimated 2,500 people in the northeastern Deir el-Zour province infected with Typhoid and 14,000 cases of Leishmania, a parasite responsible for an infectious and often debilitating disease, in Hassakeh province.

It also said Hepatitis A has been reported in Aleppo and Idlib and some crowded shelters hosting displaced people in Damascus.

International diplomacy has failed to stop the violence. The U.S. and other Arab and European countries have called on Assad to stand down, while Russia, China and Iran continue to back him. Russia, Syria's largest arms supplies for decades, has said it will continue to fulfill its arms contracts with Assad's regime.

Russia on Tuesday said it had sent two jets carrying humanitarian aid to Syria and are inviting Russians who want to leave the country to take the flights back.

The Emergency Situations Ministry on Tuesday said the two planes had already left Moscow for northwestern port of Latakia, carrying 40 tons of aid, including portable power generators, blankets, canned food and sugar. It says Russians are welcome to fly back on the planes.

In January, Russia flew 77 of its citizens out of Syria on two flights from Beirut. The foreign ministry says it is not planning a large-scale evacuation.

On Monday, U.N. investigators called on the Security Council to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court, after issuing a report that accused elements on both sides of committing atrocities.

The 131-page report by the U.N.-appointed Commission of Inquiry on Syria detailed deepening radicalization by both sides, who increasingly see the war in sectarian terms and rely on brutal tactics to advance their cause, spreading fear and hardship among civilians.

The report accused both sides of atrocities, but said those committed by rebel fighters have not reached the "intensity and scale" of the government's violations.

The report also accused both sides of using child soldiers, citing the presence of fighters younger than 18 on the government side and under 15 among the rebels.

The commission said it will submit a new, confidential list of Syrians suspected of committing crimes against humanity to the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, next month.

____

Associated Press writers Frank Jordan in Berlin and Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow contributed reporting.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/activists-syrian-missile-strike-kills-19-135325021.html

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David Barajas, Texas man, charged in fatal shooting of suspected drunk driver who killed his sons, authorities say

David Barajas

/ CBS Houston/Brazoria County Sheriff's Office

(CBS/AP) HOUSTON - Authorities said Monday that a Texas father was charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a suspected drunk driver who killed two of his children in a car accident,?CBS Houston?reports.

David Barajas, 31, and his sons, 12-year-old David Jr. and 11-year-old Caleb, were about 50 yards away from their Houston-area home on Dec. 7, 2012 when a car crashed into them. David Jr. died at the scene, while Caleb died later at a hospital.

Barajas suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to CBS Houston. His wife, Cindy, was in the truck when it was hit, along with the couple's 8-year-old daughter and 3-month-old son.

Barajas was driving with his family when their truck broke down near Alvin, about 30 miles southeast of Houston. He and his two sons attempted to push the truck when 20-year-old Jose Banda rear-ended their vehicle, CBS Houston reports.

The Brazoria County Sheriff's Department said Banda was intoxicated at the time of the accident. His blood alcohol concentration was reportedly at 0.175, above the legal limit, according to the station.

Neighbors said they heard gunshots minutes after the crash and Banda was later found shot in the head. He was flown to a medical center where he died of his injuries, CBS Houston reports. His death was ruled a homicide.

Brazoria County sheriff's investigator Dominick Sanders said Monday that witnesses told authorities they saw Barajas, walk to his home right after the crash and then return a few minutes later and approach Banda's vehicle. Evidence showed one shot was fired, he said.

"Every time we would pursue a lead, it always came back to Mr. Barajas," Sanders said. "We have numerous statements placing him there at the car in close proximity to the victim at the time the gunshot was fired."

Barajas was indicted for murder Friday and turned himself in Sunday. He was held Monday in the Brazoria County Jail on a $450,000 bond.

A search of Barajas' home found ammunition that is consistent with the bullet that killed Banda, but authorities have not located the weapon used in the shooting, Sanders said. He added that the case is "going to be much more difficult if we don't have a weapon."

Gunshot residue tests were done on both Barajas and Banda, and authorities are still waiting for those results, Sanders said.

Investigators also are awaiting DNA test results of some "biological material" that was found at the scene. Sanders declined to elaborate on the material that is being tested.

Source: http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~r/CBSNewsGamecore/~3/mqiAtEaPGxc/

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Putin eyes trip to Antarctica, shuns elder image

The Russian president has insisted on a full slate of his traditional macho stunts this year, including scuba diving and possibly a trip to the way down under.

By Fred Weir,?Correspondent / January 29, 2013

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting on economic issues in the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Friday. The Russian president eyes a possible trip to Antarctica.

Mikhail Klimentyev/Presidential Press Service/RIA-Novosti/AP

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Russian President Vladimir Putin is rejecting the advice of some of his PR specialists to dial back?his trademark action-hero persona?and instead cultivate the image of a "wise patriarch,"?according to the pro-government Moscow daily Izvestia.

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President Putin, who's now over 60, has insisted on a full slate of his traditional macho stunts this year, including scuba diving, hockey playing, actions to protect endangered animal species, and a possible visit to a science station in Antarctica, Izvestia says.

"Vladimir Putin will continue his active hobbies. Maybe he will go scuba diving in the summer. He continues the fight to preserve endangered species," the paper quotes Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, as saying.

"As for a more 'patriarchal' style? Well, he has his own style, and that's his personal choice," he added.

Putin has been plagued with rumors of ill-health ever since he was seen limping?at last September's APEC summit?in Vladivostok. The Kremlin reacted indignantly to journalists' questions about his condition ??which only seems to have inflamed the rumor-mill ??and at some point Mr. Peskov conceded that the president was suffering from back pains.

Some pollsters argue that a recent dip in Putin's public approval rating, to about 62 percent from his usual 70 percent or so, might have been due to the uncertainties about his health.

"Putin's rating is down a bit, but it's a small fluctuation and doesn't spell a stable trend," says Alexei Grazhdankin, deputy director of the independent Levada Center in Moscow.

"These fluctuations occur for various reasons, and we attribute the latest dip to rumors about Putin's health. It's logical, because his image has always been based on his robust health and capacity for extreme actions.... I think he will repeat such actions because they confirm his own view that he controls his health much as he controls the country," Mr. Grazhdankin says.

Until recently, Putin had been regularly practicing at nights on a Moscow ice rink with Russian hockey pros ??and occasionally with journalists???in preparation for what some Moscow sources whisper might be an exhibition game Putin was hoping to hold with other world leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Past stunts

Last September Putin took to the skies in a motorized hang glider?to guide a group of endangered Siberian cranes onto their correct migratory flight path.

At other times he has shot a Siberian tiger with a tranquilizer gun, harpooned a grey whale with a crossbow,?and tagged a captured polar bear on an Arctic ice flow (all in the interest of science).

According to Izvestia,?Putin accepted an invitation from Chilean President Sebastian Pinera during a meeting in the Kremlin?last September to visit Chilean and Russian science bases in Antarctica sometime early this year.

Peskov told the newspaper that the date has yet to be decided, "but since Putin is occupied with ecological issues, he will work with this question."

Some professional spin doctors argue that Putin would be wise to go with the flow of advancing age and cultivate a different, more realistic image for himself.?

"A good PR specialist should not concoct beautiful lies, but find some merit in the client to focus on, tell people about, to show him in the best possible light," says Stanislav Radkevich, director of PR-3000, a Moscow think tank.

"In Putin's case, it should be connected with positive changes in the country that he has championed.... He needs to develop the image of a wise reformer, a competent leader, who is thinking about the fate of the country," he adds.

Elder image? Nyet.

But other experts argue that Putin will never accept the image of an aging, sedentary leader.

"At the beginning of his new term there was a lot of talk about how Putin might now be positioned [in the media], because of his age, as a wise man sitting in his study and handing down advice," says Leonid Polyakov, a political scientist with the Higher School of Economics in Moscow.

"Then Putin had a spinal trauma during a training session, and his spokesman confirmed that. His response to that appears to be that he is definitely not going to become the old man in the Kremlin....? I'm absolutely sure we're going to see more of Putin on horseback, jumping by parachute, taming tigers, and so on," he says.

"The explanation is simple. He just likes it. Sport is a way of life, Putin's still in good shape, and he simply can't stop."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/DWUnvDsv04Y/Putin-eyes-trip-to-Antarctica-shuns-elder-image

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Horse DNA found in burgers at second Irish plant

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Burgers containing horse DNA have been discovered at a second plant in Ireland, the country's agriculture department said on Monday, again pointing the finger at Poland as the country of origin for the raw materials.

Major food companies like Tesco and Burger King last month found that beef products supplied by an Irish firm contained horse DNA, a scandal that has hit retailers with a wave of bad publicity and left Ireland's 2 billion euro ($2.7 billion) beef industry reeling.

Results of tests on a Polish meat ingredient at Ireland's Rangeland Foods, a supplier of frozen burgers to restaurants, caterers and pubs including local fast food chain Supermac's, contained 75 percent horse DNA, the agriculture department in a statement.

It said Rangeland has suspended production pending the outcome of an investigation and that the company has indicated that none of the products, which were imported through a meat trader based in Ireland, had entered the food chain.

Rangeland, based in the northern county of Monaghan, exports burgers to Britain, Sweden, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece and Cyprus.

The minister of agriculture has also asked the police to join in the investigation, the department added.

The first supplier to be implicated, Silvercrest - a subsidiary of Europe's largest beef exporter ABP Foods - has lost its contract to supply both Tesco and Burger King with burgers.

Burger King, one of the most popular fast-food chains in Britain and Ireland, said last week that its affected burgers never reached any eateries. Tesco withdrew a number of products from its shelves, including one sample where horse meat accounted for about 29 percent of content.

Smaller retail chains Aldi, Lidl and Iceland have also sold beef products found to contain horse DNA.

Poland's veterinary authority found no signs of horse meat in samples from five slaughterhouses that were sending beef to Ireland and is awaiting results from the sixth, state news agency PAP reported on Friday.

Food safety experts say horse DNA poses no added health risks to consumers, but the discovery has raised concerns about the food supply chain and the ability to trace meat ingredients.

($1 = 0.7376 euros)

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Sophie Hares)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/horse-dna-found-burgers-second-irish-plant-221806944--finance.html

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Israel suggests responsibility for Syria airstrike

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak gestures during a meeting at the Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany, on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. The 49th Munich Security Conference started Friday until Sunday with experts from 90 delegations. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak gestures during a meeting at the Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany, on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. The 49th Munich Security Conference started Friday until Sunday with experts from 90 delegations. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Ehud Barak, Defence Minister of Israel, left, gestures next to Wolfgang Ischinger, Chairman of the Security Conference, during a meeting at the Conference in Munich, southern Germany, on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. The 49th Munich Security Conference started Friday until Sunday afternoon with experts from 90 delegations. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, center, arrives for a meeting of the Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany, on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. The 49th Munich Security Conference started Friday until Sunday with experts from 90 delegations. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak gestures during a meeting at the Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany, on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. The 49th Munich Security Conference started Friday until Sunday with experts from 90 delegations. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

MUNICH (AP) ? Israel's defense minister indicated Sunday that his country was behind the airstrike on Syria last week, in the first public comments from his government on the attack that U.S. officials said targeted a convoy carrying anti-aircraft weapons bound for the militant group Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak brought the issue up at a gathering of the world's top diplomats and defense officials in Germany, initially saying: "I cannot add anything to what you have read in the newspapers about what happened in Syria several days ago."

But, addressing the audience in English, he then added: "I keep telling frankly that we said ? and that's proof when we said something we mean it? we say that we don't think it should be allowed to bring advanced weapons systems into Lebanon."

In Syria, President Bashar Assad said his military was capable of confronting any "aggression" targeting the country, his first comments since the airstrike.

Syrian state television said Assad spoke during a meeting with visiting top Iranian official, Saeed Jalili.

Assad said Syria is capable of facing current challenges and can "confront any aggression" that would target the Syrian people.

Israel had not previously commented on the strike, but in the days ahead of the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials repeatedly warned of the dangers of Syrian weapons falling into the hands of Hezbollah and other hostile elements in the region.

The Syrian military, meanwhile, said the target of Israeli jets was a scientific research center. The facility is in the area of Jamraya, northwest of Damascus.

Purported images of the targeted site, aired by Syrian state television on Saturday, show destroyed cars, trucks and military vehicles. A building has broken widows and damaged interiors, but no major structural damage.

Following the attack, Syria's ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Abdul-Karim Ali, said Damascus "has the option and the capacity to surprise in retaliation," but that it was up to the relevant authorities to choose the time and place.

Meanwhile, Syrian opposition leaders and rebels on Friday slammed Assad for not responding to the airstrike, calling it proof of his weakness and acquiescence to the Jewish State.

The chief of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards said in remarks Sunday that Tehran also hopes Syria will retaliate against Israel for a recent airstrike on its territory.

The report by the official IRNA news agency quotes Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari as saying, "We are hopeful that Syria gives an appropriate response to the strike in the proper time."

Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, Israeli leaders have repeatedly expressed fears that if Syria were to disintegrate, President Bashar Assad could lose control of his chemical weapons and other arms.

On Saturday night, Netanyahu, who is in the process of forming a new ruling coalition, said his new government would have to deal with weapons "being stockpiled near us and threatening our cities and civilians" ? an apparent reference to the deteriorating situation in Syria.

Barak said "Hezbollah from Lebanon and the Iranians are the only allies that Assad has left."

He said in his view Assad's fall "is coming imminently" and when it happens, "this will be a major blow to the Iranians and Hezbollah."

"I think that they will pay the price," he said.

____

Josef Federman contributed to this report from Jerusalem

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-03-Israel-Syria/id-d9ec25031beb42c0b0503ecd1d74e15c

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