A new Google tool that tracks user searches for "flu symptoms" has given rise to a new early warning system for fast-spreading flu outbreaks that test indicate may be able to detect regional outbreaks of the flu a week to 10 days before they are reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Israeli military is working on "a high-fly­ing, long-endurance unmanned in­frared sensor" that can tell the difference between nuclear war­heads amid doz­ens of decoys sent to confound na­tional missile defenses and would mark the first use of an unmanned platform for nuclear warhead hunting.

Officials at the Department of Homeland Security have overstated the performance of costly new radiation detectors designed to prevent the importation of radiological materials that could be used in bombs, according to an unreleased government report.

Japan yesterday signed a deal to receive data on possible tsunami activity from seismic and hydroacoustic sensors operated by an international nuclear detonation monitoring organization.

Bush administration initiatives to defend the nation against a smuggled nuclear bomb or a biological outbreak or attack remain poorly coordinated, costing billions of tax dollars while basic goals and policies remain incomplete, according to new reports by congressional investigators.

NASA scientists have said they could be on the verge of a breakthrough in their efforts to forecast earthquakes.
Researchers say they have found a close link between electrical disturbances on the edge of our atmosphere and impending quakes on the ground below and they are working on a proposal for a low-cost, space-borne early warning system based on at least three satellites.

The Pentagon is developing sensors to pinpoint a ground-based laser attempting to blind one of its spy satellites. The move will be interpreted as a further step towards the militarisation of space, say some experts.

Earthquake researchers in California hope to take advantage of the motion sensors in laptops to create an earthquake-sensing network. By putting computers in homes and businesses to work as seismic monitors, the researchers hope to pull together a wealth of information on major quakes, and perhaps even offer early warnings, giving a few seconds' notice of a potentially devastating quake.

The U.S. government is researching whether the best defense against a chemical, biological or radiological attack might one day be right in everyone's hands - or on their ears.

A U.S. company has delivered antenna assemblies for U.S. military Global Positioning System satellites to detect nuclear explosions.