Ames Research Center is developing a wireless-communication and data-processing system that would use radio-frequency identification devices(RFIDs) and software to establish information lifelines between firefighters in a burning building and a fire chief at a control station. The system would identify trails that firefighters could follow to escape from the building, and new trails if previously established trails become blocked.
John H. Glenn Research Center has developed fluorescent dye molecules for use in "on-off" fluorescence detection of specific chemicals. When exposed to certain chemical analytes in liquid or vapor forms, the molecules fluoresce. Potential applications for these compounds include detection of chemical warfare agents, sensing of acidity or alkalinity, and fluorescent tagging of proteins in pharmaceutical research and
development.