Keyword: Disaster and emergency management

Briefs: Materials

Scientists have developed color-changing, flexible photonic crystals that could be used to develop sensors that warn when an earthquake might strike next. The wearable, robust, and low-cost...

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Briefs: Test & Measurement
The system uses infrasonic acoustics for weather monitoring and for drone or UAV activity.
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Briefs: Materials
The material could help protect both civilian and military personnel in earthquakes.
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Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing
This highly porous sponge absorbs more than 30 times its weight in oil and can be reused up to several dozen times.
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Briefs: Data Acquisition
This framework determines regional landslide probability in near real time.
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Briefs: Imaging
The NASA study is a first step in developing a model to deploy in future disasters.
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Briefs: Data Acquisition
Berkeley Lab technology could reduce time needed to declare buildings affected by earthquakes safe and sound.
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Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

There is great potential in using both drones and ground-based robots for situations like disaster response, but generally these platforms either fly or creep along the ground. The flying...

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Briefs: Test & Measurement
Deployable Emergency Shutoff Device Blocks High-Velocity Fluid Flows

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center has developed a device and method for blocking the flow of fluid from an open pipe. The device plugs, controls, and meters the flow of gases and liquids. Anchored with friction fittings, spikes, or explosively activated fasteners, the device...

Briefs: Nanotechnology

A system was developed that can remove radioactive cesium contamination from porous structures such as brick and concrete that are hard to clean, as well as contamination from...

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Briefs: Test & Measurement
Technique Provides Rapid Assessment of Radiation Exposure

Researchers have developed a new technique that assesses radiation exposure in about an hour using an insulator material found in most modern electronics. The technique can be used to triage medical cases in the event of a radiological disaster.

Briefs: Communications

GPS signals do not penetrate very deeply or at all in water, soil, or building walls, and therefore can’t be used by submarines or in underground activities such as surveying mines. GPS also...

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Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs

Trained rescue dogs are the best disaster workers — their sensitive noses help them track down people buried by earthquakes or avalanches. But dogs need breaks. A new measuring device is always...

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Facility Focus: Aerospace

Established in 1943, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico was site Y of the Manhattan Project for a single purpose: to design and build an atomic bomb, which took just 27 months. The Los Alamos...

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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Innovative “lighthouse” detectors, which use a sweeping beam to pinpoint a radiation source in seconds, are reducing radiation exposure for workers and...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Highly capable small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) provide substantial business opportunity, especially if allowed to operate in the suburban market. Reliability issues force the use of a safety pilot for each vehicle...

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Briefs: Test & Measurement
Cryogenic and Non-Cryogenic Liquid Level Instrument

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center has developed a unique prototype for measuring the liquid level in a tank, employing a novel process. The technology can operate in a wide range of environments, including high and low temperatures and pressures, and is simpler and less expensive than other...

Briefs: Imaging

WiFi signals are everywhere. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, or drones) are expected to become a larger part of everyday life. A new methodology was developed for high-resolution,...

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Briefs: Test & Measurement

An arson investigation typically requires collecting one or two liters of ashes and debris from various locations within a fire scene in metal cans similar to those used for paint, and...

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Briefs: Propulsion
Green Monopropellant Secondary Payload Propulsion System

Small satellites, launched as secondary payloads, are increasingly being fielded. Advances in liquid rocket propulsion that enhance the on-orbit maneuverability, increase the on-orbit life, and decrease the time between identified need for and deployment of such spacecraft are of great...

Briefs: Medical

NASA has developed a novel technology strategy called “The NASA Analyzer” that would provide comprehensive in-flight medical diagnostic capability in a compact, handheld device for human deep-space...

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Briefs: Test & Measurement

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center has developed a set of unique magnetostrictive (MS) technologies for utilization in pressure regulation and valve systems. By combining MS-based sensors with a...

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Briefs: Imaging

Scientists at NASA’s Glenn Research Center have successfully developed a novel subcutaneous structure imager for locating...

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Briefs: Energy

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center is developing a lightweight space-based solar power array with a high power-to-stowed-volume and weight ratio. The system provides power to small...

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Advanced Magnetostrictive Regulator, Valve, and Force-to-Angle Sensor

Typical aerospace rocket engines use valves to control the flow and pressures of propellant and pressurants. These typical valves are designed to operate with a mechanical, electromechanical, or pneumatic operator. They all have at least one, and often multiple, penetrations...

Articles: Test & Measurement

The seconds to minutes of advance warning of an earthquake can allow people and systems to take actions to protect life and property from destructive shaking. Earthquake early...

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Articles: Aerospace

The technologies NASA develops don’t just blast off into space. They also improve our lives here on Earth. Life-saving search-and-rescue tools, implantable medical devices, advances in commercial aircraft safety,...

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Who's Who: Materials
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Application Briefs: Lighting

When residents of the Park Centre Casitas residential community in Mesa, Arizona, got together and hired a security company to survey the property and suggest ways to keep it...

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