Crime
SQUID spawns vehicle-stopping Pit-BUL and NightHawk devices
We’ve all seen movies where a strip of retractable spikes at a checkpoint tears up a vehicle’s tires, or where a roadside cop throws a chain of linked spikes across the highway in front of a car. While such devices are pretty effective, there’s always room for improvement. That’s where the Pit-BUL and NightHawk car-stopping devices come into play. Both devices are based on a single other existing product, known as the Safe, Quick, Undercarriage Immobilization Device ... or SQUID, for short. Read More
Given the horrific event that occurred last month in Newtown, Connecticut, it’s not surprising that we’re seeing a rise in products designed specifically to protect children against shootings in schools. One of the latest such devices is a bulletproof dry-erase whiteboard. Read More
Imagine that you’re a police officer in the midst of a riot. While you may be able to apprehend the offenders closest to you, you can see plenty of other looters and vandals who you’re just not able to get to at the moment. Well, that’s where SelectaDNA’s High Velocity DNA Tagging System would come into the picture. At the heart of the system is a gun that shoots non-lethal pellets, which contain uniquely-coded synthetic DNA. Read More
In the wake of last week’s horrific shootings in Connecticut, we’re sure to be seeing a lot more products like this cropping up. Made by Salt Lake City-based body armor company Amendment II, it’s called the Ballistic Backpack, and it’s designed to protect its wearer from bullets. Read More
High-tech handcuffs can shock, inject prisoners
Today, handcuffs are just steel restraints. Tomorrow, they could be delivering shocks to prisoners or injecting them with drugs. According to U.S. Patent Application 20120298119, Scottsdale Inventions, LLC of Paradise Valley, Arizona has invented a pair of high-tech handcuffs that could deliver electric shocks to prisoners by means of an incorporated Taser-like system hooked to wireless controls and sophisticated sensors. Read More
Odorless, colorless, and tasteless, so-called “date rape” drugs are nasty, sneaky things. When surreptitiously added to someone’s drink, they cause that person to become disoriented, sleepy, slow-to-react, and otherwise easier to sexually assault. Making things worse, the victim usually can’t remember what happened while they were drugged, making prosecution or even identification of the assailant difficult. Now, however, a new invention known as DrinkSavvy may allow people to know if such drugs have been put in their drink. Read More
Nick Stokes, Sarah Sidle and the gang on CSI should be glad to hear this – Israeli scientists have developed a new method for getting fingerprints from paper surfaces, that is claimed to get better results than existing technology. Read More
Coyote Case adds a security siren to your iPhone
A major trend we're seeing in iPhone cases is the combination of protecting your phone and protecting yourself. Previously, we've covered the Yellow Jacket, which turns your iPhone into a stun gun, and the Spraytect case, which adds pepper spray to your iPhone. A new product, called the Coyote Case, uses an incredibly loud siren as its method of protection. Read More
Spraytect smartphone case delivers a shot of pepper spray
When Scott McPherson’s daughter was heading off to college, he wanted to make sure that she’d have a personal protection device with her at all times. Given that most young people are never without their smartphone – and they always have it within easy reach – he did the obvious, and created an iPhone 4/4S case with a built-in pepper spray canister. It’s now available for purchase, in the form of the Spraytect case. Read More
Researchers from Nagoya University and Fujitsu have spent the last few years developing an automated detection system that alerts the recipient to possible phone phishing scams. After successful simulation testing, the team has now announced plans for household field trials. Read More
