As German airline carrier Lufthansa announces its plans for new onboard WiFi and phone services starting on routes between the U.S. and Europe in the next few months, cell phone use on airplanes continues to be on hold in the United States, recent reports have indicated.Oregon Democrat Peter DeFazio is sponsoring a House bill called the Halting Airplane Noise to Give Us Peace … [Read more...]

The threat of attacks using electromagnetic devices gained attention again this week when scientists told the British Parliamentary Defence Select Committee that a nuclear warhead launched from a medium range missile and exploded 20 miles above the earth could cripple an entire country's power grid. The scientists warned that Iran and North Korea could produce a weapon capable … [Read more...]

A new proposal from the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) could placate the University of Maryland’s concerns about the Purple Line light-rail system disrupting critical research equipment. University administrators fear the MTA’s preferred Campus Drive route for the light-rail line would lead to electromagnetic interference and vibrations from the trains rendering … [Read more...]

Researchers are warning that patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators or pacemakers should avoid placing the headphones from their MP3 players too close to their chests. The researchers noted that, although the FDA concluded that electromagnetic interference from digital music players is unlikely to cause problems with implanted devices, there had been little known … [Read more...]

The U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) in Arlington, Va., is interested in receiving research proposals on the best technologies for Counter Directed Energy Weapons (CDEW) to protect Navy and Marine Corps ships, submarines, aircraft, and other weapons from directed-energy weapons such as high-energy laser technology, non-lethal weapons like laser "dazzlers," high power … [Read more...]

Government contractor ManTech International Corp. received a $23.3 million contract from NASA for engineering support services. Under terms of the deal, ManTech will provide to NASA's jet propulsion laboratory services such as circuit and systems reliability; simulation and analysis; electromagnetic compatibility; problem failure reporting and product and quality assurance for … [Read more...]