Which Travelers Have 'Hostile Intent'?
Biometric Device May Have the Answer

At airport security checkpoints in Knoxville, Tenn. this summer, scores of departing passengers were chosen to step behind a curtain, sit in a metallic oval booth and don headphones.

With one hand inserted into a sensor that monitors physical responses, the travelers used the other hand to answer questions on a touch screen about their plans. A machine measured biometric responses -- blood pressure, pulse and sweat levels -- that then were analyzed by software. The idea was to ferret out U.S. officials who were carrying out carefully constructed but make-believe terrorist missions.

New Emergency Alert System To Ping Cellphones, Internet
(WSJ, AP)

WASHINGTON -- The government will soon be pinging cellphones and posting on Web sites to warn Americans of impending disasters as it updates its Cold War-era emergency alert system.

By the end of next year, the Homeland Security Department expects to be able to send emergency alerts to cellphones, Internet sites and hand-held computers to reach as many people as possible before a catastrophe strikes, spokesman Aaron Walker said Tuesday. It also is seeking to transmit warnings on cable TV channels and satellite radio to supplement the government's long-tested but never-used national alerts on network channels and AM radio stations.