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Institute works to resolve conflicts via technology

In Kosovo, U.S. peacekeeping forces faced stone-throwing mobs. In Somalia, as portrayed in the recent hit movie "Black Hawk Down," U.S. soldiers were forced to defend themselves on a city street filled with civilians. And closer to home, hostages are held at gunpoint behind barricaded doors while police weigh unreasonable demands and struggle to save innocent lives. Since the early 1990s, police and the military have explored non-lethal technologies to limit the use of deadly force yet successfully deal with major conflicts involving thousands of people. Starting in 1997, a Penn State research group, known as the Institute of Emerging Defense Technologies, has been studying a wide array of existing and emerging technologies in hopes of helping law enforcement and the military develop alternatives to conventional lethal and non-lethal weapons systems. In addition to providing scientific analysis and research, the Institute reviews legal, social and ethical implications of using non-lethal technologies as well. Projects funded through the Institute range from noise reduction in military armored vehicles to better sensors for detecting highly toxic chemicals used in a public attack or biological agents such as anthrax. For more information about the innovative work by the Institute to preserve and protect lives, go to http://www.arl.psu.edu/areas/defensetech/defensetech.html. For more on this story, go to

Last Updated March 19, 2009