In work that aims to protect soldiers from biological and chemical threats, a team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists has created a material that is highly breathable yet protective from biological agents.

This material is the first key component of futuristic smart uniforms that also will respond to and protect from environmental chemical hazards. The research appears in the July 27 edition of the journal, Advanced Materials (link is external).

The largest and second largest hostage-taking events in modern history did not take place at embassies, airports, government buildings or religious facilities; they both occurred inside public hospitals.

Launching "Operation Jihad" in 1995, 142 Chechen and Arab militants held 1,648 hostages — doctors, nurses, patients, visitors and security personnel — at a hospital in Budennovsk, Russia.

An anthrax vaccine that could be administered in a single dose is advancing to its first clinical trial with support from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). The only anthrax vaccine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires three doses.

As I peer into the cardboard box NIST researcher Amanda Forster holds out for me, I can’t help thinking that this mild-mannered materials scientist has an impressive collection of shivs. The handmade prison weapons include a ballpoint pen with a razor embedded in the shaft and a toothbrush — originally designed to be gentle on your gums — that’s been re-engineered to easily puncture flesh. They are vivid evidence of a scary fact of prison life: anything can be turned into a weapon.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) said Monday that the state health department has identified 10 more people who have been infected with the Zika virus who likely contracted it from mosquitoes, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 14.

The governor said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will issue a travel notice to women who are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant to avoid unnecessary travel to the affected area that is just north of downtown Miami.