The first report, which aired Dec. 24, centered on ​“Supergel,” a material of engineered nanoparticles and a super-absorbent gel designed to clean up buildings and monuments exposed to radioactive materials. Having this system available will allow the nation to be more prepared in case of a terrorist attack with a ​“dirty bomb” or other radioactive dispersal device. Michael Kaminski, lead scientist of the project, was interviewed.

The report also highlighted Argonne’s passive millimeter-wave spectroscopy technology, pioneered by Sami Gopalsami, Sasan Bakhtiari, Paul Raptis and Thomas Elmer. The technology has the capacity to identify chemical plumes at ranges of up to a few kilometers and at concentrations as low as 100-1,000 ppm. Mary Ann Yates was interviewed.

The second report, aired Dec. 26, focused on diamond films that can serve as sensors to detect biological and chemical agents, and biochips that can speed up their analysis. Orlando Auciello and Dan Schabacker were interviewed.