• COASTAL CHALLENGESArtificial Reef Could Protect Marine life, Reduce Storm Damage

    By Jennifer Chu

    MIT engineers designed a sustainable and cost-saving structure which aims to dissipate more than 95 percent of incoming wave energy using a small fraction of the material normally needed.

  • FOOD SUPPLY SECURITYFOOD SUPPLY SECURITY

    By Dimitri Kusnezov

    DHS S&T conducts research aiming to ensure that U.S. domestic agriculture systems are resilient against disturbances that could cause food shortages, sickness or injuries, and economic crises.

  • GUNSFive Arrested for Trafficking Military Grade Firearms to Mexican Drug Cartel

    Five individuals were arrested in Laredo, Hebbronville, and Falls City, Texas, last week for trafficking military grade firearms to a drug cartel in Mexico. The arms traffickers used straw purchasers to procure the firearms from a variety of sources in the Western, Southern, and Northern Districts of Texas.

  • BALTIMORE BRIDGE ACCIDENTI’ve Captained Ships into Tight Ports Like Baltimore, and This Is How Captains Like Me Work with Harbor Pilots to Avoid Deadly Collisions

    By Allan Post

    The accident which caused the collapse of the bridge in Baltimore is the third such accident in as many months, with big ships hitting, and causing the collapse, of bridges in China and Argentina. These incidents have highlighted what engineering experts say is the urgent need to improve or protect old bridges to accommodate larger modern vessels – and what maritime experts say is the growing difficulty ship pilots face when helping navigate big ships through tight places.

  • BRIDGE SAFETYMajor Bridge Accidents Caused by Ships and Barges

    Experts say there is much to be done in improving bridges which were built for smaller vessels in a different era, even with modern regulations and design codes in place. The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill passed in 2021, which includes $110 billion for roads, bridges and major infrastructure projects, was a step in the right direction, but that it is far from the $4.5 trillion that studies have suggested are needed to upgrade American infrastructure to the target level of safety and efficiency.

  • TERRORISMMoscow Attack Shows Troubling, Lethal Reach of ISIS

    By Bruce Hoffman

    The mass casualty theater attack in Moscow was a reminder that affiliates of the Islamic State have reorganized and infiltrated even powerful states. ISIS has staged over half-a-dozen attacks in Russia since 2016. The movement has long deemed Russia as much of an enemy of the Muslim people as the United States.

  • CHINA WATCHChinese Government Hackers Targeted Critics of China, U.S. Businesses and Politicians

    An indictment was unsealed Monday charging seven nationals of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their involvement in a PRC-based hacking group that spent approximately 14 years targeting U.S. and foreign critics, businesses, and political officials in furtherance of the PRC’s economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives.

  • INTELLIGENCE SHARINGMoscow Attack: Why Intelligence Agencies Share Information

    By David Ehl

    Intelligence agencies are secretive, gathering information to bolster national security or help their governments make political decisions. But at times they share information with the intelligence services of an adversary, and when it comes to fighting terrorism, intelligence agencies are surprisingly generous about sharing information. The U.S. said it warned Russia of a potential attack like the one that took place in Moscow on March 22.

  • MINERALSU.S. to Tap Domestic Lithium Supply Without Chinese Products

    By John Xie

    Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a record conditional loan of $2.26 billion to tap the largest known lithium reserves in North America. The loan is an important step in an effort by the U.S. government to reduce reliance on China for the metal used to make batteries.

  • NUCLEAR POWERSmall Nuclear Reactors May Be Coming to Texas, Boosted by Interest from Gov. Abbott

    By Emily Foxhall

    A nuclear power plant hasn’t been built in Texas in decades because of cost and public fears of a major accident. Now the governor wants to find out if smaller reactors could meet the state’s growing need for on-demand power.

  • OUR PICKSGigantic Ships Are a Danger—and a Lifeline | Online Conspiracies About the Baltimore Bridge Collapse Are Out of Control | The Case Against TikTok Is Thin at Best, and more

    ·  Online Conspiracies About the Baltimore Bridge Collapse Are Out of Control
    Conspiracy theorists are calling the Baltimore bridge collapse a “black swan event” and are blaming everything from Israel to DEI to Covid vaccines.

    ·  The Case Against TikTok Is Thin at Best
    There are real issues—but they go far beyond one app.

    ·  Gigantic Ships Are a Danger—and a Lifeline
    The vessel that hit Baltimore’s Key Bridge is more than three times as large as its biggest counterparts 50 years ago.

    ·  Appeals Court Keeps Texas’ Migrant Arrest Law on Hold
    The order prevents Texas from arresting and deporting migrants suspected of illegally entering the U.S. while the case challenging the law is under consideration.

    ·  The Supreme Court Is Shaming Itself
    No good legal reason exists to delay Donald Trump’s January 6 trial any further.

  • WORLD ROUNDUPBenjamin Netanyahu Is Israel’s Worst Prime Minister Ever | Orban Takes His Soros Smear Campaign on the Road | America’s African Balancing Act, and more

    ·  Orban Takes His Soros Smear Campaign on the Road
    Europe had better be prepared.

    ·  America’s African Balancing Act
    Washington must find a way to remain competitive and engaged in the continent without contributing to political unrest and dependence.

    ·  Can Biden Save Israel from Itself?
    Moderate Israelis must understand that the U.S. cannot force Israel to accept a two-state solution.

    ·  Benjamin Netanyahu Is Israel’s Worst Prime Minister Ever
    One man’s ambition has undermined Israel’s security and consumed its politics.

    ·  Israel Deploys Expansive Facial Recognition Program in Gaza
    The experimental effort, which has not been disclosed, is being used to conduct mass surveillance of Palestinians in Gaza, according to military officials and others.

  • CHINA WATCHUS Bolstering Philippines Amid Increasing Assertiveness by China

    By John Xie

    The U.S. and Philippines will for the first time venture outside Manila’s territorial waters when they begin joint annual combat drills in April. Beijing claims most of the South China Sea as its own, putting it in conflict with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, all of which border the sea. An international tribunal at The Hague has rejected China’s claim.

  • FOR WHOM THE TOK TIKSLawmakers: Ban TikTok to Stop Election Misinformation! Same Lawmakers: Restrict How Government Addresses Election Misinformation!

    By David Greene and Karen Gullo

    Forty-five Washington lawmakers have argued before the Supreme Court that government communications with social media sites about possible election interference misinformation are illegal. The lawmakers insisted that government agencies can’t even pass on information about websites that state election officials have identified as disinformation, even if the agencies don’t request that any action be taken. Yet just last week the vast majority of those same lawmakers said the government’s interest in removing election interference misinformation from social media justifies banning a site used by 150 million Americans.

  • FOR WHOM THE TOK TIKSU.S. Election: Turning Off TikTok Is a Big Risk for the Democrats

    By Thomas Gift

    Popular social media platform TikTok stands accused of holding US data in China, fostering censorship, and spreading disinformation. Its popularity poses a dilemma for US politicians, but especially Democrats who have heavily relied on the app to reach its core base of young voters.

  • MIGRATIONWhat Headlines Don’t Tell You About Global Migration, and What Researchers Can

    By Anwyn Hurxthal

    More people than ever live outside the country of their birth—281,000,000 migrants. To put it in perspective, if migrants formed their own country, it would be the fourth most populous country in the world, after China, India, and the United States. But why did they leave their home? Where are they going? Do they plan to return? Can they? Where would they be most likely to thrive? Researchers are filling critical migration data gaps and studying how people are on the move in new and different ways.

  • CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTUREChinese, Iranian Cyberattacks Target U.S. Water Systems

    Nation-states are increasingly targeting the U.S. water systems with cyberattacks, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Security Council (NSC). The EPA and the NSC are urging states to significantly bolster their IT security measures to guard against attacks on critical infrastructure.

  • OUR PICKSThe DOJ Puts Apple's iMessage Encryption in the Antitrust Crosshairs | How America Stopped Trusting the Experts | Senate Unveils “Compromise” FISA Reauthorization Bill, and more

    ·  US Official in Guatemala for Talks, Says Texas Migrant Law Unconstitutional
    DHS secretary Mayorkas was in Guatemala to work on the U.S.-led regional strategy toward immigration

    ·  Senate Unveils “Compromise” FISA Reauthorization Bill
    The modified warrant requirement resembles but doesn’t fully embrace a compromise foreshadowed by PCLOB last year.

    ·  How Trump Valet’s Testimony Supports DOJ’s January 6th Case
    For more than a year, Congressman Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) and his team have desperately searched for a way to undermine the credibility of the January 6th Committee, which disbanded in January 2023. Those efforts have failed.

    ·  How America Stopped Trusting the Experts
    A conversation with Tom Nichols about American narcissism, the pandemic, and declining trust

    ·  The DOJ Puts Apple’s iMessage Encryption in the Antitrust Crosshairs
    Privacy and security are an Apple selling point. But the DOJ’s new antitrust lawsuit argues that Apple selectively embraces privacy and security features in ways that hurt competition—and users.

  • WORLD ROUNDUPIsrael-Hamas Conflict Is Also a War Over Water | Mine Warfare in Taiwan’s Porcupine Defense | Disrupting South Korea’s Two-Party System, and more

    ·  Breakaway Parties Threaten to Disrupt South Korea’s Two-Party System – Can They Also End Parliamentary Gridlock?
    South Korea’s two dominant parties are grappling with internal struggles and political controversies that are fueling the prospect of new, breakaway parties making gains

    ·  Israel-Hamas Conflict Is Also a War Over Water
    In Gaza, Palestinians are suffering from a lack of food and water. Problems around water supply in Palestinian territories are hardly new in this conflict, but the current Israel-Hamas war is making the issues worse.

    ·  Expanding Surveillance Powers? Israel’s Draft Bill to Revise Shin Bet Law
    The bill provides the government with certain novel surveillance and remote interference authorities.

    ·  Learning from the War on Terror
    Israeli should review operations in Gaza and revise military strategy and doctrine using the lessons learned in two decades of the Global War on Terror.

    ·  Delay, Disrupt, Degrade: Mine Warfare in Taiwan’s Porcupine Defense
    To exploit mine warfare, Taiwan would need to make it an investment priority, expanding the size and diversity of its mine stockpile and minelaying capabilities and improving its readiness to execute such a campaign.

  • IMMIGRATIONEnforcing Texas’ New Immigration Law May Be Challenging, Even for Authorities That Support It

    By Alejandro Serrano

    A new law allowing local authorities to deport migrants remains tied up in court. Even if it goes back into effect, logistical challenges could complicate enforcement. S.B. 4 remains temporarily blocked while a federal appeals court weighs a challenge from Texas to a lower court’s ruling that struck the law down. The lower court found that the law “threatens the fundamental notion that the United States must regulate immigration with one voice.”

  • DEMOCRACY WATCHPreventing Another 'Jan. 6' Starts by Changing How Elections Are Certified, Experts Say

    By Sara Savat

    The 2024 presidential election may be a rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, but preventing a repeat of Jan. 6, 2021 — when false claims of a stolen election promoted by Donald Trump and his allies led to an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol —will be top of mind this election year. Research finds broad support among public for nonpartisan certification commissions.

  • TECH APOCALYPSEThe Tech Apocalypse Panic is Driven by AI Boosters, Military Tacticians, and Movies

    By Matthew Guariglia

    From popular films like a War Games or The Terminator to a U.S. State Department-commissioned report on the security risk of weaponized AI, there has been a tremendous amount of hand wringing and nervousness about how so-called artificial intelligence might end up destroying the world. There is one easy way to avoid a lot of this and prevent a self-inflicted doomsday: don’t give computers the capability to launch devastating weapons.