Our picksSchools & Terrorist Attacks | Funding Flood Defenses | China & U.S. Science, and more

Terror warning: Students taught how to act when terrorists strike(Sian Hewitt, Express)
STUDENTS at top universities are to be taught “terror drills” amid fears jihadis could target their campuses.

Turkey is getting military drones armed with machine guns(David Hambling, New Scientist)
A drone with a machine gun attached can hit targets with high precision, according to its makers. Turkey is set to become the first country to have the drone, when it gets a delivery this month. The 25-kilogram drone has eight rotating blades to get it in the air. Its machine gun carries 200 rounds of ammunition and can fire single shots or 15-round bursts.

ExxonMobil, A&M Offer Hazardous Liquids Training for First Responders (Mella McEwen, Midland Reporter-Telegram)
ExxonMobil and the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service are providing a hazardous liquids emergency response training course for firefighters. A $200,000 grant funded development of the course and participation.

China Has Increasing Sway in US Science, JASON Report Says (Patrick Tucker, Defense One)
Beijing is using better jobs at home, aggressive intelligence agencies, and a greater financial reach to influence American institutions.

Navy Letter Shows Military Worried about Unknown Vulnerabilities in DJI Drones (Shannon Vavra, Cyberscoop)
The U.S. Navy issued an internal warning in 2017 about vulnerabilities in systems made by Chinese-based drone company DJI that could allow adversaries to siphon data from devices, according to a document obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

DNC to Silicon Valley on Disinformation: Do Better (Shannon Vavra, Cyberscoop)
The Democratic National Committee is calling on companies including Facebook, Twitter, and Google to step up their efforts to protect against disinformation on their platforms in the buildup to the 2020 presidential elections.
The DNC’s recommendations, which it issued Monday, range from platforms promoting authoritative news outlets to establishing policies to prevent the automated spread of disinformation. The DNC is also calling on the companies to take a harder line against state-backed media, and to share more details about disinformation campaigns online to try enhancing the research community’s ability to understand political disinformation.

Funding Flood Defenses (Margo Cole, New Civil Engineer)
Once again, many parts of the UK hit by serious flooding this autumn. While the circumstances may be exceptional, the result is not. Almost every year flooding hits the headlines in the UK, whether it is the result of autumn storms, high tides or torrential summer downpours.
Climate change means flooding is set to increase over the coming years, making the traditional reactive approach even less tenable.
In her introduction to the Draft National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy for England, published earlier this year, Environment Agency chair Emma Howard Boyd says: “Climate change increases the risks [of flooding],” adding: “It is not realistic to try to manage more increasingly intense flooding and sea level rise with limitlessly high walls and barriers.”