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Why the Search for the Loch Ness Monster (and Other Beasts) Continues 90 Years After That First Blurry Photograph
It’s 90 years since Hugh Gray, in April 1933, took his blurry picture — and the beginning of the obsession with finding the Loch Ness monster. As a paleobiologist, I want to explore whether the type of monster we believe Nessy to be could exist and if we should continue looking.
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Scientists Map Loss of Groundwater Storage Around the World
Global water resources are stretched by climate change and human population growth, and farms and cities are increasingly turning to groundwater to fill their needs. Unfortunately, the pumping of groundwater can cause the ground surface above to sink. A new study maps, for the first time, the permanent loss of aquifer storage capacity occurring globally.
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Climate Change Is a National Security Risk
Climate change is affecting practically everything on Earth, from natural systems to human endeavors. National security is no exception. The U.S. Defense Department recognizes that climate change is a “threat multiplier” as it exacerbates existing environmental stresses and security risks.
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UVA Engineering Researcher Has Plan to Defeat the Next Big Cyberattack
“Zero-day attacks” are the cyberattacks that disable large-scale computer programs, catching their victims off guard. In recent years, they’ve been happening more often and have become increasingly difficult to fix. From zero-day to ransomeware attacks, UVA’s Ashish Venkat believes cybersecurity should be fast and affordable for all.
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Sandia Marks 20-year Partnership with DHS
In response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Department of Homeland Security was created and began operations in 2003. Sandia has been involved with the homeland security mission from the department’s inception.
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AI Should Be Better Understood and Managed – New Research Warns
AI and algorithms are not just tools deployed by national security agencies to prevent malicious activity online, but can be contributors to polarization, radicalism and political violence - posing a threat to national security.
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Biden Administration Executive Order Tackles AI Risks, but Lack of Privacy Laws Limits Rach
The comprehensive, even sweeping, set of guidelines for artificial intelligence that the White House unveiled in an executive order on Oct. 30, 2023, show that the U.S. government is attempting to address the risks posed by AI. The order is only a step, however, and it leaves unresolved the issue of comprehensive data privacy legislation.
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Engineers Develop an Efficient Process to Make Fuel from Carbon Dioxide
The approach directly converts the greenhouse gas into formate, a solid fuel that can be stored indefinitely and could be used to heat homes or power industries.
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Semiconductor War: Assessing the Strategies and Impact of US Led Technology Decoupling
The United States and its allies have taken significant policy measures including sweeping export control regulations to make it hard for China to obtain advanced chips and chip making equipment. China though continues to be an important player in the globalized supply chain. China is directing its efforts towards manufacturing cutting-edge processors as also attempting to become competitive in legacy chip manufacturing. India is also seeking to build a vibrant semiconductor and display design and innovation ecosystem.
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Governing Artificial Intelligence: A Conversation with Rumman Chowdhury
Artificial intelligence, and its risks and benefits, has rapidly entered the popular consciousness in the past year. Kat Duffy and Dr. Rumman Chowdhury discuss how society can mitigate problems and ensure AI is an asset.
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Biden’s $8 Billion Quest to Solve America’s Groundwater Crisis
A looming depletion of groundwater across the U.S. has drawn nationwide attention in recent years, as local officials in states from Kansas to Arizona struggle to manage dwindling water resources even as homes and farms get thirstier. With little fanfare, the administration is using infrastructure funding to revive dormant plans for pipelines and reservoirs in rural areas across the U.S. West.
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AI Bots Are Helping 911 Dispatchers with Their Workload
In the middle of a storm, 911 call centers often find themselves inundated with reports of fallen trees, flooded roads and panicked residents. Every call matters, but with multiple reports of the same incident pouring in, the pressure on emergency services can become overwhelming. Amid the chaos, a technological ally has emerged: artificial intelligence. AI is quietly revolutionizing non-emergency calls in 911 dispatch centers.
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Securing Ports of Entry, One Scan (or Thousands) at a Time
Every year, millions of cargo containers make their way to U.S. ports of entry via maritime, roadways, and railways. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), more than 100,000 commercial cargo trucks cross U.S. POEs daily. To combat the threat of human and drug trafficking, it is imperative that their methods for cargo screening and physical examination are as thorough as they are efficient.
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Machine Learning and Gene Editing at the Helm of a Societal Evolution
What are the key advancements at the intersection of ML and GE? What is the connectedness between policy and technology and what we learn from trends over time? What kind of policy considerations are needed to govern converging technologies bearing in mind international drivers of collaboration and competition?
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“Surveillance: From Vision to Data” Explores History of Surveillance
The term surveillance may suggest images of high-tech cameras or George Orwell’s ever-watching Big Brother, but surveillance involves more than watching and being watched. To understand surveillance and its consequences, look to data: who collects it, what information is compiled, how it is interpreted, and ultimately, why it matters.
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More headlines
The long view
Autonomous Vehicle Technology Vulnerable to Road Object Spoofing and Vanishing Attacks
Researchers have demonstrated the potentially hazardous vulnerabilities associated with the technology called LiDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging, many autonomous vehicles use to navigate streets, roads and highways. The researchers have shown how to use lasers to fool LiDAR into “seeing” objects that are not present and missing those that are – deficiencies that can cause unwarranted and unsafe braking or collisions.
Tantalizing Method to Study Cyberdeterrence
Tantalus is unlike most war games because it is experimental instead of experiential — the immersive game differs by overlapping scientific rigor and quantitative assessment methods with the experimental sciences, and experimental war gaming provides insightful data for real-world cyberattacks.
Prototype Self-Service Screening System Unveiled
TSA and DHS S&T unveiled a prototype checkpoint technology, the self-service screening system, at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas, NV. The aim is to provide a near self-sufficient passenger screening process while enabling passengers to directly receive on-person alarm information and allow for the passenger self-resolution of those alarms.
Falling Space Debris: How High Is the Risk I'll Get Hit?
An International Space Station battery fell back to Earth and, luckily, splashed down harmlessly in the Atlantic. Should we have worried? Space debris reenters our atmosphere every week.
Testing Cutting-Edge Counter-Drone Technology
Drones have many positive applications, bad actors can use them for nefarious purposes. Two recent field demonstrations brought government, academia, and industry together to evaluate innovative counter-unmanned aircraft systems.
Strengthening the Grid’s ‘Backbone’ with Hydropower
Argonne-led studies investigate how hydropower could help add more clean energy to the grid, how it generates value as grids add more renewable energy, and how liner technology can improve hydropower efficiency.