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U.S. Chip Sales to China to Continue, but Not Most Powerful Ones
The United States will continue to sell semi-conductor computer chips to China but not its most powerful ones “that China wants for its military,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said. While the United States and China maintain more than $700 billion in annual trade, escalating tensions in recent years have made it more challenging for U.S. firms to operate in China.
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More Efficient Battery Designed for Storing Energy from Wind or Solar Farms
Jimmy Jiang envisions a future where every house is powered by renewable energy stored in batteries — perhaps even those he and his students are designing today.
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The U.S. Is Spending Billions to Reduce Forest Fire Risks – We Mapped the Hot Spots Where Treatment Offers the Biggest Payoff for People and Climate
In a new study, my colleagues and I mapped out where forest treatments can do the most to simultaneously protect communities – by preventing wildfires from turning into disasters – and also protect the forests and the climate we rely on, by keeping carbon out of the atmosphere and stored in healthy soils and trees.
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New Quantum Device Generates Single Photons and Encodes Information
Innovative approach is a step toward using single photons in quantum communication and information processing. Further coupling of the photon stream into waveguides — microscopic conduits of light — would provide the photonic circuits that allow the propagation of photons in one direction. Such circuits would be the fundamental building blocks of an ultra-secure quantum internet.
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Acting Fast When an Epidemic Hits
Researchers have developed a method for forecasting the short-term progression of an epidemic using extremely limited amounts of data. The forecasting model uses machine learning to predict short-term disease progression.
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The Future of Grid Energy Storage Starts Today
In a decarbonized, electrified future, next-generation batteries will improve the reliability and resilience of the electrical grid while allowing increased integration of renewable energy. These batteries will also be able to provide backup power during or after natural disasters.
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Chipmaker Nvidia Strikes AI Gold
The artificial intelligence boom has seen Nvidia achieve stunning financial results. Shares in the Silicon Valley company hit an all-time high, after its revenue doubled year-on-year in the second quarter of 2023 to $13.5 billion. But other companies, including Google, Microsoft and Amazon, want a piece of the action.
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How ERCOT Is Narrowly Getting Through an Extreme Summer — and How Experts Say It Could Do Better
Record-high power demand and faltering electricity sources have tested the grid in the past month, forcing the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to dig deep into its toolbox to keep power flowing.
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North America’s Summer of Wildfire Smoke: 2023 Was Only the Beginning
Canada’s seemingly endless wildfires in 2023 introduced millions of people across North America to the health hazards of wildfire smoke. While Western states have contended with smoky fire seasons for years, the air quality alerts across the U.S. Midwest and Northeast this summer reached levels never seen there before. The pressing question on many people’s minds: “Is this the new normal?” From our perspective as air quality scientists, we think the answer is likely “yes.”
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How Much Wave Energy Is in Our Oceans?
The ocean is never still, but exactly how much energy surges through our ocean waves is a matter of debate. That uncertainty makes it challenging for countries to weave wave energy into their future climate goals. New study could help countries better estimate how much power their waters carry.
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The U.S. and China May Be Ending an Agreement on Science and Technology Cooperation − a Policy Expert Explains What This Means for Research
A decades-old science and technology cooperative agreement between the United States and China was set to expire on Aug. 27, 2023, but was extended, at the last minute, by six months to allow more negotiations between the two countries. On the surface, an expiring diplomatic agreement may not seem significant. But unless it’s renewed, the quiet end to a cooperative era may have consequences for scientific research and technological innovation, as the U.S. risks being cut off from top know-how as China forges ahead.
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International Ransomware Gangs Are Evolving Their Techniques. The Next Generation of Hackers Will Target Weaknesses in Cryptocurrencies
In reality, not a week goes by without attacks affecting governments, schools, hospitals, businesses and charities, all over the world. These attacks have significant financial and societal costs. Ransomware is now widely acknowledged as a major threat and challenge to modern society, and there is every expectation that criminals will continue to adapt their strategies and cause widespread damage for many years to come.
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Ms. Nuclear Energy Is Winning Over Nuclear Skeptics
Kaylee Cunningham recognizes that her training as a Ph.D. student in nuclear science and engineering could be for naught if myths continue to plague the industry. The activist is committed to helping — one TikTok at a time.
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Detecting Malware Through Hardware-Integrated Protection
What if malicious software and viruses – or malware – detection could simply be built into the hardware of future computers? With a grant from NSF, a Texas A&M lab will work to move malware detection from software to hardware, expanding on existing technology.
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How Trustworthy Are Large Language Models Like GPT?
More people feel comfortable outsourcing important projects to AI. New research shows why we shouldn’t, as generative AI may be riddled with hallucinations, misinformation, and bias.
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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.