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The Executive Order on Commercial Spyware: Implications and Prospects
The growing national security threat from misuse of commercial spyware is increasingly being recognized. The US has been taking the lead in addressing the growing menace of unregulated spyware companies and the proliferation of intrusive tools. The Biden administration’s latest Executive Order will ensure that commercial spyware firms will be subjected to unprecedented scrutiny.
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Cost of Climate Change-Driven Natural Disasters Includes Losses of Learning, Earnings
A new study finds that the human capital consequences of natural disasters, linked to climate change, are a significant factor contributing to economic inequality.
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Construction of New Level-4 Biolab in Manhattan, Kansas Completed
The new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, Kansas replaces the old Plum Island, New York biolab. The NBAF is the first U.S. laboratory with biosafety level-4 containment, capable of housing large livestock animals; and one of only a few facilities in the world with these capabilities.
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How AI Could Take Over Elections – and Undermine Democracy
Could organizations use artificial intelligence language models such as ChatGPT to induce voters to behave in specific ways? In his 16 May 2023 testimony in a Senate hearings on artificial intelligence OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that he was concerned that some people might use language models to manipulate, persuade and engage in one-on-one interactions with voters. What would an AI-manipulated election look like?
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AI Can Identify Patterns in Surface Cracking to Assess Damage in Reinforced Concrete Structures
Recent structural collapses, including tragedies in Surfside, Florida, Pittsburgh, New York City and Davenport. Iowa, have centered the need for more frequent and thorough inspections of aging buildings and infrastructure across the country.AI, combined with a classic mathematical method for quantifying web-like networks, help determine how damaged a concrete structure is, based solely on its pattern of cracking.
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Space Tractor Beams May Not Be the Stuff of Sci-fi for Long
Researchers are drawing on one of the oldest tropes in science fiction: tractor beams like the ones the Starship Enterprise uses to safely move asteroids out of the way. Using devices called “electron beams,” these space dumpster trucks would slowly haul that debris to safety without ever having to touch it—all by tapping into the same kind of physics that make your socks stick to your pants in the dryer.
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Quantum Technology for Mobile Phone Encryption Nears
In a few years, protection of communication with quantum encryption may become a permanent fixture in mobile phones and thus protect communication from hacking. The technology has already been demonstrated in large data transfers in the financial sector.
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Wireless Sensor System for Continuous Monitoring of Bridge Deformation
More than 46,000 bridges across the United States are considered to be in poor condition and in need of close monitoring. Researchers have developed a solar-powered, wireless sensor system that can continually monitor bridge deformation and could be used to alert authorities when the bridge performance deteriorates significantly.
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Frustrated by Outdated Grids, Consumers Are Lobbying for Control of Their Electricity
Climate change is spurring interest in remaking local infrastructure to accommodate renewable energy, minimize power failures, and expand consumer choice.
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Tackling the World's Climate-Driven Water Crisis
A safe supply of clean water is necessary for human survival – yet 2.2 billion people around the world lack access to this basic human right. A global crisis is looming on water security, which has been escalated by climate change.
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Decrease in Rainfall in Central America Could Cut Off the Panama Canal
To see the economic consequences of global warming look no further than the Panama Canal. There, water levels are down because of less rain in Central America. Experts fear ordinary consumers may end up paying the price.
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How Can Congress Regulate AI? Erect Guardrails, Ensure Accountability and Address Monopolistic Power
A new federal agency to regulate AI sounds helpful but could become unduly influenced by the tech industry — instead, Congress can legislate accountability.Instead of licensing companies to release advanced AI technologies, the government could license auditors and push for companies to set up institutional review boards. The government hasn’t had great success in curbing technology monopolies, but disclosure requirements and data privacy laws could help check corporate power.
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Can Quantum Computing Protect AI from Cyberattacks?
AI algorithms are everywhere. They underpin nearly all autonomous and robotic systems deployed in security applications. This includes facial recognition, biometrics, drones and autonomous vehicles used in combat surveillance and military targeting applications. Can we prevent malicious attacks and improve the cybersecurity of algorithms powered by artificial intelligence (AI)? Quantum machine learning may hold the key.
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New Nontoxic Powder Uses Sunlight to Disinfect Contaminated Drinking Water
A low-cost, recyclable powder can kill thousands of waterborne bacteria per second when exposed to sunlight. Scientists say the ultrafast disinfectant could be a revolutionary advance for 2 billion people worldwide without access to safe drinking water.
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Astronomers Seek Your Help in Hunting for Asteroids
Anyone with an internet connection can become an asteroid hunter and join University of Arizona researchers as they work to discover asteroids hurtling through our solar system.
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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
By Trina West
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?
By Zulfikar Abbany, Julia Vergin, and Katja Sterzik
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
By Michael Matz
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.