• Growth of facial recognition biometrics, II

    Some twenty states already use facial recognition in their DMVs, and more states are planning to do so; the federal government incorporates facial recognition in some of its important initiatives; privacy advocates are concerned that the technology is becoming too pervasive

  • Researchers warn that Lake Mead is drying up

    Lake Mead is a key source of water for for millions of people in the southwestern United States; research shows that if current trends — usage, climate change — continue, the lake may dry up by 2021

  • Serious RFID vulnerability discovered

    A group of a Dutch university’s digital security researchers discovers a major security flaw in a popular RFID tag; discovery can have serious commercial and national security implications; as important as the discovery itself was how the researchers handled the situation

  • First example of a third degree transcendental L-function exhibited

    “A glimpse of new worlds” — this is how Columbia University’s Dorian Goldfeld described the L-function breakthrough; L-functions hold most of the secrets of number theory, and now we are a step closer to lifting this veil of mystery

  • ORECon raises $24 million

    Innovative U.K. wave energy company raises $24 million in VC investment

  • Goal of making maritime transportation greener may be difficult to achieve

    The goal of making maritime transportation greener would be difficult to achieve; not all refineries have the capacity to provide the right fuel in the right quantity and concentration, therefore not enough of the more environmentally friendly fuel is available at all ports of the world

  • Bill would double cap on H-1B visas

    The United States allows millions of little-educated, low-skill immigrants to come to the country, while allocating a tiny number of visas to high-skill scientists and engineers; this is going to change, but critics complain that bill still leaves major problems — chief among them: setting wage floor for H-1B employees — unaddressed

  • The national security ramifications of climate change become clearer

    EU report adds urgency to old warnings about the consequences of climate change; NATO to take up discussion next

  • Benefits and risks of close science-defense collaboration

    This week was National Science and Engineering week in the United Kingdom — and the London events and exhibit emphasized the contribution scientists and engineers make to the defense of the kingdom; a venerable engineering magazine says we should be just a bit cautious here lest we turn the battlefield of the future into a publicly funded industrial testing ground, where commercial pressure would overwhelm the sober considerations of defense decision makers

  • Age-old communication problem solved using quantum entanglement

    One of the major problems in communication is known as the Byzantine agreement: Messages between three different parties are subject to faulty information; researchers succeeded in overcoming the qutrit difficulties by setting up a system that creates four-qubit entangled states

  • U.K., U.S. work together toward shared goals // Sir Alan Collins

    The shared goal of both the United States and the United Kingdom is safeguarding our citizens and the security of key national assets. Our governments are working collaboratively and have long recognized the need to work closely on science and technologies for security

  • Converting CO2 into fuel

    Scientists suggest mimicking the photosynthetic system of green plants to address the twin needs of readily available fuel and a clean environment: Reacting carbon dioxide with water, two of the major components used to extinguish fire, and turning them into a fuel

  • European consortium to make RFID tags more affordable

    To make RFID more popular, there is a need to make them cheaper; a team of major technology companies is confident that the cost will be reduced once the tags can be printed because electrically conductive and semiconducting plastics can be used in high-volume printing processes

  • Climate change to affect U.S. transportation system

    Flooding of roads, railways, transit systems, and airport runways in coastal areas because of rising sea levels and surges will require significant changes in the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of transportation systems

  • With biological warfare, real-time detection is key

    The largest improvements in any biowarfare identification system’s performance will come in the form of smaller packages, more automated measurement, and faster measurement