• Key to U.S. future prosperity: world-class research universities

    American research universities are essential for U.S. prosperity and security, but the institutions are in danger of serious decline unless the federal government, states, and industry take action to ensure adequate, stable funding in the next decade, says a new report by the National Research Council; “The talent, innovative ideas, and new technologies produced by U.S. research universities have led to some of our finest national achievements, from the modern agricultural revolution to the accessibility of the World Wide Web,” says the chairman of the committee that wrote the report

  • Explaining extreme months

    Two months in Midwest history — March 2012 and December 1889 — stand out as the warmest winter months in more than a century of weather records; scientists investigated why these months, separated by 123 years, were so exceptional

  • Laser beams shine light on nature’s extreme events

    “Extreme” events in nature, such as hurricanes, tsunamis and bushfires, may be more commonplace and predictable than you might think; researchers are using lasers to study how frequently extreme events happen, and their work highlights that in nature, “extreme” does not have to mean “rare”

  • Quick-curing concrete for infrastructure, mining disaster recovery

    A quick-curing concrete can be sprayed to reinforce structures — buildings, runways, tunnels, bridges, dams – damaged by an act of terror or natural disaster; the spraying can be done almost immediately, before the structure fails catastrophically, providing safety for rescue workers who risk their lives minutes after disasters hit, and for still stranded in or near the damaged structure

  • Electrified snail produce electricity from natural sugar in its body

    The world’s first “electrified snail” has joined the menagerie of cockroaches, rats, rabbits, and other animals previously implanted with biofuel cells that generate electricity — perhaps for future spy cameras, eavesdropping microphones, and other electronics — from natural sugar in their bodies

  • Fire risks to increase in some regions of the world

    Climate change is expected to disrupt future fire patterns around the world, with some regions, such as the western United States, seeing more frequent fires within the next thirty years; at the same time, fire activity could actually decrease around equatorial regions, particularly among the tropical rainforests, because of increased rainfall

  • Two new articles in the Journal of Homeland Security Education

    Two new articles in the Journal of Homeland Security Education look at important aspects of homeland security: the first examines homeland security academic provisions in the United States and the EU, the second argues that assessing practitioner experience as it relates to subject theory can be challenging, but critically important in homeland defense and security programs where student experiences are often utilized in the process of applying learning objectives

  • New program to educate next generation of U.S. cybersecurity specialists

    University of Maryland and Northrop Grumman create a cybersecurity honors program for undergraduates; the program, Advanced Cybersecurity Experience for Students (ACES), will immerse undergraduate students in all aspects of the field to meet growing manpower needs in the nation and the State of Maryland

  • Downstream consequences of depleting groundwater

    Many jurisdictions across the united States manage and regulate surface water and groundwater without any recognition of the connections between the two; for instance, California has no legal framework for comprehensively managing the impacts of groundwater pumping; across most of California, well owners can pump as much as they like with little accountability for the impacts on rivers, other water users and ecosystems

  • Floating dock from Japan carries potential invasive species

    When debris from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan began making its way toward the West Coast of the United States, there were fears of possible radiation and chemical contamination as well as costly cleanup; a floating dock that unexpectedly washed ashore in Newport, Oregon, earlier this month, and which has been traced back to the Japanese disaster, has brought with it a completely different threat — invasive species

  • New eyewitness identification procedure flawed: psychologist

    University of California-Riverside psychologist finds that new eyewitness identification procedures may result in fewer correct IDs; the new procedures may, under some circumstances, lead to identification evidence that is less accurate than the identification evidence from the procedures they are designed to replace

  • Substantial growth in graduate enrollment in science, engineering in U.S. in the past decade

    Graduate enrollment in science and engineering in the United States grew substantially in the past decade; approximately 632,700 graduate students were enrolled in science, engineering, and health programs in the United States as of fall 2010; this was a 30 percent increase from 493,000 students in 2000

  • New side mirror eliminates blind spot for drivers

    A side mirror that eliminates the dangerous “blind spot” for drivers has now received a U.S. patent; the subtly curved mirror dramatically increases the field of view with minimal distortion

  • Ancient design concept leads to new ideas for building durable bridges

    Engineers combine an ancient concrete arch form, dating back to the Roman empire, with a composite shell to create bridge beams which are designed to last 100 years

  • Nuclear, coal-fired electrical plants vulnerable to climate change

    Thermoelectric plants, which use nuclear or fossil fuels to heat water into steam that turns a turbine, supply more than 90 percent of U.S. electricity and account for 40 percent of the U.S. freshwater usage; in Europe, these plants supply three-quarters of the electricity and account for about half of the freshwater use; warmer water and reduced river flows in the United States and Europe in recent years have led to reduced production, or temporary shutdown, of several thermoelectric power plants; a new study says this problem will only grow