• Space debrisMonitoring Space Debris

    Swirling fragments of past space endeavors are trapped in orbit around Earth, threatening our future in space. Over time, the number, mass and area of these debris objects grows steadily, boosting the risk to functioning satellites. ESA’s Space Debris Office constantly monitors this ever-evolving debris situation, and every year publishes a report on the current state of the debris environment.

  • Truth decayThe State of the Science of Combating Misinformation

    With the current flood of misinformation and “fake news” undermining democracies around the world, a consensus document that summarizes the science of debunking has been published by a team of 22 prominent researchers of misinformation and its debunking.

  • Truth decayGame “Pre-Bunks” COVID-19 Conspiracies as Part of U.K.'s Fight against Fake News

    Go Viral!is a new game developed in partnership between the University of Cambridge and the U.K. government. Based on “inoculation theory,” it simulates an environment for users to play the role of fake news producer, so they can understand how COVID-19 misinformation circulates online.

  • Emergency responseThis Emergency Response Tech May Just Save Your Life in a Shooting

    By Naama Barak

    Gabriel is an emergency-response system that can be installed in schools, places of worship, workplaces and elsewhere to help save lives in cases of shootings and other attacks. New Gabriel device detects gunshots, points first responders to the scene and mitigates crises in schools and places of worship.

  • CommunicationThe Future of Security-Forces Communication

    Setting out to tackle real-world challenges in the fight against terrorism and crime, researchers and police officers have developed a new, future-ready technology for sharing information and coordinating in the field. The solution has since been adopted throughout Germany on the merits of its great practical benefit and acceptance on the part of users.

  • DeepfakesFooling Deepfake Detectors

    Because new security measures consistently catch many deepfake images and videos, people may be lulled into a false sense of security and believe we have the situation under control. Unfortunately, that might be further from the truth than we realize.

  • DeepfakesIn a Battle of AI versus AI, Researchers Are Preparing for the Coming Wave of Deepfake Propaganda

    By John Sohrawardi and Matthew Wright

    Deepfakes are here to stay. Managing disinformation and protecting the public will be more challenging than ever as artificial intelligence gets more powerful. People may soon be able to watch videos through a specialized tool, which tells them whether or not the videos they are watching are what they seem – or whether the videos are “deepfake,” videos made using artificial intelligence with deep learning. We are part of a growing research community that is taking on the deepfake threat, in which detection is just the first step.

  • DetectionMarine Organisms as Underwater Detectives

    Because marine organisms observe changes in their environment using a combination of senses, they offer unique insights into the underwater world that are difficult to replicate using traditional engineering techniques. DARPA wants to leverage marine organisms for persistent monitoring and detection of underwater vehicles to bolster shores and harbors protection.

  • Mini reactorsMini Nuclear Reactor to Solve the E-Truck Recharging Dilemma

    Electric semitrucks sound like a great idea, leading to cleaner, carbon-free skies. But the largest cross-country 18-wheel truck needs five to 10 times more electricity than an electric car to recharge its battery. And these trucks often need to recharge far from high-power transmission lines. Where will that electricity come from? Engineers will tell you the answer is clear — microreactors.

  • Search & rescueRapid Rescue of Buried People

    When someone is buried by an avalanche, earthquake or other disaster, a rapid rescue can make the difference between life and death. Researchers have developed a new kind of mobile radar device that can search hectare-sized areas quickly and thoroughly.

  • DisinformationElection Manipulation Threatens Democracy, but There Are New tools to Combat Disinformation

    The spread of false narratives about the election through social media poses a serious threat to American democracy. The Observatory on Social Media at Indiana University has a collection of tools and studies that aid in the fight against election manipulation and disinformation.

  • DisinformationSOCOM, U.S. Air Force Enlist Primer to Combat Disinformation

    Information overload is one of the most pressing challenges facing the U.S. military. Every day, humanity creates 2.5 quintillion bytes of new data, and less than one percent of the total amount of global data has ever been analyzed. Primer secures Phase II SBIR contract to enhance its natural language processing platform to counter disinformation.

  • PrivacyDe-Identifying Public Safety Data Sets

    For critical applications such as emergency planning and epidemiology, public safety responders may need access to sensitive data, but sharing that data with external analysts can compromise individual privacy. NIST) has launched a crowdsourcing challenge to spur new methods to ensure that important public safety data sets can be de-identified to protect individual privacy.

  • BiometricsFinger Veins-Based 3D Biometric Authentication Almost Impossible to Fool

    Biometric authentication, which uses unique anatomical features such as fingerprints or facial features to verify a person’s identity, is increasingly replacing traditional passwords for accessing everything from smartphones to law enforcement systems. A newly developed approach that uses 3D images of finger veins could greatly increase the security of this type of authentication. Combining light and sound adds depth information that boosts security of biometric authentication.

  • FireAddressing Risk, Safety in Fire Containment

    As 2020 has shown, wildfire frequency, size and severity are threatening communities and natural resources across the western U.S. As a result, there is a high demand for decision-making to mitigate risk, improve firefighter safety and increase fire containment efficiency.