Synthetic Pandemic Risks | Cyber Command Combating Ransomware | Hydropower Withers in Drought, and more

Social Media Users Misinterpret DHS Terrorism Bulletin  (Ella Lee, USA TODAY)
A new Department of Homeland Security terrorism advisory includes COVID-19 and election misinformation on a list of issues that could inspire future violence. On social media, some took that to mean the agency was calling them terrorists.
“Behavior the White House and DHS deemed as terrorism today! Resisting Covid regulations, opposing government, spreading ‘misinformation,’ thinking the election was rigged,” reads text in an Aug. 14 Instagram post by the conservative social media agency Voiceban. “I think this makes us all terrorists?”
The post accumulated more than 5,000 likes within three days. Posts raising similar concerns, shared alongside a screengrab of an NBC Nightly News broadcast, have also gone viral online. 
In an emailed statement defending the post, the Instagram user reiterated the claim that DHS is “suggesting that anyone that anyone (sic) that has an opinion that doesnt meet their narrative is a domestic terrorist.” They added, “The government and all branches working for the government is out to destroy Republicans.”
But this line of thinking misinterprets the advisory. The DHS included issues like COVID-19 and election misinformation as points of tension that could escalate to violence. Neither the agency nor the White House deemed any groups or individuals as terrorists. 

A Natural Pandemic Has Been Terrible. A Synthetic One Would Be Even Worse  (Abraar Karan and Stephen Luby, STAT)
While recent debates over the origins of SARS-CoV-2 have raised more questions than provided answers, an inescapable reality we need to be considering is that the United States is woefully unprepared for a synthetic pandemic — one purposefully created and deployed to cause mass human harm.

U.S. Officials in Germany Hit by Havana Syndrome  (Bojan Pancevski, Wall Street Journal)
Diplomats affected by mysterious symptoms express concerns about vulnerability of American staff posted overseas

The True Haiti Earthquake Death Toll Is Much Worse than Early Official Counts  (Sara Reardon, Scientific American)
A tool built by the U.S. Geological Survey suggests that the number of fatalities may range from 10,000 to 100,000 or more.

First-Ever Water Cuts Declared for Colorado River in Historic Drought  (Rachel Ramirez, CNN)
The federal government on Monday declared a water shortage on the Colorado River for the first time, triggering mandatory water consumption cuts for states in the Southwest, as climate change-fueled drought pushes the level in Lake Mead to unprecedented lows.
Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the US by volume, has drained at an alarming rate this year. At around 1,067 feet above sea level and 35% full, the Colorado River reservoir is at its lowest since the lake was filled after the Hoover Dam was completed in the 1930s.
Lake Powell, which is also fed by the Colorado River and is the country’s second-largest reservoir, recently sank to a record low and is now 32% full.

Hydropower Withers in Drought, Boosting Fossil-Fuel Generation  (Corbin Hiar, Scientific American)
The irony reveals the need for a greater mix of renewable energy sources.