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Published 15 October 2024

·  How Climate Disasters and a Housing Crisis Are Shattering Lives

·  Rising Disaster Costs Leave U.S. Confronting Fiscal Risks of Climate Change

·  How Florida Should Respond to Hurricane Milton

·  How Migration Became a U.S. Foreign-Policy Priority

·  Fact Check: How AI Influences Election Campaigns

·  Trump and His Allies Are Reimagining the Military as an All-Powerful Tool to Deploy on U.S. Soil

·  A Chatbot Changes the Minds of Conspiracy Theorists

·  From the Ballot to the Boardroom: Lessons Learned From Election Disinformation Efforts

·  Would Banning Ransomware Insurance Stop the Scourge?

·  Milton Disrupted the Flow of Drinking Water—so Florida Deployed a Machine to Harvest It From Air

How Climate Disasters and a Housing Crisis Are Shattering Lives  (Hilary Howard and Christopher Flavelle, New York Times)
Millions of Americans, many poor and vulnerable, live in mobile homes. When catastrophe strikes, they’re often on their own.

Rising Disaster Costs Leave U.S. Confronting Fiscal Risks of Climate Change  (

As storms, droughts, wildfires and other extreme weather events strike with greater frequency and intensity, repairing and rebuilding has grown more costly, too.

How Florida Should Respond to Hurricane Milton  (Economist)
Storms like it raise uncomfortable questions about the state’s future.

How Migration Became a U.S. Foreign-Policy Priority  (Catherine Osborn, Foreign Policy)
The Biden administration quietly helped develop a regional strategy to tackle the issue. Can it survive the U.S. election?

Fact Check: How AI Influences Election Campaigns  (Rayna Breuer, DW)
Political parties use artificial intelligence to create alternative realities with emotional content designed to tug on our heartstrings or to scare us with frightening scenarios. How does that influence us?

Trump and His Allies Are Reimagining the Military as an All-Powerful Tool to Deploy on U.S. Soil  (Stephen Grove and the Associated Press / Fortune)
During his first term as president, Donald Trump tested the limits of how he could use the military to achieve policy goals. If given a second chance, the Republican and his allies are preparing to go much further, reimagining the military as an all-powerful tool to deploy on U.S. soil.

A Chatbot Changes the Minds of Conspiracy Theorists  (Karen O’Leary, Science)
A study of over 2,000 people shows that interacting with a large language model reduced belief in conspiracy theories — including some related to COVID-19 — by providing tailored, one-on-one interactions and compelling evidence.

From the Ballot to the Boardroom: Lessons Learned From Election Disinformation Efforts  (Naureen Kabir, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance)
Election-related disinformation campaigns have become a staple of modern election cycles, both in the U.S. and globally. Whether driven by foreign influence operations or domestic political or extremist groups, disinformation efforts are now an election mainstay.

How Russia, China Envision Nuking U.S. Satellites: From Above and Below  (David D. Chen and Peter W. Singer, Defense One)
As the Pentagon builds huge constellations to shrug off conventional ASAT weapons, potential adversaries are taking things to a terrifying new level.

Would Banning Ransomware Insurance Stop the Scourge? (Jessica Lyons, The Resister)
White House official makes case for ending extortion reimbursements.

Milton Disrupted the Flow of Drinking Water—so Florida Deployed a Machine to Harvest It From Air (Emily Mullin, Wired)
A Tampa-based company that makes atmospheric water generators and the state of Florida were able to supply one to a hospital shortly after Milton made landfall.