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U.S. Is Falling Behind China in Key Technologies: Experts
The United States has fallen behind China in the development of several key technologies, and it now faces an uncertain future in which other countries could challenge U.S. historic dominance in the development of cutting-edge technology. A new report envisions a future where China, not the U.S., captures the trillions of dollars of income generated by the new technological advances and uses its leverage to make the case that autocracy, not democracy, is the superior form of government.
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NIST, Google to Create New Supply of Chips for Researchers, Tech Startups
NIST has signed a cooperative research and development agreement with Google to develop and produce chips that researchers can use to develop new nanotechnology and semiconductor devices. The cooperative research agreement aims to unleash innovation in the semiconductor and nanotechnology industries.
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Germany Takes Over Rosneft Refineries in Move to Secure Energy Supplies
Germany says it has taken control of a major oil refinery owned by the German unit of Russia’s Rosneft as a step to bolster energy security for the country amid oil and gas cuts by Moscow in retaliation for Western sanctions against it because of the invasion of Ukraine.
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More Governments Use Spyware to Monitor Their People, Compromising Privacy
The right to privacy is under siege as an increasing number of governments are using spyware to keep tabs on their people. Many governments are using modern digital networked technologies to monitor, control and oppress their populations.
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EFF’s “Cover Your Tracks” Will Detect Your Use of iOS 16’s Lockdown Mode
Apple’s new iOS 16 offers a powerful tool for its most vulnerable users. Lockdown Mode reduces the avenues attackers have to hack into users’ phones by disabling certain often-exploited features. But there is a catch.
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The Inflation Reduction Act Is the Start of Reclaiming Critical Mineral Chains
One important component of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed by Congress and signed into law by U.S. President Joe Biden on Aug. 16, has been largely overlooked. “Built within the IRA is a commitment to increasing the domestic U.S. supply of critical minerals—lithium, nickel, manganese, and graphite, among others—to provide the materials necessary for a vast expansion in electric vehicles (EVs), batteries, and renewable power production infrastructure,” Morgan Bazilian writes. “The United States needs more wind turbines, solar panels, and electric cars. But to make that possible, it will need more mines.”
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U.S. Plans to Boost US Biotechnology Manufacturing
The administration announced Monday steps to bolster the “bioeconomy” in the United States, a classification that covers research and development across a broad swath of products, including medical supplies, sustainable new fuels and food, as well as technologies meant to help fight climate change. The order comes barely a month after President Biden signed a major piece of legislation, the CHIPS Act, meant to supercharge U.S. manufacturing of semiconductors, an area in which the U.S. has lost its once-dominant global position.
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Three Iranian Nationals Charged with Cyber Plots Against U.S. Critical Infrastructure Providers
An indictment was unsealed Wednesday charging three Iranian nationals with allegedly orchestrating a scheme to hack into the computer networks of multiple U.S. victims, including critical infrastructure providers. The defendants’ hacking campaign exploited known vulnerabilities in commonly used network devices and software applications to gain access and exfiltrate data and information from victims’ computer systems.
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Increasing Impacts of Floods and Droughts Worldwide
Risk management has reduced the vulnerability to floods and droughts around the world, but their impact is still increasing worldwide.
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“Prediction Markets” Could Improve Climate Risk Policies and Investment Decisions
A market-led approach could be key to guiding policy, research and business decisions about future climate risks, a new study outlines. The paper details how expert ‘prediction markets’ could improve the climate-risk forecasts that guide key business and regulatory decisions.
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NYU to Create Comprehensive Cybersecurity and Resiliency Program
The quantity, velocity and variety of cybersecurity attacks worldwide reflect the proliferation of connected devices, advances in extended reality systems, AI, telecommunications, and global supply chains powered by the Internet. At the same time, there is a shortfall of cybersecurity and resiliency experts with real-world training and immersion in cutting-edge research and technology to face these challenges.
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California Dreaming? Nope.
Expert welcomes aggressive move toward electric vehicles, but sees one ‘huge mistake’ policymakers need to avoid and a surefire way to anger drivers.
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China Intensifying Its Global Push for Media Influence
The Chinese government’s media influence efforts, turning to more covert and aggressive tactics, have increased since 2019 in most of the 30 countries under study by a new report, but democratic pushback has often curbed their impact.
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U.S. Moves to Keep Advanced Semiconductor Technology Out of China
Companies that accept U.S. funding under the CHIPS Act — a plan to build up America’s computer chip-making capacity — will be barred from establishing advanced fabrication facilities in China for 10 years. The CHIPS Act is a response not just to the computer chip shortage that snarled global supply chains during the pandemic but also to the perceived national security threat that a lack of domestic semiconductor manufacturing presents.
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Legal Work-Related Immigration Has Fallen by a Third Since 2020, Contributing to U.S. Labor Shortages
The gap between the demand for labor and its supply was already forming in 2017. By July 2022, as the pandemic’s effects on the workplace were easing, the U.S. had 11.2 million job openings but only 5.7 million unemployed workers who might fill them. The trend that’s driving labor shortages: declining numbers of immigrants allowed to legally work in the U.S.
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More headlines
The long view
Ransomware Attacks: Death Threats, Endangered Patients and Millions of Dollars in Damages
A ransomware attack on Change Healthcare, a company that processes 15 billion health care transactions annually and deals with 1 in 3 patient records in the United States, is continuing to cause massive disruptions nearly three weeks later. The incident, which started on February 21, has been called the “most significant cyberattack on the U.S. health care system” by the American Hospital Association. It is just the latest example of an increasing trend.
Chinese Government Hackers Targeted Critics of China, U.S. Businesses and Politicians
An indictment was unsealed Monday charging seven nationals of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their involvement in a PRC-based hacking group that spent approximately 14 years targeting U.S. and foreign critics, businesses, and political officials in furtherance of the PRC’s economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives.
European Arms Imports Nearly Double, U.S. and French Exports Rise, and Russian Exports Fall Sharply
States in Europe almost doubled their imports of major arms (+94 per cent) between 2014–18 and 2019–23. The United States increased its arms exports by 17 per cent between 2014–18 and 2019–23, while Russia’s arms exports halved. Russia was for the first time the third largest arms exporter, falling just behind France.
LNG Exports Have Had No Impact on Domestic Energy Costs: Analysis
U.S. liquified natural gas (LNG) exports have not had any sustained and significant direct impact on U.S. natural gas prices and have, in fact, spurred production and productivity gains, which contribute to downward pressure on domestic prices.