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How Should We Look to History to Make Sense of Luigi Mangione’s Alleged Murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson?
When I and most other historians talk about parallels between the Gilded Age and today, the comparisons are structural. They reflect broad conditions affecting millions of people. It’s when pundits pull particular examples from the past to explain the actions of individuals today that trouble arises.
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Dozens of Cities Are Paying for Gunshot Detection Tech They May Not Need
A new analysis by The Trace identified cities across the country that are using ShotSpotter despite averaging fewer than one shooting a month in which someone was killed or injured.
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Miracle, or Marginal Gain?
Industrial policy is said to have sparked huge growth in East Asia. Two MIT economists say the numbers tell a more complex story.
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Despite Trump’s Claim, Deportations Likely Wouldn’t Ease Housing Crisis, Most Experts Say
The mass deportations of immigrants that President-elect Donald Trump has promised aren’t likely to make a dent in the nation’s housing crisis, many experts say, despite what he and his supporters claimed during his campaign. Not only is the link between mass deportation and housing availability tenuous at best, but mass deportation may likely result in far fewer homes being built.
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Western Self-Sufficiency in Computer Chips Is Just Not Going to Happen
The global nature of chipmaking will not bow to American nostalgia. The US may persuade TSMC and Samsung to open more facilities in the States, but absolute sovereignty is gone. The departure of Intel’s last true believer underscores that sobering truth.
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Police 'Need to Play a Larger Role' in Recovering Cybercrime Money
Police must become more involved in reimbursing money to victims of cybercrime, according to new research. The study also recommends that, as a priority, the police should make clear to communities that it can be relied upon in cases of economic cybercrime.
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FTC Rightfully Acts Against So-Called “AI Weapon Detection” Company Evolv
The Federal Trade Commission has entered a settlement with self-styled “weapon detection” company Evolv, to resolve the FTC’s claim that the company “knowingly” and repeatedly” engaged in “unlawful” acts of misleading claims about their technology.
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What is Salt Typhoon? A Security Expert Explains the Chinese Hackers and Their Aattack on U.S. Telecommunications Networks
Lost in the noise of the story is that Salt Typhoon has proved that the decades of warnings by the internet security community were correct. No mandated secret or proprietary access to technology products is likely to remain undiscovered or used only by “the good guys” – and efforts to require them are likely to backfire.
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A 2006 Study Found Undocumented Immigrants Contribute More Than They Cost Texas. The State Hasn’t Updated It Since.
A comptroller’s report found that deporting the estimated 1.4 million undocumented immigrants living in Texas in 2005 would have cost the state about $17.7 billion in gross domestic product.
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Supply Chain Uncertainty
Supply chains are extremely complex, to the point that almost no business or organization is likely to know the details of its supply chain below the immediate level. This opacity can result in vulnerabilities developing without the affected parties even being aware of them. There is thus a need to building resilience in the face of impending threats.
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Recovering Rare Earth Metals from Waste Permanent Magnets
Rare earths, in particular, are characterized by chemical, electrical, magnetic, and luminescent properties that can be achieved by adding only a small amount, and their use has recently increased significantly as core materials in the eco-friendly automobile and renewable energy industries.
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It’ll Take Effort, Not Hype, to Finally Achieve the Hydrogen Future
Hydrogen could help decarbonize sectors including long-haul transportation, ammonia manufacturing, steel making and other industrial processes, commonly by replacing metallurgical coal and natural gas. But transitioning to hydrogen is not easy.
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California Connection: How A Chinese Factory's Electronics Are Fueling Russia's War
A Chinese company that owns a California electronics distributor has sent hundreds of shipments of restricted dual-use technology to Russia since the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, including to sanctioned companies with ties to the Russian military.
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Two-Way Water Transfers Can Ensure Reliability, Save Money for Urban and Agricultural Users During Drought in Western U.S.
Researchers offer a solution — two-way leasing contracts — to water scarcity during droughts amid the tug of economic development, population growth and climate uncertainty for water users in Western U.S. states.
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Protecting U.S. Allies and Partners from Chinese Economic Coercion
China’s growing willingness to defy the international order, and its increasingly aggressive leadership, have led it to increasingly utilize economic coercion against countries it believes have defied China’s interests. This coercion can be powerful, and the United States and its partners have not been well-prepared for Beijing’s actions. The U.S. and others need to develop a response immediately.
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The long view
Need for National Information Clearinghouse for Cybercrime Data, Categorization of Cybercrimes: Report
There is an acute need for the U.S. to address its lack of overall governance and coordination of cybercrime statistics. A new report recommends that relevant federal agencies create or designate a national information clearinghouse to draw information from multiple sources of cybercrime data and establish connections to assist in criminal investigations.
Trying to “Bring Back” Manufacturing Jobs Is a Fool’s Errand
Advocates of recent populist policies like to focus on the supposed demise of manufacturing that occurred after the 1970s, but that focus is misleading. The populists’ bleak economic narrative ignores the truth that the service sector has always been a major driver of America’s success, for decades, even more so than manufacturing. Trying to “bring back” manufacturing jobs, through harmful tariffs or other industrial policies, is destined to end badly for Americans. It makes about as much sense as trying to “bring back” all those farm jobs we had before the 1870s.
The Potential Impact of Seabed Mining on Critical Mineral Supply Chains and Global Geopolitics
The potential emergence of a seabed mining industry has important ramifications for the diversification of critical mineral supply chains, revenues for developing nations with substantial terrestrial mining sectors, and global geopolitics.
Are We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?
Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”