• Nord Stream 2 Will Not Move Forward If Russia Invades Ukraine

    U.S. said it would work with Germany to ensure that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany does not begin operations if Russia invades Ukraine. Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the pipeline a “private sector project,” as did his predecessor Angela Merkel, but he has hardened his position in the past few days.

  • Israeli Police: From Warrantless Cellphone Searches to Controversial Misuse of Spyware

    Israel’s rules governing privacy and related laws have experienced a dramatic past few weeks, capped by an explosive journalistic expose revealing that Israeli police have been using NSO Group spyware allegedly without warrants or explicit statutory authorization.

  • Addressing the Microchip Shortage

    The U.S. semiconductor chip shortage is likely to continue well into 2022, and experts predict that the U.S. will need to make major changes to the manufacturing and supply chain of these all-important chips in the coming year to stave off further effects. That includes making more of these chips here at home. 

  • How 5G Puts Airplanes at Risk – an Electrical Engineer Explains

    In 2021 the U.S. government auctioned part of the C-band spectrum to wireless carriers in 2021 for $81 billion. The carriers are using C-band spectrum to provide 5G service at full speed, 10 times the speed of 4G networks. The C-band spectrum is close to the frequencies used by key electronics that aircraft rely on to land safely. Here’s why that can be a problem.

  • Urban Britain’s Potential as a “Grow Your Own” Nation

    Britain’s towns and cities have the potential to support an urban agricultural revolution that would help meet the dietary needs of a growing population, boost the nation’s health and wellbeing, as well as reduce reliance on imports.Britain’s towns and cities have the potential to support an urban agricultural revolution that would help meet the dietary needs of a growing population, boost the nation’s health and wellbeing, as well as reduce reliance on imports.

  • Lockdowns During Early Pandemic Saved Lives, but Not a Go-To Strategy Moving Forward: Study

    The U.S. pandemic lockdown in 2020 caused a $2.3 trillion economic downturn and split the nation politically, and now some European nations are locking down again as Omicron surges through the global population. But do these drastic measures save lives? Are they worth massive job and income losses?

  • Reasserting U.S. Leadership in Microelectronics

    The global semiconductor shortage has grabbed headlines and caused a cascade of production bottlenecks that have driven up prices on all sorts of consumer goods, from refrigerators to SUVs. The chip shortage has thrown into sharp relief the critical role semiconductors play in many aspects of everyday life. But years before the pandemic-induced shortage took hold, the United States was already facing a growing chip crisis. MIT researchers lay out a strategy for how universities can help the U.S. regain its place as a semiconductor superpower.

  • Home for the Holidays? The Global Implications of a State-Level Cyberattack

    The 4 December 2021 cyberattack on the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) appeared, at first blush to be a local-to-Maryland problem. Maggie Smith writes, however, that “the MDH hack points to a concerning development at the nexus of cybercrime and data supply chains,” as it “shows how fragile data supply chains can be and signals how easy it is to disrupt even the most critical data flows by stopping the upstream flow of data that provides the insights and statistics on which the nations’ decision-makers rely.”  

  • Expanding America’s Marine Highways 

    The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) awarded $12.6 million in grants to nine marine highway projects across the United States, saying the  under the America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP). DOT says that the funding will help address supply chain disruptions, enhance the movement of goods along the U.S. navigable waterways, and expand existing waterborne freight services.

  • Radicalization Pipelines: How Targeted Advertising on Social Media Drives People to Extremes

    Behind-the-scenes mechanisms feed an item you search for on Google, “like” on social media, or come across while browsing into custom advertising on social media. Those mechanisms are increasingly being used for more nefarious purposes than aggressive advertising. The threat is in how this targeted advertising interacts with today’s extremely divisive political landscape. As a social media researcher, I see how people seeking to radicalize others use targeted advertising to readily move people to extreme views.

  • Weather Disasters in U.S. Dominate Natural Disaster Losses in 2021

    In 2021, natural disasters caused overall losses of $280bn, of which roughly $120bn were insured. Alongside 2005 and 2011, the year 2021 proved to be the second-costliest ever for the insurance sector (record year 2017: $146bn, inflation-adjusted). Overall losses from natural disasters were the fourth-highest to date (record year 2011: $355bn). Hurricane Ida was the year’s costliest natural disaster, with overall losses of $65bn (insured losses of $36bn). In Europe, flash floods after extreme rainfall caused losses of $54bn (€46bn) – the costliest natural disaster on record in Germany. Many of the weather catastrophes fit in with the expected consequences of climate change, making greater loss preparedness and  climate protection a matter of urgency.

  • AT&T, Verizon Agree to Delay 5G Rollout Over Aircraft Safety Concerns

    AT&T and Verizon have agreed to hold off on their 5G rollout amid concerns of problems for aircraft. The move marks a change of heart a day after both companies rejected the government request.

  • Belgium to Shut Down All Existing Nuclear Power Plants

    The Belgian government has said all of the country’s existing nuclear energy plants will close by 2025. However, Belgium will invest in future nuclear technology.

  • Extradited Kremlin-Linked Russian Businessman Charged with Cybercrimes, along with Four Other Russian Suspects

    Russian businessman Vladislav Klyushin was extradited from Switzerland to the United States last week over his involvement in a global scheme to trade on hacked confidential information. One of Klyushin’s codefendants, Ivan Ermakov, a former officer in Russia’s GRU military intelligence, was charged in court in 2018 for his role in hacking and disinformation operations the GRU conducted in 2016 as part of Russia’s interference in the U.S. presidential elections.

  • What's the Deal with the Log4Shell Security Nightmare?

    What started out as a Minecraft prank, has now resulted in a 5-alarm security panic as administrators and developers around the world desperately try to fix and patch systems before the cryptocurrency miners, ransomware attackers and nation-state adversaries rush to exploit thousands of software packages. Nicholas Weaver writes that “Not only does the vulnerability affect thousands of programs but the exploitation of this vulnerability is very straightforward.  Attackers are already starting to launch widespread attacks.  Further compounding the problem is the huge diversity of vulnerable systems, so those responsible for defending systems are going to have a very bad Christmas.”