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Using Novel Approach to Teach Robot to Navigate Over Obstacles
When it comes to robotic locomotion and navigation, most four-legged robots are trained to regain their footing if an obstacle causes them to stumble. Researchers out to train their robot to walk over clutter.
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Exploring Feasibility of Using Drones to Survey Sites for Low Levels of Radiation
Drones are tools for search and rescue, traffic monitoring, weather monitoring, and perhaps even package hauling. One day, they may work with humans to augment the task of conducting surveys to detect low levels of radiation—information that could contribute to the decommissioning of sites no longer needed for nuclear-related energy production or research.
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Long-Term Coastal Cliff Loss Due to Climate Change
The dangers of coastal erosion are an all-too-familiar reality for the modern residents of California’s iconic mountainous coastal communities. New tool brings historical perspective to the topic of how to manage these disappearing coastlines.
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Possible Future Health Impacts Related to Climate Mitigation
Reduce fossil fuel use and air quality will improve, right? It might not be as straightforward as it appears, according to researchers. Some climate change mitigation measures may cause worsening of air quality.
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Making the Power Grid More Reliable and Resilient
The U.S. power grid comprises nearly 12,000 power plants, 200,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines, 60,000 substations and 3 million miles of power lines. It may well be the most massive and complex machine ever assembled. Argonne National Labs’ researchers help keep this machine working in the face of daunting challenges.
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Using AI to Find Rare Minerals
A machine learning model can predict the locations of minerals on Earth—and potentially other planets—by taking advantage of patterns in mineral associations.
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Global Temperatures set to Reach New Records in Next Five Years
Global temperatures are likely to surge to record levels in the next five years, fueled by heat-trapping greenhouse gases and a naturally occurring El Niño event. There is a 66% likelihood that the annual average near-surface global temperature between 2023 and 2027 will be more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for at least one year. There is a 98% likelihood that at least one of the next five years, and the five-year period as a whole, will be the warmest on record.
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DOJ: Charges Related to Efforts by Russia, China, Iran to Steal American Technology
DOJ announced five criminal cases exposing the relentless efforts by Russia, China and Iran to steal sensitive U.S. technologies. The cases were brought by a new “strike force” created earlier this year to deter foreign adversaries from obtaining advanced U.S. innovation.
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One in Six Properties in England Will Be Affected by Flood Risk by 2050: Study
Flood risk affects English residential property values. New report shows that residential properties at risk of flooding are sold at 8.14% lower on average compared to non-affected properties. The report shines a light on the extent to which climate change and the increased propensity of natural disasters is affecting the housing market.
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Commercial Investors Shift Perspective of Coastal Properties in Face of Climate Change
Investors in commercial real estate are rethinking the values of coastal properties exposed to flood risk — even in northern U.S. locales that haven’t suffered flood damage, according to researchers. This shift in perspective has implications for investors and developers alike as they determine the value of coastal properties amid a changing climate.
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Six Pressing Questions We Must Ask About Generative AI
The past twenty-five years have demonstrated that waiting until after harms occur to implement internet safeguards fails to protect users. The emergence of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) lends an unprecedented urgency to these concerns as this technology outpaces what regulations we have in place to keep the internet safe.
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Lessons from ‘Star Trek: Picard’ – a Cybersecurity Expert Explains How a Sci-Fi Series Illuminates Today’s Threats
Sometimes Hollywood gets it right by depicting reality in ways that both entertain and educate. And that’s important, because whether it’s a large company, government or your personal information, we all share many of the same cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities. As a former cybersecurity industry practitioner and current cybersecurity researcher, I believe the final season of “Star Trek: Picard” is the latest example of entertainment media providing useful lessons about cybersecurity and the nature of the modern world.
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Americans’ Support for Nuclear Power Soars to Highest Level in a Decade
A Gallup survey released in late April found that 55 percent of U.S. adults support the use of nuclear power. That’s up four percentage points from last year and reflects the highest level of public support for nuclear energy use in electricity since 2012. As the country looks to decarbonize, the popularity of nuclear continues to climb.
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We Could Easily Make Risky Virological Research Safer
Lab Accidents happen, and they aren’t especially rare. A new book — appropriately titled Pandora’s Gamble — offers a shocking accounting of the problem, identifying more than a thousand accidents reported to federal regulators from 2008 to 2012. David Wallace-Wells, referring to the recommendations from the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity on how to minimize the risks from research biolabs, writes: “These suggestions would not eliminate the risk of lab accidents, but they would reduce the risk — and fairly simply.”
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Making Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Cybersecure
As more electric vehicles (EVs) hit the road, charging stations are popping up across the United States. The benefits go beyond curbing carbon emissions from road travel. These systems can also link to the electric grid through smart charging, drawing power when overall demand is low and feeding it back to the grid when needed.
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More headlines
The long view
U.S. Reliance on Chinese Drones: A Sector for the Next CHIPS Act?
More and more lawmakers from both parties are beginning to pay attention to the issue of drones and national security. Different bills seek to regulate federal agency procurement and use of certain foreign-made unmanned aircraft systems (UASs), or drones. Annie I. Antón and Olivia C. Mauger write that “Building on the bipartisan consensus to enact the 2022 Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science (CHIPS) Act, there is a compelling case that UASs should be a next sector for similar action.”
Enhanced Community Safety by Reimagining Gunshot Detection
A new gunshot detection system delivers new capabilities that significantly improve the response and management of outdoor shootings. The portable system employs two methods of detection for increased accuracy and reduced false positives.
Outsmarting Superbugs, One Germ at a Time
It’s an old story: Pathogen sickens humans. Humans create medicine. Pathogen evolves a way around the medicine. Humans are back to square one.
Using Quantum Physics to Secure Wireless Devices
From access cards and key fobs to Bluetooth speakers, the security of communication between wireless devices is critical to maintaining privacy and preventing theft. Unfortunately, these tools are not foolproof and information on how to hack, clone and bypass these systems is becoming easier to find.
Helping the U.S. Fast-track Hypersonic Conventional Weapons
Hypersonic weapons have been a top priority for modernizing the armed forces, with ultrafast, long-range and maneuverable munitions being touted as a revolutionary advance in modern warfare. The U.S. has fast-tracked their development and announced plans to field the first conventional hypersonic missile battery this year. Sandia National Lab is helping the U.S. achieve this goal.
U.S. Should Begin Laying the Foundation for New and Advanced Nuclear Reactors: Report
New and advanced types of nuclear reactors could play an important role in helping the U.S. meet its long-term climate goals, but a range of technical, regulatory, economic, and societal challenges must first be overcome.