• Bookshelf: A Tale of American Lawyers and Chinese Engineers

    The U.S. and China have fundamental differences, a new book argues. China would be an “engineering state” whereas the U.S. is a “lawyerly society.” Most Chinese Communist Party leaders have been engineers focused on building mega projects such as highways, bridges, fast trains. and airports. In recent decades the U.S. has become a “lawyerly society” as the country’s elite, dominated by lawyers, focused on procedure and process rather than getting things done.

  • How AI Can Improve Storm Surge Forecasts to Help Save Lives

    Hurricanes are America’s most destructive natural hazards, causing more deaths and property damage than any other type of disaster. The No. 1 cause of the damage and deaths from hurricanes is storm surge. I have recently been exploring ways that artificial intelligence can improve the speed of storm surge forecasting.

  • Europe’s Banks Quietly Mobilize for Economic Warfare

    For years, banks treated defense as a reputational issue, as well as an environmental, social and governance risk, often lumping it with tobacco or fossil fuels as something to be managed at arm’s length. That era is ending. Russia’s war in Ukraine, China’s coercive trade tactics and the United States’ pressure on Europe to shoulder more of its defense burden have exposed the limits of moralistic restraint. Financial mobilization is the new norm.

  • UK Man Attempting to Make Firearms Using 3D Printer Guilty of Terrorism Offenses

    A man has been found guilty of various terrorism and firearms offenses after he was caught attempting to use a 3D-printer to make a sub-machine gun.

  • Walk-Through Screening System Enhances Security at Airports Nationwide

    A new security screener that people can simply walk past may soon be coming to an airport near you. Last year, U.S. airports nationwide began adopting HEXWAVE to satisfy a new Transportation Security Administration (TSA) mandate for enhanced employee screening to detect metallic and nonmetallic threats.

  • The U.S. Critical Minerals Dilemma: What to Know

    Critical minerals play an essential role in security and technological competitiveness, but the United States relies heavily on imports from China and other foreign sources. The Trump administration is trying to change that.

  • Critical Action Needed to Address Growing Biosecurity Risks

    A new report warns that biosecurity risks are increasing. Emerging technologies and other trends are making biological threats more numerous, frequent, and consequential. The report outlines how emerging biotechnology must itself be used to secure biology, akin to how software is required to secure software.

  • Circumcision, Tylenol, and Autism? RFK Jr. Misses the Cut

    When public health officials use their platforms to promote pet theories instead of proven science, it’s not just sloppy—it’s dangerous. These pronouncements shape research priorities, regulatory decisions, and the information the public is allowed to hear. When science gets filtered through political agendas and personal crusades, public health becomes a tool of control rather than a source of trust. HHS officials wield enormous influence over Americans’ medical choices; that power demands humility and restraint—not speculation masquerading as science.

  • 4 Key Facts About Climate Change and Human Migration

    How does climate change affect human migration and what does it mean for border policies? Learn about the complex relationship between weather and cross-border migration across different demographic groups, and the role for future policies.

  • NIST Engineers Design 5 New Ways to Connect Concrete Pieces for More Resilient Buildings

    Precast concrete is an efficient and cost-effective building material made in a factory instead of at a construction site. One of the biggest challenges with precast concrete is connecting the concrete pieces at a job site. Working with industry, NIST has designed five new connections for precast concrete buildings that will make them more resilient.

  • U.S. Energy Supply Chains Are Unlikely to Meet Anticipated Demand

    The U.S. fast-growing energy demands for clean energy sources faces a problem: Under current supply chain conditions, the United States is on track to fall significantly short of surging demand for three clean energy sources: wind, solar, and battery. The shortage is due to the scarcity of critical raw materials such as nickel, aluminum, and silicon.

  • Breakthrough Development Could Significantly Boost 5G Network Security

    With its greater network capacity and ability to rapidly transmit huge amounts of information from one device to another, 5G is a critical component of intelligent systems and services - including those for healthcare and financial services.

  • How Better Paper Can Save Billions in the Power Grid

    Norway can save investment costs of a staggering 25 billion NOK [ca. €2.1 billion] in the power grid by upgrading the quality of insulation paper used in transformers –dramatically increasing their lifespans.

  • Evaluating DeepSeek AI Models Finds Shortcomings and Risks

    AI models from developer DeepSeek were found to lag behind U.S. models in performance, cost, security and adoption. Security shortcomings and censorship may pose risks to application developers, consumers and U.S. national security. DeepSeek’s products are contributing to a rapid rise in the global use of models from the PRC.

  • Funding Cuts, Policy Shifts, and the Erosion of U.S. Scientific and Public Health Capacity

    The U.S. continues to face mounting threats to its health, scientific enterprise, and national security. A recent report warns that proposed FY 2026 budget cuts to the National Science Foundation (NSF) could reduce its funding by more than half – from $9 billion in FY 2025 to under $4 billion. If passed by Congress, these cuts would result in an estimated ~$11 billion in economic losses.