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Argonne Leads the Way in Hydropower
As governments invest in renewable energy sources to help speed towards the goal of decarbonization, hydropower offers a promising complement to wind and solar, and Argonne is at the forefront of this research.
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Missile Test Helps Launch Mk21 Fuze into U.S. Nuclear Stockpile
The June test launch of a Minuteman III from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California was the last in a series of planned activities designed to demonstrate the operational effectiveness of the Mk21 Fuze, providing proof to the U.S. Air Force that it is ready to be accepted into the U.S. nuclear stockpile.
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Countering Deepfakes: We Need to Forecast AI Threats
We should consider more action to address new forms of criminality based on AI and other technology. As far as possible, we shouldn’t let these new forms surprise us. The government should organize a group of representatives from law-enforcement and national security agencies to identify potential or emerging criminal applications of new tech and begin working on responses before people are affected.
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An AI Lie Detector for Today’s Deepfake World
Revealense recognizes indicators from video clips that help client companies know if a customer is being truthful or not. For an AI lie detector, what matters more than the answers to questions are the levels of stress, cognition and emotion that the AI detects. The AI is trained to recognize cognitive dissonance, the discomfort we feel when we hold — and when we verbalize — conflicting beliefs, values or attitudes.
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U.S. Needs New Strategy to Recruit and Retain STEM Talent: Report
The United States should adopt a whole-of-government strategy to recruit and retain talent in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Because foreign-born talent makes up a significant portion of the STEM workforce in the U.S., it is of critical importance to fostering and sustaining innovation, economic competitiveness, and national security.
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World Risk Report: Where Are Natural Disasters Most Common?
The 2024 World Risk Report is out, highlighting which countries are most at risk from natural disasters, and what can be done to prevent catastrophes and mitigate the effects.
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Novel Wireless Charging Technology Facilitating EV Charging While in Transit
Advancements in electric vehicle (EV) technology are paving the way for solutions that reduce the need to search for charging stations. A research team has developed technology that enables wireless power supply to moving vehicles.
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Traditional Infrastructure Design Often Makes Extreme Flooding Events Worse
Massive 2014 flooding event in southeast Michigan showed why systems thinking beats local thinking in flood protection.
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Social Media Manipulation in the Era of AI
China is not the only U.S. adversary exploring the potential propaganda gold mine that AI has opened. But China provides a useful case study, in part because its disinformation efforts seem to be getting bolder.
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As Tornado Alley Shifts East, Bracing for Impact in Unexpected Places
Experts say the causes are still unclear, but the change is consistent with a warming world. The effects on the ground could be devastating.
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Defense Department Should Secure Access to Advanced Semiconductor Technologies
A new, multipronged strategy is needed for the U.S. Department of Defense to secure access to advanced semiconductor technologies, one of the agency’s defining challenges, says a new report. DOD should invest in leap-ahead semiconductor technologies, work to reshore production capabilities, and strengthen industry and interagency engagement, says a new report.
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AI Technology and Self-Coordinating Drones to Detect and Investigate Wildfires
Engineers have developed a swarm of self-coordinating drones for firefighting, as part of an effort to develop cost-effective early mitigation strategies for wildfires.
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Scientists Seek to Invent a Safe, Reliable, and Cheap Battery for Electricity Grids
How do you store electricity in a way that is large and powerful enough to support the electric grid, as well as reliable, safe, environmentally sustainable, and inexpensive? Scientists are seeking to overcome the major limitations of a battery by using water as the primary component of its electrolyte.
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Toward a Code-Breaking Quantum Computer
Building on a landmark algorithm, researchers propose a way to make a smaller and more noise-tolerant quantum factoring circuit for cryptography.
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Free Legal Helpline Has Gained Pro Bono Support from 40+ Law Firms, 250+ Individual Practitioners Since Launching in November 2023
The Campus Antisemitism Legal Line (CALL) has received more than 650 requests for assistance from university students across the country who experienced antisemitic harassment, violence or discrimination in the first nine months of the program.
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The long view
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.”
A Brief History of Federal Funding for Basic Science
Biomedical science in the United States is at a crossroads. For 75 years, the federal government has partnered with academic institutions, fueling discoveries that have transformed medicine and saved lives. Recent moves by the Trump administration — including funding cuts and proposed changes to how research support is allocated — now threaten this legacy.
Bookshelf: Preserving the U.S. Technological Republic
The United States since its founding has always been a technological republic, one whose place in the world has been made possible and advanced by its capacity for innovation. But our present advantage cannot be taken for granted.
Autonomous Weapon Systems: No Human-in-the-Loop Required, and Other Myths Dispelled
“The United States has a strong policy on autonomy in weapon systems that simultaneously enables their development and deployment and ensures they could be used in an effective manner, meaning the systems work as intended, with the same minimal risk of accidents or errors that all weapon systems have,” Michael Horowitz writes.
Ukraine Drone Strikes on Russian Airbase Reveal Any Country Is Vulnerable to the Same Kind of Attack
Air defense systems are built on the assumption that threats come from above and from beyond national borders. But Ukraine’s coordinated drone strike on 1 June on five airbases deep inside Russian territory exposed what happens when states are attacked from below and from within. In low-level airspace, visibility drops, responsibility fragments, and detection tools lose their edge. Drones arrive unannounced, response times lag, coordination breaks.
Shots to the Dome—Why We Can’t Model US Missile Defense on Israel’s “Iron Dome”
Starting an arms race where the costs are stacked against you at a time when debt-to-GDP is approaching an all-time high seems reckless. All in all, the idea behind Golden Dome is still quite undercooked.