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Facing a Potentially Warmer, Drier Washington State, Scientists Develops Plans to Be Sure Nuclear Power Plants Stay Cool
Waterways — tried and true cooling sources for nuclear power plants — could get warmer due to global climate change. Washington is planning ahead. Argonne scientists will use Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to work with Washington’s Energy Northwest on climate-ready nuclear reactor designs.
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Small Hydroelectric Plants Could Provide Emergency Power During Outages
Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is seeking a hydropower utility to collaborate on a case study, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), to understand how small hydroelectric plants operating at 10 megawatts or less can be upgraded to provide emergency power to critical loads (e.g., hospitals and emergency service providers) during outages.
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History Says Tariffs Rarely Work, but Biden’s 100% Tariffs on Chinese EVs Could Defy the Trend
Earlier this month, President Biden announced a hike in tariffs on a variety of Chinese imports, including a 100% tariff that would significantly increase the price of Chinese-made electric vehicles. Tariffs have a troubled history, but Biden’s move might defy historical precedent and succeed where other tariffs have failed. The Biden tariffs can succeed in giving the U.S. EV industry room to grow, and encourage similar protective actions elsewhere, reinforcing the global shift toward securing supply chains and promoting domestic manufacturing.
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University Students Tackle Adventure in CyberForce — Conquer the Hill Competition
University of Central Florida’s Cameron Whitehead wins CyberForce Conquer the Hill: Adventure Competition 2024. Whitehead was one of 112 students from 71 accredited U.S. colleges and universities who competed virtually to complete work-based cybersecurity tasks and challenges during a full day of energy sector-related adventure.
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Ground-Breaking Study Reveals How COVID-19 Vaccines Prevent Severe Disease
A landmark study by scientists at the University of Oxford, has unveiled crucial insights into the way that COVID-19 vaccines mitigate severe illness in those who have been vaccinated.
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Researchers Predicting Well Above-Average 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season
Hurricane researchers are predicting an extremely active Atlantic hurricane season in their initial 2024 forecast. The researchers cite record warm tropical and eastern subtropical Atlantic sea surface temperatures as a primary factor for their prediction of 11 hurricanes this year.
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Extreme Weather is Battering the World. What's the Cause?
Floods and heatwaves across Africa, deluges in southern Brazil, drought in the Amazon, and extreme heat across Asia, including India: the news has been full of alarming weather disaster stories this year, and for good reason. Climate change is likely fueling a surge in extreme weather events across the planet. It could be a troubling sign of things to come.
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Beyond Watermarks: Content Integrity Through Tiered Defense
Watermarking is often discussed as a solution to the problems posed by AI-generated content. However, watermarking is inadequate without other methods of detecting and sorting out AI-generated content.
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Elaine Liu: Charging Ahead
The U.S. Department of Energy reports that the number of public and private EV charging ports nearly doubled in the past three years, and many more are in the works. Users expect to plug in at their convenience, charge up, and drive away. But what if the grid can’t handle it? An MIT senior calculates how renewables and EVs impact the grid.
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Solar Geoengineering to Cool the Planet: Is It Worth the Risks?
There is no international, national or state framework that currently governs geoengineering. As a result, one worrisome future scenario is that climate impacts in a particularly vulnerable country will be so severe that it resorts to deploying stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI, also called solar radiation management or SRM) on its own before the world is ready for it. This could cause political instability or provoke retribution from other countries that suffer its effects.
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U.S.-China Trade War: Why Joe Biden Has Raised the Stakes
In a move to safeguard domestic industries and address unfair trade practices, the US president has quadrupled tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and raised levies on other green tech.
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Addressing the Colorado River Crisis
Sustaining the American Southwest is the Colorado River. But demand, damming, diversion, and drought are draining this vital water resource at alarming rates. The future of water in the Southwest was top of mind for participants and attendees at the 10th Annual Eccles Family Rural West Conference.
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Making Batteries Takes Lots of Lithium: Almost Half of It Could Come from Pennsylvania Wastewater
Most batteries used in technology like smartwatches and electric cars are made with lithium that travels across the world before even getting to manufacturers. But what if nearly half of the lithium used in the U.S. could come from Pennsylvania wastewater?
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Investigation: How Russia's Warplanes Get Their 'Brain Power' From the West, Despite Sanctions
The sanctions Western countries have imposed on Russia have many vulnerabilities –a recurring complaint for Kyiv as, handicapped by a deficit of weapons and ammunition, it watches Russian forces advance, hammering soldiers, civilians, and vital infrastructure.
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Tech Diplomacy: What It Is, and Why It’s Important
We need to get used to a new concept in international security: tech diplomacy. It means technological collaboration across sectors and between countries, but the simplicity of the idea shouldn’t disguise its importance.
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The long view
Encryption Breakthrough Lays Groundwork for Privacy-Preserving AI Models
In an era where data privacy concerns loom large, a new approach in artificial intelligence (AI) could reshape how sensitive information is processed. New AI framework enables secure neural network computation without sacrificing accuracy.
AI-Controlled Fighter Jets May Be Closer Than We Think — and Would Change the Face of Warfare
Could we be on the verge of an era where fighter jets take flight without pilots – and are controlled by artificial intelligence (AI)? US R Adm Michael Donnelly recently said that an upcoming combat jet could be the navy’s last one with a pilot in the cockpit.
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.
AI and the Future of the U.S. Electric Grid
Despite its age, the U.S. electric grid remains one of the great workhorses of modern life. Whether it can maintain that performance over the next few years may determine how well the U.S. competes in an AI-driven world.
Using Liquid Air for Grid-Scale Energy Storage
New research finds liquid air energy storage could be the lowest-cost option for ensuring a continuous power supply on a future grid dominated by carbon-free but intermittent sources of electricity.
Enhanced Geothermal Systems: A Promising Source of Round-the-Clock Energy
With its capacity to provide 24/7 power, many are warming up to the prospect of geothermal energy. Scientists are currently working to advance human-made reservoirs in Earth’s deep subsurface to stimulate the activity that exists within natural geothermal systems.