• Critical Minerals in Africa: Strengthening Security, Supporting Development, and Reducing Conflict amid Geopolitical Competition

    US economic and national security depends on a reliable supply of critical minerals that underlie an array of products and services important to ever-changing modern economies. Yet for many critical minerals (e.g., cobalt, graphite, and manganese), the United States is heavily dependent on imports. Especially concerning is that the United States is at or near 100 percent reliant on “foreign entities of concern”—mainly the People’s Republic of China—for key critical minerals. Africa can play an important role in strengthening US critical minerals supply chain security.

  • Artificial Intelligence and Critical Infrastructure

    What is the technology availability for AI applications in critical infrastructure in the next ten years? What risks and scenarios (consisting of threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences) is AI likely to present for critical infrastructure applications in the next ten years?

  • Tech War: China Could Face U.S., EU Curbs Over Legacy Chips Dominance

    Legacy chips, used in everything from washing machines to cars and TVs to medical devices, may not be as powerful as the state-of-the-art semiconductors that power artificial intelligence (AI) platforms. But they’re a growing headache for the United States and European Union: After the United States cut China’s access to cutting-edge chips, the EU and the United States are concerned about the country’s dominance of semiconductors used in everyday technology.

  • Deepfake Defense Tech Ready for Commercialization

    The threat of manipulated media has steadily increased as automated manipulation technologies become more accessible, and social media continues to provide a ripe environment for viral content sharing. The speed, scale, and breadth at which massive disinformation campaigns can unfold require computational defenses and automated algorithms to help humans discern what content is real and what’s been manipulated or synthesized, why, and how.

  • New Geo-Tracking Buoys Make a Splash During Live Test Events

    New rugged buoy technologies equipped with Automatic Identification Systems aim to help the U.S. Coast Guard mark and track objects in the water.

  • Top Computer Scientists: The Future of Artificial Intelligence Is Similar to That of Star Trek

    Leading computer scientists from around the world have shared their vision for the future of artificial intelligence – and it resembles the capabilities of Star Trek character ‘The Borg’.

  • Cybertech Startup Aims to Keep Aircraft Safe

    As hackers get more daring and sophisticated, and even try to hijack airplanes, it’s increasingly vital to keep our aircraft safe from attack. Cybertech startup Cyviation aims to do just that.

  • Engineers Fortifying Critical Infrastructure

    In a bid to protect the nation’s energy sector against cyber attacks, engineers are creating a digital twin to help weed out threats and fix software and firmware vulnerabilities. If left unchecked, these weaknesses could allow ransomware attacks that could cause severe havoc to critical U.S. energy systems.

  • Where Did All the Water Go? New Study Explores Water Use in the Colorado River Basin.

    The final 100 miles of the Colorado River is a shell of its former self — nearly 10 miles wide at the turn of the century, farmers had more water than they knew what to do with. Now, a weave of concrete canals brings water to sprawling industrial farms situated in the Mexicali Valley, with much of the natural riverbed dry and the wildlife sparse. Where did all the water go?

  • States and Tribes Scramble to Reach Colorado River Deals Before Election

    There are three main forces driving the conflict on the Colorado River. The first is an outdated legal system that guarantees more water to seven Western states than is actually available in the river during most years. The second is the exclusion of Native American tribes from this legal system. The third is climate change, which is heating up the western United States and diminishing the winter snowfall and rainwater that feed the river. Landmark agreements would cut big states’ water usage for decades and deliver water to the Navajo Nation.

  • Canada’s Biosecurity Scandal: The Risks of Foreign Interference in Life Sciences

    In July 2019, world-renowned biological researchers Xiangguo Qiu and Keding Cheng were quietly walked out of the Canadian government’s National Microbiology Lab (NML). The original allegation against them was that Qiu had authorized a shipment to China of some of the deadliest viruses on the planet, including Ebola and Nipah. Then the story seemed to go away—until now.

  • Plan B: Keeping Nuclear Power Plants Cool in a Warmer, Drier Climate

    Waterways — tried and true cooling sources for nuclear power plants — could get warmer due to global climate change. Climate scientists and nuclear science and engineering experts are joining forces to develop a plan B for nuclear power.

  • Companies Ignoring Climate Risks Get Punished by Markets: Study

    Companies that proactively manage climate risks boost their valuations, while those with a passive stance are discounted in the equity market, according to new research.

  • How Climate Change Will Affect Conflict and U.S. Military Operations

    “People talk about climate change as a threat multiplier,” said Karen Sudkamp, an associate director of the Infrastructure, Immigration, and Security Operations Program within the RAND Homeland Security Research Division. “But at what point do we need to start talking about the threat multiplier actually becoming a significant threat all its own?”

  • Cops Running DNA-Manufactured Faces Through Face Recognition Is a Tornado of Bad Ideas

    In keeping with law enforcement’s grand tradition of taking antiquated, invasive, and oppressive technologies, making them digital, and then calling it innovation, police in the U.S. recently combined two existing dystopian technologies in a brand new way to violate civil liberties.