• Revolutionizing Resource Renewal: Scaling Up Sustainable Recycling for Critical Materials

    Permanent magnets, which retain magnetic properties even in the absence of an inducing field or current, are used extensively in clean energy and defense applications. Rare earths are challenging to access because they are scattered across Earth’s crust, yet they are key components in many modern technologies. Recycled rare earths can be used to make new permanent magnets, accelerate chemical reactions and improve the properties of metals when included as alloy components.

  • Australia Should Learn from Canada and Take a Truly Global Approach to Critical Minerals

    Canada and Australia are key players in the global supply chain for critical minerals. Simultaneously the top two nations for receiving minerals investment and for providing minerals investment, they are perfectly placed to use critical minerals to facilitate the global energy transition, foster innovation and build their security capabilities.

  • Speedier Security Screening in the Palm of the Hand

    Though pat downs are currently an essential element of keeping travelers safe at the airport, it slows the screening process for people waiting in line and can be an uncomfortable experience for the passenger being screened. Reducing the need for pat downs may soon be easier.

  • Future Floods: Global Warming Intensifies Heavy Rain – Even More Than Expected

    The intensity and frequency of extreme rainfall increases exponentially with global warming, a new study finds. The study shows that state-of-the-art climate models significantly underestimate how much extreme rainfall increases under global warming – meaning that extreme rainfall could increase quicker than climate models suggest.

  • Plagues, Cyborgs, and Supersoldiers: The Human Domain of War

    How have advancements in biotechnology affected warfighting, and how could they do so in the future? Can the human body itself be a warfighting domain? Can the body itself be an offensive or defensive weapon?

  • In Coastal Communities, Sea Level Rise May Leave Some Isolated

    Amid the threat of dramatic sea level rise, coastal communities face unprecedented dangers, but a new study reveals that as flooding intensifies, disadvantaged populations will be the ones to experience some of the most severe burdens of climate change.

  • Evolution Might Stop Humans from Solving Climate Change

    Central features of human evolution may stop our species from resolving global environmental problems like climate change, says a new study. Can humans continue to survive on a limited planet? “We don’t have any solutions for this idea of a long-term evolutionary trap, as we barely understand the problem,” says one expert.

  • The Link Between Climate Change and a Spate of Rare Disease Outbreaks in 2023

    The temperature-sensitive pathogens that caught U.S. communities off guard are a grim preview of the future. Scientists have warned that climate change would alter the prevalence and spread of disease in the U.S., particularly those caused by pathogens that are sensitive to temperature.

  • Seven Moments in December that Changed Nuclear Energy History

    December is a big month in the history of nuclear energy. From the first self-sustaining chain reaction to a pivotal breakthrough in nuclear fusion, some of the biggest events that laid the foundation for the nuclear energy sector all happened in the final month of the year.

  • Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in Explosives, Narcotic Detection

    DHS S&T is applying emerging technologies in the development of artificial intelligence / machine learning technologies – and searching for ways to use these technologies to identify dangerous compounds, like those found in explosives and narcotics.

  • Enhancing Coastal Cities' Flood Resilience Through Smart City Technologies

    In the face of climate change, a suite of advanced technologies can be integrated into urban design to reduce the flood risk posed by rising sea levels, more intense rainfall events, and more powerful storm surges.

  • Does AI Enable and Enhance Biorisks?

    The diversity of the biorisk landscape highlights the need to clearly identify which scenarios and actors are of concern. It is important to consider AI-enhanced risk within the current biorisk landscape, in which both experts and non-experts can cause biological harm without the need for AI tools, thus highlighting the need for layered safeguards throughout the biorisk chain.

  • Generative AI and Weapons of Mass Destruction: Will AI Lead to Proliferation?

    Large Language Models (LLMs) caught popular attention in 2023 through their ability to generate text based on prompts entered by the user. Ian J. Stewart writes that “some have raised concerns about the ability of LLMs to contribute to nuclear, chemical and biological weapons proliferation (CBRN). Put simply, could a person learn enough through an interaction with an LLM to produce a weapon? And if so, would this differ from what the individual could learn by scouring the internet?”

  • Evaluating the Truthfulness of Fake News Through Online Searches Increases the Chances of Believing Misinformation

    Conventional wisdom suggests that searching online to evaluate the veracity of misinformation would reduce belief in it. But a new study by a team of researchers shows the opposite occurs: Searching to evaluate the truthfulness of false news articles actually increases the probability of believing misinformation.

  • New Nuclear Deflection Simulations Advance Planetary Defense Against Asteroid Threats

    As part of an effort to test different technologies to protect Earth from asteroids, a kinetic impactor was deliberately crashed into an asteroid to alter its trajectory. However, with limitations in the mass that can be lifted to space, scientists continue to explore nuclear deflection as a viable alternative to kinetic impact missions. Nuclear devices have the highest ratio of energy density per unit of mass of any human technology, making them an invaluable tool in mitigating asteroid threats.