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NIH Terminates GoF Research; OMB Proposes 54% Cut to CDC Budget in FY 2026
HHS announced it would terminate funding for gain-of-function (GoF), while OMB proposed budget includes 54% cut to CDC budget in FY 2026. The cuts include a $1.4 billion cut to chronic disease prevention and $794 million in cuts to HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, STD, and TB prevention.
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China and Rare-Earth Elements: Is Trump Blinking on Tariffs?
On 2 April 2025, President Trump announced a significant shift in the US trade policy, imposing tariffs on multiple countries, with special emphasis on China. In response, on 4 April 2025, China placed export restrictions on REEs, which are also known as rare metals.
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BOOM! LIGHTS OUT
Power generation is the center of gravity for space capabilities, and it is vulnerable to the effects of explosive ordnance, for example, drone delivered bombs.
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Why Ukraine’s AI Drones Aren’t a Breakthrough Yet
Machine vision, a form of AI, allows drones to identify and strike targets autonomously. The drones can’t be jammed, and they don’t need continuous monitoring by operators. Despite early hopes, the technology has not yet become a game-changing feature of Ukraine’s battlefield drones. But its time will come.
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Why U.S. Should Be Worried About Ukrainian Attack on Russian Warplanes
Audacious — and wildly successful — use of inexpensive drones against superior force can be used anywhere, against anyone.
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Federal R&D Funding Boosts Productivity for the Whole Economy − Making Big Cuts to Such Government Spending Unwise
Large cuts to government-funded research and development can endanger American innovation – and the vital productivity gains it supports. If the government were to abandon its long-standing practice of investing in R&D, it would significantly slow the pace of U.S. innovation and economic growth.
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Improving Resilience to Tsunamis and Earthquakes via Predictions of Waste Disposal Times
Researchers develop framework to predict cleanup times after seismic events by analyzing the interdependence of disposal facilities and road networks.
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Technology to Reduce the Impact of Used Nuclear Fuel
Transmutation technologies can significantly reduce the mass, volume, activity and lifespan of commercial used nuclear fuel (UNF) by converting long-living hazardous isotopes into materials that decay more quickly.
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National Academy of Sciences President Says U.S. Science Is Facing ‘Pessimistic’ Future, Urges Changes to Regain Leadership in Science
National Academy of Sciences President Marcia McNutt says there is a goal shared by all Americans. “Everyone, whether scientists or non-scientists alike, wants U.S. science to be the world leader.” She added: “The elephant in the room right now is whether the drastic reductions in research budgets and new research policies across the federal agencies will allow us to remain a research and development powerhouse.”
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“The Bethesda Declaration”: Sounding the Alarm on the Growing Chaos at NIH
More than 300 officials and scientists from all of the NIH’s 27 institutes and centers, have signed and sent a letter to Jay Bhattacharya, the Trump-nominated director of NIH, harshly criticizing the sweeping changes which have plunged the agency into chaos.
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Nevada Lithium Mining Expands with Estimated $87B Project
Amidst widespread speculation and local pushback, northern Nevada has taken another step toward realizing its lithium potential with an estimated $87 billion Elko County mine.
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Huge Groundwater Losses Along Colorado River
New research highlights the groundwater issues complicating the Colorado River’s already strained water supply.
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AI-enabled Control System Helps Autonomous Drones Stay on Target in Uncertain Environments
An autonomous drone carrying water to help extinguish a wildfire in the Sierra Nevada might encounter swirling Santa Ana winds that threaten to push it off course. Rapidly adapting to these unknown disturbances inflight presents an enormous challenge for the drone’s flight control system.
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Trump’s Second Term Is Creating ‘a Limbo Moment’ for U.S. Battery Recyclers
Since January, President Donald Trump has taken a sledgehammer to the Biden administration’s efforts to grow America’s clean energy industry. At the same time, citing economic and national security reasons, Trump has sought to advance efforts to produce more critical minerals like lithium in the United States. That is exactly what the emerging lithium-ion battery recycling industry seeks to do, which is why some industry insiders are optimistic about their future under Trump.
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Golden Dome Dangers: An Arms Control Expert Explains How Trump’s Missile Defense Threatens to Make the U.S. Less Safe
President Donald Trump’s idea of a “Golden Dome” missile defense system carries a range of potential strategic dangers for the United States. Moreover, Trump’s goals for Golden Dome — protecting the U.S. from ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missiles, and missiles launched from space — are likely beyond reach.
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The long view
New Technology is Keeping the Skies Safe
DHS S&T Baggage, Cargo, and People Screening (BCP) Program develops state-of-the-art screening solutions to help secure airspace, communities, and borders
Factories First: Winning the Drone War Before It Starts
Wars are won by factories before they are won on the battlefield,Martin C. Feldmann writes, noting that the United States lacks the manufacturing depth for the coming drone age. Rectifying this situation “will take far more than procurement tweaks,” Feldmann writes. “It demands a national-level, wartime-scale industrial mobilization.”
How Artificial General Intelligence Could Affect the Rise and Fall of Nations
Visions for potential AGI futures: A new report from RAND aims to stimulate thinking among policymakers about possible impacts of the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI) on geopolitics and the world order.
Smaller Nuclear Reactors Spark Renewed Interest in a Once-Shunned Energy Source
In the past two years, half the states have taken action to promote nuclear power, from creating nuclear task forces to integrating nuclear into long-term energy plans.
Keeping the Lights on with Nuclear Waste: Radiochemistry Transforms Nuclear Waste into Strategic Materials
How UNLV radiochemistry is pioneering the future of energy in the Southwest by salvaging strategic materials from nuclear dumps –and making it safe.
Model Predicts Long-Term Effects of Nuclear Waste on Underground Disposal Systems
The simulations matched results from an underground lab experiment in Switzerland, suggesting modeling could be used to validate the safety of nuclear disposal sites.