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SUPER Technology Manages Intelligent Building Blocks for a More Reliable Electric Grid
As the United States transitions to cleaner energy and more U.S. consumers adopt electric vehicles, the grid is facing new power flow demands. Researchers are tackling this challenge by creating a new architecture to modernize the grid from the bottom up, starting with consumers and expanding to the entire power distribution system.
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Governments Are Using Science Fiction to Predict Potential Threats
From high-tech fighting machines to supercomputers and killer robots, science fiction has a lot to say about war. You might be surprised to learn that some governments are now turning their attention to these fantastical stories as a way to think about possible futures and try and ward off any potential threats.
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Making Drones Suitable for Cities
Unmanned aerial vehicles will make their way into urban skies only if the safety of people below can be ensured.
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Shutting Down Nuclear Power Could Increase Air Pollution
Nearly 20 percent of today’s electricity in the United States comes from nuclear power. If reactors are retired, polluting energy sources that fill the gap could cause more than 5,000 premature deaths, researchers estimate.
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More Frequent Hurricanes Raise Risk to U.S. East and Gulf Coasts
Warming tropical waters can trigger changes in winds that both strengthen and push hurricanes to the U.S. East and Gulf coasts more often, boosting hurricane frequency by a third compared to current levels.
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The Energy Transition Will Need More Rare Earth Elements. Can We Secure Them Sustainably?
Decarbonizing the world’s power generation will require huge numbers of wind turbines, solar panels, electric vehicles (EVs), and storage batteries — all of which are made with rare earth elements and critical metals. Supplying these vast quantities of minerals in a sustainable manner will be a significant challenge, but scientists are exploring a variety of ways to provide materials for the energy transition with less harm to people and the planet.
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Sea-Level Rise Poses Particular Risk for Asian Megacities
Sea-level rise this century may disproportionately affect certain Asian megacities as well as western tropical Pacific islands and the western Indian Ocean. Among the Asian megacities that may face especially significant risks: Chennai, Kolkata, Yangon, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, and Manila.
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Reducing Precious Metals in Catalytic Converters
Precious metals in catalytic converters such as platinum, palladium and rhodium attract thieves, but researchers are working to reduce the amount of precious metals the converters need — down to single atoms — while still maximizing their effectiveness.
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Why China Has Edge on AI, What Ancient Emperors Tell Us About Xi Jinping
Dictatorships and authoritarian regimes tend to trail more democratic and inclusive nations in fostering cutting-edge, innovative technologies, such as robotics and clean energy. Artificial intelligence may prove an exception, at least in China.
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Detecting Manipulations in Microchips
Attackers have the ability not only to manipulate software, but also to tamper with the hardware. A team from Bochum is devising methods to detect such tampering.
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Buildings Left Sanding in Turkey Offer Design Guidance for Future Earthquake-Resilient Construction
The Feb. 6, 2023, earthquakes in Turkey and Syria put to the test advanced building technologies that can minimize damage and keep buildings functioning after a quake. Several hospitals built with one such technology – called a seismic isolation system – survived the earthquakes with almost no harm.
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Investigators May Be Able to Use Household Dust as a Forensic Tool
A new study found it is possible to retrieve forensically relevant information from human DNA in household dust. After sampling indoor dust from 13 households, the researchers were able to detect DNA from household residents over 90% of the time, and DNA from non-occupants 50% of the time. The work could be a way to help investigators find leads in difficult cases.
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The Time to Prevent Shortfalls in Critical Materials Is Now
Rare earth elements are—despite their name—everywhere. They’re in your cellphone, your car, maybe even in a crown in your mouth. They’re in satellites, wind turbines, night-vision goggles, laser-guided missiles, and fighter jets. All of which makes China’s near-total domination of the rare earth market a matter of economic and national security concern.
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Making the Most of Australia’s Endowment of Critical Minerals
The geostrategic scramble to reduce supply-chain dependencies for critical minerals has overshadowed opportunities for Australia to use its resources to provide major benefits for the nation.
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New Algorithm Keeps Drones from Colliding in Midair
Researchers create a trajectory-planning system that enables drones working together in the same airspace to always choose a safe path forward.
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The long view
Nuclear Has Changed. Will the U.S. Change with It?
Fueled by artificial intelligence, cloud service providers, and ambitious new climate regulations, U.S. demand for carbon-free electricity is on the rise. In response, analysts and lawmakers are taking a fresh look at a controversial energy source: nuclear power.
Huge Areas May Face Possibly Fatal Heat Waves if Warming Continues
A new assessment warns that if Earth’s average temperature reaches 2 degrees C over the preindustrial average, widespread areas may become too hot during extreme heat events for many people to survive without artificial cooling.
Exploring the New Nuclear Energy Landscape
In the last few years, the U.S. has seen a resurgence of interest in nuclear energy and its potential for helping meet the nation’s growing demands for clean electricity and energy security. Meanwhile, nuclear energy technologies themselves have advanced, opening up new possibilities for their use.