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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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AI Could Set a New Bar for Designing Hurricane-Resistant Buildings
Being able to withstand hurricane-force winds is the key to a long life for many buildings on the Eastern Seaboard and Gulf Coast of the U.S. Determining the right level of winds to design for is tricky business, but support from artificial intelligence may offer a simple solution.
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The long view
U.S. Reliance on Chinese Drones: A Sector for the Next CHIPS Act?
More and more lawmakers from both parties are beginning to pay attention to the issue of drones and national security. Different bills seek to regulate federal agency procurement and use of certain foreign-made unmanned aircraft systems (UASs), or drones. Annie I. Antón and Olivia C. Mauger write that “Building on the bipartisan consensus to enact the 2022 Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science (CHIPS) Act, there is a compelling case that UASs should be a next sector for similar action.”
Helping the U.S. Fast-track Hypersonic Conventional Weapons
Hypersonic weapons have been a top priority for modernizing the armed forces, with ultrafast, long-range and maneuverable munitions being touted as a revolutionary advance in modern warfare. The U.S. has fast-tracked their development and announced plans to field the first conventional hypersonic missile battery this year. Sandia National Lab is helping the U.S. achieve this goal.
Quantum Cryptography Applications
The development of quantum computing means that the use of classic cryptography for secure communications is in danger of becoming obsolete. Quantum cryptography, on the other hand, uses the laws of quantum mechanics to ensure total security. One example of this is quantum key distribution, which enables two parties to secure a message via a random secret key.
Using Quantum Physics to Secure Wireless Devices
From access cards and key fobs to Bluetooth speakers, the security of communication between wireless devices is critical to maintaining privacy and preventing theft. Unfortunately, these tools are not foolproof and information on how to hack, clone and bypass these systems is becoming easier to find.
Enhanced Community Safety by Reimagining Gunshot Detection
A new gunshot detection system delivers new capabilities that significantly improve the response and management of outdoor shootings. The portable system employs two methods of detection for increased accuracy and reduced false positives.
Outsmarting Superbugs, One Germ at a Time
It’s an old story: Pathogen sickens humans. Humans create medicine. Pathogen evolves a way around the medicine. Humans are back to square one.