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Nth Cycle Is Bringing Critical Metals Refining to the U.S.
Much like Middle Eastern oil production in the 1970s, China today dominates the global refinement of critical metals that serve as the foundation of the United States economy. The U.S. needs another technological breakthrough to secure domestic supplies of metals like lithium, cobalt, copper, and rare earth elements, which are needed for everything from batteries to jet engines and electric motors. Nth Cycle thinks it has a solution.
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Uneven Land Sinking Across New Orleans Increasing Flood Risk
Parts of New Orleans and its surrounding wetlands are gradually sinking, and while most of the city remains stable, a new study suggests that sections of the region’s $15 billion post-Katrina flood protection system may need regular upgrades to outpace long-term land subsidence.
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Pervasive Surveillance of People Is Being Used to Access, Monetize, Coerce, and Control
New research has underlined the surprising extent to which pervasive surveillance of people and their habits is powered by computer vision research – and shone a spotlight on how vulnerable individuals and communities are at risk.
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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
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MIx Helps Innovators Tackle Challenges in National Security
Startups and government defense agencies have historically seemed like polar opposites. Startups thrive on speed and risk, while defense agencies are more cautious. Mission Innovation x creates education and research opportunities while facilitating connections between defense agencies and MIT innovators.
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Nuclear Scientists Have Long Been Targets in Covert Ops – Israel Has Brought That Policy Out of the Shadows
Since 1944, there have been at least 100 instances of what researchers call nuclear “scientist targeting.” The most recent example are the 14 senior Iranian nuclear scientists Israel killed on 13 June as part of the opening move of its surprise attack on Iran, in which Israel has also decapitated the Iranian military, intelligence services, and Revolutionary Guard by killing practically all of these organizations’ leaders and senior officers – several dozen in all. In the week since the attack was launched, Israel has killed three more Iranian nuclear scientists.
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New Tech Will Make Our Airplanes Safer
Odysight.ai’s technology allows for constant monitoring of aircraft, sending alerts in case of malfunctions that could lead to accidents.
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ACIP Draft Agenda Revives Anti-Vaccine Boilerplate Topics
RFK Jr. replaced scientists on the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) with anti-vaxx activists. On Wednesday, true to form, the new ACIP members issued a draft meeting agenda which contains topics which have become common talking points of vaccine-efficacy deniers.
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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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The long view
U.S.-China Tech Rivalry: The Geopolitics of Semiconductors
The United States and China are locked in a high‑stakes contest for dominance in computing power. In response to US sanctions and export controls, China has ramped domestic chip design and manufacturing, aiming to create an all‑Chinese semiconductor supply chain that reduces dependence on foreign technologies.
Breakthrough Development Could Significantly Boost 5G Network Security
With its greater network capacity and ability to rapidly transmit huge amounts of information from one device to another, 5G is a critical component of intelligent systems and services - including those for healthcare and financial services.
Computer Scientists Boost U.S. Cybersecurity
As cyber threats grow more sophisticated by the day, researchers are making computing safer thanks to federally funded research that targets some of the internet’s most pressing security challenges.
Critical Action Needed to Address Growing Biosecurity Risks
A new report warns that biosecurity risks are increasing. Emerging technologies and other trends are making biological threats more numerous, frequent, and consequential. The report outlines how emerging biotechnology must itself be used to secure biology, akin to how software is required to secure software.
Funding Cuts, Policy Shifts, and the Erosion of U.S. Scientific and Public Health Capacity
The U.S. continues to face mounting threats to its health, scientific enterprise, and national security. A recent report warns that proposed FY 2026 budget cuts to the National Science Foundation (NSF) could reduce its funding by more than half – from $9 billion in FY 2025 to under $4 billion. If passed by Congress, these cuts would result in an estimated ~$11 billion in economic losses.
Walk-Through Screening System Enhances Security at Airports Nationwide
A new security screener that people can simply walk past may soon be coming to an airport near you. Last year, U.S. airports nationwide began adopting HEXWAVE to satisfy a new Transportation Security Administration (TSA) mandate for enhanced employee screening to detect metallic and nonmetallic threats.