• Risks of an Unfamiliar New Nuclear Age

    High-tech advances in weapons technologies and a return of ‘great power nuclear politics’, risk the world ‘sleepwalking’ into a nuclear age vastly different from the established order of the Cold War, experts warn. Stockpiles are much reduced from the peak of up to 70,000 nuclear weapons seen in the 1980s, but progress in a number of new or ‘disruptive’ technologies threatens to fundamentally change the central pillars on which nuclear order, stability and risk reduction are based.

  • AI, Machine Learning to Help Defend Against Cyberattacks

    Two new tools are helping cybersecurity professionals fight the vast volume of threats and attacks— artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. AI and machine learning can detect novel malicious code, catch fraudulent charges on a credit card or fraudulent network login attempts, block phishing messages on an email service and assist companies with cloud management in spotting anomalies that traditional cyber defense technologies may not pick up.

  • Illinois Tech's CyberHawks Win National Cybersecurity Championship

    A team of students from Illinois Institute of Technology’s cybersecurity student organization CyberHawks won the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity Cyber Games National Championship last week. Sixty-five teams from 55 colleges competed in the competition overall.

  • Human-Induced Climate Change Is Affecting Hurricane Severity

    A study that analyzed the entire 2020 North Atlantic hurricane season — in conjunction with human activity that affects climate change — found that hourly hurricane rainfall totals were up to 10 percent higher compared to hurricanes that took place in the pre-industrial (1850) era.

  • Predictive Models of Wildfire Behavior

    New partnership will work to Advance fire research capabilities to help support the work of fire-, land-, and emergency managers.

  • CDC Launches New Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics

    New center will enhance capability for timely, effective decision-making to improve outbreak response using data, models, and analytics

  • Federal Research Funding Has Positive “Ripple Effects”

    Federal funding for biomedical research has a “ripple effect” of stimulating new studies even beyond the original purposes of a grant and may provide unexpected benefits.

  • Improving Efficiency of Sewer System Surveys

    The UK’s vast network of over 525,000km of sewers is notoriously expensive to maintain. A new AI tool is set to improve the efficiency of surveying sewerage systems and has the potential to benefit the entire water industry.

  • Industrial Clusters Help Advance Energy Transition

    Industrial clusters as geographic areas that comprise co-located companies representing either a single or multiple industries. The proximity of multiple industrial energy consumers creates an opportunity to scale low-carbon technologies through multi-stakeholder collaboration and can yield sizeable economic opportunities.

  • Bolstering Planetary Defense

    A new survey identifies scientific priorities and opportunities and makes funding recommendations to maximize the advancement of planetary science, astrobiology, and planetary defense in the next ten years.

  • China’s Dominance of Electric Vehicle Supply Chains Jeopardize U.S. Energy Transition

    While Russia holds significant leverage in influencing oil and gas prices, it pales in comparison to China’s position in several strategic industries critical to the energy transition. A case study shows China’s ‘soft power’ in move to cleaner alternatives.

  • Geoengineering Could Bring Back Malaria for One Billion People

    Geoengineering the climate would have massive repercussions for the health of billions of people at risk of malaria who live in tropical countries. The study focuses on solar radiation management (SRM), an intervention that hypothesizes emergency actions aimed at reducing dangerous impacts of climate change.

  • Climate Change Will Transform How We Live, but Tech and Policy Experts See Reason for Optimism

    Climate change has advanced so far, it’s now inevitable that societies will either transform themselves or be transformed. Existing solutions can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help people adjust to impacts of climate change that can’t be avoided. The problem is that these solutions aren’t being deployed fast enough.

  • How Hypersonic Missiles Work and the Unique Threats They Pose

    On 18 March, Russia used a hypersonic missile against a Ukrainian arms depot. The technology the Russians used is not particularly advanced. However, next-generation hypersonic missiles that Russia, China and the U.S. are developing do pose a significant threat to national and global security.

  • Chinese Rare Earth Consolidation a Cause for Concern

    The world needs more readily available rare earth metals. Over the coming decades, demand for rare earths is forecasted to increase by two to eight times over current supply. Through effective long-term investment across the rare earth supply chain, China has earned some 50–60 per cent of the mining market share and around 90 per cent in the intermediate processing stage.