• NUCLEAR WEAPONSSounding Rocket Test Helps Design Components for New Weapon System

    A sounding rocket flight test is giving engineers at Sandia National Laboratories real-world reentry vibration data they can use to improve modeling and help drive nonnuclear component designs for the United States’ first new nuclear weapon under development in nearly 30 years.

  • CHINA WATCHThe Scope and Nature of the U.S.-China Competition

    Significant debates remain underway on some of the most essential aspects of the U.S. contest with China. What is clear is that the United States is dealing with a rival whose dynamism derives not from ideological expansion but from economic development, a growing influence in international institutions and processes, and an increasingly strong position in the fields of science and technology.

  • AIWhen Weapons Can Learn, Humans Need to Stay in Control

    By Ayeza Areej

    AI weapons systems that are designed to learn and adapt could become increasingly difficult for humans to predict, explain and control. This creates an accountability gap that existing oversight mechanisms may not be equipped to close.

  • HACKINGThe FBI Data Breach Is a Counterintelligence Disaster

    By Justin Sherman

    Hackers stole thousands of FBI employees’ data, including about new hires and people in sensitive roles. It’s like giving a foreign adversary a gold mine.

  • SCHOOL SAFETYLockdown or Active Shooter Drill? The Distinction Matters for Children’s Safety and Well‑Being

    By Emily Greene-Colozzi

    With a lack of standardized practice, guidelines and terminology, disentangling the distinct outcomes and effects of lockdowns from the consequences of ambiguously defined “active shooter drills” is an uphill battle.

  • CHINA WATCHTo Deter China, We Need a Global Alliance of Democracies

    By Chris Hamer

    There is a distinct possibility of an enormous war breaking out in the next few years over a Chinese attempt to seize Taiwan. To prevent such a catastrophe, the world’s leading democracies need to establish an alliance formidable enough to deter China from any such use of force.

  • SURVEILLANCETexas Freezes Installation of Flock Cameras Along State Roads

    By Ayden Runnels

    Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the state Department of Transportation to stop issuing permits for automated license plate readers.

  • SURVEILLANCEHow the American Revolt Against Flock Cameras Mirrors the Boston Tea Party of 1773

    By G. Patrick O'Brien

    Today, there are more than 130,000 automated license plate readers (ALPRs) on U.S. streets. And more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies use cameras produced by a single manufacturer, Flock Safety. A grassroots revolt against automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, has gained momentum across the United States. On the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding, the increasingly bipartisan revolution against ALPRs suggests Americans have not entirely lost their rebellious spirit.

  • CHINA WATCHChina Is Exploring Humanoid Robots for War – But What Role Could They Play?

    By Kartikeya Walia

    The real story is not that a robot can beat a human on a running track. It’s what that performance reveals: China’s ability to integrate motors, reducers (gears used in precise joint movement), sensors, control software, testing infrastructure and manufacturing capacity into one unified industrial system.

  • DRONESIs the U.S. Army Backing Off on Drones?

    By Michael C. Horowitz

    Former Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll, Generals Randy George, Christopher Donahue, and David Hodne, the Army leaders who drove the transformation of the Army and championed the broad adoption of drones, are gone: Driscol resigned after Secretary Hegseth dismissed George and Hodne and forced Donahue to retire. Gen. George was replaced by General Christopher LaNeve, who called for returning the Army to the “fundamentals of Soldiering.” These developments raise questions about the Army’s commitment to scaling drone adoption, and about whether the Army, which had started embracing a central role in a world of precise mass, may change course.

  • VIOLENCEViolence Affects Millions Across U.S. with Links to Health, Economic Hardship

    A new national study reveals the widespread reach of violence across the United States, finding that more than half of U.S. adults have experienced physical violence and nearly half have experienced sexual violence in their lifetimes. 

  • SURVEILLANCEFinancial Surveillance in the Shadow of 9/11

    By Nicholas Anthony

    One of the least known consequences of the 9/11 terrorist attacks is the financial surveillance that was expanded in the wake of the attack. The damage to civil liberties caused by that surveillance is far-reaching. The 25th anniversary of the attacks is a good time to ask whether the decision Congress made in 2001 makes sense in 2026.

  • 9/1125 Years After 9/11, Questions About the FBI’s Pursuit of Saudi Suspects in the Case Have Only Grown

    By Tim Golden

    25 Years After 9/11, questions about the FBI’s pursuit of Saudi suspects in the case have only grown, driven in part by evidence that was seized from him in 2001 but not made public for years or even shared with field agents who sought to investigate his role.

  • SECURE TRANSPORTATIONNext-Level Test for Secure Transportation Vehicle

    A semitrailer loaded with mock nuclear weapons slammed into a barrier. The tests are designed to demonstrate that, if a trailer were ever involved in an accident on a public road, the cargo inside would remain secure and pose no danger to nearby communities.

  • HAZARDOUS DUSTWhen the Dust Settles: Researchers Measure How Everyday Activity Spreads Hazardous Dust

    By Marguerite Huber

    Argonne researchers study the movement of dust particles from concrete surfaces during a simulated radiological contamination scenario, measuring how pedestrians and moving cars affect the spread of the particles.