• WIFIRE Lab Forms New Partnership with DHS

    By Rajan Tavathia and Kimberly Mann Bruch

    For the past 10 years, the WIFIRE team at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at UC San Diego has been focused on meeting the growing needs of hazard monitoring, mitigation and response. Most recently, the team has partnered with DHS to integrate edge computing – a strategy emphasizing data collection and analysis at the site of or geographically near data sources. Joint effort aims to demonstrate workflows utilizing edge computing for wildfire monitoring, response and mitigation.

  • U.S. Chip Sales to China to Continue, but Not Most Powerful Ones

    By Ken Bredemeier

    The United States will continue to sell semi-conductor computer chips to China but not its most powerful ones “that China wants for its military,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said. While the United States and China maintain more than $700 billion in annual trade, escalating tensions in recent years have made it more challenging for U.S. firms to operate in China.

  • How Often Are AR-Style Rifles Used for Self-Defense?

    By Jennifer Mascia

    Supporters of AR-15s, often used in mass shootings and racist attacks, say they’re important for self-defense. Our analysis of Gun Violence Archive data suggests otherwise.

  • The U.S. Is Spending Billions to Reduce Forest Fire Risks – We Mapped the Hot Spots Where Treatment Offers the Biggest Payoff for People and Climate

    By Jamie Peeler

    In a new study, my colleagues and I mapped out where forest treatments can do the most to simultaneously protect communities – by preventing wildfires from turning into disasters – and also protect the forests and the climate we rely on, by keeping carbon out of the atmosphere and stored in healthy soils and trees.

  • What's Behind North Korea's “Nuclear Attack” Drills?

    By Julian Ryall

    Pyongyang has carried out a series of unprecedented military drills and threatened to use nuclear weapons in an invasion of South Korea. It’s partly encouraged by closer alliances with Russia and China, experts say.

  • There’s a Cop in My Pocket: Policymakers Need to Stop Advocating Surveillance by Default

    By Tarah Wheeler and Geoffrey Cain

    All this year, U.S. leaders have attempted to pass a wave of misguided online security bills, designed to break that encryption and place Americans in a panopticon of surveillance by default. Encryption, cybersecurity, and technology policies, like the RESTRICT and EARN-IT Acts, with nonexistent tradeoffs address symptoms, not problems, and they do it badly.  

  • Prosecuting Extremists in the U.K.: Charging, Prosecution, and Sentencing Outcomes

    There is a lack of data regarding prosecution and sentencing for terrorism and terrorism-related offences across the three legal jurisdictions of the UK (England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland). Does the prosecution landscape (charging, prosecution, and sentencing) vary in the UK for extremist actors depending upon the legal jurisdiction?

  • The Scourge of Commercial Spyware—and How to Stop It

    Years of public revelations have spotlighted a shadowy set of spyware companies selling and servicing deeply intrusive surveillance technologies that are used against journalists, activists, lawyers, politicians, diplomats, and others. Democratic nations (thus far) lag behind the United States in executing spyware-related policy commitments.

  • President Biden Has Banned Some U.S. Investment in China. Here’s What to Know.

    By Noah Berman

    A new executive order restricts U.S. investments in sensitive technologies that Washington fears could help Beijing increase its military power. It is the latest in a raft of policies erecting barriers between the world’s two largest economies, and U.S. allies could soon adopt similar measures. The  Biden administration says the restrictions are directed at protecting national security, not stifling economic competition.

  • U.S.-led Deterrence in South China Sea May Push China to Become More Confrontational: Analysts

    By William Yang

    The U.S. and its allies conducted several joint military exercises near the Philippines. Analysts say Washington and its allies are showcasing an “inter-alliance cohesion” through these coordinated activities. While Washington and its allies hope to shift China’s aggressive behaviors in the South China Sea through deterrence and other means, some defense experts say Beijing may view these moves as an intensification of U.S.-led efforts to contain it.

  • The Vital Role of the Civilian Community in Responding to Natural Disasters

    By Guy Boekenstein

    Disaster preparedness is not about prediction. Leaders shouldn’t get caught up in trying to define what precisely we need to prepare for and when. Instead, they need to be ready for compounding national disruptions of any kind, at any time. Given the interconnectedness of our modern world, integrating broad economic, social and environmental preparedness will be better for resilience than mapping out overly detailed contingencies.

  • Wildfires Are Much Worse Than a Sign of Climate Change

    By Alvin Powell

    Summer headlines have screamed of climate extremes: Record temperatures, an ocean heat wave, and rampant wildfires. The fires present a dual problem: Not only are they a symptom of climate change — becoming bigger, hotter, and more common in regions where they can affect large population centers — but they also make the crisis worse. By burning vast layers of partially decomposed vegetable matter called peat, fires like those in Canada release even more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

  • Malicious AI Arrives on the Dark Web

    By Mercedes Page

    Nefarious non-state actors are already harnessing AI to scale up their malicious activities. Just as legitimate users have moved on from exploring ChatGPT to building similar tools, the same has happened in the shadowy world of cybercrime.

  • Number of U.S. Children Killed by Guns Hit Record High in 2021

    By Melissa Jenco

    Firearm death rates among children and teens rose almost 9% from 2020 to 2021, while disparities worsened, according to a new study. The increasing rates meant firearms remained the leading cause of death for youths. In 2021, 4,752 children and teens were killed by firearms, a rate of almost 6 per 100,000 youths. The rate is up 9% from 2020 and 42% from 2018.

  • Climate-Fueled Wildfires Lead to Rethink on Fire Tactics

    By Alistair Walsh

    Climate change is making wildfires more frequent and more destructive, and long-time firefighting strategies are no longer working. Scientists are calling for a radical rethink of how we fight wildfires.