• Why Do Mass Shooters Kill? It’s About More Than Having a Grievance

    The year 2023 is still young, and already there have been at least 146 mass shooting events in the U.S. on record, including the killing of five people in a Louisville, Kentucky, bank that the shooter livestreamed. There were 647 mass shootings in 2022 and 693 in 2021, resulting in 859 and 920 deaths, respectively. Since 2015, over 19,000 people have been shot and wounded or killed in mass shootings. In the wake of most shootings, the news media and the public reflexively ask: What was the killer’s motive?

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Study Links Hard-Right Social Media with Incidents of Civil Unrest

    An increase in social media activity on “hard-right” platforms — those that purport to represent viewpoints not welcome on “mainstream” platforms — contributes to rightwing civil unrest in the United States, according to a new study. A new Yale-led study finds evidence that social media activity on hard-right platforms contributes to political unrest offline. “The magnitude of the effect we found is modest but two characteristics of social media and civil unrest caution against dismissing it,” said Yale sociologist Daniel Karell.

  • New Statistical Model Accurately Predicts Monthly U.S. Gun Homicides

    The United States experiences a staggeringly high rate of gun homicides, but accurately predicting these incidents – especially on a monthly basis – has been a significant challenge. A new methodology, overcoming limitations of official government data, could change that.

  • Using GSI Sensor Technology to Prediction Earthquakes

    Can nuclear physics improve the prediction of earthquakes? As part of a new project which aims to provide the foundation for a reliable early warning system for earthquakes in Europe, researchers are building a network of sensors measuring radon levels and other parameters in selected water sources in Europe might be able to detect earthquakes several days in advance.

  • Crisis-Preparation Lessons from COVID-19

    The early months of COVID-19 tested the UK’s highly regarded crisis management capabilities to their limit. The UK’s crisis management system was designed for, and practiced at, managing much shorter, more localized emergencies. There was no preparation for large-scale testing; no detailed planning for the economic consequences of a medical catastrophe; and no detailed plans in place for the possibility of school closures.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • A Balancing Act: What to Do About Taiwan

    If one of the world’s liberal democracies were to be taken over by a neo-totalitarian superpower, what would this imply for the future of freedom in Asia? What should we make of China’s claims about Taiwan? Should the U.S. replace its current policy of “strategic ambiguity” with a more explicit commitment to Taiwan’s defense?

  • Increase in Number of Nuclear Warheads In Arsenals of Nuclear Weapons States

    New report shows that the global arsenal of nuclear weapons available for use by the armed forces of the nine nuclear-armed states has increased. At the beginning of 2023, the nine nuclear-armed states had a combined inventory of approximately 12,512 nuclear warheads, of which 2,936 are retired and awaiting dismantlement. The remaining 9,576 nuclear warheads are available for use by the military, and have a collective destructive power of more than 135,000 Hiroshima bombs.

  • Germany's Balancing Act on Nuclear Weapons

    Germany is not a nuclear power, but it is part of U.S. nuclear strategy. In light of the war in Ukraine and the undoing of Cold War-era arms control, the country’s balanced approach is coming under more pressure.

  • The ‘Incelosphere’ and Incel Violence: A Worsening Problem?

    Should incel ideology be considered as extremist? Here is a summary of the research on how violent extremist language has increased over time as different online platforms have emerged and shutdown within the incel online ecosystem.

  • Major Foreign Terror Attack on U.S. “Almost Inconceivable” Now

    Foreign terrorist groups, including some Islamic State and al-Qaida affiliates, may have the desire to launch major attacks on U.S. soil, but decades of counterterrorism work have made carrying out such an operation close to impossible at the moment, a top U.S. homeland security official said.

  • MI5 Increases Terror Threat Level in Northern Ireland to “Severe”

    There has been increased dissident republican activity in Northern Ireland, including the attempted murder of a senior police officer last month. MI5 believed it had dealt a major blow to the New IRA in 2020 when police arrested nine suspected leaders of the organization, but the New IRA appears to have regrouped.