• Brain-Monitoring Tech Advances Could Change the Law

    There is an ankle-bracelet for offenders. What about a brain-bracelet? A new reportscrutinizes advances in neurotechnology and what it might mean for the law and the legal profession.

  • Experts Shed Light on Preventing Violence

    As the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at CU Boulder turns 30, its founder and current director share thoughts on the center’s legacy.

  • U.S. Ready to Conclude Iran Nuclear Deal Based on EU's 'Final Draft'

    The United States is ready to “quickly conclude a deal” to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement on the basis of proposals put forward on August 8 by the European Union, a State Department spokesperson said.

  • Iran’s Latest Advanced Centrifuge Deployment

    Iran just announced that it has recently installed or plans to install in the near term almost 1570 new advanced centrifuges. This represents a 70 percent increase from the number of advanced centrifuges installed as of last May. Iran’s announcement puts it well on its way to achieving about 4450 installed advanced centrifuges at all three enrichment plants by the end of 2022.

  • Why Are Nuclear Weapons So Hard to Get Rid Of? Because They’re Tied Up in Nuclear Countries’ Sense of Right and Wrong

    States’ motivations for keeping nuclear weapons are often perceived as rooted in hard-nosed security strategy, with morality considered as irrelevant or even self-defeating. I see these explanations as incomplete. To understand leaders’ motives – and therefore effectively negotiate the elimination of nuclear weapons – we must acknowledge that policymakers express underlying moral concerns as strategic concerns. History shows that such moral concerns often form the foundations of nuclear strategy, even if they’re deeply buried.

  • Origins of Unconventional War

    Flamethrowers, poison gases, incendiary bombs, the large-scale spreading of disease: are these terrifying agents of warfare modern inventions? Not by a long shot. Societies around the world have used biological and chemical weapons for thousands of years. “One sobering result of writing this book is the realization that there was no time or place when biological weapons were unthinkable,” says Adrienne Mayor, the author of a new book on the subject.

  • Making Muons for Scientific Discovery, National Security

    The Pentagon and other agencies have sought advanced sources that generate gamma rays, X-rays, neutrons, protons, and electrons to enable a variety of scientific, commercial, and defense applications – from medical diagnostics, to scans of cargo containers for dangerous materials, to non-destructive testing of aircraft and their parts to see internal defects. The problem: None of these sources can image through concrete walls several meters thick, map the core of a volcano from the outside, or peer deep underground to locate chambers and tunnels. Muons — deeply penetrating subatomic particles – can do all those things. DARPA seeks a compact source for muons.

  • Texan Who Prosecutors Say “Lit the Match” of Jan. 6 Riot Sentenced to More Than 7 Years in Prison

    Guy Reffitt, a 49-year-old Wylie resident, never entered the Capitol but helped ignite the crowd “into an unstoppable force,” a prosecutor at his trial said. His sentence is the longest given out so far from the Jan. 6 riot.

  • Might Russia Turn to Terror Bombing Civilians in Ukraine?

    Recent Russian missile attacks against civilian targets in cities far away from the front lines have killed scores of Ukrainians, leading to widespread outrage. These events raise the question of whether the war in Ukraine is entering a new phase in which terror attacks might become common.

  • Evacuating Outside the Lines

    Researchers at the University of Tsukuba show how extending evacuation options to shelters outside the borders of a city can help increase the efficiency of flood responses, which may reduce the disruption caused by natural disasters.

  • Regenerate: Biotechnology and U.S. Industrial Policy

    A revolution in biotechnology is dawning at the precise moment the world needs it most. Amid an ongoing climate crisis, fast-paced technological maturation, and a global pandemic, humans must find new ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve food security, develop new vaccines and therapeutics, recycle waste, synthesize new materials, and adapt to a changing world. The United States needs some form of industrial policy to promote its bioeconomy—one that is enshrined in democratic values and focused on improving access to four key drivers of bioeconomic growth: equipment, personnel, information, and capital.

  • Coming Soon: Solar-Powering First Responders?

    Fabric woven to harness solar power recently completed weaving trials. The fabric will ultimately be used to design high-functioning gear that can keep responders’ tech charged and ready.

  • Russian Casualties in Ukraine Invasion Top 75,000, U.S. Says

    More than 75,000 Russian soldiers — about half the force sent by Moscow to invade Ukraine in February — are believed to have been killed or wounded, a U.S. lawmaker said after attending a classified briefing with administration officials. The new numbers, if confirmed, would mean heavy losses for Russia as Ukraine presses ahead with a counteroffensive in the Russian-occupied southern portion of the country.

  • New Flood Maps Clarify the Risk Homeowners Face

    Flooding in urban areas cost Americans more than $106 billion between 1960 and 2016, damaging property, disrupting businesses and claiming lives in the process. Determining which areas are most likely to flood amid ever-changing land use and shifting rainfall and climate patterns can be expensive and complicated. New maps more realistically depict flood zones with less effort, lower costs.

  • An Elusive Shadow: State-by-State Gun Ownership

    Policy-makers are faced with an exceptional challenge: how to reduce harm caused by firearms while maintaining citizens’ right to bear arms and protect themselves. Meaningful legislation requires an understanding of how access to firearms is associated with different outcomes of harm, but this knowledge also calls for accurate, highly-resolved data on firearm possession, data that is presently unavailable due to a lack of a comprehensive national firearm ownership registry.