• Politics and Expertise: How to Use Science in a Democratic Society

    The COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the importance of scientific advice to modern policymaking. But how can the use of expertise in politics be aligned with the needs and values of the public? The solution: a new model for the relationship between science and democracy.

  • A Headache for Germany: Russian Nickel, Palladium, Chromium Exports

    Russian gas and oil are by far the most significant exports Moscow sells to Germany. Yet other important raw materials are also under the spotlight because of the war in Ukraine.

  • Entering Dangerous, Uncharted Waters: Iran’s 60% Highly Enriched Uranium

    As soon as mid-to-late April, Iran is expected to reach a new dangerous, destabilizing threshold, having enough highly enriched uranium (HEU) — about 40-42 kilograms (kg) of 60 percent enriched uranium (uranium mass) — to fashion a nuclear explosive.

  • Google Autocomplete Helps Mislead Public, Legitimize Conspiracy Theorists

    Google algorithms place innocuous subtitles on prominent conspiracy theorists, which mislead the public and amplify extremist views, according to researchers.

  • Facebook Posts Linking to Problematic Sites at Alarming Rates

    Over a hundred million American adults read news on social media. In the wake of the crisis in Ukraine, antisemitism, hate speech, and disinformation have spread widely on Facebook. Researchers found evidence of the continued presence of problematic posts on the platform, the most popular site for getting news, as well as the prevalence of external links directing users to alternative platforms and sites popular among extremists.

  • Risks of a Dirty Bomb Attack Are Increasing

    In a new factsheet, the GAO says that the risks of a dirty bomb attack are increasing and the consequences could be devastating.

  • True or False: Work Practices of Professional Fact-Checkers

    Online misinformation is a critical societal threat . While fact-checking plays a role in combating the exponential rise of misinformation, little empirical research has been done on the work practices of professional fact-checkers and fact-checking organizations.

  • New Wildfire Detection System Receives Funding Boost

    The high intensity of the recent fire seasons in Oregon, coupled with the increasing wildfire risk this year as approximately three-quarters of the state is now in severe drought conditions, has highlighted how critical a new project, aiming to help with the early detection and monitoring of wildfires, is — both for firefighters and the general public.

  • New National Water Alliance Aims to Predict Water-Related Hazards, Manage U.S. Water Resources

    The new Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology (CIROH) is composed of 28 academic institutions, non-profit organizations, and government and industry partners across the United States and Canada, aiming to better predict water-related hazards and manage the nation’s water resources.

  • The Financial Risks of Water Resilience Planning in California

    California’s Water Resilience Portfolio Initiative is a multi-billion dollar effort that encourages different water utilities and irrigation districts to work together to build shared infrastructure to reduce the effects of droughts, but a number of questions remain regarding how best to structure these agreements.

  • Iran Vows to Continue Nuclear Activities

    Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has said Iran will continue nuclear development activities as talks to revive Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers remain stalled. The nuclear deal collapsed four years ago when former President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement, allowing Iran to vastly expanded its nuclear work.

  • Unmasking “Clandestine,” the Figure Behind the Viral “Ukrainian Biolab” Conspiracy Theory

    “Clandestine,” the man behind the viral biolab conspiracy theory, has been identified as Jacob Creech, a self-described former restaurant manager and Army National Guard veteran living in rural Virginia. The discovery highlights how a fringe QAnon figure, harnessing the power of social media, sparked a viral conspiracy theory which, in just a few weeks, made its way from QAnon to the world stage, amplified by Tucker Carlson, extreme far-right activists, the Proud Boys, Steve Bannon – and even the Kremlin.

  • ‘Ukraine Biolabs’: How Attempts to Debunk a Conspiracy Theory Only Helped It Spread

    As Russian forces moved into Ukraine on 24 February, stories of U.S.-funded biolabs and bioweapon research in Ukraine began to spread on social media. The false claims spread from right-wing circles but became more wide-spread, and were soon picked up by Fox News host Tucker Carlson. It wasn’t long until the Russian government, which had spread tales of Ukrainian biolabs in the past, adopted the narrative as a belated justification for the invasion. But, ironically, the very effort to debunk the Russian propaganda promoted by Carlson and Russia only gave to story more oxygen.

  • Facebook Fails to Appropriately Label 80% of Bioweapon Conspiracy Articles n Its Platform

    Facebook failed to label 80 percent of articles on its service which promote conspiracy theories about U.S. labs in Ukraine and Ukraine’s supposed intent to use CBW against Russia.

  • Draft Trump Executive Order Shows How False Foreign Interference Claims May Be Used to Undermine U.S. Elections

    In December 2020, as President Donald Trump grasped for ways to overturn his electoral defeat, a draft executive order circulated in his White House which would have empowered the U.S. military and intelligence community to intervene in the vote certification process. Emerson T. Brooking writes that the draft executive order made far-reaching assertions, each one of them false. “The draft order elevated and legitimized these falsehoods, seeking to use the power of the White House to write them into the federal record… [the order]. prescribed a military takeover of U.S. voting infrastructure, to be overseen by appointees who owed their positions and authority to a president who had just lost re-election.”