Infrastructure protection

AIRFIELD SAFETYMaking Airfield Assessments Automatic, Remote, and Safe
By Zach Winn
U.S. Air Force engineer and PhD student Randall Pietersen is using AI and next-generation imaging technology to detect pavement damage and unexploded munitions.
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CHINA WATCHIn Case We Forgot, Typhoon Attacks Remind Us of China’s Cyber Capability—and Intent
By James Corera and Elizabeth Buchanan
The Salt Typhoon incident reminds us that China has the intent, and increasingly the capability, to seriously challenge US and Western technology advantage.
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CLIMATE CHALLANGESNew Lab Studies How Cities Can Survive Extreme Climates
By Yulia Karra
“The city is a dynamic creature; it’s changing all the time,” says architect Merav Idit Battat. “I think we shouldn’t focus on how to think of everything from the beginning, but how to create a more adaptive city over time.”
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RESILIENCEPower Boost: Resilient Systems to Energize the Future
By Hollie Hohlfelder
Life without electricity is not just cold, dark and quiet. Disruptions to the electric grid, whether from hurricanes, wildfires or cyberattacks, can threaten lives as well as comfort.
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WILDFIRES5 Israeli Innovations for Fighting Wildfires
By Zachy Hennessey
As regions from California to the Mediterranean face wildfire threats, these innovations can help win the battle against out-of-control flames.
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WILDFIRESThe L.A. Fires Show a Need to Rethink Our Wildland Firefighting Systems
By Jay Balagna
As bad as the fires in the Los Angeles area have been—more than 12,000 structures burned, about 180,000 people evacuated, more than 35,000 acres scorched, and at least 25 deaths—they could have been even worse, but in some ways Angelenos got lucky. Asystem built on luck, however, is not a durable system. It is already strained, and it risks breaking down in a world of greater and more frequent wildfires.
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WILDFIRESWhat Mercenaries Can Teach Us About Climate-Fueled Disaster Responses
By Isabelle Bond
The devastating fires in Southern California, many of which are still burning out of control, have exposed a controversial and increasingly attractive disaster response alternative that engages the private sector.
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RESILIENCEHow Hard Is It to Prevent Recurring Blackouts in Puerto Rico?
Using the island as a model, researchers demonstrate the “DyMonDS” framework can improve resiliency to extreme weather and ease the integration of new resources.
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WILDFIRESWhat Made the Los Angeles Wildfires So Monstrous
By Sachi Kitajima Mulkey and Matt Simon
Powerful winds and extra-dry vegetation have fueled what may become the costliest wildfires on record. The longer-term challenge is better adapting Los Angeles, and the rest of California, to a future of ever-worsening droughts and wildfires. “People talk about adapting to the climate,” sys one expert. “We haven’t adapted to the climate we have, let alone the climate that’s coming.”
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WILDEFIRESHow Santa Ana Winds Fueled the Deadly Fires in Southern California
By Jon Keeley
California is seeing more destructive fires than we saw in the past. That’s driven not just by changes in the climate and the winds, but also by population growth.
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WILDEFIRESA Disaster Expert Explains Why the L.A. Fires Have Been So Catastrophic
By Renée Cho
As we’re seeing more and more disaster events, it raises questions about risk and whether insurers are going to keep insuring homes in the long run. Increasingly, it seems the answer is no.
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CHINA WATCHBaltic Subsea Sabotage: China Gets Away with Non-cooperation
By Jakub Janda and James Corera
On Christmas Day, one of two cables connecting Finland’s electricity grid to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania was cut. Four data cables—three linking Finland and Estonia and one between Finland and Germany—were broken at the same time. This and two earlier instances have heightened concerns about the vulnerability of Europe’s undersea infrastructure.
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SUPPLY-CHAIN SECURITYThe Great Ripple - How a Tsunami Can Disrupt Global Trade
Shipping facilitates more than 80% of global trade, meaning disruptions to the global port network can have severe consequences for global commerce. Port disruptions are thus costly, very costly.
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TSUNAMI PREPARATIONSBoxing Day Tsunami: Here’s What We Have Learned in the 20 Years Since the Deadliest Natural Disaster in Modern History
By Ravindra Jayaratne and Tomoya Shibayama
On Boxing Day 2004, an earthquake in the Indian Ocean near Indonesia set off a tsunami which killed almost 250,000 people. It was the deadliest natural disaster this century, and was probably the deadliest tsunami in human history. It has reshaped our global disaster management systems, highlighting the importance of early warning systems, local preparations, and coastal defenses.
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CHINA WATCHU.S. Slow to React to Pervasive Chinese Hacking: Experts
By Rob Garver
As new potential threats from Chinese hackers were identified this week, the federal government issued one of its strongest warnings to date about the need for Americans —and in particular government officials and other “highly targeted” individuals —to secure their communications against eavesdropping and interception.
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