• Paving the Way for Collapse-Resistant Structures

    Buildings in the U.S. are generally designed to withstand the usual suspects: rain, wind, snow and the occasional earthquake. Abnormal events such as gas explosions, vehicle impacts or uncontrolled building fires are not typically a consideration. If vulnerable buildings face any of these unanticipated events, the results could be tragic. But now, a new building standard can help engineers prevent the worst.

  • New Mapper Opens Up Access to Flood Planning in New York State

    An accessible new mapping tool will make it easier for individuals and communities in New York State to plan for flooding and sea level rise. The easy interface of the NYS FIDSS Mapper means users don’t need GIS knowledge or complex software — only access to the Internet.

  • For Beleaguered Homeowners and Their Insurers, the Fire Next Time Could Be a Flood

    The data-driven insurance business is in trouble as climate-change-driven disasters arrive with greater fury and frequency. Catastrophic losses are something that insurance companies have long planned and budgeted for. But not this many.

  • 3rd Annual Critical Infrastructure Security Summit Announced

    Critical Infrastructure consists of the sixteen sectors whose assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, are considered so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on national and economic security, and on public health and safety. Defense Strategies Institute will hold its 3rd annual Critical Infrastructure Security Summit which will discuss ways to create more resilient systems to protect this infrastructure.

  • Cost of Climate Change-Driven Natural Disasters Includes Losses of Learning, Earnings

    A new study finds that the human capital consequences of natural disasters, linked to climate change, are a significant factor contributing to economic inequality.

  • AI Can Identify Patterns in Surface Cracking to Assess Damage in Reinforced Concrete Structures

    Recent structural collapses, including tragedies in Surfside, Florida, Pittsburgh, New York City and Davenport. Iowa, have centered the need for more frequent and thorough inspections of aging buildings and infrastructure across the country.AI, combined with a classic mathematical method for quantifying web-like networks, help determine how damaged a concrete structure is, based solely on its pattern of cracking.

  • Wireless Sensor System for Continuous Monitoring of Bridge Deformation

    More than 46,000 bridges across the United States are considered to be in poor condition and in need of close monitoring. Researchers have developed a solar-powered, wireless sensor system that can continually monitor bridge deformation and could be used to alert authorities when the bridge performance deteriorates significantly.

  • Decrease in Rainfall in Central America Could Cut Off the Panama Canal

    To see the economic consequences of global warming look no further than the Panama Canal. There, water levels are down because of less rain in Central America. Experts fear ordinary consumers may end up paying the price.

  • AI Model Aims to Plug Key Gap in Cybersecurity Readiness

    There are more than 213,800 available known “keys”—unofficial entry points into computer systems, better known as vulnerabilities or bugs—and they’re already in the hands of criminals. There are likely many more that are not known. How can all the threats and attacks be tracked, prioritized and prevented? Scientists link resources to improve prioritization, spot attacks more quickly.

  • State-Sponsored Chinese Hackers Targeting U.S., Western Critical Infrastructure: Microsoft

    Microsoft says that Chinese government-sponsored hacking group Volt Typhoon has been attacking critical infrastructure targets in the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and UK, and possibly many more countries. The affected targets span various sectors, including communications, manufacturing, utilities, transportation, construction, maritime, government, information technology, and education. The attacks began in mid-2021 and appear to be aimed at undermining the US in the event of a regional conflict.

  • Bolstering Cybersecurity in Navigation Systems

    Interference such as jamming and spoofing that targets critical infrastructure has the potential to cause widespread delays and cascading failures across multiple modes of transportation including ships, trains, trucks, and cars—and the problem is only getting worse. New project aims to enhance resilience of transportation infrastructure against cyber threats, developing advanced countermeasures for GPS spoofing and jamming.

  • Self-Repairing Oyster Reefs to Protect Florida’s Coastlines

    Engineers and scientists are developing oyster-based shoreline protection for U.S. coastlines. The researchers seek to create self-repairing, biological and human-engineered reef-mimicking structures. The reef structures will be used to mitigate coastal flooding, erosion, and storm damage that threaten civilian and DOD infrastructure and personnel.

  • Long-Term Coastal Cliff Loss Due to Climate Change

    The dangers of coastal erosion are an all-too-familiar reality for the modern residents of California’s iconic mountainous coastal communities. New tool brings historical perspective to the topic of how to manage these disappearing coastlines.

  • NIST Updates Guidelines for Protecting Sensitive Information

    NIST has updated its draft guidelines for protecting sensitive unclassified information, in an effort to help federal agencies and government contractors more consistently to implement cybersecurity requirements. Draft Revision 3 aligns the publication’s language with NIST’s 800-53 catalog of cybersecurity safeguards.

  • Making the Power Grid More Reliable and Resilient

    The U.S. power grid comprises nearly 12,000 power plants, 200,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines, 60,000 substations and 3 million miles of power lines. It may well be the most massive and complex machine ever assembled. Argonne National Labs’ researchers help keep this machine working in the face of daunting challenges.