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Add-on Benefits of Natural Defenses Against Sea-Level Rise
Researchers modeled how investing in environmental conservation and protection can help San Mateo County, California, adapt to rising seas. The findings provide incentives for policymakers to prioritize nature-based approaches when planning for sea-level rise.
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Protecting Nuclear Waste Containers from Metal-Corroding Microbes
Canada has about three million bundles of used nuclear fuel, which contain the solid uranium that powers nuclear reactors. They’re stored in above-ground containers at seven facilities across the country, with 90,000 added every year. The containers only last about 50 to 100 years, but used nuclear fuel must be stored for one million years before its radiation levels return to that of naturally occurring uranium ore. Canada is getting closer to moving all its spent nuclear fuel to a single facility, and encasing each fuel container in bentonite clay, and researchers are studying whether that clay could support microbial life – which could eat away at the metal containers.
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Sustainable Solution for Oil, Gas Wastewater
As demand for new energy sources grows, the wastewater co-produced alongside oil and gas (produced water) shows no signs of slowing down: The current volume of wastewater - the result of water forced underground to fracture rock and release the deposits - is estimated at 250 million barrels per day, compared to 80 million barrels per day of oil. Engineers are developing a new way to clean the produced water for reuse, and it’s already being tested in Pennsylvania, Texas and North Dakota.
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The Risk of Drinking Contaminated Water During Flooding
In addition to causing property damage and psychological impacts, flooding can pose a significant health risk, particularly due to contamination of drinking water sources. Researchers are a decision-making tool to estimate the risk of water contamination in flooded areas.
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Groundwater Depletion Causes California Farmland to Sink
A new study simulates 65 years of land subsidence, or sinking, caused by groundwater depletion in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The results suggest significant sinking may continue for centuries after water levels stop declining but could slow within a few years if aquifers recover.
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U.S. Elevates Water Security as Foreign Policy Priority
The White House on Wednesday announced the an Action Plan on Global Water Security, drawing direct links between water scarcity and national security and elevating water security to a core foreign policy priority for the first time.
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Operational Protection of Water Infrastructure Against Cyber-Physical Threats
As the water supply system becomes more digitalized, cyberthreats are increasing. It is time for an all-hazard risk management and mitigation system.
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The Wall of Wind Can Blow Away Buildings at Category 5 Hurricane Strength to Help Engineers Design Safer Homes – but Even That Isn’t Powerful Enough
When engineers built the Wall of Wind test facility 10 years ago at Florida International University, it was inspired by Hurricane Andrew, a monster of a storm that devastated South Florida in 1992. Tropical storms are ramping up in intensity as the climate changes and ocean and air temperatures rise. Designing homes and infrastructure to withstand future storms will require new test facilities that go well beyond today’s capabilities.
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As the Grid Adds Wind Power, Recovery from Blackouts Must Be Reengineered
When the power grid goes down, there’s a step-by-step recovery process – a “blackstart” that up to now has depended on power from gas or hydro turbines spinning away inside a power plant. But what if we’re talking about a wind power plant?
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California Hydropower Could Be Cut in Half This Summer: Report
A third year of drought spells less hydropower, more natural gas, and higher electricity prices. The U.S. Energy Information Administration, or EIA, reported last week that as reservoir levels dip far below their historic averages, electricity generation from California’s hydroelectric dams could be cut in half this summer.
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A Quarter of World's Internet Users Rely on Infrastructure Highly Vulnerable to Attack
About a quarter of the world’s Internet users live in countries that are more susceptible than previously thought to targeted attacks on their Internet infrastructure. Many of the at-risk countries are located in the Global South.
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Mitigating Flood Disasters
Engineers have proposed a flood control measure which recommends designing permeable pavements to specifically suit local rainfall and soil conditions and reduce flood impacts.
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Food Production Vulnerable to Cyberattacks
Wide-ranging use of smart technologies is raising global agricultural production but cyber experts warn this digital-age phenomenon could reap a crop of another kind – cybersecurity attacks.
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Challenges to Tidal Flats Pose Risks to 41M Americans Living in Coastal Counties
About 29 percent of the United States’ population live in coastline counties – more than 41 million are in Atlantic counties. This high population density poses a critical challenge to sustainable developments in coastal areas.
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S&T Hackathon: Thwarting Emerging Threats to Critical Infrastructure
Threats against the U.S. critical infrastructure are not new—physical threats and natural disasters have challenged the U.S. critical infrastructure and their support systems time and time again. But the rapid development of new information and communication technologies, and their inevitable integration the into the U.S. critical infrastructure, bring with them the possibility of digital attacks and other new challenges that the United States must be ready to face.
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More headlines
The long view
Preparing National Security Officials for the Challenges of AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of several rapidly emerging technologies that promise to disrupt not only multiple sectors of the U.S. economy but also the manner in which the U.S. government carries out its foundational responsibility to protect national security consistent with the rule of law and constitutional values. Steve Bunnell writes that “The United States’ national security apparatus is not known for nimbleness, nor is the law that governs it. When it comes to AI, the risk is not just that our generals will fight tomorrow’s war with yesterday’s strategy but also that the United States will lack the legal and policy guardrails that are essential to a lawful, accountable, and ethical protection of the nation’s security.”
Food Production Vulnerable to Cyberattacks
Wide-ranging use of smart technologies is raising global agricultural production but cyber experts warn this digital-age phenomenon could reap a crop of another kind – cybersecurity attacks.
Emerging Hydrogen Storage Technology to Increase Energy Resilience
With the rise in renewable energy as well as increasing uncertainty associated with outages due to power surges and extreme weather events, energy storage plays a key role in ensuring reliable power supply to critical infrastructure such as healthcare facilities, data centers, and telecommunications. New study assesses cost competitiveness of metal-organic framework materials to store hydrogen for large-scale backup power applications.
The "Rock-to-Metal Ratio" of Critical Minerals
A new metric to quantify the amount of waste rock generated by mining for minerals essential to 21st century society has been created by the U.S. Geological Survey and Apple.
Diminishing Snowmelt to Make Colorado, Utah, Wyoming Resemble the Arid Southwest
New research predicts that changes in mountain snowmelt will shift peak stream flows to much earlier in the year for the vast Colorado River Basin, altering reservoir management and irrigation across the entire region. As a result, upper basin in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming may more closely resemble the arid Southwest.
Challenges to Tidal Flats Pose Risks to 41M Americans Living in Coastal Counties
About 29 percent of the United States’ population live in coastline counties – more than 41 million are in Atlantic counties. This high population density poses a critical challenge to sustainable developments in coastal areas.