• As Reservoirs Go Dry, Mexico City and Bogotá Are Staring Down ‘Day Zero’

    In Mexico City and Bogotá, reservoir levels are falling fast, and the city governments have implemented rotating water shutoffs as residents are watching their taps go dry for hours a day. Droughts in the region have grown more intense thanks to warmer winter temperatures and long-term aridification fueled by climate change. In South Africa in 2018, Cape Town beat a climate-driven water crisis, and the way it did it holds lessons for cities grappling with an El Niño-fueled drought.

  • Utah FORGE Achieves Crucial Geothermal Milestone

    In $218 million DOE-funded research project, scientists aim to make enhanced geothermal a key part of world’s energy portfolio. “The ability to tap more of the Earth’s natural heat through enhanced geothermal systems will expand access to affordable, secure and resilient clean energy for everyone,” say one expert.

  • A Section of Critical Highway Collapsed in Wyoming. Could It Happen Anywhere?

    The partial collapse of a roadway in Wyoming as a result of a landslide that occurred over the weekend raises serious questions about the state of the nation’s infrastructure. “These failures don’t happen everywhere. The conditions have to be right,” says one expert.

  • With Russian Nuclear Fuel Ban, U.S. Also Tries to Fix a (Self-Inflicted) Problem

    One of the major achievements of U.S. post-Cold War policies was to get Russia to downgrade tons of highly enriched uranium – enough to arm around 20,000 Russian warheads — and turn it into power-plant fuel. The policy had collateral damage, though: The U.S. enrichment industry ended up gutted, unable to compete with cheap Russian uranium. Today, 80 percent of all nuclear fuel used the United States — which has more operating atomic plants than any other country — is foreign.

  • States Beg Insurers Not to Drop Climate-Threatened Homes

    In the coming years, climate change could force Americans from their homes, not just by raising sea levels, worsening wildfires and causing floods — but also by putting insurance coverage out of reach.

  • The Homeowner Mutiny Leaving Florida Cities Defenseless Against Hurricanes

    The only protection the town of Hendrickson, Florida, has from the Gulf of Mexico’s increasingly erratic storms is a pristine beach that draws millions of tourists every year — but that beach is disappearing fast. A series of storms have eroded most of the sand that protects Redington Shores and the towns around it, leaving residents just one big wave away from water overtaking their homes. The federal government is refusing to restore eroded beaches in Pinellas County unless homeowners agree to one condition: public access.

  • ‘Grey Infrastructure’ Can’t Meet Future Water Storage Needs

    A new study maps how energy and food systems depend on stored water to generate hydropower and feed irrigation. Dams and reservoirs won’t be able to meet the demand in coming decades.

  • FloodAdapt Will Help Protect Flood-prone Communities

    The Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has partnered with Deltares USA to conduct demonstrations, trainings, and performance testing for the new accessible compound flood and impact assessment tool, which will help at-risk communities better prepare for and respond to severe weather events.

  • Some Countries Could Meet Their Total Electricity Needs from Floating Solar Panels

    Researchers calculated the global potential for deploying low-carbon floating solar arrays. The researchers looked at nearly 68,000 lakes and reservoirs around the world which were no more than 10km from a population center, not in a protected area, didn’t dry up and didn’t freeze for more than six months each year. The potential annual electricity generation from FPV on these lakes was 1302 terawatt hours (TWh), around four times the total annual electricity demand of the UK.

  • ARPA-H Announces Program to Enhance and Automate Cybersecurity for Health Care Facilities

    The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) announced the launch of the Universal PatchinG and Remediation for Autonomous DEfense (UPGRADE) program, a cybersecurity effort that will invest more than $50 million to create tools for information technology (IT) teams to better defend the hospital environments they are tasked with securing.

  • O-RAN Is Overhyped as Avoiding Chinese 5G Influence

    In recent years, countries have faced a stark choice between Chinese and Western suppliers to develop their 5G cellular network infrastructure. While Chinese suppliers such as Huawei and ZTE are not trusted because of their ties and legal obligations to China’s party-state, Western suppliers have struggled to compete on cost. The emergence of Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) technology has some promised, but the idea that O-RAN is a viable alternative to Chinese suppliers seems hollow.

  • What Are the Risks of Hydrogen Vehicles in Tunnels?

    In addition to electric vehicles, hydrogen-powered vehicles are also seen as an alternative to conventionally powered vehicles. Scientists have analyzed the risk and damage potential of hydrogen vehicles in tunnels and derived recommendations. Their conclusion? Any damage would be extensive, but its occurrence is unlikely.

  • Revolutionizing Energy Grid Maintenance: How Artificial Intelligence Is Transforming the Future

    Scientists are leveraging the power of artificial intelligence to transform energy grid asset maintenance, helping U.S. power companies identify and address problems before they even occur, helping to ensure the security and reliability of America’s energy infrastructure.

  • Texas’ First-Ever Statewide Flood Plan Estimates 5 Million Live in Flood-Prone Areas

    The state’s flood plan shows which Texans are most at risk of flooding and suggests billions of dollars more are needed for flood mitigation projects. Texas plans to reduce the risk for those people by recommending solutions to harden Texas against floods and rising sea levels.

  • Emerging Threats to the U.S. Financial System

    In early 2021, a freewheeling, freethinking group of investors on Reddit plowed their money into GameStop, a video game retailer that several big hedge funds had bet against. The stock price shot up, some people made millions—and, to the delight of those on Reddit, the hedge funds had some very bad days. Researchers saw the GameStop story as a cautionary tale. If investors on Reddit could work together to move the markets like that, what could an adversary like China do?