• Desalination System Could Produce Freshwater That Is Cheaper Than Tap Water

    Researchers are aiming to turn seawater into drinking water with a completely passive device that is inspired by the ocean, and powered by the sun. They developed a solar-powered device that avoids salt-clogging issues of other designs.

  • First-of-Its Kind Dataset Shows Future Flooding Risk at Neighborhood Level

    Climate change fueled extreme weather events, like flooding, are happening more frequently. ANL researchers and partners have developed a new methodology for estimating increased flood risk from climate change.

  • Wind and Solar Power Could Significantly Exceed Britain’s Energy Needs

    Britain’s energy needs could be met entirely by wind and solar, according to a policy brief from Oxford University. Wind and solar can provide significantly more energy than the highest energy demand forecasts for 2050 and nearly ten times current electricity demand (299 TWh/year). The research shows up to 2,896 TWh a year could be generated by wind and solar, against the demand forecast of 1,500 TWh/year.

  • Germany: Copper Theft Hits Critical Infrastructure, Business

    Metal theft by criminal gangs in Germany is alarming the public and businesses. This year, the newspaper found, copper thefts have already led to 2,644 train delays, totaling well over 700 hours. The disruptions will worsen as copper prices rise.

  • Largest Fire Death Toll Belongs to Aftermath of 1923 Japan Earthquake

    Fires that raged in the days following the 1 September 1923 magnitude 7.9 Kantō earthquake killed roughly 90% of the 105,000 people who perished in and around Tokyo, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in history—comparable to the number of people killed in the World War II atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

  • Climate Risks Place 39 Million U.S. Homes at Risk of Losing Their Insurance

    From California to Florida, homeowners have been facing a new climate reality: Insurance companies don’t want to cover their properties. According to a report released today, the problem will only get worse. “Sound pricing is going to make it unaffordable to live in certain places as climate impacts emerge,” says one expert.

  • Harmonization of Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Entities

    DHS outlined a series of actionable recommendations on how the federal government can streamline and harmonize the reporting of cyber incidents to better protect the nation’s critical infrastructure.

  • DOE Invests $39 Million to Support a 21st Century Electric Grid

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $39 million for projects across DOE’s National Laboratories to help modernize the electricity grid. The investments will support the development and deployment of concepts, tools, and technologies needed to measure, analyze, predict, protect, and control the grid of the future while incorporating equity and the best available climate science.

  • With Automated Treatment, Affordable Water from Nontraditional Sources Can Flow to Underserved Communities

    Researchers are developing advanced automation techniques for desalination and water treatment plants, enabling them to save while providing affordable drinking water to small, parched communities without high-quality water supplies.

  • Walking the Artificial Intelligence and National Security Tightrope

    Artificial intelligence (AI) presents nations’ security as many challenges as it does opportunities. While it could create mass-produced malware, lethal autonomous weapons systems, or engineered pathogens, AI solutions could also prove the counter to these threats. Regulating AI to maximize national security capabilities and minimize the risks presented to them will require focus, caution and intent.

  • Deadly Dam Failures: Cause, Effect, and Prevention

    No dam is flood-proof. Thousands are at alert level. But dam failure needn’t be deadly the way it was in Libya’s devastating floods. Here’s what you need to know.

  • New Flood Prediction Model Has Potentially Life-Saving Benefits

    A new simulation model that can predict flooding during an ongoing disaster more quickly and accurately than currently possible. The new model has major potential benefits for emergency responses, reducing flood forecasting time from hours and days to just seconds, and enabling flood behavior to be accurately predicted quickly as an emergency unfolds.

  • Sovereignty in Space

    The EU wants to establish its own satellite network by 2027, with the aim of increasing the resilience of the European communications infrastructure and gaining technological sovereignty in space. Achieving this will require novel solutions.

  • How Do We Dismantle Offshore Oil Structures Without Making the Public Pay?

    More than 12,000 offshore oil and gas installations straddle the globe, and industry analysts anticipate annual offshore oil and gas investments to reach $173 billion by 2024. A number of oil companies are expected to significantly expand their offshore drilling activities in the coming years. At the same time, many jurisdictions face a growing need to dismantle offshore infrastructure, whether because it is aging, the resources are depleted, or mandated net-zero strategies require some installations to be decommissioned earlier than expected.

  • 100-Year Floods Could Occur Yearly

    Some floods are so severe they rarely strike more than once a century, but rising seas could threaten coastal communities with yearly extreme floods. Within decades, most coastal communities will encounter 100-year floods annually, even under a moderate scenario in which carbon dioxide emissions peak by 2040. As early as 2050, regions worldwide could experience 100-year floods every nine to fifteen years on average.