-
AI and the Future of the U.S. Electric Grid
Despite its age, the U.S. electric grid remains one of the great workhorses of modern life. Whether it can maintain that performance over the next few years may determine how well the U.S. competes in an AI-driven world.
-
-
Web Search Formulas Offer a First Step for Protecting Critical Infrastructure
The technology behind web search engines is useful for more than tracking down your long-lost buddy or discovering a delicious new recipe – it might also help keep the lights on, the water running and the trains moving during an emergency.
-
-
Wind and Solar Power Opponents Make Headway in State Legislatures
In recent years, in Texas and other states, some Republicans have soured on renewable energy. Texas has loosened its political embrace of alternative energy, and for the second legislative session in a row, many Texas lawmakers are trying to derail or curb future renewable energy projects.
-
-
Store, Harvest, Fix: How Texas Can Save Its Water Supply
State lawmakers are poised to devote billions to save the state’s water supply. These are some of the ways the state could spend the money.
-
-
“Water Is the New Oil: As Texas Cities Square Off Over Aquifer Pipeline Plans
Fast-growing Georgetown plans to pump 89 million gallons a day from the Carrizo Wilcox Aquifer but the project is being fought by Bryan, College Station and Texas A&M University, which depend on the same water.
-
-
Devastation from 7.7 Magnitude Earthquake in Myanmar Underscores Regional Lag in Construction Standards, Regulations, Says Resilience Expert
A lot of factors are converging here,” says Daniel Aldrich, director of the university’s Resilience Studies Program. “But the bottom line is we’re talking about construction standards in developing countries.”
-
-
Heathrow Power Outage Exposes Infrastructure Vulnerabilities
The cause of Thursday’s power outage at Heathrow Airport, the result of a fire at the North Hyde electrical substation, is still not known, but it has highlighted several vulnerabilities in the U.K.s infrastructure.
-
-
Heathrow Fire Shows Just How Vulnerable U.K. Energy Infrastructure Is – We’ve Simulated the Major Climate-Related Risks
The closure of one of the world’s largest airports due to a failure of just one electricity substation underlines how important it is that critical national energy infrastructure –pylons, substations and so on –keeps functioning.
-
-
Making Airfield Assessments Automatic, Remote, and Safe
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.
-
-
In Case We Forgot, Typhoon Attacks Remind Us of China’s Cyber Capability—and Intent
The Salt Typhoon incident reminds us that China has the intent, and increasingly the capability, to seriously challenge US and Western technology advantage.
-
-
Research Drives Innovation in Gen-IV Reactor Safety and Efficiency
All U.S. nuclear reactors, which currently provide more than half of the nation’s carbon-free power, are first- or second-generation light water reactors. This means they use water as both a coolant and neutron moderator to control the nuclear reaction and produce useful electricity. Ut researchers pursue all kinds of reactor designs, and nuclear engineers at Argonne frame the future of nuclear design.
-
-
U.S. Supreme Court Takes Up Texas Nuclear Waste Disposal Case
The case could establish the nation’s first independent repository for spent nuclear fuel in West Texas, despite the objections of state leaders.
-
-
Questions and Confusion as Trump Pauses Key Funding for Shrinking Colorado River
An executive order issued in the early days of the Trump administration hit pause on at least $4 billion set aside to protect the flow of the Colorado River. Halted funding threatens the sustainability of the entire system, experts say.
-
-
Trump Says He’s Sending Water to LA. It’s Actually Going to Megafarms.
The president’s executive orders on California water will help irrigate Central Valley farms. They won’t do anything to fight wildfires.
-
-
New Lab Studies How Cities Can Survive Extreme Climates
“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.”
-
The long view
Water Wars: A Historic Agreement Between Mexico and US Is Ramping Up Border Tension
As climate change drives rising temperatures and changes in rainfall, Mexico and the US are in the middle of a conflict over water, putting an additional strain on their relationship. Partly due to constant droughts, Mexico has struggled to maintain its water deliveries for much of the last 25 years, deliveries to which it is obligated by a 1944 water-sharing agreement between the two countries.
Trump Is Fast-Tracking New Coal Mines — Even When They Don’t Make Economic Sense
In Appalachian Tennessee, mines shut down and couldn’t pay their debts. Now a new one is opening under the guise of an “energy emergency.”
Smaller Nuclear Reactors Spark Renewed Interest in a Once-Shunned Energy Source
In the past two years, half the states have taken action to promote nuclear power, from creating nuclear task forces to integrating nuclear into long-term energy plans.
Keeping the Lights on with Nuclear Waste: Radiochemistry Transforms Nuclear Waste into Strategic Materials
How UNLV radiochemistry is pioneering the future of energy in the Southwest by salvaging strategic materials from nuclear dumps –and making it safe.
Model Predicts Long-Term Effects of Nuclear Waste on Underground Disposal Systems
The simulations matched results from an underground lab experiment in Switzerland, suggesting modeling could be used to validate the safety of nuclear disposal sites.