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DHS announces ARRA funding of Coast Guard improvement projects
DHS directs $240 of the stimulus package funds to make improvements to Coast Guard cutters and shoring up of bridges
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Self-powered monitoring system for bridges developed
More than 70,000 of the U.S. bridges are structurally deficient; funds from the administration’s stimulus package will be going to shoring up these bridges; how do agencies responsible for keeping an eye on the health of tens of thousands of bridges do so? University of Miami researchers offer an answer
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U.S. looks to hackers to protect cyber networks
DHS is looking for hackers — not to prosecute them, but to pay them to secure the nation’s networks
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South Africa: Intelleca awarded voice biometrics contract
South African leading network operator awards Intelleca large voice recognition contract; the operator plans to implement the solution across a range of business areas in its contact center
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Space-based solar power coming to California
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), California’s largest utility company, will purchase from Solaren 200 megawatts of electricity when Solaren’s system is in place, which is expected to be 2016
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Counterintelligence expert not worried about Chinese hacking
Joel Brenner, national counterintelligence executive, says is less worried about Chinese hacking of U.S. banking system and somewhat more worried about such hacking of U.S. critical infrastructure;
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Seismologist predicts earthquake in south Iran at the end of the month
A Chinese seismologist who relies on unusual cloud formations as a predictor of earthquake says that at the end of the month a powerful earthquake will shake south Iran; debate about basing emergency policy on such predictions intensifies in light of similar predictions before the earthquake in Italy two weeks ago
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Using a long tether to deflect threatening asteroids
An asteroid-tether-ballast system could effectively alter the motion of an asteroid to ensure it missed hitting Earth; the tether, though, is on the long side: between 1,000 kilometers to 100,000 kilometers
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Aussies inaugurate carbon capture institute
Australia is the world’s fourth largest producer of hard coal, and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says that Australia has a national and shared global responsibility to establish the workability of carbon capture and storage technology at a commercial scale
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The security of the U.S. communications network, II
A few vandals, equipped with pliers, last Thursday cut fiber-optics cables in the San Francisco Bay area, paralyzing wireless, Internet, phone, and emergency communication for more than twelve hours; what does this tell us about the vulnerability to disruption of the .S. communication network?
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Study: Catastrophic rise in sea levels "distinct possibility" this century
New study — based on fluctuations in sea levels the last time Earth was between ice ages, as it is now — shows that oceans rose some three meters in only decades due to collapsing ice sheets
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NIST offers five encryption tips
There are many encryption algorithms, techniques, and products — and many user devices and threats against them; NIST offers five encryption tips
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The security of the U.S. communications network, I
A few vandals, equipped with pliers, last Thursday cut fiber-optics cables in the San Francisco Bay area, paralyzing wireless, Internet, phone, and emergency communication for more than twelve hours; what does this tell us about the vulnerability to disruption of the U.S. communication network?
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Eleven sites on final list for new U.K. nuclear power station sit
The government published the list of eleven sites which could be potential hosts to new nuclear power stations in the United Kingdom
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One-story masonry building withstands strong jolts during seismic tests
University of California, San Diego researchers design a one-story masonry structure and showed it could survive two days of intense earthquake jolts
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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.