• IMMIGRATIONU.S. Immigration Has Become an Elaborate Bait and Switch

    By Edward Alden

    The United States is relying on its engineering and science talent to stay ahead of China in what has become an existential struggle to lead in the industries of the future. At U.S. universities, international students make up 74 percent of graduate electrical engineering students, 72 percent of computer and information science students, and half or more students in pharmaceutical sciences, mathematics, and statistics. Yet, the U.S. Congress has not revised immigration quotas since 1965, when the U.S. population was almost 140 million people smaller. Nor has Congress revisited the rules for highly educated immigrants since 1990—which was before the U.S. information technology sector created millions of new jobs in technical fields that have attracted so many immigrant scientists and engineers.

  • NORTH KOREAGermany Did Research with North Korea -- Despite UN Sanctions

    By Esther Felden

    Kim Jong Un wants to modernize his nuclear weapons. To stop him, the UN has banned research collaboration with North Korea. One Berlin institute continued to collaborate with North Korea on research projects — without flagging the risks.

  • R&D SECURITY“Safeguarding Science” Toolkit to Help U.S. Research Enterprise Guard Against Threats

    The National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) and its partners announced a unique collaboration between elements of the U.S. intelligence and scientific communities to help the U.S. research enterprise mitigate the broad spectrum of risk it faces from nation-state, criminal, and other threat actors.

  • NATIONAL SECURITY R&DMeeting Surging Demand for National Security Research

    Sandia National Laboratory is embarking on a major expansion of its network of academic partners to meet the surging demand for national security science and engineering. From 2015 to 2021, the Labs’ budget increased more than 50%, from $2.9 billion to $4.5 billion. Over the same period, the Labs increased its workforce by more than 25%, from 11,700 to 15,000. Still, the Lab says that it won’t meet its obligations just by hiring staff.

  • NATIONAL SECURITY R&DPurdue University Launches Institute for National Security

    Building on its years of growing engagement and collaboration with the defense, homeland security and intelligence communities, Purdue University is creating the Purdue Institute for National Security, a new interdisciplinary institute.

  • PLANETARY SECURITYLooking to Move to a Galaxy Far, Far Away? Innovative System Evaluates Habitability of Distant Planets

    The climate crisis presents a huge challenge to all people on Earth. It has led many scientists to look for exoplanets, planets outside our solar system that humans could potentially settle. Computerized system classifies atmospheres of planets and identifies those suitable for future human settlements.

  • PLANETARY SECURITYSignatures of Alien Technology Could Be How Humanity First Finds Extraterrestrial Life

    By Macy Huston and Jason Wright

    Technosignatures are signs of technology originating from beyond Earth. No astronomer has ever found a confirmed technosignature, so it’s hard to say what will be the first sign of alien civilizations. Many astronomers have thought a lot about what might make for a good signal, but ultimately, nobody knows what extraterrestrial technology might look like and what signals are out there in the Universe.

  • TECH WAR“U.S. Is Not Prepared for Waging” Tech War

    A new book explores the evolution of the current U.S. research and development enterprise, and asks whether the organization of the U.S. R&D efforts and its structure remain appropriate to the challenges the United States face today. “Today, the U.S. is not prepared for waging this war. Absent fundamental changes, our current science and technology advantages will continue to erode,” Daniel Gerstein writes.

  • COVID THERAPIESThe WHO Has Advised Against the Use of Two Antibody Therapies Against COVID – Here’s What That Means

    By Zania Stamataki

    New guidance from WHO strongly advises against using the antibody therapies sotrovimab and casirivimab-imdevimab to treat patients with COVID-19. This means that, at least for the time being, there are no recommended antibody therapies to treat COVID. There are, however, still other treatment options.

  • BIOTECHNOLOGYU.S. Plans to Boost US Biotechnology Manufacturing

    The administration announced Monday steps to bolster the “bioeconomy” in the United States, a classification that covers research and development across a broad swath of products, including medical supplies, sustainable new fuels and food, as well as technologies meant to help fight climate change. The order comes barely a month after President Biden signed a major piece of legislation, the CHIPS Act, meant to supercharge U.S. manufacturing of semiconductors, an area in which the U.S. has lost its once-dominant global position.

  • GEOEGINEERINGArtificial Ocean Cooling to Weaken Hurricanes Is Futile: Study

    A new study found that even if we did have the infinite power to artificially cool enough of the oceans to weaken a hurricane, the benefits would be minimal. The researchers suggest that ocean cooling is an effectively impossible solution to mitigate disasters.

  • DISASTERSLearning from Disaster: Mental Health Researchers Offer Insights on Overcoming Trauma

    On a December morning in 1988, a massive earthquake tore through northern Armenia, devastating the small Caucasus country. Over 25,000 died – two-thirds of whom were children. As part of the international relief efforts that followed, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals from all over the world traveled to Armenia to kick off a remarkable and sustained mental health relief and research program which would last for two decades.

  • CHINA WATCHUK Biobank and China’s Access to Foreign Genetic Information

    A UK research outfit studying the genetic predisposition and environmental exposure of millions of Britons was recently urged to reconsider how it handles information transfers to Chinese researchers for medical research.

  • BIOTECHNOLOGYRegenerate: Biotechnology and U.S. Industrial Policy

    By Ryan Fedasiuk

    A revolution in biotechnology is dawning at the precise moment the world needs it most. Amid an ongoing climate crisis, fast-paced technological maturation, and a global pandemic, humans must find new ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve food security, develop new vaccines and therapeutics, recycle waste, synthesize new materials, and adapt to a changing world. The United States needs some form of industrial policy to promote its bioeconomy—one that is enshrined in democratic values and focused on improving access to four key drivers of bioeconomic growth: equipment, personnel, information, and capital.

  • NETWROKSLocal Focus Can Prevent Failures in Large Networks

    We live in an increasingly connected world, a fact underscored by the swift spread of the coronavirus around the globe. Underlying this connectivity are complex networks — global air transportation, the internet, power grids, financial systems and ecological networks, to name just a few. The need to ensure the proper functioning of these systems also is increasing, but control is difficult.