• TRUTH DECAYTechnology Can Detect Fake News in Videos

    Social media represent a major channel for the spreading of fake news and disinformation. This situation has been made worse with recent advances in photo and video editing and artificial intelligence tools, which make it easy to tamper with audiovisual files, for example with so-called deepfakes, which combine and superimpose images, audio and video clips to create montages that look like real footage.

  • BATTERIESSoon: Fire-Safe, Recyclable Lithium-Metal Batteries

    To power our increasingly electrified society, energy storage technology must evolve and adapt to meet the growing demand. Lithium-ion batteries, already essential to myriad technology, will require dramatic improvements in high-energy density, safety, temperature resilience, and environmental sustainability in order to provide the type of emission-free future that so many envision. Such improvements are here.

  • AIRPORT SECURITYRemote Screening Demonstration at Cape Cod Gateway Airport

    DHS S&T successfully conducted a demonstration of remote screening infrastructure for airport security checkpoints. The Integrated Defense & Security Solutions (IDSS) can send computed tomography (CT) X-ray images of carry-on baggage flagged for threats to remote locations for near real-time analysis.

  • EXPLOSIVES DETECTION3D X-Ray Makes it Easier to Detect Hidden Explosive Weapons

    As travelers pass through border crossings, ports of call, airport checkpoints, and various precautionary measures in both federal and private venues, their safety and wellbeing are constantly ensured through various forms of screening technologies that have one critical goal: to identify and alert the proper authorities to potential threats. These technologies do their jobs very effectively, but it is important to ask the question: Can they be improved?

  • CYBERSECURITYA Simple Tool Curbs Hacking, Makes Websites More Secure

    Researchers have developed a scanning tool to make websites less vulnerable to hacking and cyberattacks. The black box security assessment prototype is more effective than existing web scanners which collectively fail to detect the top 10 weaknesses in web applications.

  • BIOMETRICSBreath Biometrics: Sniffing Out Your Identity

    Biometric authentication like fingerprint and iris scans are a staple of any spy movie, and trying to circumvent those security measures is often a core plot point. Now, researchers have developed a new potential odorous option for the biometric security toolkit: your breath.

  • COASTAL CHALLENGESDeveloping Novel Hybrid Reef-Mimicking Structures

    Despite previous efforts to implement storm mitigation solutions — including concrete breakwaters — damage due to storm surge and flooding continues to devastate coastal areas around the world. In response to these threats, DARPA has launched the Reefense program to develop self-healing, hybrid biological, and engineered reef-mimicking structures to protect civilian and DoD infrastructure, personnel by mitigating damage related to coastal flooding, erosion and storm surge.

  • ARGUMENT: AI & NATIONAL SECURITY Preparing National Security Officials for the Challenges of AI

    Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of several rapidly emerging technologies that promise to disrupt not only multiple sectors of the U.S. economy but also the manner in which the U.S. government carries out its foundational responsibility to protect national security consistent with the rule of law and constitutional values. Steve Bunnell writes that “The United States’ national security apparatus is not known for nimbleness, nor is the law that governs it. When it comes to AI, the risk is not just that our generals will fight tomorrow’s war with yesterday’s strategy but also that the United States will lack the legal and policy guardrails that are essential to a lawful, accountable, and ethical protection of the nation’s security.”

  • ENCRYPTIONTaking Steps Toward a Secure Quantum Internet

    Scientists with at the University of Chicago have, for the first time, connected the city of Chicago and suburban labs with a quantum network—nearly doubling the length of what was already one of the longest in the country.

  • AIThe Military Cannot Rely on AI for Strategy or Judgment

    Using artificial intelligence (AI) for warfare has been the promise of science fiction and politicians for years, but new research argues only so much can be automated and shows the value of human judgment.

  • AIThe Struggle Over AI Surveillance: From Digitalization to Dystopia?

    “From cameras that identify the faces of passersby to algorithms that keep tabs on public sentiment online, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools are opening new frontiers in state surveillance around the world,” states a new report. One experts says that just as with doctors’ medical practice, purveyors of new technologies should commit to a ‘do no harm’ code of ethics.

  • CYBERSECURITY“Hacking” Solutions for Pressing Cybersecurity Challenges

    When people think about the game capture the flag, memories of gym class or family trips likely come to mind. Researchers are participating in a slightly different version of this childhood favorite, where teams face off against opponents across the world to tackle real-world cybersecurity issues. 

  • GRID PROTECTIONCybersecurity Tools to Protect Solar, Wind Power on the Grid

    Solar panels and wind turbines are projected to produce 44% of America’s electricity by 2050, but they present cybersecurity challenges. They have sensors, controllers, actuators or inverters which are directly or indirectly connected to the internet using insecure connectivity to legacy electric grid systems. They have complex physics. They’re subject to advanced persistent threats. And there will be more and more of them going online.

  • CHEMICAL DETECTIONAssessing the Risks of Toxic or Flammable Clouds

    The Chemical Security Analysis Center was established by the Department of Homeland Security to identify and assess chemical threats and vulnerabilities in the United States and develop the best responses to potential chemical hazards.

  • SATELLITESBuild-a-Satellite Program Could Fast Track National Security Space Missions

    Satellites equipped with remote sensing technology execute many critical national security missions, from detecting explosions to tracking sea ice, but until now it could take a team years to move from a concept to a deployable space system. High-performance computing enables custom satellite design and analysis in weeks.