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U.S. Needs New Strategy to Recruit and Retain STEM Talent: Report
The United States should adopt a whole-of-government strategy to recruit and retain talent in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Because foreign-born talent makes up a significant portion of the STEM workforce in the U.S., it is of critical importance to fostering and sustaining innovation, economic competitiveness, and national security.
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Novel Wireless Charging Technology Facilitating EV Charging While in Transit
Advancements in electric vehicle (EV) technology are paving the way for solutions that reduce the need to search for charging stations. A research team has developed technology that enables wireless power supply to moving vehicles.
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Social Media Manipulation in the Era of AI
China is not the only U.S. adversary exploring the potential propaganda gold mine that AI has opened. But China provides a useful case study, in part because its disinformation efforts seem to be getting bolder.
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Defense Department Should Secure Access to Advanced Semiconductor Technologies
A new, multipronged strategy is needed for the U.S. Department of Defense to secure access to advanced semiconductor technologies, one of the agency’s defining challenges, says a new report. DOD should invest in leap-ahead semiconductor technologies, work to reshore production capabilities, and strengthen industry and interagency engagement, says a new report.
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AI Technology and Self-Coordinating Drones to Detect and Investigate Wildfires
Engineers have developed a swarm of self-coordinating drones for firefighting, as part of an effort to develop cost-effective early mitigation strategies for wildfires.
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Scientists Seek to Invent a Safe, Reliable, and Cheap Battery for Electricity Grids
How do you store electricity in a way that is large and powerful enough to support the electric grid, as well as reliable, safe, environmentally sustainable, and inexpensive? Scientists are seeking to overcome the major limitations of a battery by using water as the primary component of its electrolyte.
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Toward a Code-Breaking Quantum Computer
Building on a landmark algorithm, researchers propose a way to make a smaller and more noise-tolerant quantum factoring circuit for cryptography.
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New Gels Could Protect Buildings During Wildfires
Researchers have developed a sprayable gel that creates a shield to protect buildings from wildfire damage. It lasts longer and is more effective than existing commercial options.
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Hydropower Generation Projected to Rise, but Climate Change Brings Uncertain Future
A new analysis combines hydrology data with climate change models to help water managers prepare for hydropower’s future.
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Hydro School: Engaging the Next Generation in Hydropower Discussions
As one of the many clean energy solutions, hydropower offers a variety of benefits, including affordable renewable energy, generation flexibility and resilience, and flood control, to name a few. Adding hydropower-generating infrastructure to water supply systems or waterways can also bring a variety of community benefits, such as recreation, while avoiding some environmental impacts usually associated with traditional dams.
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Global AI Adoption Is Outpacing Risk Understanding, Warns MIT CSAIL
As organizations rush to implement artificial intelligence (AI), a new analysis of AI-related risks finds significant gaps in our understanding, highlighting an urgent need for a more comprehensive approach.
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The Danger of AI in War: It Doesn’t Care About Self-Preservation
Recent wargames using artificial-intelligence models from OpenAI, Meta and Anthropic revealed a troubling trend: AI models are more likely than humans to escalate conflicts to kinetic, even nuclear, war.
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Four Fallacies of AI Cybersecurity
To date, the majority of AI cybersecurity efforts do not reflect the accumulated knowledge and modern approaches within cybersecurity, instead tending toward concepts that have been demonstrated time and again not to support desired cybersecurity outcomes.
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To Get Off Fossil fuels, America Is Going to Need a Lot More Electricians
To cut greenhouse gas emissions on pace with the best available science, the United States must prepare for a monumental increase in electricity use. Burning fossil fuels to heat homes and get around isn’t compatible with keeping the planet at a livable temperature. Appliances that can be powered by clean electricity already exist to meet all of these needs. The problem is, most houses aren’t wired to handle the load from electric heating, cooking, and clothes dryers, along with solar panels and vehicle chargers. And a shortage of skilled labor could derail efforts to “electrify everything.”
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Floating Piers and Sinking Hopes: China’s Logistics Challenge in Invading Taiwan
Last month the United States disassembled and removed the floating pier it had assembled at a Gaza beach to take aid deliveries. It took almost a month to assemble, waves damaged it and almost destroyed it, and waves drove ashore boats that serviced it. And all that was nothing compared with the challenges that China’s armed forces would face in trying to deliver a mountain of personnel, equipment and supplies in an invasion of Taiwan.
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More headlines
The long view
Encryption Breakthrough Lays Groundwork for Privacy-Preserving AI Models
In an era where data privacy concerns loom large, a new approach in artificial intelligence (AI) could reshape how sensitive information is processed. New AI framework enables secure neural network computation without sacrificing accuracy.
AI-Controlled Fighter Jets May Be Closer Than We Think — and Would Change the Face of Warfare
By Arun Dawson
Could we be on the verge of an era where fighter jets take flight without pilots – and are controlled by artificial intelligence (AI)? US R Adm Michael Donnelly recently said that an upcoming combat jet could be the navy’s last one with a pilot in the cockpit.
AI and the Future of the U.S. Electric Grid
By Doug Irving
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.
Using Liquid Air for Grid-Scale Energy Storage
By Nancy W. Stauffer
New research finds liquid air energy storage could be the lowest-cost option for ensuring a continuous power supply on a future grid dominated by carbon-free but intermittent sources of electricity.
Enhanced Geothermal Systems: A Promising Source of Round-the-Clock Energy
By Julie Bobyock and Christina Procopiou
With its capacity to provide 24/7 power, many are warming up to the prospect of geothermal energy. Scientists are currently working to advance human-made reservoirs in Earth’s deep subsurface to stimulate the activity that exists within natural geothermal systems.
Experts Discuss Geothermal Potential
By Graeme Beardsmore and Rachel Webster, University of Melbourne
Geothermal energy harnesses the heat from within Earth—the term comes from the Greek words geo (earth) and therme (heat). It is an energy source that has the potential to power all our energy needs for billions of years.
Autonomous Weapon Systems: No Human-in-the-Loop Required, and Other Myths Dispelled
“The United States has a strong policy on autonomy in weapon systems that simultaneously enables their development and deployment and ensures they could be used in an effective manner, meaning the systems work as intended, with the same minimal risk of accidents or errors that all weapon systems have,” Michael Horowitz writes.
Are We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?
Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”
Autonomous Weapon Systems: No Human-in-the-Loop Required, and Other Myths Dispelled
“The United States has a strong policy on autonomy in weapon systems that simultaneously enables their development and deployment and ensures they could be used in an effective manner, meaning the systems work as intended, with the same minimal risk of accidents or errors that all weapon systems have,” Michael Horowitz writes.
Are We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?
Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”