• Could We Use Volcanoes to Make Electricity?

    It is challenging, but tapping into the Earth’s natural heat can create a renewable, reliable and clean source of energy. As technology improves, more places around the world will turn to geothermal energy to light up people’s lives. Volcanoes are reminders of a great powerhouse deep underground that’s waiting to be harnessed.

  • AI Disinformation: Lessons from the U.K. Election

    The record-breaking 2024 figure of about 4 billion voters eligible to go to the polls across more than 60 countries coincided with the full-fledged arrival and widespread uptake of multimodal generative artificial intelligence (AI), which enables almost anyone to make fake images, videos and sound.

  • Meet the Company Using AI to Detect Earthquakes Faster

    With earthquakes recently in California and Russia, and a megaquake alert for Japan, SeismicAI’s platform can shave vital seconds off the time it takes to send alerts out.

  • Sniff Test for Explosives Detection Extends Its Reach

    Scientists have developed a way to detect tiny amounts of hard-to-detect explosives more than eight feet away, reducing the need to swipe clothing, luggage or other materials. The nNew method detects dangerous materials with lower vapor pressure.

  • State Lawmakers Eye Promise, Pitfalls of AI Ahead of November Elections

    This presidential election cycle is the first since generative AI — a form of artificial intelligence that can create new images, audio and video — became widely available. Artificial intelligence proved the ‘topic du jour’ at the largest annual meeting of state lawmakers this week in Kentucky.

  • Hybrid System Would Create New ‘Backbone’ for Internet in Space

    A new NATO-funded effort seeks to make the internet less vulnerable by rerouting its flow of information to space in the event that the underwater cables that transmit the world’s communications are attacked or accidentally severed.

  • Where the Public and Private Sectors Converge

    DHS S&T recently hosted its annual Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP) Demo Week, bringing together federal government and startup communities to exhibit new technologies, talk through ideas and identify opportunities for future collaboration.

  • White House Summit on Standards for Critical and Emerging Technology

    In a White House summit, representatives of government agencies, industry and standards development organizations discussed the U.S. Government National Standards Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technology (USG NSSCET). This strategy promotes technologically sound standards that help American industry compete internationally on a level playing field and is intended to support and complement existing private sector-led standards activities.

  • Insights on Valuable Byproduct Minerals

    Byproduct minerals are not the main target of the mining operation but are obtained as a result of processing the primary ore. Many critical minerals are byproducts of mining other minerals like copper, gold, and zinc.

  • How Deepfakes Are Being Used

    Digital tools can alter images of ourselves and others in ways that are more convincing and harder to detect than ever before. They can create spectacular special effects in movies. But they also are used with the images or voices of people without their consent, or to create propaganda with the intent to fool people.

  • AI-Powered Massive Deepfake Detector to Safeguard Elections from Deepfake Threats

    Israeli startup Revealense has introduced its illuminator Massive Deepfake Detector, an AI-powered solution designed to combat the growing threat of deepfakes in electoral processes. Dov Donin, CEO of Revealense, said: “Our system is already used by several governments globally.”

  • Engineers Debut New Drone ID Tech After Yemen Strikes Israel

    Tel Aviv University researchers unveil an AI-powered drone ID radar system that enhances detection in challenging urban environments.

  • Data Privacy After Dobbs: Is Period Tracking Safe?

    Many people think all health care information is protected under the federal privacy law, known as HIPAA. But menstrual cycle tracking apps, along with other health care technologies, like texting platforms that patients can use with doctors, are not. There haven’t been any cases where a menstrual tracking app’s data has been subpoenaed yet, but that’s probably due to the slow speed of which cases proceed through the court system.

  • How AI Bots Spread Misinformation Online and Undermine Democratic Politics

    As we navigate this era of digital discourse, awareness of blind spots in our social psychology is our best defense. Understanding how cues or triggers affect us can reduce their influence over time. The more aware we are of bots and how they work, the more able we are to protect ourselves from misleading rhetoric, ensuring our democratic processes remain robust and inclusive.

  • Q&A: If You’re Seeing This, Is It Meant for You?

    Thanks to algorithms, social media platforms can generate content that feels like it’s made just for you. Some TikTok users acknowledge the technology underlying personalized content online but can’t deny sometimes feeling that a higher power is involved, according to Penn State researchers.