• New Wave Energy Technology Gets Its Sea Legs

    Clothing that charges your smart watch as you walk, buildings that vibrate in the wind and power your lights, a road that extracts energy from the friction created by moving cars, and flexible structures that change shape in ocean waves to generate clean electricity: New technology could generate electricity from ocean waves – and many other sources.

  • Thinking Like a Cyberattacker to Protect User Data

    A component of computer processors that connects different parts of the chip can be exploited by malicious agents who seek to steal secret information from programs running on the computer. Researchers develop defense mechanisms against attacks targeting interconnection of chips in computers.

  • Can We Really Deflect an Asteroid by Crashing into It? Nobody Knows, but We Are Excited to Try

    Nasa’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (Dart) spacecraft is designed to be a one hit wonder. It will end its days by crashing into an asteroid at 24,000 kilometers per hour on 26 September. Launched from Earth in November 2021, Dart is about the size of a bus and was created to test and prove our ability to defend the Earth from a dangerous asteroid.

  • Rooftop Solar Cells Can Also Help Water Conservation

    Energy generation and use are tightly bound to water consumption, and fossil-fueled electrical grid’s enormous water use is often overlooked. A given household may save an average 16,200 gallons of water per year by installing rooftop solar.

  • Not-So-Safe Automated Driving: Safety Risks During Drivers’ Takeover

    In a recent study on automated driving traffic and engineering psychologists analyzed reactions to possible malfunctions of this future human-machine interface. The study shows that people are only partially able to take over the wheel quickly and safely in the event of technical malfunctions.

  • DHS Debuts First Fully Electric Law Enforcement Vehicle

    DHS became the first federal agency to debut a battery electric vehicle (EV) fitted for performing law enforcement functions. The Ford Mustang Mach-E is the first of a variety of EVs DHS plans to field across its varied law enforcement missions throughout the United States.

  • U.S. Is Falling Behind China in Key Technologies: Experts

    The United States has fallen behind China in the development of several key technologies, and it now faces an uncertain future in which other countries could challenge U.S. historic dominance in the development of cutting-edge technology. A new report envisions a future where China, not the U.S., captures the trillions of dollars of income generated by the new technological advances and uses its leverage to make the case that autocracy, not democracy, is the superior form of government.

  • A New Strategy to Speed Up Cold Case Investigations

    Solving crimes with forensic genetic genealogy is slow and complicated. A new mathematical analysis could crack cases 10 times faster.

  • Security-Focused, 5G Wireless Test Range

    Researchers have opened the nation’s first open-air, 5G wireless test range focused exclusively on security testing, training and technology development. The range will be used by government, academic and industry collaborators. Although limited 5G service is available in selected cities across the country, widespread adoption is still years away.

  • Electric Planes Are Coming: Short-Hop Regional Flights Could Be Running on Batteries in a Few Years

    Electric planes might seem futuristic, but they aren’t that far off, at least for short hops. In the 2030s, experts say, electric aviation could really take off.

  • NIST, Google to Create New Supply of Chips for Researchers, Tech Startups

    NIST has signed a cooperative research and development agreement with Google to develop and produce chips that researchers can use to develop new nanotechnology and semiconductor devices. The cooperative research agreement aims to unleash innovation in the semiconductor and nanotechnology industries.

  • Cracking the Secrets to Earthquake Safety, One Shake Simulation at a Time

    A new experimental capability, designed to replicate realistic earthquakes in the laboratory, paired with the world’s fastest supercomputers, will help lead to resilient buildings and infrastructure across the U.S.

  • More Governments Use Spyware to Monitor Their People, Compromising Privacy

    The right to privacy is under siege as an increasing number of governments are using spyware to keep tabs on their people. Many governments are using modern digital networked technologies to monitor, control and oppress their populations.

  • EFF’s “Cover Your Tracks” Will Detect Your Use of iOS 16’s Lockdown Mode

    Apple’s new iOS 16 offers a powerful tool for its most vulnerable users. Lockdown Mode reduces the avenues attackers have to hack into users’ phones by disabling certain often-exploited features. But there is a catch.

  • The Inflation Reduction Act Is the Start of Reclaiming Critical Mineral Chains

    One important component of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed by Congress and signed into law by U.S. President Joe Biden on Aug. 16, has been largely overlooked. “Built within the IRA is a commitment to increasing the domestic U.S. supply of critical minerals—lithium, nickel, manganese, and graphite, among others—to provide the materials necessary for a vast expansion in electric vehicles (EVs), batteries, and renewable power production infrastructure,” Morgan Bazilian writes. “The United States needs more wind turbines, solar panels, and electric cars. But to make that possible, it will need more mines.”