• Exploring Feasibility of Using Drones to Survey Sites for Low Levels of Radiation

    By Allan Brettman

    Drones are tools for search and rescue, traffic monitoring, weather monitoring, and perhaps even package hauling. One day, they may work with humans to augment the task of conducting surveys to detect low levels of radiation—information that could contribute to the decommissioning of sites no longer needed for nuclear-related energy production or research.

  • Long-Term Coastal Cliff Loss Due to Climate Change

    By Anne M. Stark

    The dangers of coastal erosion are an all-too-familiar reality for the modern residents of California’s iconic mountainous coastal communities. New tool brings historical perspective to the topic of how to manage these disappearing coastlines.

  • Making the Power Grid More Reliable and Resilient

    By Jake Malooley

    The U.S. power grid comprises nearly 12,000 power plants, 200,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines, 60,000 substations and 3 million miles of power lines. It may well be the most massive and complex machine ever assembled. Argonne National Labs’ researchers help keep this machine working in the face of daunting challenges.

  • Using AI to Find Rare Minerals

    A machine learning model can predict the locations of minerals on Earth—and potentially other planets—by taking advantage of patterns in mineral associations.

  • DOJ: Charges Related to Efforts by Russia, China, Iran to Steal American Technology

    By Masood Farivar

    DOJ announced five criminal cases exposing the relentless efforts by Russia, China and Iran to steal sensitive U.S. technologies. The cases were brought by a new “strike force” created earlier this year to deter foreign adversaries from obtaining advanced U.S. innovation.

  • Six Pressing Questions We Must Ask About Generative AI

    The past twenty-five years have demonstrated that waiting until after harms occur to implement internet safeguards fails to protect users. The emergence of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) lends an unprecedented urgency to these concerns as this technology outpaces what regulations we have in place to keep the internet safe.

  • Lessons from ‘Star Trek: Picard’ – a Cybersecurity Expert Explains How a Sci-Fi Series Illuminates Today’s Threats

    By Richard Forno

    Sometimes Hollywood gets it right by depicting reality in ways that both entertain and educate. And that’s important, because whether it’s a large company, government or your personal information, we all share many of the same cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities. As a former cybersecurity industry practitioner and current cybersecurity researcher, I believe the final season of “Star Trek: Picard” is the latest example of entertainment media providing useful lessons about cybersecurity and the nature of the modern world.

  • Making Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Cybersecure

    As more electric vehicles (EVs) hit the road, charging stations are popping up across the United States. The benefits go beyond curbing carbon emissions from road travel. These systems can also link to the electric grid through smart charging, drawing power when overall demand is low and feeding it back to the grid when needed.

  • Quantum Cryptography Applications

    The development of quantum computing means that the use of classic cryptography for secure communications is in danger of becoming obsolete. Quantum cryptography, on the other hand, uses the laws of quantum mechanics to ensure total security. One example of this is quantum key distribution, which enables two parties to secure a message via a random secret key.

  • AI Models Fail to Reproduce Human Judgements About Rule Violations: Study

    By Adam Zewe

    Models trained using common data-collection techniques judge rule violations more harshly than humans would, researchers report.

  • Improving Capabilities of Portable Drug Detection Systems

    DHS S&T and partners are working to improve their ability to identify different narcotics, like fentanyl. Narcotics detection systems libraries will be enhanced via the collection of data on approximately 50 restricted substances, primarily related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl, that are scheduled and controlled by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

  • Nuclear Agency Cannot Continue With “Business as Usual” in the Shifting Supercomputing Landscape: Report

    The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) needs to fundamentally rethink the strategy for its next generation of high-performance computing, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences.

  • Producing Medical Isotopes While Lowering the Risk of Nuclear Weapons Proliferation

    Scientists and engineers at Argonne have been working for decades to help medical isotope production facilities around the world change from the use of highly enriched uranium (HEU) to the use of low-enriched uranium (LEU), which is much more difficult to use in a weapon.

  • New Tool Optimizes Irrigation

    By Adam Hadhazy

    A new tool for designing and managing irrigation for farms advances the implementation of smart agriculture, an approach that leverages data and modern technologies to boost crop yields while conserving natural resources.

  • Helping the U.S. Fast-track Hypersonic Conventional Weapons

    Hypersonic weapons have been a top priority for modernizing the armed forces, with ultrafast, long-range and maneuverable munitions being touted as a revolutionary advance in modern warfare. The U.S. has fast-tracked their development and announced plans to field the first conventional hypersonic missile battery this year. Sandia National Lab is helping the U.S. achieve this goal.