• Refurbishing Nukes: Major Milestone for B61-12 Life Extension Program

    Sandia National Laboratories marked a major milestone in November 2021 when the Nuclear Security Enterprise successfully produced the first completely refurbished bomb for the B61-12 life extension program.

  • Nuclear Energy as a Hidden Gem

    Advanced nuclear reactors will be a key component of a carbon-neutral economy. Andrew Breshears, a principal nuclear chemist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, offers a back-to-basics look at nuclear energy, and the importance of science communication in the nuclear field.

  • Hydropower and the Future of Energy

    To combat climate change, the United States has set ambitious goals toward a clean energy, carbon-free future. Hydropower — one of humankind’s oldest power sources — will be critical to meeting those goals. Experts discuss the value of hydropower to the future of energy, opportunities and challenges ahead for hydropower and its connection to the future electric grid.

  • When Water Is Coming from All Sides

    When hurricanes hit, it is not solely the storm surge from the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean that led to flooding. Inland sources, like rain-swollen rivers, lakes and suburban culverts, also contributed significantly. Researchers have developed and tested the world’s first 3D operational storm surge model, which takes these factors, which were missed by many computer models at the time, into account.

  • Robot Dogs Soon to Be Deployed at the Border

    DHS ST is offering a helping hand (or “paw”) with new robotic dog technology that can assist with enhancing the capabilities of CBP personnel, while simultaneously increasing their safety downrange.

  • Functionally Graded Material Resistant to Blasts, Fire in buildings

    When a bomb goes off or fire breaks out, a building constructed or retrofitted with an engineered composite currently confined to special applications could buy the surviving occupants extra time to get out. Functionally graded material (FGM), a recently developed composite characterized by the gradual variation of material properties across its thickness, is an effective bomb-resistant material in structural uses.

  • Low-Cost Radio System Could Help Trace Disease Spread

    In efforts to limit the spread of disease while preserving privacy, an interdisciplinary research team at NIST has designed and tested low-cost devices and methods that can detect when people or animals come into close contact with each other.

  • Assessing Bridge Support Repairs After Earthquakes

    Steel-reinforced concrete columns that support many of the world’s bridges are designed to withstand earthquakes, but always require inspection and often repair once the shaking is over. Engineers simulate restoration strategies for reinforced concrete columns.

  • Dolphins Guard U.S. Nukes

    Despite all the technological advancements warfare has seen in the last century, the U.S. Navy demonstrates that sometimes, nature offers intriguing options – like using dolphins to protect the waters around Bangor, Washington, which is the largest single nuclear weapons site in the world.

  • Using IT to Defeat Evolving Threats: The Case of the Marine Corps

    Since the dawn of the 21st century, the Marine Corps has progressively placed a greater emphasis on leveraging IT components. It has since become nestled within the Corps’ supply chain and is integral in achieving present and future goals.

  • Smart Electric Grid to Power Our Future

    A novel plan that offers partnership in keeping the United States electric grid stable and reliable could be a win-win for consumers and utility operators.

  • Opening Architecture to Make Air Travel Safer, Easier

    Researchers have developed an open architecture for airport screening systems, which will allow air travelers to experience faster and safer security checkpoints — no need to open bags or remove liquids or shoes.

  • Ensuring Safe Nuclear Waste Disposal

    Disposal concepts call for the waste to be isolated a third of a mile belowground for safe storage, enclosed within engineered barrier systems and surrounded by subsurface rock. But there’s still the chance radionuclides might leak out if these systems lose their protective properties as it heats up due to radioactive decay. International nuclear waste disposal research effort evaluates maximum allowable temperature for buffer material.

  • Addressing the Microchip Shortage

    The U.S. semiconductor chip shortage is likely to continue well into 2022, and experts predict that the U.S. will need to make major changes to the manufacturing and supply chain of these all-important chips in the coming year to stave off further effects. That includes making more of these chips here at home. 

  • Next Renewable Energy Source: An Artificial Leaf

    Solar energy is not a new concept and has been implemented on a grand scale world-wide. But researchers are looking at another possible renewable method of harnessing the power of the Sun: photosynthesis.