• Envisioning Safer Cities with Artificial Intelligence

    Over the past several decades, artificial intelligence has advanced tremendously, and today it promises new opportunities for more accurate healthcare, enhanced national security and more effective education, researchers say. But what about civil engineering and city planning? How do increased computing power and machine learning help create safer, more sustainable and resilient infrastructure?

  • Like a Spellchecker for Developers: Automated Detection of Security Vulnerabilities in Cloud Applications

    Cloud computing is a growing market. But cyberattacks on cloud software systems are on the rise, too, as these applications often contain security vulnerabilities that hackers are able to exploit. CodeShield software – which is produced by the company of the same name – uncovers these vulnerabilities and fixes them using automated methods.

  • Germany Warns: AI Arms Race Already Underway

    An AI arms race is already underway. That’s the blunt warning from Germany’s foreign minister, Heiko Maas. It’s a reality at the heart of the struggle for supremacy between the world’s greatest powers. AI is making militaries faster, smarter and more efficient. But if left unchecked, it threatens to destabilize the world.

  • How AI Could Alert Firefighters of Imminent Danger

    Firefighting is a race against time, but exactly how much time? For firefighters, that part is often unclear. Building fires can turn from bad to deadly in an instant, and the warning signs are frequently difficult to discern amid the mayhem of an inferno. To remove this major blind spot, NIST researchers have developed P-Flash, or the Prediction Model for Flashover.

  • Shadow Figment Technology Foils Cyberattacks

    Scientists have created a cybersecurity technology called Shadow Figment that is designed to lure hackers into an artificial world, then stop them from doing damage by feeding them illusory tidbits of success.

  • Lawmakers Question DOJ Funding of Unproven Predictive Policing Technology

    Lawmakers asked the Justice Department to account for how it funds and oversees so-called predictive policing programs, especially whether the programs actually reduce crime, and the potential to amplify biased results that harm marginalized groups. “We ask DOJ to help ensure that any predictive policing algorithms in use are fully documented, subjected to ongoing, independent audits by experts, and made to provide a system of due process for those impacted,” the lawmakers wrote.

  • Reframing Infrastructure Security

    Infrastructure has always been a target in warfare, says Mikhail Chester, an ASU professor of civil and environmental engineering. “Think about military aircraft dropping bombs on bridges or railroad lines,” he says. Chester points to the recent ransomware attack that shut down one of America’s largest fuel pipeline networks. “This kind of problem is growing, and it can’t be solved through remedial repairs to old infrastructure,” Chester said.

  • Offshore Carbon Capture, Storage

    Carbon capture and storage is the practice of trapping and disposing of carbon dioxide in rock below the seafloor or earth’s surface to reduce buildup of this greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

  • DHS Awards $4.2 Million to U.S. Small Business for Homeland Security R&D

    DHS S&T announced the award of 29 competitive research contracts to 25 small businesses across the United States to participate in Phase I of the DHS Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. Each project will receive up to $150,000 from the DHS SBIR Program to conduct proof-of-concept research over a five-month period to address specific homeland security technology needs.

  • New Material Could Aid in Nuclear Nonproliferation

    A newly discovered quasicrystal that was created by the first nuclear explosion at Trinity Site, N.M., on July 16, 1945, could someday help scientists better understand illicit nuclear explosions and curb nuclear proliferation. The newly discovered material was formed accidentally in the blast of the first atomic bomb test, which resulted in the fusion of surrounding sand, the test tower, and copper transmission lines into a glassy material known as trinitite.

  • Enhanced Rescue Hoist Glove Available for Responders

    An enhanced rescue hoist glove will soon be available for first responders. DHS and partners worked to identify and develop the best materials with which to create a more durable and flexible glove for rescue hoist operations.

  • Shape-Shifting Computer Chip Thwarts an Army of Hackers

    A processor is the piece of computer hardware that runs software programs. Since a processor underlies all software systems, a secure processor has the potential to protect any software running on it from attack. We have developed and tested a secure new computer processor that thwarts hackers by randomly changing its underlying structure, thus making it virtually impossible to hack.

  • Everything You Need to Know about the Iron Dome

    Iron Dome has been in use since 2011, but it is this most recent conflict that has exposed its capabilities to the Israeli public. As heavy rocket fire reaches multiple and widespread locations across the country, many citizens are breathing much easier knowing that they are under the protection of this wonder.

  • Nuclear Terrorism Could Be Intercepted by Neutron-Gamma Detector

    Scanning technology aimed at detecting small amounts of nuclear materials was unveiled by scientists. The technology can be used in airports and seaports for routine inspection of passengers and goods.

  • Solar Geoengineering May Alleviate Impacts of Global Warming on Crops

    Solar geoengineering — putting aerosols into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight and reduce global warming — is not a fix-all for climate change but it could be one of several tools to manage climate risks. A growing body of research has explored the ability of solar geoengineering to reduce physical climate changes. But much less is known about how solar geoengineering could affect the ecosystem and, particularly, agriculture.