While most of Syria’s declared chemical weapons facilities have been destroyed, the possibility of undeclared stockpiles has been hard to rule out. UN investigators said they have confirmed the use of chemical weapons in attacks attributed to the Asad regime. Background on the subject was provided by the Congressional Research Service last week in Syria’s Chemical Weapons: Continuing Challenges, CRS Insight, September 8, 2017.
Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
Congressional Primer on Responding to Major Disasters and Emergencies, updated September 8, 2017
Congressional Considerations Related to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, CRS Insight, updated September 8, 2017
Patentable Subject Matter Reform, September 8, 2017
The DACA and DAPA Deferred Action Initiatives: Frequently Asked Questions, updated September 6, 2017
The End of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program: Some Immediate Takeaways, CRS Legal Sidebar, September 8, 2017
About 86% of Colorado’s water is used for agriculture, but only about 30-60% of that water actually reaches crops. Conveyance efficiency through canal modernization is a powerful drought resilience and water saving strategy with proven technical feasibility.
“One thing became increasingly clear: AI doesn’t simply introduce a new category of risk. It changes the speed, scale, complexity, and interaction of risks that already exist.”
In an ideal world, we would not have state or federal climate intervention research bans. We would have researchers and institutions that would not shy away from revealing the good, the bad, and the ugly of these technologies and doing so responsibly.
“What excites me is that it’s very tempting to be very discouraged, and say, ‘Oh, we’ve got these archaic institutions that are calcified and you could never change them.’ But I think we’re in the middle of a technological revolution that will upend lots of things, and does provide a window.”