The formerly classified fact that one metric ton of plutonium metal was to be moved from the Savannah River Site in 2019 for use in nuclear weapon pit production at Los Alamos was declassified in 2018. This recently disclosed declassification decision was one of a handful of such actions that are taken each year by […]
How would China fight a war against the US? A new US Army publication sets out to answer that question, offering a detailed account of the military tactics China could employ. See Chinese Tactics, Army Techniques Publication (ATP) 7-100.3, August 9, 2021. The 250-page document is mainly intended to help provide a realistic basis for […]
Legislative measures to improve the process of declassifying classified national security information were introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden in the pending intelligence authorization act for FY2022. But they were included in the classified annex so their substance and import are not publicly known. “I remain deeply concerned about the failures of the Federal Government’s obsolete […]
Digital driver’s licenses can offer greater protection of personal information, and some states are already skipping the line at the DMV From submitting personal information over email to scheduling telehealth appointments, safe and verifiable forms of personal identification are crucial. While physical driver’s licenses are standard, they can be stolen or forged. To improve security […]
Poor diets present elevated health risks, and Americans need help finding the time and resources to eat nutritiously Americans get bombarded with promotions for unsubstantiated diet fads on the internet, are exposed to dubious weight-loss branded foods in grocery stores, and often struggle to eat nutritiously. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend a balanced diet […]
Limited insight into police misconduct makes it difficult to improve policing, but a national registry could help
Research into senescent cells could result in extended human lifespans and significant policy implications Improved housing, sanitation, and healthcare have significantly increased humans’ life expectancy, and biomedical advances have the potential to further extend people’s lives. The life expectancy of a person born in 1860 was only about 39 years; a person born today can […]
The Chinese missile silo program constitutes the most extensive silo construction since the US and Soviet missile silo construction during the Cold War.
To reduce the burden on traditional data centers, improving on DNA data storage could be the key The pace at which data – such as photos, videos, and social media posts – are being generated is ramping up drastically, exceeding the scaling limits of traditional silicon-based data storage technologies, and DNA could be deployed to […]
Benchtop DNA synthesizers could become more ubiquitous, and it’s up to policymakers to chart the way forward The genetic blueprints for humans, plants, disease-causing bacteria, and all other living things are written in DNA, and machines capable of synthesizing DNA are becoming more accessible to potential users. Benchtop DNA synthesizers promise to increase the speed […]
Climate change is bringing about rising temperatures, which have significant negative impacts on humans and the environment, and transitioning to renewable energy sources, such as biofuels, can help meet this challenge.
The possibility that nuclear weapons could be used in regional or global conflicts is growing, said a newly disclosed Pentagon doctrinal publication on nuclear war fighting that was updated last year. “Despite concerted US efforts to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in international affairs and to negotiate reductions in the number of nuclear weapons, since […]