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“Expert” Opinion More Likely to Damage Vaccine Trust Than Political Propaganda

Our research shows that the biggest threat to reliable information access for military and DoD service members is expert opinion. A high-level analysis of anti-COVID vaccine narratives on social media reveals that opinions from experts achieve higher relevancy and engagement than opinions from news pundits, even if the news source is considered reliable by its […]

10.14.21 | 5 min read
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Global Risk
Blog
After Trump Secrecy, Biden Administration Restores US Nuclear Weapons Transparency

The Biden administration yesterday afternoon declassified the number of nuclear weapons the United States possesses. The act reverses the secrecy of the Trump administration, which denied release of the number for three years, and restores the nuclear transparency of the Obama administration.

10.06.21 | 7 min read
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FAS
Blog
A Push to Elevate Open Source Intelligence

Open source intelligence — which is derived from open, unclassified sources — should be recognized as a mature intelligence discipline that is no less important than other established forms of intelligence, the House of Representatives said last month in the FY 2022 defense authorization act (sec. 1612). The House directed the Secretary of Defense and the […]

10.04.21 | 2 min read
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FAS
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Energy Dept Issues More Declassification Decisions

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 […]

10.04.21 | 2 min read
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FAS
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US Army Views Chinese Military Tactics

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 […]

08.23.21 | 3 min read
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FAS
Blog
New Declassification Reforms Are Classified

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 […]

08.23.21 | 1 min read
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Emerging Technology
Blog
Digital IDs for Securing Personal Information

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 […]

08.18.21 | 3 min read
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Environment
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Empowering Healthy Eating in America

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 […]

08.11.21 | 2 min read
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Emerging Technology
Blog
Police Misconduct and Violence: Let the Data Talk

Limited insight into police misconduct makes it difficult to improve policing, but a national registry could help

08.04.21 | 3 min read
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Emerging Technology
Blog
Extending Human Life with Senescent Cell Treatments

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 […]

07.28.21 | 2 min read
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Global Risk
Blog
China Is Building A Second Nuclear Missile Silo Field

The Chinese missile silo program constitutes the most extensive silo construction since the US and Soviet missile silo construction during the Cold War.

07.26.21 | 9 min read
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Emerging Technology
Blog
DNA for Data Storage and Retrieval

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 […]

07.21.21 | 2 min read
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