Our picks: Lab-leak theoryWhat Scientists Do and Don’t Know about COVID-19 Origins | The Rise of the Coronavirus Lab-Leak Theory | The Lab Leak Theory Doesn’t Hold Up, and more Published 24 August 2021 Editor’s note: This is the first of a 2-part list of the best articles on the origins of COVID-19. Tomorrow we

AfghanistanAfghanistan’s Panjshir Valley: The Last Stronghold of Resistance to Taliban Rule By Kaweh Kerami Published 24 August 2021 Panjshir Valley, nearly 150km north of Kabul, is home to a largely ethnic Tajik population and through four decades of civil war and Taliban insurgency has been a center of resistance. Panjshir resisted the Soviet invasion in

AfghanistanChina’s Response to the Taliban’s Takeover Published 24 August 2021 “The primary interest for China in Afghanistan is ensuring stability so that no unrest would spill over into the wider region and China in particular. In this sense, the U.S. presence in Afghanistan has been a positive for China as it has played the security

China watchCybersecurity Experts Worried by Chinese Firm’s Control of Smart Devices  By Adam Xu Published 23 August 2021 From rooftop to basement and the bedrooms in between, much of the technology making consumer products smart comes from a little-known Chinese firm, Tuya Inc. of Hangzhou.More than 5,000 brands have incorporated Tuya’s technology in their products.

COVID-19Data Mining Tools Tackle COVID-19 Misinformation, Identify Symptoms Published 23 August 2021 Computer scientists use Google Trends and a government dataset to track both COVID-19 symptoms and sift through misinformation about the disease on social media. UC Riverside computer scientists are developing tools to help track and monitor COVID-19 symptoms and to sift through misinformation about

Food securityNew Ways to Assess Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture Published 23 August 2021 Scientists agree climate change has a profound impact on U.S. agricultural production, but estimates vary, making it hard to develop mitigation strategies. Two agricultural economists take a closer look at how choice of statistical methodology influences climate study results. They also

Cybersecurity educationUGA’s Major Hiring Initiative in Data Science, Artificial Intelligence Published 23 August 2021 Data science and artificial intelligence transform a range of fields, and the University of Georgia aims to recruit 50 faculty members over the next two years who will educate students and advance research in data science and AI. As data science and

The next pandemicCDC Sets Up New Disease Forecasting Center Published 20 August 2021 The CDC announced a new center — the Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics — designed to advance the use of forecasting and outbreak analytics in public health decision making. Among other missions, the new center will accelerate access to and use

The next pandemicInvestments in Nature Needed to Stop the Next Pandemic: Experts Published 20 August 2021 A group of leading scientific experts from the U.S., Latin America, Africa and South Asia released a report outlining the strong scientific foundations for taking actions to stop the next pandemic by preventing the spillover of pathogens from animals

WildfiresEmberometer Gauges Threat of Wildfire-Spreading Embers Published 20 August 2021 Wildfire fronts spread not only on the ground, but also from above, as the fire launching volleys of glowing embers, also known as firebrands, into the air. These specks of burning debris can glide for up to about 24 miles before landing. They cause up