Space debrisCrashing Chinese Rocket Highlights Growing Dangers of Space Debris Published 14 May 2021 This weekend, a Chinese rocket booster, weighing nearly 23 tons, came rushing back to Earth after spending more than a week in space—the result of what some critics have attributed to poor planning by China. The event has shown the potential

Supply chain securitySupply Chains and National Security—the Lessons of the COVID-19 Pandemic By Bradley Martin Published 14 May 2021 National power relies on globally efficient and intertwined supply chains. These highly interconnected supply chains are a fact of life, bringing benefit and vulnerability. Supply chain vulnerability stretches across whole sectors of the U.S. economy and

WildfiresA Dangerous Fire Season Looms as the Drought-Stricken Western U.S. Heads for a Water Crisis By Mojtaba Sadegh, Amir AghaKouchak, and John Abatzoglou Published 14 May 2021 Just about every indicator of drought is flashing red across the western U.S. after a dry winter and warm early spring. The snowpack is at less than half

Food securityNew Biodefense Lab to Focus on Food Security Published 14 May 2021 The University of Nebraska has launched a 5-year project to help safeguard the U.S. food supply. The project will address agricultural and natural resources security, defense, and countermeasures; biological defense in support of the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security

PandemicsExpert Panel: Current Global Alert System “Clearly Unfit” to Prevent Another Pandemic Published 13 May 2021 An independent report by experts offers a scathing assessment of the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “The current system—at both national and international levels— was not adequate to protect people from COVID-19,” the report says. The current pandemic

PandemicsWho Was Better at Predicting the Course of the Pandemic – Experts or the Public? By Gabriel Recchia Published 13 May 2021 Despite the potential influence of both expert and non-expert predictions on people’s responses to the pandemic, there’s been limited research on the accuracy of either – or indeed on the difference in accuracy

TerrorismFrance, Britain Fearful of Resurgent Jihadist Threat After Lockdown By Jamie Dettmer Published 13 May 2021 Nearly 200 jihadists imprisoned in France are due to be released over the next two years and French security officials are pressing French lawmakers to approve fresh antiterrorist measures to impose enhanced restrictions on those freed and to give

DronesTracking Drones in Urban Settings Published 13 May 2021 As drones become more popular and more worrisome from a security standpoint, many projects have sought to engineer systems to spot them. Engineers are using machine learning and radar to detect drones in complicated urban settings. Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane!

Power grid resilienceRenewable Energy Will Enhance Power Grid’s Resilience Published 13 May 2021 A new study shows that integrating renewable energy into the American Electric Power System (AEPS) would enhance the grid’s resilience, meaning a highly resilient and decarbonized energy system is possible. The researchers’ analysis is based upon the incremental incorporation of architectural changes

Infrastructure securityThe TSA Should Regulate Pipeline Cybersecurity By Robert K. Knake Published 11 May 2021 Fuel deliveries to the east coast of the United States have been brought to a standstill by cybercriminals that have gained access to Colonial Pipelines’ networks and forced the company to shut down its distribution system. After two decades of