Our PicksTitle 42 Explained | Recent California Deluge | Still Time to Fix Climate, and more Published 28 October 2021 ·  Why Lockdown Skeptics Like Me Lost the Argument ·  Does High Voter Turnout Help One Party? ·  Slavery-Era Georgia Law Is Key Defense Argument in Trial Over Ahmaud Arbery’s Killing ·  Brazil Senate Wants Bolsonaro Charged with

ARGUMENT: Improving BiosecurityTwenty Years After the Patriot Act, What Is the Future of Biosecurity? Published 27 October 2021 The USA Patriot Act was signed into law twenty20 years ago, on 26 October 2001. Yong-Bee Lim, David Gillum, and Kathleen Vogel write Many changes have taken place since 2001, and  “The Patriot Act’s top-down approach cannot

China WatchFCC Revokes China’s Telecom Rights to Operate in U.S. Published 27 October 2021 The FCC on Tuesday revoked China’s Telecom rights to operate and provide services in the United States, and gave the company sixty days to terminate its operations. “Promoting national security is an integral part of the Commission’s responsibility to advance the

Public Health EmergenciesMore States Passing Laws Limiting Authority to Respond to Public Health Emergencies Published 27 October 2021 New data capture details of an emerging effort by states to limit executive authority to act in response to public health emergencies. New data just released by the Temple University Center for Public Health Law Researchon LawAtlas.org capture details of an

CybersecurityDistributed Protocol Underpinning Cloud Computing Automatically Determined Safe and Secure Published 27 October 2021 Two researchers have debunked the common assumption that the famous Paxos consensus protocol is too complex to be proven safe without hours of manual labor. In an important step toward ensuring the protocols that dictate how our networked services operate are safe,

Climate & ViolenceHow Climate Change Contributes to Global Violence By Alex Alvarez Published 27 October 2021 Whether through drought, extreme heat waves, food insecurity, lack of potable water, changing disease vectors or any number of other impacts, large swaths of the globe will increasingly suffer from unhealthy and dangerous conditions brought about by climate change.

Coastal ChallengesClimate “Chain Reactions” Feared By Ruth Douglas Published 27 October 2021 Climate hazards such as extreme heat, drought and storms could trigger “cascading impacts” that may be felt around the world within the next decade, warns a study released ahead of the UN climate summit, COP26. Climate hazards such as extreme heat, drought and storms could

Iran’s NukesU.S. Iran Envoy: Tehran May Be Delaying Talks to Advance Nuclear Program Published 25 October 2021 Rob Malley, the top U.S. envoy on Iran says talks to revive the moribund the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers are at a “critical phase,” warning that Iran may be engaging in delaying tactics to

SurveillanceU.S. Tightens Export Controls on Items Used in Surveillance of Private Citizens, other Malicious Cyber Activities Published 25 October 2021 The Commerce Department has released an interim final rule, establishing controls on the export, reexport, or transfer (in-country) of certain items that can be used for surveillance of private citizens or other malicious cyber activities.  The

VaccinesParents Were Fine with Sweeping School Vaccination Mandates Five Decades Ago – but COVID-19 May Be a Different Story By James Colgrove Published 25 October 2021 The ongoing battles over COVID-19 vaccination in the U.S. are likely to get more heated when the Food and Drug Administration authorizes emergency use of a vaccine for children