China watchNew Report Offers Chilling Details of China’s hidden Prisons Published 23 June 2021 A new illustrated report offers a disturbing look into China’s Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL). The report depicts RSDL with artwork, satellite images, and architectural sketches to bring the reality of this secret prison system to light. A new illustrated

Managed coastal retreatRole of Managed Retreat as a Climate Change Response Published 23 June 2021 Managed retreat—the climate adaptation response of moving people and property out of harm’s way— is becomig more appealing as one of several responses to sea-level rise. Researchers explore what it would take for managed retreat to be supportive of people

Managed coastal retreat“Managed Retreat” Can Reinvent Cities While Protecting Lives When Climate Change Floods, Burns or Bakes the Land By A. R. Siders Published 23 June 2021 Record-breaking heat waves; megadroughts, drying fresh-water sources; hotter and more frequent wildfires; intensifying hurricanes — this is what climate change looks like, and communities need to be prepared.

Flood warningsEarlier Flood Forecasting Could Help Avoid Disaster in Japan Published 22 June 2021 In Japan, thousands of homes and businesses and hundreds of lives have been lost to typhoons. But now, researchers have revealed that a new flood forecasting system could provide earlier flood warnings, giving people more time to prepare or evacuate, and

Infrastructure protectionHow Will We Protect American Infrastructure from Cyberattacks Published 22 June 2021 As the Colonial Pipeline hack and subsequent shutdown reminded us so recently, our infrastructure’s digital connectedness — while bringing benefits like convenience, better monitoring and remote problem-solving — leaves it vulnerable to cyberattacks. Infrastructure — it’s one of those words we think we

Coastal challengesOverseas Climate Change Could Devastate U.K. Published 22 June 2021 The effects of climate change overseas could have a potentially devastating impact on the economy here in the UK. The UK economy is particularly exposed to risks because of London’s prominent role at the center of the global insurance market. Climate change will lead

Water securityTexas Must Address Groundwater Future: Study Published 22 June 2021 Long-term water security is essential for the future of Texas, and the state acutely needs a common law system that can balance world-scale agricultural activity, industrial development and urban growth while also protecting private property rights, according to new research. Long-term water security is essential

Gain-of-function researchWhy Gain-of-Function Research Matters By David Gillum and Rebecca Moritz Published 21 June 2021 There are unanswered questions about the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, so both the U.S. government and scientists have called for a deeper examination of the validity of claims that a virus could have escaped from a lab in Wuhan,

Lab safetyIt’s Time to Talk about Lab Safety Published 21 June 2021 A new website, GlobalBioLabs.org, is an interactive web-based map of global Biosafety Level 4 facilities and biorisk management policies. Only 17 of the 23 countries that house BSL-4 laboratories have national biosafety associations or are members of international partnerships. Dr. Filippa Lentzos, a senior

DisastersPuerto Rico is Prone to More Flooding Than the Island is Prepared to Handle Published 21 June 2021 Puerto Rico is not ready for another hurricane season, let alone the effects of climate change, according to a new study that shows the island’s outstanding capacity to produce record-breaking floods and trigger a large number of landslides.