EarthquakesMachine Learning Helps Measure Building Earthquake Damage Published 28 November 2021 One obstacle which often prevent an effective response to earthquakes is that the buildings from which such a response is managed and response equipment stored, are themselves damaged. Researchers have developed a method to quickly assess damage to such buildings immediately after an earthquake

Planetary SecurityFirst Planetary Defense Test Published 28 November 2021 An asteroid slammed into Earth 63 billion years ago, igniting vast fires which threw smoke and soot into the atmosphere, plunging the planet into a prolonged winter, killing many plants on which herbivores depended. The extinction of the dinosaurs was only one consequence of that event.

Iran’s NukesIran Can Produce One Nuclear Weapon in as Little as Three Weeks Published 26 November 2021 The growth of Iran’s stocks of near 20 and 60 percent enriched uranium has dangerously reduced breakout timelines: Iran has enough enriched uranium hexafluoride (UF6) in the form of near 20 and 60 percent enriched uranium to produce

Weaponized VehiclesSUV Tragedy in Wisconsin Shows How Vehicles Can Be Used as a Weapon of Mass Killing – Intentionally or Not By Mia Bloom Published 26 November 2021 Cars, SUVs and trucks can be an efficient means of mass killing, and one that can be virtually impossible to prepare against. Furthermore, it is becoming harder

ImmigrationReport: Economics Drives Migration from Central America to the U.S. By Peter Dizikes Published 26 November 2021 A new survey underscores how material needs lead to movement within the Americas — at a high cost to those trying to relocate. A new report about migration, co-authored by MIT scholars, shows that economic distress is the main

PolicingWhen Police Forces Grow, Homicides Drop and Low-Level Arrests Increase Published 26 November 2021 Research by criminologists found that an additional 10 to 17 officers prevented one homicide annually, but each extra officer added up to 22 arrests for crimes like drug possession. What happens when a city increases the size of its police force? According to

China WatchChinese Force Labor Connections in Global Retail Brands’ Supply Chains Published 26 November 2021 More than 100 global retail brands could be at risk of using cotton that is produced by Uyghur forced labor according to new research. The findings suggest dozens of well-known international brands are at risk of using cotton that is

Family SeparationFamily Separation’s Psychological Trauma in Parents, Children Persists After Reunification: Medical Study Published 26 November 2021 New analysis finds long-lasting psychological harm sustained by survivors of the “zero tolerance” policy. The study finds that forcibly separating parents and children, especially when compounded with pre-migration traumas, produced signs and symptoms of trauma that met the

Supply ChainHow to Fix Global Supply Chains for Good By Roger W. Ferguson Jr. and Upamanyu Lahiri Published 26 November 2021 Truck-driver shortages, “lean” inventories, and an overreliance on China plagued global supply chains long before the pandemic. Permanently addressing these and other issues will help the United States and rest of the world better

VaccinesRussian Anti-Vaccine Disinformation Campaign Backfires By Jamie Dettmer Published 18 November 2021 For more than a year, Russian-aligned troll factories overseeing thousands of social media accounts have been spreading anti-vaccine messages in an aggressive campaign to spread conspiracy theories and cast doubt on Western coronavirus vaccines. But the year-long offensive appears to have backfired. Russian