The Department of Energy has awarded 106 research and development grants worth a combined $126 million to 90 small businesses undertaking clean energy, cybersecurity, fusion energy and nuclear nonproliferation projects. In a press release, the department said small businesses play a key role in efforts to decarbonize, ensure national security and achieve President Joe Biden’s […]
Niall Brennan has accepted the role of senior adviser to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director. He is expected to guide CDC Director Mandy Cohen on a multi-year data modernization initiative worth more than $1 billion. The agency aims to upgrade federal and state public health data and surveillance infrastructure after a high […]
A research team is launching a project to explore the possibility of a direct air capture facility to purge carbon dioxide from the air in California’s Southern San Joaquin Valley. The group is composed of researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment at the University of […]
Phoenix Air Unmanned has secured Federal Aviation Administration clearance to conduct aerial photography, surveys and powerline and pipeline inspections using SwissDrones SVO 50 V2 drones beyond visual line of sight. The company is allowed to fly such vehicles below 400 feet over certain roads and below pre-planned flight paths over sparsely populated areas, the FAA […]
The National Institute of Standards and Technology has started standardizing four algorithms designed to withstand quantum-enabled cyberattacks. The NIST released the draft standards for the CRYSTALS-Dilithium, CRYSTALS-Kyber and SPHINCS+ algorithms, which enable quantum-secure general encryption and digital signatures. The draft standard for the FALCON algorithm will be released in around a year. The cryptography community […]
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have used electromagnetic transient domain analysis to identify the causes and effects of faults on the electricity grid of the United States. A ORNL team, in partnership with Southern California Edison, conducted a simulation where the EMT method was used to replicate the effects of an electrical fault that impacted […]
The National Science Foundation will invest $29 million in 18 research teams exploring quantum sensor technologies and their potential applications, including in health care and geological surveying and mapping. The teams, comprising researchers from various U.S. universities, will receive up to $2 million in funding over four years under the Quantum Sensing Challenges for Transformational […]
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the National Security Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have issued a factsheet on quantum capabilities and are encouraging organizations to start developing readiness strategies ahead of a transition to post-quantum cryptography. CISA Director Jen Easterly, a 2023 Wash100 awardee, emphasized that critical infrastructure organizations in […]
The Department of Homeland Security recently added items to its AI use cases inventory while removing others on the publicly available list required under Executive Order 13960 issued in 2020. The AI technologies added to the list include a facial recognition system that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement uses and the Customs and Border Protection’s […]
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health is soliciting technology proposals for its newly launched Digital Health Security project seeking to protect the U.S. healthcare system’s digital infrastructure. The agency, a unit of the Department of Health and Human Services, seeks proven technologies designed for national security and applicable to civilian health systems, clinical care […]
