Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Landslides
Published

New model developed to predict landslides along wildfire burn scars      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have augmented a physics-based numerical model to investigate and predict areas susceptible to debris flows. This augmented model eventually could be used in an early warning system for people living in high-risk areas, enabling them to evacuate before it's too late. Information from model simulations also could be used to design new infrastructure -- such as diversion bars that deflect fast-moving water away from homes and roads -- for high hazard zones.

Computer Science: Encryption Mathematics: Puzzles
Published

'Pulling back the curtain' to reveal a molecular key to The Wizard of Oz      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Many people and companies worry about sensitive data getting hacked, so encrypting files with digital keys has become more commonplace. Now, researchers have developed a durable molecular encryption key from sequence-defined polymers that are built and deconstructed in a sequential way. They hid their molecular key in the ink of a letter, which was mailed and then used to decrypt a file with text from a classic story.

Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Landslides
Published

Mangrove and reef restoration yield positive returns on investment for flood protection, study shows      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Restoration of mangroves and coral reefs can be a cost-effective solution for coastal flood reduction in more than 20 countries across the Caribbean. Researchers used methods from the risk and insurance industry to provide rigorous valuations of these natural defenses and show that they can deliver a positive return on investment, with the benefits from reduced flood damage exceeding the costs of restoration. The results point toward new opportunities to support restoration efforts with funds from sources that support hazard mitigation, climate adaptation, and disaster recovery, including FEMA.

Geoscience: Landslides
Published

Study explores uncertainties in flood risk estimates      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Flood frequency analysis is a technique used to estimate flood risk, providing statistics such as the '100-year flood' or '500-year flood' that are critical to infrastructure design, dam safety analysis, and flood mapping in flood-prone areas. But the method used to calculate these flood frequencies is due for an update, according to a new study.

Computer Science: Encryption Engineering: Biometric
Published

Radio waves for the detection of hardware tampering      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Up to now, protecting hardware against manipulation has been a laborious business: expensive, and only possible on a small scale. And yet, two simple antennas might do the trick.

Computer Science: Encryption
Published

Secure communication with light particles      (via sciencedaily.com) 

While quantum computers offer many novel possibilities, they also pose a threat to internet security since these supercomputers make common encryption methods vulnerable. Based on the so-called quantum key distribution, researchers have developed a new, tap-proof communication network.

Computer Science: Encryption
Published

Emulating impossible 'unipolar' laser pulses paves the way for processing quantum information      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A laser pulse that sidesteps the inherent symmetry of light waves could manipulate quantum information, potentially bringing us closer to room temperature quantum computing.

Computer Science: Encryption
Published

Self-propelled, endlessly programmable artificial cilia      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed a single-material, single-stimuli microstructure that can outmaneuver even living cilia. These programmable, micron-scale structures could be used for a range of applications, including soft robotics, biocompatible medical devices, and even dynamic information encryption.

Geoscience: Landslides
Published

Landslides can have a major impact on glacier melt and movement      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Using satellite imagery to study the effects of a 2019 landslide on the Amalia Glacier in Patagonia, a research team found the landslide helped stabilize the glacier and caused it to grow by about 1,000 meters over the last three years.

Computer Science: Encryption Mathematics: Puzzles
Published

Scientific advance leads to a new tool in the fight against hackers      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new form of security identification could soon see the light of day and help us protect our data from hackers and cybercriminals. Quantum mathematicians have solved a mathematical riddle that allows for a person's geographical location to be used as a personal ID that is secure against even the most advanced cyber attacks.

Geoscience: Landslides
Published

Flood risk for Iowa farmland      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have created a detailed set of maps examining the flood risk for all farmland in Iowa. The maps show 450,000 acres of crops in areas with a 50% chance of flooding, and losses from flooding averaging $230 million annually.

Computer Science: Encryption
Published

New technique offers faster security for non-volatile memory tech      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed a technique that leverages hardware and software to improve file system security for next-generation memory technologies called non-volatile memories (NVMs). The new encryption technique also permits faster performance than existing software security technologies.

Geoscience: Landslides
Published

Drenching rains to pose greater threat to fire-damaged areas in West      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The western United States this century is facing a greatly heightened risk of heavy rains inundating areas recently scarred by wildfires, new research warns. Such events can cause significant destruction, including debris flows, mudslides, and flash floods, because the denuded landscape cannot easily contain the drenching moisture.

Computer Science: Encryption
Published

Technology has the potential to change the patient-provider relationship      (via sciencedaily.com) 

As personal health records (AKA patient portals) allowing patients to see test results, medications and other health information gain in popularity, scientists studied cancer patients' and doctors' differing perceptions of this tool. Patients cited potential for personal health records to deepen their relationship with their healthcare provider and to allow them to be more understood. Physicians were interested in having more clinical information sharing to facilitate better patient care.

Computer Science: Encryption Mathematics: Puzzles
Published

Single-photon source paves the way for practical quantum encryption      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers describe new high-purity single-photon source that can operate at room temperature. The source is an important step toward practical applications of quantum technology, such as highly secure communication based on quantum key distribution (QKD).

Computer Science: Encryption
Published

Tiny, cheap solution for quantum-secure encryption      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Engineers propose a new kind of encryption to protect data in the age of quantum computers.

Computer Science: Encryption
Published

Qubits: Developing long-distance quantum telecommunications networks      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Computers, smartphones, GPS: quantum physics has enabled many technological advances. It is now opening up new fields of research in cryptography (the art of coding messages) with the aim of developing ultra-secure telecommunications networks. There is one obstacle, however: after a few hundred kilometers within an optical fiber, the photons that carry the qubits or 'quantum bits' (the information) disappear. They therefore need 'repeaters', a kind of 'relay', which are partly based on a quantum memory. By managing to store a qubit in a crystal (a 'memory') for 20 milliseconds, a team has now taken a major step towards the development of long-distance quantum telecommunications networks.

Computer Science: Encryption
Published

Tiny magnets could hold the secret to new quantum computers      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have discovered a type of magnetic behavior that could help enable magnetically based quantum devices.

Computer Science: Encryption
Published

Double locked: Polymer hydrogels secure confidential information      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The development of highly secure but simple and inexpensive encryption technology for the prevention of data leaks and forgeries is decidedly challenging. A research team has now introduced a 'double lock' based on thermoresponsive polymer hydrogels that encrypts information so that it can only be read at a specific window in temperature and time.

Geoscience: Landslides
Published

Overlooked channels influence water flow and flooding along Gulf Coast      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An unnoticed network of channels is cutting across the coastal plain landscape along the Gulf Coast and influencing how water flows, according to new research that could help predict flooding from major storms in the future.