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Cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure have made more headlines in recent years, sparking concern about how these systems are protected. Adversaries are taking aim at older technologies that are both essential to everyday life and difficult to secure. Our guest for this episode is Greg Bell, chief strategy officer at Corelight. Before he co-founded the network security firm, Greg spent most of his career working in the National Laboratory system, part of the U.S. Department of Energy. He brings his perspective and expertise to this conversation about energy sector threats, the adversaries behind them, and the unique challenges that utility organizations face in detecting and defending against cyberattacks. There is a scary side to energy sector threats — but there is also an optimistic side. Adam, Cristian, and Greg discuss everything from the history of critical infrastructure threats to the attacks they're seeing today, the complications of securing energy systems, and collaborative efforts to improve defense. Key to these efforts are partnerships like the one between CrowdStrike and Corelight, which work together to improve network threat detection and response. Come for the comprehensive look at energy sector threats and stay for Cristian's energy sector puns in this episode of the Adversary Universe podcast.
Takeaways From a Monumental Week for AI Sam Altman: OpenAI has been on the 'wrong side of history' concerning open source | TechCrunch DeepSeek's AI success is overshadowed by a serious security breac AI systems with 'unacceptable risk' are now banned in the EU | TechCrunch OpenAI partners with U.S. National Laboratories on scientific research, nuclear weapons security The NTSB chooses Elon Musk's X to update the press on plane crashes OpenAI launches o3-mini, its latest 'reasoning' model | TechCrunch Rabbit R1 and Pebble Apple's AI and AR Struggles Show It Has Lost Some of Its Product Edge Elon Musk's X begins its push into financial services with Visa deal Elon Musk's X sues Lego, Nestlé and more brands, accusing them of advertising boycott Thousands of U.S. Government Web Pages Have Been Taken Down Since Friday Musk aides lock workers out of OPM computer systems Elon Musk seizes computer system, locks out senior government officials Google says it will change Gulf of Mexico to 'Gulf of America' in Maps app after government updates Comcast unveils ultra-low lag Internet connection 23andMe might sell itself as it runs out of money Streaming prices climb in 2025 after already surpassing inflation rates Super Bowl Sundays are really noisy everywhere in the US Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Shoshana Weissmann, Christina Warren, and Dan Patterson Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: uscloud.com canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT ZipRecruiter.com/Twit joindeleteme.com/twit promo code TWIT zscaler.com/security
Takeaways From a Monumental Week for AI Sam Altman: OpenAI has been on the 'wrong side of history' concerning open source | TechCrunch DeepSeek's AI success is overshadowed by a serious security breac AI systems with 'unacceptable risk' are now banned in the EU | TechCrunch OpenAI partners with U.S. National Laboratories on scientific research, nuclear weapons security The NTSB chooses Elon Musk's X to update the press on plane crashes OpenAI launches o3-mini, its latest 'reasoning' model | TechCrunch Rabbit R1 and Pebble Apple's AI and AR Struggles Show It Has Lost Some of Its Product Edge Elon Musk's X begins its push into financial services with Visa deal Elon Musk's X sues Lego, Nestlé and more brands, accusing them of advertising boycott Thousands of U.S. Government Web Pages Have Been Taken Down Since Friday Musk aides lock workers out of OPM computer systems Elon Musk seizes computer system, locks out senior government officials Google says it will change Gulf of Mexico to 'Gulf of America' in Maps app after government updates Comcast unveils ultra-low lag Internet connection 23andMe might sell itself as it runs out of money Streaming prices climb in 2025 after already surpassing inflation rates Super Bowl Sundays are really noisy everywhere in the US Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Shoshana Weissmann, Christina Warren, and Dan Patterson Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: uscloud.com canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT ZipRecruiter.com/Twit joindeleteme.com/twit promo code TWIT zscaler.com/security
Takeaways From a Monumental Week for AI Sam Altman: OpenAI has been on the 'wrong side of history' concerning open source | TechCrunch DeepSeek's AI success is overshadowed by a serious security breac AI systems with 'unacceptable risk' are now banned in the EU | TechCrunch OpenAI partners with U.S. National Laboratories on scientific research, nuclear weapons security The NTSB chooses Elon Musk's X to update the press on plane crashes OpenAI launches o3-mini, its latest 'reasoning' model | TechCrunch Rabbit R1 and Pebble Apple's AI and AR Struggles Show It Has Lost Some of Its Product Edge Elon Musk's X begins its push into financial services with Visa deal Elon Musk's X sues Lego, Nestlé and more brands, accusing them of advertising boycott Thousands of U.S. Government Web Pages Have Been Taken Down Since Friday Musk aides lock workers out of OPM computer systems Elon Musk seizes computer system, locks out senior government officials Google says it will change Gulf of Mexico to 'Gulf of America' in Maps app after government updates Comcast unveils ultra-low lag Internet connection 23andMe might sell itself as it runs out of money Streaming prices climb in 2025 after already surpassing inflation rates Super Bowl Sundays are really noisy everywhere in the US Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Shoshana Weissmann, Christina Warren, and Dan Patterson Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: uscloud.com canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT ZipRecruiter.com/Twit joindeleteme.com/twit promo code TWIT zscaler.com/security
Takeaways From a Monumental Week for AI Sam Altman: OpenAI has been on the 'wrong side of history' concerning open source | TechCrunch DeepSeek's AI success is overshadowed by a serious security breac AI systems with 'unacceptable risk' are now banned in the EU | TechCrunch OpenAI partners with U.S. National Laboratories on scientific research, nuclear weapons security The NTSB chooses Elon Musk's X to update the press on plane crashes OpenAI launches o3-mini, its latest 'reasoning' model | TechCrunch Rabbit R1 and Pebble Apple's AI and AR Struggles Show It Has Lost Some of Its Product Edge Elon Musk's X begins its push into financial services with Visa deal Elon Musk's X sues Lego, Nestlé and more brands, accusing them of advertising boycott Thousands of U.S. Government Web Pages Have Been Taken Down Since Friday Musk aides lock workers out of OPM computer systems Elon Musk seizes computer system, locks out senior government officials Google says it will change Gulf of Mexico to 'Gulf of America' in Maps app after government updates Comcast unveils ultra-low lag Internet connection 23andMe might sell itself as it runs out of money Streaming prices climb in 2025 after already surpassing inflation rates Super Bowl Sundays are really noisy everywhere in the US Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Shoshana Weissmann, Christina Warren, and Dan Patterson Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: uscloud.com canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT ZipRecruiter.com/Twit joindeleteme.com/twit promo code TWIT zscaler.com/security
Takeaways From a Monumental Week for AI Sam Altman: OpenAI has been on the 'wrong side of history' concerning open source | TechCrunch DeepSeek's AI success is overshadowed by a serious security breac AI systems with 'unacceptable risk' are now banned in the EU | TechCrunch OpenAI partners with U.S. National Laboratories on scientific research, nuclear weapons security The NTSB chooses Elon Musk's X to update the press on plane crashes OpenAI launches o3-mini, its latest 'reasoning' model | TechCrunch Rabbit R1 and Pebble Apple's AI and AR Struggles Show It Has Lost Some of Its Product Edge Elon Musk's X begins its push into financial services with Visa deal Elon Musk's X sues Lego, Nestlé and more brands, accusing them of advertising boycott Thousands of U.S. Government Web Pages Have Been Taken Down Since Friday Musk aides lock workers out of OPM computer systems Elon Musk seizes computer system, locks out senior government officials Google says it will change Gulf of Mexico to 'Gulf of America' in Maps app after government updates Comcast unveils ultra-low lag Internet connection 23andMe might sell itself as it runs out of money Streaming prices climb in 2025 after already surpassing inflation rates Super Bowl Sundays are really noisy everywhere in the US Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Shoshana Weissmann, Christina Warren, and Dan Patterson Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: uscloud.com canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT ZipRecruiter.com/Twit joindeleteme.com/twit promo code TWIT zscaler.com/security
Takeaways From a Monumental Week for AI Sam Altman: OpenAI has been on the 'wrong side of history' concerning open source | TechCrunch DeepSeek's AI success is overshadowed by a serious security breac AI systems with 'unacceptable risk' are now banned in the EU | TechCrunch OpenAI partners with U.S. National Laboratories on scientific research, nuclear weapons security The NTSB chooses Elon Musk's X to update the press on plane crashes OpenAI launches o3-mini, its latest 'reasoning' model | TechCrunch Rabbit R1 and Pebble Apple's AI and AR Struggles Show It Has Lost Some of Its Product Edge Elon Musk's X begins its push into financial services with Visa deal Elon Musk's X sues Lego, Nestlé and more brands, accusing them of advertising boycott Thousands of U.S. Government Web Pages Have Been Taken Down Since Friday Musk aides lock workers out of OPM computer systems Elon Musk seizes computer system, locks out senior government officials Google says it will change Gulf of Mexico to 'Gulf of America' in Maps app after government updates Comcast unveils ultra-low lag Internet connection 23andMe might sell itself as it runs out of money Streaming prices climb in 2025 after already surpassing inflation rates Super Bowl Sundays are really noisy everywhere in the US Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Shoshana Weissmann, Christina Warren, and Dan Patterson Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: uscloud.com canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT ZipRecruiter.com/Twit joindeleteme.com/twit promo code TWIT zscaler.com/security
Note: This is a Re-Release of an episode that was originally released on BitBuilders. Are small nuclear reactors the key to solving our energy challenges?
Dr. Justin Quinn Olmstead is a historian for Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His most recent book “From Nuclear Weapons to Global Security: 75 Years of Research and Development at Sandia National Laboratories.” Dr. Robert Oppenheimer helped launch the Sandia Labs, which is an engineering laboratory for the nation's nuclear deterrence. President Harry Truman was directly involved in setting up the Lab, whereas President Eisenhower initiated the Plowshare Program to explore the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and the Atoms for Peace program in 1957. Sandia supports global security by working with US agencies, the UN's IAEA, and several of the United Nations treaties, such as the Non-Proliferation Treaty that focuses on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to avoid nuclear proliferation. Sandia has been “ hands-on” in helping mitigate the BP Oil Spill, Fukushima Disaster, Challenger explosion, the rapidly devastating climate crisis and the 9-11 destruction.
The Mixed Waste Landfill at Sandia National Laboratories is a 2.6-acre dump that is leaking radioactive, hazardous and toxic wastes from unlined pits and trenches that threaten Albuquerque's drinking water aquifer. The public has been asking the New Mexico Environment Department for nearly 25 years to order Sandia to excavate the dump. Evidence of migrating contamination, such as the detection of volatile organic compounds 400 feet below the dump in 2015, verifies the public's concern. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
Welcome to the daily304 – your window into Wonderful, Almost Heaven, West Virginia. Today is Monday, June 17, 2024. The U.S. Department of Energy is awarding vouchers to innovators with ideas for advancing energy and sustainability…Learn why a diverse selection of manufacturers are saying #YesWV, and how the WV Department of Economic Development can assist with your business…and Lake Stephens in Raleigh County is the latest scenic location to receive an Almost Heaven swing…on today's daily304. #1 – From WV BUSINESSLINK – A new $2.1 million opportunity through the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Technology Transitions is making $100,000 vouchers available to the public. Through the Technology Commercialization Fund Open Voucher Call, a select number of vouchers, which are redeemable at one of eight National Laboratories and must be used within a one-year period, will be awarded to innovators with ideas for advancing energy, sustainability, and other lab-supported initiatives. The selected National Lab will then provide expertise and lab validation capabilities to the awardee to help them advance their concept closer to commercialization. Anyone interested is encouraged to attend an informational webinar on July 18 at 2 p.m. ET. Applications for the call are due October 3, 2024. Read more: https://wvbusinesslink.com/2024/06/07/100000-available-in-national-lab-assistance-through-open-voucher-call/ #2 – From WV DED – Consumers are in constant contact with products containing elements made in the Mountain State. Everything from the base polymers in cosmetics and window seals to finished goods such as spark plugs, tableware, charcoal and kitchen cabinets are made in #YesWV. The state's diverse manufacturing sector includes chemicals, biotech/pharmaceuticals, primary metals, automotive components, fabricated products, wood products and more. West Virginia's workforce ranks first in the U.S. for the lowest turnover rate in manufacturing-specific jobs. Visit the West Virginia Department of Economic Development online for assistance or to download a business assistance brochure. Learn more: https://westvirginia.gov/industries/manufacturing/ #3 – From LOOTPRESS – Visitors to Lake Stephens will now have the opportunity to survey the overlook and take pics from one of the state's iconic Almost Heaven swings. The swing is the first to be installed in Raleigh County. The oversized wooden swings were established by the West Virginia Department of Tourism as a way to promote and encourage visitors to snap and share Instagram photos from scenic locations in the Mountain State. Swings can be found throughout the state at strategic locations including Coopers Rock State Forest, Wheeling Heritage Port and the State Capitol. To find a swing, visit wvtourism.com. Be sure to share your photos on social media using #AlmostHeaven. Read more: https://www.lootpress.com/lake-stephens-overlook-to-become-one-of-20-viewpoints-to-host-almost-heaven-swing/ Find these stories and more at wv.gov/daily304. The daily304 curated news and information is brought to you by the West Virginia Department of Commerce: Sharing the wealth, beauty and opportunity in West Virginia with the world. Follow the daily304 on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @daily304. Or find us online at wv.gov and just click the daily304 logo. That's all for now. Take care. Be safe. Get outside and enjoy all the opportunity West Virginia has to offer.
The Department of Energy's 17 national laboratories conduct research and development on some of the world's most vexing challenges—from climate change to the origins of the universe. Most recently, six labs have turned their attention to speeding cleanup of underground tank waste at DOE's Hanford site in Washington State. The labs are using $27 million in DOE funding to research everything from tank integrity and the impact of corrosion to robotic handling of tank waste. Estimates show this and other work could save $150 billion in cleanup costs and shave up to two decades off a 60-year timeline. This week, Gone Fission host Michael Butler talks with Connie Herman, Associate Director, Savannah River National Laboratory, and Delmar Noyes, DOE Tank Farms Manager at Hanford.NOTE: The work Network of National Laboratories for Environmental Management and Stewardship (NNLEMS) performs is overseen by the EM Laboratory Policy Office with the support of the EM Technology Operations Office, Hanford Site Office as well as the Office of Science, and ARPA-E.”Visit the Gone Fission Nuclear Report channel on youtube.com for a videocast of episodes since November 7, 2022.
The Hoover Institution held a conversation on What is the Role of Future International Collaboration: Risks and Opportunities on January 22, 2024 from 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM PT. Dr. Thomas Mason addressed aspects of research openness and the daily need to protect the information that is critically important to universities, National Labs, the federal government, and the private sector. The conversation was followed by a 30 minute Q&A. As a national security science laboratory Los Alamos National Lab has worked to strike the right balance between openness of research and protection of information for over eighty years. The talk addressed the historic importance of open international collaboration in fostering rapid innovation with economic and national security benefits while still recognizing the need to manage the risks that come with international engagement. SPEAKER Thomas Mason is the President and CEO of Triad National Security, LLC (Triad) and serves as the Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Most recently he was the Senior Vice President for Global Laboratory Operations at Battelle where he had responsibility for governance and strategy across the six National Laboratories that Battelle manages or co-manages. Prior to joining Battelle, Thom worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for 19 years, including 10 years as the Laboratory Director. Under his leadership, ORNL saw significant growth in programs, new facilities, and hiring while achieving record low safety incident rates. Before becoming Laboratory Director, he was Associate Laboratory Director (ALD) for Neutron Sciences, ALD for the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), and Director of the Experimental Facilities Division. During his time in Oak Ridge, Thom was active in the community serving as Chair of the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation as well as Innovation Valley, the Knoxville-Oak Ridge area regional economic development organization. He moved to ORNL from the University of Toronto where he was a faculty member in the Department of Physics and previously worked as a Senior Scientist at Risø National Laboratory and a Postdoc at AT&T Bell Laboratories. For the past 30 years, he has been involved in the design and construction of scientific instrumentation and facilities and the application of nuclear, computing, and materials sciences to solve important challenges in energy and national security. Thom has a Ph.D. in Experimental Condensed Matter Physics from McMaster University and a BSc in Physics from Dalhousie University. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY Norbert Holtkamp is a Science Fellow at the Hoover Institution. Holtkamp is also a professor of particle physics and astrophysics and of photon science at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University BACKGROUND International collaborations and research openness have been enormously beneficial to the United States supporting rapid advances of world leading Science & Technology in our country. They brought a large group of incredibly talented people from around the world to come work with US science and technology industry. In the end, many of them stayed which provided a pipeline for innovation and business growth helping to maintain a standard of “world leading.” The simple fact that others successfully try to copy the process should encourage the US to continue. In a changing world though where the standards of research openness are not shared anymore, managing the risks better than in the past becomes essential. Research openness and specifically international collaboration with friends and opponents always carries the risk of unwanted release of information. Industrial espionage in the private sector does have negative economic impact, can threaten national security, or lose competitive advantages. Over the past few years, there has been a significant rise in the systematic collection of intellectual property on a broad scale within the domains of private, public, and national security sectors. This development has had a profound impact on the global research community. Research openness is commonly understood and shared by much of the World's science community and led by the US, for long was captured in a quite simple National Security Decision Directive (NSDD-189). Essentially: “It's open until it's classified”. While NSDD-189 wasn't abandoned officially yet, effectively it has been in many instances. New definitions “CUI = Confidential but Unclassified Information,” central control of international collaboration agreements, top down managed travel restrictions of “going to” or “inviting in”, strictly enforced Conflict of Interest agreements are all existing elements in a new world that grapples with the balance between openness and benefit from it versus risk of losing. The US needs a pipeline of trained engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs. Without inviting a substantial foreign national contingent into our schools and universities from which many will typically stay, it is not clear that US demographics would even allow the US alone to fill this pipeline. Whether it is the academic or private sector: it is essential to understand in more detail how international collaboration provided and can provide in the future economic benefit, intelligence insight, faster scientific discoveries, and sometimes even aiding diplomatic efforts and continue to bring the best and brightest innovators to the US. As part of the project, each of these elements (faster scientific advance – economic benefit – intelligence & insight – demographics & talent recruiting) will be addressed.
The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington, has turned to Microsoft for high-performance computing requirements. In what it calls a multi-year collaboration, the lab and the software giant will apply artificial intelligence to speed up research in clean energy. For details, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with PNNL Associate Director and Chief Digital Officer, Brian Abrahamson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Artificial intelligence has grown too big for anyone to ignore. Now the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, in south-central Washington state, has established a center for artificial intelligence. To find out more about it, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the lab's chief scientist for artificial intelligence, Dr. Court Corley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Thomas (Thom) Mason is the President and CEO of Triad National Security, LLC (Triad) and serves as the Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory.Most recently he was the Senior Vice President for Global Laboratory Operations at Battelle where he had responsibility for governance and strategy across the six National Laboratories that Battelle manages or co-manages.Prior to joining Battelle, Thom worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for 19 years, including 10 years as the Laboratory Director. Under his leadership, ORNL saw significant growth in programs, new facilities, and hiring while achieving record low safety incident rates.Before becoming Laboratory Director, he was Associate Laboratory Director (ALD) for Neutron Sciences, ALD for the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), and Director of the Experimental Facilities Division.During his time in Oak Ridge, Thom was active in the community serving as Chair of the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation as well as Innovation Valley, the Knoxville-Oak Ridge area regional economic development organization. He moved to ORNL from the University of Toronto where he was a faculty member in the Department of Physics and previously worked as a Senior Scientist at Risø National Laboratory and a Postdoc at AT&T Bell Laboratories.For the past 30 years, he has been involved in the design and construction of scientific instrumentation and facilities and the application of nuclear, computing, and materials sciences to solve important challenges in energy and national security.Thom has a Ph.D. in Experimental Condensed Matter Physics from McMaster University and a BSc in Physics from Dalhousie University.Socials:Follow on Twitter at @NucleCastFollow on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nuclecastpodcastSubscribe RSS Feed: https://rss.com/podcasts/nuclecast-podcast/Rate: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nuclecast/id1644921278Email comments and topic/guest suggestions to NucleCast@anwadeter.org
Mounir Alafrangy's research efforts investigate humankind's ambitious desire to explore the universe by examining human behavior and its change over time in the isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environment of space. This is feasible in part, through an AI system that autonomously monitors and categorizes a network of variables.
In this episode, hosts Kerrin Jeromin and Taylor Mankle take us on a journey through time exploring the origins of NREL. Beginning with the establishment in 1973 of the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) after the oil embargo, SERI soon expanded into wind and other renewable technologies. The hosts discuss a dynamic journey marked by political changes, budget fluctuations, technological breakthroughs, and influential leadership shifts that shaped SERI's transformation into NREL in 1991, marking a pivotal moment in the laboratory's history. This episode was hosted by Kerrin Jeromin and Taylor Mankle, written and produced by Allison Montroy and Kaitlyn Stottler, and edited by Joe DelNero and Brittany Falch. Graphics are by Brittnee Gayet. Our title music is written and performed by Ted Vaca and episode music by Chuck Kurnik, Jim Riley, and Mark Sanseverino of Drift BC. Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast is created by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. We express our gratitude and acknowledge that the land we are on is the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples. Email us at podcast@nrel.gov. Follow NREL on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook.
In today's podcast we cover four crucial cyber and technology topics, including: 1. Idaho National Laboratory targeted by hacktivists, stolen data leaked 2. Myanmar military operations to target telecommunication fraud dens 3. Crypto firm hit with 26 million USD loss after API abuse 4. U.S. and Binance reach deal after Binance CEO pleads guilty to crimes I'd love feedback, feel free to send your comments and feedback to | cyberandtechwithmike@gmail.com
With a focus on actionable insights, host Jamie Flinchbaugh dialogues with Lorenzo Gutierrez, Director of Enterprise Excellence at Sandia National Laboratories. They offer valuable insights into leadership, intuition, and coaching. With over 20 years of leadership experience in diverse fields including semiconductor manufacturing and national security, Lorenzo is well-qualified to discuss these complex topics. He holds a range of qualifications, including a Master's in Predictive Analytics, an MBA, and a Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering. He's also a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, a Project Management Professional (PMP), and a trained Leadership Coach. Lorenzo opens the discussion by emphasizing the importance of a learning approach in problem-solving. He suggests that both failures and successes offer valuable lessons, encouraging a mindset that views challenges as opportunities for growth. To him, problem-solving is not just about finding a solution but about understanding the nuances of the issue and applying what has been learned to future challenges. The conversation then pivots to intuition, a topic that clearly resonates with Lorenzo. He advocates for a balanced approach that integrates intuitive thinking with data-driven analysis. While he acknowledges that gut feelings shouldn't be followed blindly, Lorenzo believes that intuition serves as a crucial "data point" that can provide a fuller picture when combined with logical reasoning. He encourages leaders to validate these intuitions through direct observation and to encourage their teams to do the same. Coaching is another key theme of the episode, and Lorenzo sheds light on his own unique style. Grounding himself with the core belief that the individual he's coaching is "naturally creative, resourceful, and whole," Lorenzo crafts powerful questions designed to lead them to their own answers. He shares that his approach is adaptive, tailored to meet the specific needs and challenges of the individual or team he's working with. Recognizing the balance of confidence and humility as crucial in effective leadership, Lorenzo notes that the style and type of questions he asks may change based on this balance. Throughout the episode, the enthusiasm of both Jamie and Lorenzo is palpable, creating an engaging dialogue that offers actionable advice. Whether you're a seasoned leader or someone starting your career journey, Lorenzo's insights offer a refreshing perspective on how to navigate the complexities of leadership, intuition, and coaching in a business setting. For more about Lorenzo Gutierrez, visit https://www.sandia.gov or connect with him on linkedin.com/in/logutierrez.
Thomas (Thom) Mason is the President and CEO of Triad National Security, LLC (Triad) and serves as the Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Most recently he was the Senior Vice President for Global Laboratory Operations at Battelle where he had responsibility for governance and strategy across the six National Laboratories that Battelle manages or co-manages.Prior to joining Battelle, Thom worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for 19 years, including 10 years as the Laboratory Director. Under his leadership, ORNL saw significant growth in programs, new facilities, and hiring while achieving record low safety incident rates.Before becoming Laboratory Director, he was Associate Laboratory Director (ALD) for Neutron Sciences, ALD for the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), and Director of the Experimental Facilities Division.During his time in Oak Ridge, Thom was active in the community serving as Chair of the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation as well as Innovation Valley, the Knoxville-Oak Ridge area regional economic development organization.He moved to ORNL from the University of Toronto where he was a faculty member in the Department of Physics and previously worked as a Senior Scientist at Risø National Laboratory and a Postdoc at AT&T Bell Laboratories.For the past 30 years, he has been involved in the design and construction of scientific instrumentation and facilities and the application of nuclear, computing, and materials sciences to solve important challenges in energy and national security.Thom has a Ph.D. in Experimental Condensed Matter Physics from McMaster University and a BSc in Physics from Dalhousie University.EPISODE NOTES:Follow NucleCast on Twitter at @NucleCastEmail comments and story suggestions to NucleCast@anwadeter.orgSubscribe to NucleCast podcastRate the show
With nearly 53 years living and working in Oak Ridge, TN, Ray Smith has developed an extensive understanding and appreciation of the heritage of Oak Ridge's history, especially the Manhattan Project era and resulting technological advances during ensuing years. For the last 10 years of his 47-year career with the Y-12 National Security Complex, he served as the official Y-12 Historian. Ray now serves as the Historian for the city of Oak Ridge, TN. He was appointed to that position in December 2015.Ray has co-produced the award-winning and highly acclaimed Secret City: The War Years and Secret City: 1945–2006 documentary films that have become the definitive history of Oak Ridge. He has also produced a four-episode television series of 30-minute programs on the history of the Y-12 National Security Complex, A Nuclear Family, which has won four platinum Remi awards in the World Fest-Houston International Film Festival. He completed the compilation of twelve documentary short films including the award winning Our Hidden Past series into a two DVD set, Y-12 Anthology. His most recent documentary film, produced in January 2018, is Ed Westcott– Photographer, a tribute to the famous Manhattan Project and Department of Energy photographer without whose exceptional photographs our Oak Ridge and DOE history would not be nearly so well documented. The documentary film can be seen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYvzw9f8M8A.In 2017, Ray was appointed a commissioner on the Tennessee Historical Commission and is now serving his second three-year term. He has served on several boards for charitable organizations, one a state level board, The Tennessee Children's Home, of which he is currently the past chairman. He is also on the board of directors of the East Tennessee Historical Society and the nation board of directors of the Atomic Heritage Foundation. In 2018, Ray assisted Dr. Lee Riedinger, Professor of Physics and Director, Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education at the University of Tennessee, teach an honors course, Science and History of the Manhattan Project. The course materials have formed the basis of a book to be published in 2024, Critical Connections, How Partnerships formed at the Dawn of the Atomic Age Helped Transform a University, a National Laboratory, and a City.Ray is the author of 18 books of Historically Speaking newspaper columns published over the past 17 years.He has published 10 books of local nature photographs, produced a 40-image photographic show and was chosen as the exclusive source to provide photographs to decorate the TownePlace Hotel as well as a portion of the Y-12 Federal Credit Union. His photographs also decorate other offices in Oak Ridge and some company websites.EPISODE NOTES:Follow NucleCast on Twitter at @NucleCastEmail comments and story suggestions to NucleCast@anwadeter.orgSubscribe to NucleCast podcastRate the show
With nearly 53 years living and working in Oak Ridge, TN, Ray has developed an extensive understanding and appreciation of the heritage of Oak Ridge's history, especially the Manhattan Project era and resulting technological advances during ensuing years. For the last 10 years of his 47-year career with the Y-12 National Security Complex, he served as the official Y-12 Historian.Ray now serves as the Historian for the city of Oak Ridge, TN. He was appointed to that position in December 2015. Ray has co-produced the award-winning and highly acclaimed Secret City: The War Years and Secret City: 1945–2006 documentary films that have become the definitive history of Oak Ridge. He has also produced a four-episode television series of 30-minute programs on the history of the Y-12 National Security Complex, A Nuclear Family, which has won four platinum Remi awards in the World Fest-Houston International Film Festival. He completed the compilation of twelve documentary short films including the award winning Our Hidden Past series into a two DVD set, Y-12 Anthology. His most recent documentary film, produced in January 2018, is Ed Westcott– Photographer, a tribute to the famous Manhattan Project and Department of Energy photographer without whose exceptional photographs our Oak Ridge and DOE history would not be nearly so well documented. The documentary film can be seen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYvzw9f8M8A.In 2017, Ray was appointed a commissioner on the Tennessee Historical Commission and is now serving his second three-year term. He has served on several boards for charitable organizations, one a state level board, The Tennessee Children's Home, of which he is currently the past chairman. He is also on the board of directors of the East Tennessee Historical Society and the nation board of directors of the Atomic Heritage Foundation. In 2018, Ray assisted Dr. Lee Riedinger, Professor of Physics and Director, Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education at the University of Tennessee, teach an honors course, Science and History of the Manhattan Project. The course materials have formed the basis of a book to be published in 2024, Critical Connections, How Partnerships formed at the Dawn of the Atomic Age Helped Transform a University, a National Laboratory, and a City.Ray is the author of 18 books of Historically Speaking newspaper columns published over the past 17 years. He has published 10 books of local nature photographs, produced a 40-image photographic show and was chosen as the exclusive source to provide photographs to decorate the TownePlace Hotel as well as a portion of the Y-12 Federal Credit Union. His photographs also decorate other offices in Oak Ridge and some company websites.EPISODE NOTES:Follow NucleCast on Twitter at @NucleCastEmail comments and story suggestions to NucleCast@anwadeter.orgSubscribe to NucleCast podcastRate the show
#63 — Kedar Narayan (Frederick National Laboratory and National Cancer Institute) joins Peter O'Toole to discuss how he originally wanted to be a designer and never took high school biology because he thought it was icky. They also dive into why developing technologies is demanding and the potential downsides to AI in science.Watch or listen to all episodes of The Microscopists: themicroscopists.bitesizebio.com
Dr. Michael Roberts, Ph.D. is Chief Science Officer of the International Space Station National Laboratory ( https://www.issnationallab.org/ ), and Vice President at the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space ( CASIS - https://www.issnationallab.org/about/center-for-the-advancement-of-science-in-space-leadership/ ), which as manager of the ISS National Laboratory in partnership with NASA, is responsible to the nation for enabling access to the International Space Station for research, technology development, STEM education, and commercial innovation in space as a public service to foster a scalable and sustainable low Earth orbit economy. Before joining CASIS in 2013, Dr. Roberts worked as a microbial ecologist, principal investigator, and research group lead in the NASA Advanced Life Support program at the Kennedy Space Center. Prior to arriving at NASA-KSC in 1999, Dr. Roberts completed an undergraduate degree in biology at Maryville College, a doctorate in microbiology at Wesleyan University and post-doctoral research at the Center for Microbial Ecology at Michigan State University and the RIKEN Institute in Wako-shi, Japan. Support the show
“The best part of recruiting is being an advocate for candidates.” A powerful statement from Meg Pexa, the Principal Cyber and Robotics Recruiter for Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque. Sandia is about more than just nuclear non-proliferation, and has a very accepting organizational culture. Plus a hot resume tip about considering the first person who sees your cleared resume.“He just wanted a tiny bit more money. So he and I worked together and came up with a game plan: Alright, tell me why you are the most badass person on the planet that does this position. And I'm gonna make sure that the company understands that too. I was able to write up this beautiful paragraph, essentially explaining why this guy was so amazing, and sell it to comp.”Find show notes and additional links at: https://clearedjobs.net/sandia-national-lab-advocating-for-cleared-professionals-podcast/
CCNS has prepared sample public comments you can modify about the scope of a new draft site-wide environmental impact statement for Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico. Comments may be submitted electronically to SNL- SWEIS@nnsa.doe.gov through Monday, June 5 th , 2023. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ccnsupdate/support
Mark C. Herrmann, Ph.D. Program Director for the Weapon Physics and Design within Weapons and Complex Integration Directorate Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Dr. Herrmann leads LLNL's efforts to strengthen our nation's nuclear deterrent by advancing our understanding of nuclear weapons physics and design. This includes the physics design, assessment, and certification efforts for the enduring LLNL systems (W80, B83, W87), the W80-4 Life Extension Program, and the W87-1 Modification program. He also leads weapon science research and development, including focused experiments, integral hydrodynamic and subcritical experiments, high-energy-density (HED) experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), and modeling and simulation using NNSA's high performance computing capabilities. Dr. Herrmann has been in this role since January 2022. Charles W. Nakhleh, Ph.D. Associate Laboratory Director for Weapons Physics (ALDX) Los Alamos National Laboratory. In this role, Dr. Nakhleh has line responsibility for the nuclear weapons designers and simulation code architects at the Laboratory, as well as program responsibility for the NA-11 weapons science, computing, and technology maturation portfolio. Prior to taking on his current role, he was the Executive Officer to the Deputy Director for Weapons (DDW), where he was responsible to the DDW for integrating and aligning activities across the weapons program.
Mark Peters is the Executive Vice President for National Laboratory Management and Operations at Battelle Memorial Institute with responsibilities for governance and oversight of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and U.S. Department of Homeland Security national laboratories for which Battelle has a significant lab management role. Previously, he was the director of Idaho National Laboratory and president of Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC.
This week on Clear Lake Connections Podcast presented by UTMB Health: Meet Dr. Gary Kobinger, Director, Galveston National Laboratory In this week's episode Dr. Kobinger tells the listeners the important work that the Galveston National Laboratory does, and the research being conducted at the facility. Dr. Kobinger explains the difference between the levels of Laboratories and the security in place to keep it protected. Lastly, Dr. Kolbinger shares the story of how he got into this field of work and his excitement when taking this job.
In this episode I am continuing my exploration of the state of nuclear fusion research. I will be interviewing a leader in the MAST fusion experiment. MAST is an acronym for Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak. A Tokamak is a device that typically uses extremely strong magnetic fields to confine an energetic plasma and ram hydrogen nuclei together at high energies, essentially trying to replicate the processes occurring at the core of the sun, to create fusion energy. This process takes tremendous energy inputs and has been explored in the lab for decades without successfully transitioning to commercial power. Experiments are getting larger and larger, and researchers have been making incremental progress towards the goal of break-even. Join me as I explore the high pressure science of fusion energy. Fulvio Militello is a fusion scientist with twenty years of experience. Following a career as a theoretical plasma physicist and science manager, he is currently the Director of Tokamak Science and MAST-U at United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). Before joining UKAEA, he worked in Italy, France, and United States, in National Laboratories and Universities, authoring 100 scientific papers. Fulvio is also Adjunct Professor of Physics at Chalmers University (Sweden) and Visiting Reader at the Imperial College London. While his heart is still in Italy, he lives in Didcot, UK, with his Swedish wife (met in France) and two daughters (born in the UK). In his free time, he likes to cook, practice martial arts, read philosophy books, play games, look at the stars and learn as much as he can about everything that stimulates his curiosity Follow me at therationalview.podbean.com Join the Facebook discussion @TheRationalView Twitter @AlScottRational Instagram @The_Rational_View #TheRationalView #podcast #fusion #greenenergy #MAST #ITER #tokamak
On this episode of Through the Human Geography Lens, hosts Gwyneth Holt and Eric Rasmussen talk with Dr. John Hummel, the program lead for Integrated Resilience Analysis in the Decision and Infrastructure Science Division at Argonne National Laboratory. 01:15 Dr. Hummel's role at Argonne. Argonne National Laboratory 02:05 Integrated Resiliency Analysis 02:30 Defining "resilience" United Nations definition of resilience 03:25 The ARISE Framework for assessing resilience - genesis and driving factors ARISE Framework described on Dr. Hummel's bio. ARISE is free, and distributed through an email to him. 05:30 The ARISE Framework's design process and current implementation 08:15 Use of the Framework in Nepal - earthquake validation 2015 Nepal Earthquake 09:55 Assessing data sources - three tiers of trust 11:20 Level of Effort remotely and on the ground 12:35 Recent development in refining the ARISE Framework, and its availability 14:25 Reflecting nuance: Addressing gaps between written policy or law, and what's actually found on the ground. Domestic abuse, in 2020, was the primary cause of injury to women in Nepal. 17:10 Discussing the purpose of National Laboratories National Laboratories Los Alamos National Lab Enrico Fermi 19:50 Argonne efforts during the pandemic: Forming a National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory Johns Hopkins COVID Dashboard National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory 21:15 Agent-based modeling for the spread of COVID infections across the entire Chicago area. Two million agents, every 50 minutes, over 90 days. Agent-based modeling 23:15 Assessing COVID workforce impact by county. Defining essential workers and their associated risk by US location. Essential Workers 24:35 Distribution of COVID analyses internationally. Data risks. Data collection in Fragile States - Innovations in Africa 26:00 National Laboratories as "cookie stores" - Argonne Fellowship selection choices are superb. Argonne Fellowships Disclaimer: Opinions expressed on this podcast do not necessarily reflect the views of the WWHGD sponsors and should not be construed as an endorsement. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/wwhgd-support/message
Cars, planes and boats will be stronger and longer lasting thanks to a new metal alloy. It was developed by scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. To hear more about how they did it, Federal Drive host Tom Temin talked with program manager Allen Haynes and research and development staff member Alex Plotkowski.
Thanks for joining us, today we welcome Jerry Hatfield, Jerry is the retired Director of the USDA-ARS National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment in Ames, Iowa, and his bio illustrates his passion and knowledge for helping growers improve their agronomic systems. Much of Jerry's focus has been on the evaluation of farming systems and their response to water and nitrogen interactions across soils and remote sensing methods to quantify field variation. A platform for his research utilizes the genetics by environment by management concept as a framework to work with producers to demonstrate how they can increase their production efficiency, increase soil health, and develop resilience to weather and climate variation as the foundation for food security. Today he and Monte dive into those topics and many more. Jerry worked in California at the University of California-Davis from 1975-1983 as a biometeorologist working a range of different crops, joined USDA-ARS in 1983 at the Plant Stress and Water Conservation Unit in Lubbock, TX until his transfer to Ames in 1989 to develop the research program of the National Soil Tilth Laboratory (renamed the National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment in 2009). His research focused on the interactions among the components of the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum and their linkage to air, water, and soil quality. His focus has been on the evaluation of farming systems and their response to water and nitrogen interactions across soils and remote sensing methods to quantify field variation. A platform for his research utilizes the genetics x environment x management concept as a framework to work with producers to demonstrate how they can increase their production efficiency, increase soil health, and develop resilience to weather and climate variation as the foundation for food security. His outreach efforts have included participation in the National Climate Assessment as the Lead Author for agriculture for the US and on the IPCC effort on greenhouse gases and climate change. Dr. Hatfield is an accomplished author with 508 refereed publications and 18 monographs and serves as the Editor for Agroecosystems, Geosciences and Environment and Technical Editor for Agriculture and Environmental Letters and ranks in the top 2% of researchers in the world. He edited several volumes including Crop Adaptation to Climate Change and Food Security and Climate Change. His numerous awards include being inducted into the USDA-ARS Hall of Fame for his research impact the Hugh Hammond Bennett award and the Soil Science Society of America Distinguished Service Award in 2022 along with being a Fellow in the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America and serving as President of the American Society of Agronomy in 2007. He received his PhD from Iowa State University in 1975 in the area of agricultural climatology, MS in agronomy from the University of Kentucky in 1972, and a BS in agronomy from Kansas State University in 1971. Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we'll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm we'd love to hear from you.
Today's guest is Harry Hamlin, actor, author, entrepreneur, and Founder/Secretary of TAE Technologies.TAE Technologies (pronounced T-A-E) was founded in 1998 to develop commercial fusion power with the cleanest environmental profile, and represents the fastest, most practical, and economically competitive solution to bring abundant energy to the grid. With over 1100 issued patents, more than $880 million in private capital, six generations of National Laboratory-scale devices, and an experienced team of over 250 employees, TAE is now on the cusp of delivering this transformational energy source capable of sustaining the planet for centuries. The company's revolutionary technologies have produced a robust portfolio of commercial innovations in other large adjacent markets such as power management, energy storage, transmission, electric mobility, life sciences, and more. TAE is based in California, and maintains international offices in the UK and Switzerland. Multidisciplinary and mission-driven by nature, TAE is leveraging proprietary science and engineering to create a bright future for us all.In this episode, we cover Harry's unlikely path to becoming a climate tech entrepreneur, the origin story of TAE Technologies, their vision, progress and current stage, and a broader discussion about fusion, it's potential, the different approaches, and how far away we are from seeing commercial success.Enjoy the show!You can find me on twitter at @jjacobs22, @mcjpod, and @mcjcollective, and via email at info@mcjcollective.com, where I encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.Episode recorded March 16, 2022To learn more about TAE Technologies, visit: https://tae.com/To learn more about this episode, visit: https://mcjcollective.com/my-climate-journey-podcast/taetechnologies
TranscriptRickey: Hello, and welcome back to The Research Park Chronicles. I'm your host, Rickey McCallum, and throughout this podcast, I'm going to lead you on a journey through the gateway to collaboration. We talked about what a research park does in the last episode, and today, we're going to dive into how one came to be here in Knoxville, Tennessee, and what it's already accomplished. This modern research park at the University of Tennessee would have never been possible without the vision of one influential scholar. But more on that in just a minute.To fully appreciate and understand UT's Research Park, it's important to start by looking back in time to understand the land's Native American roots. At one corner of the University of Tennessee Research Park lies a serene bank of the Tennessee River. As researchers, we're always focused on developing new and exciting projects, but every now and again, it's worth taking a moment to pause and reflect.As we look over the waterway, Sequoia Hill stands in the distance. And with the familiar sounds of running a creek and birds chirping, it's easy to forget that behind us is a collection of modern buildings that make up UT's Research Park. What was this campus like before these buildings were built, before it was a dairy farm, and before the city had ownership of the property, back hundreds and even thousands of years ago, at a time when the land was inhabited by Native Americans? For that answer, I asked Tom Rogers, the current President and CEO of the University of Tennessee Research Park, who knows quite a bit about the site's ancient history.Tom: The site itself is 200 acres, but as they did the environmental scans required to get the development underway, only 75 acres of that 200 acres is really developable. The rest of it is down near the river and has been preserved in perpetuity because of its archeological significance. As they did that original archeological investigation, they actually found artifacts that date back to 6000 BC.Rickey: The university works with Dr. Candace Hollenbeck, a professor of archeology at UT, to help preserve that history and culture, and so we decided to visit her in her element on site at the Research Park to learn a little bit more. And to help us put this area into its historical context, Dr. Hollenbeck starts at the beginning.Candace: Here in East Tennessee, pretty much anything flat next to a river is going to have several thousand years—five to ten thousand years—of occupation on it. That's the case here, too.Rickey: Dr. Hollenbeck says that this land has changed a lot over the past 10,000 years, with river movement and flooding, creating ‘build up' as she calls it.Candace: So, if we were to take a big backhoe and dig straight down right here, we could probably go down about four meters or so and maybe hit the bottom, maybe hit 10,000 years ago, or maybe not. Even going down four meters—12 feet or so—we may hit around 6000 years ago and could probably keep going. And then, river stabilized, probably around 5000 years ago or such, and that's when we start seeing people, even to 3000 years ago, and people could become more sedentary.Rickey: There have even been some interesting archeological finds from these digs, says Dr. Hollenbeck.Candace: There are these Mississippian time period villages down here houses, house structures, that are dotted along that area. And so those are really neat. They date to around 800 years ago or so. And so, those are probably some of the most exciting parts of it. You know, there's a little hamlet and then some individual farmsteads, homesteads in between. So, kind of imagining those communities I think is fun.Rickey: Once people started to settle at the site, we can see their history in the archeological record. Dr. Hollenbeck breaks that down for us as the riverbanks transition over into farmland over the years.Candace: Tennessee in the mid-south is one of eight to ten independent centers of domestication around the world. So, native peoples here, around 4000 years ago, domesticated a set of crops, including sunflower seeds, which we know today, squashes—a little bit earlier than 4000 years ago, even—another one called sumpweed, which is very similar to sunflower, and then [quinapod 00:04:23], which is similar to quinoa. Quinoa is the South American cousin, but people up here domesticated a similar relative of it, too. And so they settled down and became farmers around that time.Rickey: These early cultures were just one part of the history of the site. Later tribes would come to the region as well.Candace: We see some similarities and some continuities from those Mississippian cultures to the Cherokee, historical Cherokee cultures, and such, but they are also changes and things, too. It gets really complicated. But yes, a lot of shifting and a lot of movement of people, a lot of trade, even back 5000, 10,000 years ago. A lot of people moving. And we're so used to our cars and such, we forget how—we have no concept, we have no concept of how they could have relatively quickly gotten across the landscape. These rivers and creeks and such are a huge avenue as well.Rickey: Artifacts are still being discovered on site and Dr. Hollenback and her team are taking measures to help further protect them.Candace: Whether we entice students to become archeologists or not, I think just to give them that appreciation of the history and kind of have pride in it so that we can protect archeological sites like this one here. We're really lucky because we do have this overlay and UT Research Park that is committed to preserving that area.Rickey: The university is working on ways to formally recognize indigenous people and their native connection to the land upon which UT now stands, such as through a committee tasked with drafting a land acknowledgement statement. Though this is still being created, several members of the committee have begun to use this statement that, reads, “The land upon which the University of Tennessee-Knoxville is built is part of the traditional territory of the Tsalagi [Sal a ghee] peoples, now Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. The Tsoyahá [Soy Ah Hey] peoples of Yuchi, Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and Shawnee peoples (Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, and the Shawnee Tribe).”As Dr. Hollenback has illustrated, farming is nothing new to the landscape of the park. Farming came to dominate the site for thousands of years. So, here's Tom again to tell us a little bit more about that.Tom: Back in the 1890s, this property was actually sold by the city of Knoxville to a private developer who laid out a plan for a residential development that he called Cherokee. And we think that's where the name originally came from. He actually built a bridge from what is now Sequoia Hills over into the park, and had a layout that looked very much like Sequoia Hills. This city eventually took the property back for non-payment of taxes, but the bridge stayed for nearly 40 years until it became so dilapidated that it was torn down. You can still see the abutments of the bridge on both sides of the park. So, that was an interesting beginning. The city then sold the land to the university and it became a dairy farm. That's what I remember it as when I came to this town many years ago.Rickey: The 200 acre stretch of flatland remained a dairy farm for many years. Rogers says many of the University of Tennessee alumnus first and foremost remember the land as a dairy farm.Tom: They talked about having milk delivered to their dormitories every morning from the dairy farm.Rickey: Though this old dairy farm is currently home to a burgeoning Research Park, about 75 acres of the property is being preserved and recognized due to its Native American history. The Park may also soon serve the university's mission and the public's interest by utilizing the Cherokee Landing site for educational and recreational purposes.Tom: Over a several year period of time to develop the park-like portion of the Research Park into something we hope to call Cherokee Landing to have a synergy with Volunteer Landing, and Suttree Landing, and the other areas here and in town. That would be open for recreation, as there's a greenway now, and lots of people come here and walk and ride bikes and bring their dogs on the weekends. But we'd love to have access to the water so that people can use kayaks and canoes and paddle boards. And build some structures and some ways of celebrating the Native American heritage that's here. So, on the longer range horizon, that's definitely in our plans.Rickey: This project is a collaboration between the university's Research Park and the Legacy Parks Foundation, which is helping to coordinate the development of the concept and the plan of the design for the sprawling Cherokee Landing site. At this point in our story, it might seem as though the plan for the Research Park at the University of Tennessee sprang into life overnight, but that couldn't be further from the truth. It took a lot to bring this idea to where it is today, and none of it would have been possible without the efforts of one man: Dr. David Millhorn. So, who was Dr. Millhorn?Stacey: Dr. Millhorn was my mentor. He became my friend and even kind of a father figure for me in many ways.Rickey: That's Dr. Stacey Patterson, current president of the UT Research Foundation. Dr. Millhorn passed away in 2017 and had previously served as president of the UT Research Foundation.Stacey: Many people described him as stoic and to himself, but that was only if you didn't really get to know him. Dr. Millhorn had a small circle, but once you were in that circle, you her family to him. He was the type of person that took care of the people that he worked with. He really believed that this University had the potential of any place in the world. And he had been at many different places, but Tennessee was his home, and he really believed that this was his opportunity to realize a big vision. And that's what he spent his whole time, his whole 11 years here doing.Rickey: While Tennessee may have been home. Dr. Millhorn didn't start his career at the University of Tennessee.Stacey: Dr. Millhorn had spent a number of years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he had been a department head of physiology, and then he had moved to the University of Cincinnati, where he developed the inaugural Genome Research Center with a pharmaceutical company. So, he had a vision already coming in as to what it meant for a university to work with the private sector and what that could mean for the faculty, staff, and students of the university, but more importantly, even the region in which that opportunity was taking place.Rickey: Dr. Millhorn joined the University in 2005, where he oversaw the management of science and technology programs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and for much of his time, he served as Vice President of Research and Economic Development. Along the way, his responsibilities grew, becoming the Executive Vice President at the University in 2007, and later becoming the president of the UT Research Foundation in 2014. His work during this time was significant to the development of the university's research enterprise, which included, amongst other accomplishments, a contract with the US Department of Energy to manage Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a $65 million NSF grant, which is the largest of its kind during the time, to build the world's fastest supercomputer, and of course, the establishment of UT's Research Park. Throughout his career at the University, Dr. Millhorn had a vision in mind for what would ultimately become the Research Park as we know it today. Dr. Patterson describes his vision in this way.Stacey: He had a vision that we would bring in large companies that faculty could collaborate with, we could build big research programs, and we could provide opportunities for students. One of the challenges we have in this region is we educate some really top notch students, and in the graduate programs, oftentimes those students have to go to other parts of the country to get gainful employment. And so Dr. Millhorn's vision was, if we could bring those companies here, then we could offer high pay, high technology jobs right here and we could keep those best and brightest students in this region, and it would lift the whole community up.Rickey: As I'd mentioned in episode one of this podcast, university research parks are the physical locations developed and designed to foster an environment of collaboration between universities, the public and private sector, and federal research labs. In addition to the way research parks benefit local economies, research parks can also benefit their respective university systems. Let me explain.The University of Tennessee is a Tier One research university, which means it is a university that's known for world-class research, academic excellence, and exceptional student body—as Dr. Patterson noted—as well as high levels of innovation, creativity, and scholarship. Like all universities, UT looks for ways to draw in that top tier talent to the university, and in turn this benefits not only our students and faculty, but our current Park tenants, and the local community. Dr. Millhorn knew that we would need a dedicated research park with the likes of MIT, Cal Berkeley, and other universities in close proximity to major national labs to increase the recognition and prestige.But for many at the University of Tennessee, this combination of academic, community, and economic drivers was a challenge to understand at first. It took a lot of trust building to convince them that this effort was worth pursuing. Naturally, Dr. Millhorn got to work. He leveraged his many contacts and developed a very clear vision for what a collaborative space could look like.Over the early years of his time at UT, Dr. Millhorn developed a plan that would convey the case for a research park to the university and how having a dedicated research park would help the faculty at the University further develop the University, and also have a positive economic impact on the region as a result of this park. So, in addition to the development of the Research Park, a small business incubator was constructed on the Ag campus. Here, students and faculty could go to further develop their entrepreneurial endeavors, giving the university, and the public a glimpse into the future of what a collaboration could look like with a full-fledged research park. In 2009, when Dr. Patterson joined the UT system as a director of research partnerships, the case for the Research Park had already been submitted in the mind of the university and plans were already underway for the development of the Research Park property.Stacey: The concept of the UT Research Park at Cherokee Farm was actually developed by Dr. Millhorn prior to me joining his office. But I joined in 2009 right when the infrastructure project was underway and we were finishing up the master plan and development guidelines so that we could move things forward.Rickey: Development quickly became the next challenge. With the university on board for this project, they had secured a grant for more than $30 million to purchase Cherokee Farm from the state for use as the University of Tennessee Research Park. Now, the main obstacle was to get the residents of Sequoia Hills on board with the concept of trading in a cow farm for a massive research complex.Stacey: The residents were really concerned about what the differences were going to be, going from a few cows on that property to what Dr. Millhorn was envisioning as an active, thriving public-private partnership type research park. So, there was a lot of outreach, a lot of community meetings, we went to neighborhood meetings, I even did a couple of Sunday school classes at the churches that were across the neighborhood and talked about the vision of the Research Park and what it would mean to the region. And one of the things if you knew Dr. Millhorn and what he was interested in doing, he always looked out for the institution first, so it was always clear to the constituents that that this wasn't about him; this was about making the university and Knoxville, the Knoxville region, a better place for its citizens.Rickey: Dr. Millhorn stressed the value of the Research Park and its intersection with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to the residents of Sequoia Hills. To Dr. Millhorn, those who called Sequoia Hills home needed to know that the park would bring skilled workers to the town and keep Tennessee's best and brightest in their home state.Stacey: When companies come in, they think about this region. They're impressed that we have the University of Tennessee, the state's flagship research public institution here in Knoxville; we have what I consider a national treasure, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. And it's really the combination of those two institutions and the brain power that they represent that really make this region special. It makes it a special opportunity for companies to come and engage with those kinds of people and the technologies that are developed here, the opportunities.I think that Dr. Millhorn was—I'll say he was an early adopter. He saw that. He was able to see what that potential could be, and he was bought in completely and wholly. And I think the Research Park is part of that, of his vision of how those two institutions could work together to just make this region a really spectacular and special place.Rickey: Eventually the land was secured and approved by surrounding stakeholders. The university began constructing its first research park facility in 2014. Tom Rogers recalls his first time looking at the plot of land where they were planning to build.Tom: First time I drove over to see what Dr. Millhorn's vision really looked at, I was pretty much overwhelmed, wondering where people were going to park. There were beautifully laid out one-acre parcels, about 16 of them, but it wasn't logical to me where people were going to park. As we've discovered since then, the original master plan called for parking garages, about 4000 parking spaces in two parking garages.Rickey: Dr. Patterson says parking may not have been the top concern for Dr. Millhorn. For all he brought to the Research Park and the university, this was a guy that wanted to discuss big ideas rather than minutiae.Stacey: So, Dr. Millhorn is one of the biggest thinkers I've ever had the privilege of working with. He would often say, “Oh, I can't be bothered by these small things.” He wanted to be part of a big transformational things like the relationship with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, like the UT Research Park. He would thrive on it, and there aren't as many people in the world that can have that big vision like he does.Rickey: Oh, and the parking situation did get worked out, of course.Tom: For better or worse, we now have a PhD in parking lot and parking garage construction and finance, and they're just not feasible at this time. And so actually later on this afternoon, we're going to begin a process to update our master plan that focuses more on reality. I think there aren't 16 developable lots out here; there are probably eight or nine as you include the surface parking that goes around them. And as you also know, we're hopeful that we'll soon have three projects under construction at the same time. And so that the park is going to look a little bit different than I think it was originally envisioned.Rickey: Dr. Millhorn didn't shy away from taking a leap of faith. Dr. Patterson says that her mentor taught her the value of taking risks.Stacey: I was very privileged to be able to work side-by-side with him, hand-in-hand, really getting to understand that sometimes you have to lean forward, you have to take a little bit of risk for a big reward. And he would do that time and time again. And by taking a little risk, pushing the envelope, frankly, making people a little bit uncomfortable, doing things differently than what they've ever been done at the University before, he was able to transform this institution.Rickey: As far as risk goes, building the first building of the Research Park was one of the first challenges Dr. Millhorn and his team ran into.Between 2014 to 2015, the first building was developed at the UT Research Park. It was built as a collaboration between Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the UT Research Park. It was very aptly named the Joint Institute for Advanced Materials, or JIAM for short. The first building on site was a direct result of the collaboration between the University and ORNL, an outside organization. As Dr. Patterson points out, it was a challenge to determine where to break ground on the new building at first.Stacey: That project actually has a very interesting history. There were a lot of different people that had a lot of different ideas of where that building should be located. Some people thought it should be located at Oak Ridge, some people thought it should be located on the Knoxville campus; there's not a whole lot of room for a building that size on the Knoxville campus. But Dr. Millhorn was a real advocate for putting that Joint Institute for Advanced Material Science at the UT Research Park, to act as a catalyst to get things going, get researchers and students out at the park, get some buzz going, make sure that it was in a space that made sense.So, it was in advanced materials, which is an area that is a special area for the University of Tennessee as well as at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. We have lots of joint faculty who are world-renowned experts in this space. So, he really saw that as making sense as being a catalyst and hopefully launching the Research Park in a direction where we could potentially attract private sector partners. I think that's worked, right? So, JIAM opened several years ago, and since that time, many of the companies that we've been able to attract to the park and who are interested in being at the park have some affiliation with JIAM or want to do some collaboration with the researchers that are represented by the JIAM faculty. And so I think that's really exciting.Rickey: Clearly no challenge was too big back in 2014. Dr. Millhorn left his role with the university in 2016. After Dr. Millhorn's departure in 2016, Dr. Patterson was confirmed by the UT board of trustees to assume Dr. Millhorn's former roles as Vice President for Research, and Outreach, and Economic Development, as well as President and CEO of the UT Research Foundation. The university also looked to Tom Rogers, a veteran of ORNL, to become President and CEO of the Research Park. As a result of overcoming these challenges, Tom shares with us that—Tom: The University of Tennessee is one of a half-dozen universities in the country that manage national laboratories, along with the University of California, the University of Chicago, State University of New York, and a few others. And so it's a real feather in our cap. We've seen it as we visited with prospects interested in the park to explain to them that we're a gateway for collaboration with the University, but to also be able to say, “We're able to help you leverage the resources and talents of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory as well,” will really raise some eyebrows. So, I think the relationship that UT has with the laboratory is a real asset. We're sitting today in the Joint Institute for Advanced Materials.The ‘Joint Institute' means Oak Ridge and UT. With your background at UT and mine at the laboratory, we know a lot of people and are able to help prospects that we have—companies, students, entrepreneurs—find the right people to work with at both institutions, and that's a great value proposition for this research park.Rickey: And even though Dr. Millhorn is no longer part of the institution, his legacy remains. Tom's vision for what the Research Park should be today and in the coming years is not wavering from the original vision.Tom: Another key tenet of successful university research parks around the country is embracing entrepreneurship and innovation. It's fine to work with professors and work with companies that want to collaborate with professors on research, to work with students, but it's really important to embrace young people and their ideas about the future. So, everywhere I've been, dating back to my early career days at TVA, I've been involved with small business startups, mostly on the technology side. I was involved with a great program at Oak Ridge called Innovation Crossroads.Rickey: As a result of his experience and the original vision for the Research Park, Tom has helped the Research Park launch the Spark Innovation Center, which assists early-stage tech companies with the right kind of support to become successful companies, right here in East Tennessee. Here's Tom with more about the Spark Innovation Center.Tom: We early on decided that entrepreneurship needed to be a focus out here. We've started something called the Spark Innovation Center and have six really talented young entrepreneurs growing companies here. The University is excited about that initiative. As we look to build our next building, they're going to incorporate more space for Spark in that building. I think you'll see that entrepreneurship really becomes an important part of the fabric that we're weaving here at the park.Rickey: As the park grows in size, and new buildings and partnerships get added to the park, there is a lot to be optimistic about. It's not just about the new buildings and businesses. The park is truly becoming a gateway to collaboration.Tom: My four decades plus of work has brought great relationships with the state and with TVA and others, and being involved with all of that gets the park in the middle, in the mix, for some really interesting prospects. We're in the homestretch of working with one now that would never have even thought about looking at the park, but on my first week of the job, got random call and said, “We hadn't thought about this, would you be interested in a prospect like this?” And they are a great fit for the Research Park.Rickey: Dr. Millhorn had a vision for what the park should become, but he also didn't stress too much about the details. Under Tom's leadership, the details are coming into focus and we're beginning to see where this path will take us in the next five to ten years. Tom and I reminisced about this during our conversation.Tom: Now, I think we're beginning to see some themes naturally emerge. One, of course, is advanced materials and manufacturing, with the work here at JIAM and the industry collaborations. Second is medical research because the University of Tennessee Medical Center and OrthoTennessee are building an ambulatory surgery center here and have committed to include research on the top floor of that facility. And there's a lot of interest at UT, both at UT Knoxville and at the UT Health Science Center in Memphis, about capitalizing on that opportunity.And the third, I probably can't coin as quickly as the other two. But it has to do with information technology, business analytics, supply chains, cybersecurity, that whole realm. There's just a lot of interest in the private sector, and it's some of the stronger programs at the university. So, we're seeing more and more companies saying that it really makes sense to be at the park, to be right across the river from the campus and those incredible students that they're producing. I'd say those three themes are going to emerge.There could be others as time goes on, but materials, medical research, and whatever we're going to call the analytics portion of it seemed to be the three themes that are most likely to lead us forward.[SPEAKER5: 00:28:06] I think the development of this new vision of being the gateway to collaboration with the University and ORNL has really driven the interest in what we're doing over here, far beyond what I remember it being when I was over on campus. So, I think the involvement, and the communication, and the buy-in from leadership on campus has really driven home that we have a unique opportunity to be able to develop something very special here that is going to help get our students get jobs, it's going to help build the economic development for the community of Knoxville and be able to help build this bigger ecosystem as we, kind of, move forward in the future development.Tom: I think the relationships that we are building on campus are really going to be mutually beneficial. It's pretty remarkable to see what we've been able to do in the last year with COVID. Originally, when we [headed for house 00:28:54], I was concerned that we might be dead in the water for a while. Now, I'm really looking forward to three to six months from now when we can start being face-to-face with people because we got an infrastructure built that can really, I think, accelerate the development of this park.Rickey: With Tom at the helm, the future of the UT Research Park is in good hands.When it comes to evaluating the Research Park's rich past, there is no doubt that Dr. Millhorn left a lasting impact. As Dr. Patterson puts it.Stacey: Dr. Millhorn's legacy is his vision. He was a big thinker. There was no project that was too big. There was no hurdle that you couldn't overcome.Rickey: Dr. Patterson says she knew he was the right person for the job since the beginning, as he strengthened UT's relationship with Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Now, Dr. Patterson has taken over much of the role that Dr. Millhorn had, and she is carrying on his legacy, visions, and readiness to take risks with her.Stacey: Dr. Millhorn had made the decision with his family that it was time for him to take a little bit of a step back and to transition to more of an advisor role between the University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory as the National Laboratory advisor. He actually set up an office at Oak Ridge. He was having a lot of fun thinking about the [science 00:30:13] and having some time. He used to say a lot that, “I'm going to go home for the afternoon so I can think.”Because that was really a big deal for him, to be able to have some quiet time where he could just think and make sure that all those puzzle pieces were coming together. And I think this gave him an opportunity to do that and to think about how the relationship was working, and what wasn't working, and for him to really contribute further. I have truly appreciated the opportunity to serve as the Vice President for Research, Outreach, and Economic Development for the University of Tennessee, and I certainly could not have done it without the experience that I had with my mentor and friend, David Millhorn.Rickey: Dr. Patterson says she'll remember Dr. Millhorn as the caring man that he was: A father, an army veteran, an academic, an entrepreneur, and mentor.Stacey: He was a tough nut to crack. People didn't really know that. I can't tell you how many times in the last three years that I have asked myself, “I wonder what Dr. Millhorn would do in this situation?” It may sound weird, but I kind of feel like he gives me some guidance in those moments.Rickey: For me personally, while I did not have much time with him, I do recall the first time I ever met him. The reason I can remember this so vividly is that I can remember looking at him and thinking, “He is a spitting image of my grandfather,” a man that I hadn't seen since I was ten years old. And from that moment, he and I shared a very special connection, and one that I cherish today. In remembrance of Dr. Millhorn, Dr. Patterson's goal is to make him proud of the work that we're continuing to do.Stacey: One of the things that I want to make sure that we do is I want to make sure that we make him proud, that we do push on his vision, that we are always focused on what's in the best interest of the university, and what's in the best interest of this region, and the people of this region because that was really where his heart was, was around doing what's best for others. And I want to take just a little bit of that and make sure that we're following through with that, and in some way making him proud and making sure that his family is proud of the legacy that he's left here.Rickey: He would definitely be proud. Since breaking ground on the JIAM building, the Research Park has experienced several accomplishments over the past five years, like the development of our first public-private partnership, the announcement that Volkswagen is moving their North American Innovation Hub to the Research Park, the ribbon cutting ceremony of the Spark Innovation Center, and most notably, the collaborative partnership between UT Medical Center and OrthoTennessee to develop their 93,000 square-foot ambulatory surgical center that's scheduled to open in the spring of 2022. And we're well on our way to a bright future as a research park, an economic driver, and a park for the community.On the next episode of The Research Park Chronicles we're going to be speaking with the University of Tennessee Medical Center and OrthoTennessee about the orthopedic surgical center that's coming to the Research Park, and the medical research that will be happening in this facility.Rickey: Thank you for listening to The Research Park Chronicles with Rickey McCallum. Keep up with the latest episodes by subscribing on Apple or Google podcasts, Spotify, or wherever find podcasts are found.
Jerry Hatfield, the retired director of the National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment, says farming is not rocket science. Farming, with all of its interactions and inputs, is much more complex than a physics problem. At an event held by Iowa's Southfork Watershed Alliance, Hatfield explained how water, tillage, nutrients and weather fit into the puzzle that is today's ecological and industrial agriculture system. In this episode of the Strip-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by Terrasym by NewLeaf Symbiotics, Hatfield shares data indicating how strip-till increases soil organic matter, what's an ideal water infiltration rate for soil, his advice on when you should get into carbon markets and more.
Antriksh Matters: Russia’s in Cooperative Mood on Space Stations— Aditya PareekDespite the ubiquity of remotely operated space vehicles, inhabited orbital stations remain a symbol of prestige and scientific endeavour. In Russia’s case, much of its spacefaring tradition is tied to its history as a pioneer of the final frontier. Russia has continued to support the International Space Station(ISS) and has launched another module, this time a docking node called “Prichal”, the Russian word for pier. The Prichal is the second module launched and successfully integrated to the ISS by Russia this year, and according to RIA Novosti it might be the last one Russia has planned for the ISS as of now. The Prichal has five docking slots that can accommodate cargo and crew spacecraft wishing to dock to the ISS. It is also interesting that Russian state space company ROSCOSMOS, according to another RIA Novosti article, is in discussions with NASA on how SpaceX’s Crew Dragon can dock with Prichal. According to the article: a docking interface, that is, a special adapter, would be required for American spacecraft.ROSCOSMOS has acknowledged the revolutionary role SpaceX has played in bringing new efficiencies to spacefaring. Significantly for the Russians, SpaceX has given NASA an alternative to the Soyuz missions for sending crews and cargo to the ISS. Only India among the BRICS can HelpWhile Russia has not closed the door on the ISS, it has nevertheless started pursuing its own alternative, a unilateral space station tentatively called “Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS)”. The project was at one point envisioned to be undertaken with BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India and China) partners. However, no significant support in terms of financial commitments came through from BRICS or any other partners. Now ROSCOSMOS is moving ahead with the design of ROSS with Russian state funding.Furthermore, China has started assembling its own unilateral space station, the “Tiangong” with its core module “Tianhe” already operational in orbit.Brazil and South Africa do not seem to have similar financial wherewithal or short-medium term ambition on sustained human presence in orbit. That leaves only India. The country’s human spaceflight efforts are set to begin with the Gaganyaan mission which, as ISRO chairman Dr. K. Sivan recently said, is a major thrust area for international cooperation, especially with Russia. It would be interesting to see if Russia is able to persuade India to work with it on a joint space station derivative of, or integrated with, ROSS project.According to a report in Russian business newspaper Kommersant, Russian Ambassador to India Nikolai Kudashev said India and Russia are also discussing joint production:The ambassador also noted that in the field of space, Russia and India "are discussing not only the supply of engines, but are also talking about joint engine building, joint development of launch vehicles - heavy, light and ultralight, joint creation of satellites.”The ambassador also indicated joint Lunar exploration is still on the Russia-India agenda, though this was yet to be discussed in detail by both countries.If you like the content of this newsletter consider signing up for our Post-Graduate Programme in Public Policy (PGP). The course is targeted at dynamic individuals who wish to enter the growing professional sphere of policy, public affairs, governance and leadership, while pursuing their current occupations. The PGP equips participants with a core set of skills in policy evaluation, economic reasoning, effective communication and public persuasion.Matsyanyaaya: China’s ‘Quantum Leap’ Overhyped or Genuine Threat?— Arjun Gargeyas(An edited version of this article first appeared in The South China Morning Post on 23rd December 2021.)President Xi Jinping, back in 2016, established a national strategy for China to become technologically self-reliant and soon surpass the United States as the global leader in emerging and critical technologies. At the heart of this was quantum innovation and research. Apart from allocating funds for a long-term quantum mega project, President Xi also announced the establishment of a National Laboratory for Quantum Information Sciences. An announcement made by a group of Chinese scientists in late 2021 buttresses the country’s growth in the field. They declared the creation of a quantum communication network in space using their quantum satellite to secure the national power grid against blackouts and other long-distance attacks. This is a massive leap forward in building secure communication networks using quantum science and technology. It also underlines the strides made by China in the field and the significant advantage it has gained over its competitors in the recent past. It was in 2008 that a certain Pan Jianwei returned to China in the hope of facilitating quantum research in the country. Hailed as the ‘Father of Quantum Physics’ in China, Jianwei founded a lab at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) dedicated to achieving quantum breakthroughs. This ushered in a quantum revolution in the country with extensive research projects on quantum science, especially communications, taking shape. This focus on quantum communications resulted in advanced telecommunications and cryptography systems being developed by the scientific community in the country.The Beijing-Shanghai communication line, which was opened in 2017, was a result of this decade-long quantum research. It was hailed as the world’s longest un-hackable communication line. Though not a fully realised quantum connection, the line is divided into multiple nodes (based on the distance traveled by each photon before succumbing to noise) which provided a high level of security. China also launched the world’s first quantum satellite in 2016 that was pushed to a higher orbit for a wider coverage to develop the quantum internet. The satellite programme was started in the hope of securing communications between military outposts, embassies, government bodies, and financial institutions. These advancements have effectively made China the global leader in quantum communications. In terms of quantum computing and its applications, China was behind the United States in both investments and technological superiority until this year. The revealing of Zuchongzhi, a Chinese-made quantum computer comprising of superconducting 66 qubits easily surpasses the speed and computing power of Google’s quantum computer, Sycamore. There was also a major improvement to their photonic quantum computer raising the number of qubits from 76 to 113. Owning two of the fastest computers in the world, China now is the only country to achieve a quantum advantage in both photonic and superconducting quantum computing. With China pulling ahead in the quantum race, there are also threats of the Chinese government exploiting and weaponising critical quantum technologies for military purposes. This would mean that the Chinese military might develop capabilities to neutralise many offensive and defensive military technologies of its rivals. A Chinese company, Electronic Technology Group Corporation, has claimed having developed Quantum Radar which is supposedly capable of determining the type of airplane and the weapons the airplane is carrying. This would render any stealth technology useless. The Chinese National Academy of Science has reported the development of a quantum submarine detector using extremely sensitive sensors called SQUIDs (Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices). This has the ability to detect a submarine from a long distance away creating limitations for all opposing forces. If these technologies are functional as the Chinese claim, the possibility of China gaining a military quantum advantage is imminent. China has definitely made incredible progress in building its quantum ecosystem. With quantum research driven by the state and concentrated in a few university research labs, the funding provided by the Chinese government consistently remains on the higher side. This has resulted in critical breakthroughs in the domain. However, inherent challenges remain for China to navigate before officially winning the quantum race. CyberPolitik #1: DCNs Reporting for National Security Duty — Prateek WaghreIn August 2021, the actions that the likes of Facebook, Twitter were about to take (or not take / or had not taken in the months/year before it) in the aftermath of the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan were the subject of intense scrutiny and debate. These were yet another reminder of how entangled DCN firms are in decisions that have significant geopolitical implications as well as the national security of individual states.Literature on the role of DCNs primarily invokes the lenses of competition, privacy and speech. However, a recent paper, ‘National Security by Platform’ by Elena Chachko, proposes a framework for analysing their role in the privatisation of national security functions.Before going into the framework, there are some key points the paper makes which are worth considering upfront. I’ve paraphrased my interpretation here:Ad hoc developments: The growing role of DCN firms in geopolitics and national security weren’t the product of a deliberate, consensus-building exercise. Instead, these were ad hoc, piecemeal and incremental steps in response to significant events such as terrorist attacks, concerns over election integrity, etc.Contradiction with Competition: While competitive markets envisage many private firms taking part, a market with a limited set of large-scale operators is better suited for cooperation with the national security apparatus and rapid, uniform responses/actions.DCN capabilities and intent: Are DCN firms capable of meeting national security challenges, and are they likely to prioritise addressing them over profits?Chachko makes the following points about the relationships between DCN firms and governments (I’ve separated them into bullet points for better readability) :… Involve threat analysis and policy development cooperation, information sharing, and platforms replicating government practices and methods. A mutually beneficial, at times even symbiotic, relationship has emerged between platforms and government agencies in addressing certain important national security and geopolitical challenges. On other fronts, however, platforms and government have clashed.These trends can be considered to be forms of ‘indirect, informal national security privatization’, and proposed the following categories:A. Hard Structural ConstraintsThere can be institutional or constitutional limitations/constraints on state actors. For example, state actors likely have neither the capability to detect/respond to sophisticated disinformation operations nor the authority to control what information can or cannot be posted/shared in other jurisdictions. DCN firms, on the other hand, exercise more control over these spaces (at least the ones they operate) and have the tools/capabilities/expertise to understand these threats better than state actors. This creates a need for state actors to rely on private actors.B. Bureaucratic WorkaroundsEven in the absence of ‘hard constraints,’ state actors may choose to rely on / cooperate with DCN firms to work around legal/administrative requirements and/or political opposition, speed up response times, limit the visibility of their role, etc.Both categories A and B require varying degrees of cooperation between state actors and DCN firms. They are also not mutually exclusive. C. Platforms as SubstitutesIn cases of inaction by state actors, or when their desired/preferred actions are at odds with government policy prescriptions/direction, DCN firms may resort to acting unilaterally, essentially substituting for state actors.And while privatisation in the context of national security, both formal and informal, are not unique to platforms, Chachko argues that it is the change in scope that is significant:The breadth of security and geopolitical policy and execution discretion that platforms currently exercise is striking. Questions such as what to do about genocide in Myanmar, what kinds of coordinated behavior constitute security threats and require enforcement, what foreign government blowback might ensue following such enforcement, what is necessary to secure the Indian election and protect its integrity, how to respond to Turkish demands to silence opposition,or what constitutes credible information about COVID-19 are complex and open-ended. They require far broader and more diverse expertise and greater exercise of policy discretion than identifying individual terrorism suspects or monitoring violent groups, finding breaches of computer systems, exposing zero-day vulnerabilities, or even attributing computer breaches to perpetrators.CyberPolitik #2: Consider the benefits of Digital Communication Networks— Sapni G KThis entry is adapted from one of the sections of a forthcoming discussion document by Prateek Waghre and Sapni G K on the opportunities and benefits associated with Digital Communication Networks.As Prateek had written in the previous issue of this Newsletter, the discourse around Digital Communication Networks (DCN) tends to be dominated by the harms they have caused. Literature around DCNs focuses heavily on the myriad of troubles they have exacerbated with little consideration of their benefits, particularly from the Indian perspective. In our latest discussion document, we attempt to examine the potential opportunities and benefits that could be attributed to DCNs. We broadly look at how DCNs interact with the market and the society at large. In this section, I will write about the interaction between DCNS and the market, which has contributed to the creation of new economic opportunities and efficiencies.DCNs have facilitated the growth of business models that were thought to be highly improbable or previously associated with high transaction costs. This includes the booming creator economy with its turbocharged growth during the pandemic. They even enabled new job categories such as social media managers and curators, which did not exist in the world before DCNs. They also help many people to reach out to their extended networks for job opportunities, which has facilitated the freelance economy. Since DCNs transcended geographies and economic divides, a range of new opportunities was created and amplified. This benefitted Indian businesses in multiple ways. Their operations were globalised, with small and medium enterprises also eyeing the global market. Analytics and visualisation tools that are a part of most DCNs helped firms understand trends in real-time and modify their business practices. DCNs also facilitated the opening up of entirely new markets, such as the thrifting- used clothes retail, that has historically been looked down upon. The advertisement model that DCNs presented helped businesses to move into targeted marketing. Many DCNs operate on the advertisement-supported business model where they provide access to their services in return for tracking users’ activities, both on and off the platforms, and serving them targeted advertisements.Calculating the economic efficiency of different domains is an inherently difficult task. At the level of algorithm design, calculations have historically considered informativeness as the near equivalent of economic efficiency. Through the document, we identify increased informativeness and online social graphs as tools for creating economic efficiency, which has led to the compounding of benefits created by DCNs. While the points mentioned above only represent a small portion of our document, they serve the purpose of reiterating why it is important to reorient our perspectives on conversations about the governance of DCNs. We argue that these cumulative benefits should not be lost out as proposals for governance and regulation are presented across the globe. India, in particular, has benefitted immensely from DCNs, and caution must be exercised when we think of regulating them.You can read the entire document here. This is a work in progress, as part of our investigations into the ecosystem of DCNs. If you have thoughts/comments on the same, do reach out via Twitter DMs (@SapniGK) or email me ( AT takshashila.org.in ).Our Reading Menu[Chapter]Approaching the Third Rail? A Trilateral Treaty to Prohibit Space-Based Missile Defenses[Report] Getting the multidomain challenge right [Paper] State policy against information war by Dmitry Shibaev and Nina Uibo[Paper] The role of internet media in informational counteracting between Ukraine and Russiaduring the war in the East by Nadia Herasymchuk and Anatolii Yakovets This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hightechir.substack.com
Organics Unpacked Episode #25: Interview with Jerry Hatfield, Retired Laboratory Director at the USDA Agricultural Research Service The debate surrounding ammonia extracts has become a hot topic in the organic farming world since the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) requested that ammonia extracts be placed on the prohibited list. To bring some clarity to this issue, we welcome Dr. Jerry Hatfield to Organics Unpacked to discuss the use of ammonia extracts in organic agriculture. Dr. Hatfield, who is now retired, had served as Laboratory Director for the USDA's National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment for over 30 years. Learn more about Avé Organics: www.aveorganics.com Learn more about Jerry Hatfield at the USDA: www.ars.usda.gov Connect with our guest on LinkedIn #organicfarming
The Department of Homeland Security wants to see promising technologies developed in federal labs turned into commercial products it can buy to support its missions. DHS is helping that along by running a new series of competitions among startup teams. Last week marked the end of the first “Homeland Security Startup Studio.” Federal News Network's Justin Doubleday spoke with the director of industry partnerships at DHS' Science and Technology Directorate, Megan Mahle, for Federal Drive with Tom Temin.
Tere Riley, Sr. Brand Manager for Redwire, shared the story behind her title with us on Saturday, July 31st and Sunday, August 1st 2021.Tere oversees brand strategy across all Redwire and leads the strategic development and execution of marketing and communications plans that advance the business and brand across all marketing channels.Prior to Redwire, Tere oversaw marketing initiatives, and media partnerships at the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory driving engagement and key partnerships including various research and science organizations as well as national and international media industries to convey the overall mission of the ISS.Holding several leadership roles in her career, she was an award-winning producer for Discovery Communications, leading creative and content strategies for global brands like the Discovery Channel, Discovery en Español, Animal Planet, and more. She developed cobranding opportunities working with Fortune 500 companies driving audience retention, ad sales revenue, and ratings. SUE SAYS"In speaking with Tere, I could not help but be moved by her candor. Two defining experiences emerged as she shared who she is and what's behind her strong work ethic. Her Mother, a survivor of breast cancer, came to America to escape Communism in Cuba. Tere's Dad battled alcoholism and died young because of it. Tere opted for a preventative double mastectomy after learning she tested positive for the BRCA-2 gene. In spite of it all, she remains an optimistic, hard working, ambitious wife and mother of two."Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/women-to-watch-r/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Mariana received her bachelor's in Sustainable Management of Coastal Zones in Mexico, which included living for 3 years in a small fishermen's village. Her thesis was on coral diseases and included an analysis of their resource management practices. During this time she also volunteered in the National Park Cocos Island, Costa Rica, a remote island in the Pacific reachable only by a 2-day trip by ship. She lived there for one month, diving with majestic hammerhead sharks. After graduating she decided to specialize in Marine Biodiversity & Conservation at Sea Education & Boston University. The so-called "semester at sea" included classes as well as a 5-week sailing trip across the Sargasso Sea to learn about navigation and carry out a research project. Afterward, Mariana went to Europe where she received a Master of Science in Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management. She completed her thesis at the MIIS in California, a comparison between two Marine Protected Areas, one in Mexico and one in the United States. After graduating she worked as a junior researcher at the National Laboratory of Coastal Resilience in Mexico, and focused again on the Caribbean and carried out the study "Social alienation and environmental decline in a coral reef: Challenges to coastal management in the Mexican Caribbean". Following that Mariana got her current job as Project Manager at Geonardo Environmental Technologies, focusing on marine and coastal-related projects in the EU. In this position she developed and coordinated the AQUA-LIT project, focusing on creating a toolbox to tackle marine litter at sea with the hand of aquaculture stakeholders from the Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Mariana is also part of the implementation team of CoastObs project, focusing on using satellite data to monitor coastal waters across the EU, and part of the management team of Surfrider Porto chapter. Surfrider is an organization focused on promoting the protection of the Ocean through local activism and lobbying. Her personal hobbies, as you might have guessed, are also related to the ocean. Mariana particularly loves freediving, scuba diving, bodyboarding, and underwater and drone photography. You can follow her on Instagram @marml_photography and find her photography and personal website here. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reefroundup/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reefroundup/support
There's a crazy place beneath your feet, a jungle of sand, silt, and clay, of solids and pores. Some of the most diverse and overlooked communities on Earth live here, in a world unlike anything we know - completely dark, of tiny proportions, and full of surprises. Even the air and water aren't the same. Soils and their inhabitants play a huge role for the overground world, from food security to climate change. What do scientists know about them, and how are they exploring soils? In this first episode of the Life in the Soil podcast, host Anja Krieger learns more about the soil habitat from soil scientists Matthias Rillig and Johannes Lehmann. Subscribe and learn more on https://rilliglab.org/podcast/ Episode transcript: https://rilliglab.org/2020/12/04/life-in-the-soil-podcast-episode-1-living-soil-a-habitat-hidden-from-view-transcript/ CREDITS Produced by: Anja Krieger and the Rillig Lab rilliglab.org Funded by: Digging Deeper / BiodivERsA https://www.biodiversa.org/ Voices in intro: Katie Field, Richard Bardgett, Yong-Guan Zhu, Diana Wall, Stefan Scheu, Toby Kiers Story consultants: Stefanie Maaß, Moisés Sosa Hernández Thanks for feedback: Madara Pētersone, Mendel Skulski and Florian Hintz Cover art: Maren von Stockhausen http://marenvonstockhausen.de Theme music: Sunfish Moon Light / Future Ecologies https://www.futureecologies.net Additional Music: Particle by Dorian Roy Sounds: Intro: Saša Spačal, “Transversal Is A Loop”; leaves by iamdylanavery; rocket launch by NASA The Digging Deeper project was funded through the 2015-2016 BiodivERsA COFUND call for research proposals, with the national funders Swiss National Science Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Swedish Research Council Formas, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and Agence Nationale de la Recherche. The research aboard the International Space Station is made possible by sponsorships of Norfolk Institute, Rhodium Scientific, the ISS U.S. National Laboratory, and NASA, with special grants from bio365, Deep Space Ecology, Rhodium Scientific, and the Zwillenberg-Tietz Foundation, and the support of Cornell University and Freie Universität Berlin.
In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we look at the hidden gift of Impostor Syndrome. Our guest, Keiko Munechika, shares why she doesn't ever want to lose her Impostor Syndrome.To join the free Impostor Syndrome Challenge, visit:https://executivecareersuccess.com/impostor-syndrome-challenge/To learn more about the Leading Women discussion group, visit:https://executivecareersuccess.com/leading-women-discussion-group/To schedule time to speak with me directly about your questions/challenges, visit:https://bookme.name/ExecCareer/strategy-sessionAbout Our GuestKeiko Muenchika, originally from Hiroshima, Japan, came to the US to study at a university. She has always been a self-described “nerd,” which helped her to pursue a Ph.D. in chemistry. After a post-doc at National Laboratories, she became an R&D group manager at a small company in Silicon Valley. Recently, she co-founded a tech company and has been working as a CEO. She has always loved to figure out how things worked in the technical sense, but has also loved to work with people whenever she was not running an instrument. For that reason, she became a coach and co-founded Daisuki-Coaching, and has been coaching women/men in the tech/science field to move forward in their careers. Daisuki = “I love” in Japanese :)
Pineapples—just thinking about this delicious tropical fruit, rich in vitamin C, might make your mouth water. But have you ever stopped to think where the peel and other waste from this crop end up?We do here in the small country of Costa Rica, the world's largest producer of pineapples. Pineapple production generates about 4.5 million tons of crop residues every year in our Central American nation.And that waste is tough stuff. The plant is made of strong cellulose that takes a long time to biodegrade. And most of it is either burnt or ends up dumped in open forests, where disease-causing mosquitoes and fungi thrive off its high sugar content.But hidden in pineapple peels is a treasure—of nanomaterials. Scientists at Costa Rica's National Laboratory of Nanotechnology (LANOTEC) have been extracting valuable nanocellulose from the peel and stubble of the pineapple. This nanocellulose can be used in the pharmaceutical, food and medical industries. And it turns out that, while harvesting that nanocellulose, you can also get rosette-like silica-based microparticles. These tiny traces have potential as reinforcement in adhesives, in the biomedical field, and even as a source of silica for fertilizers. Scientists from LANOTEC describe these applications in the journal Scientific Reports. [Yendry R. Corrales-Ureña et al, Biogenic silica-based microparticles obtained as a sub-product of the nanocellulose extraction process rom pineapple peels]José R. Vega-Baudrit is the director of LANOTEC and one of the authors of the paper. “Pineapple residue is something that has been studied a lot, but nobody had seen this particle in the skin of the fruit.”It was chemical engineer and material scientist Yendry Corrales-Ureña who noticed the silica-based microparticles.“I began to study the plant, to make the cuts, to see what it had, and incredibly, after doing the synthesis, I began to see those rosettes, like flowers, that did not fall apart under duress. It was wonderful. We had thousands, millions, of the same structures left over.”The pineapple silica differs from silica nanospheres that are synthesized in labs for various applications.YCU: “This is a silica that the pineapple plant processes on its own, and it is of very high purity.”Most commercial fertilizers use silica. And Corrales-Ureña's main interest in the rosette-like silica-based microparticles is as a fertilizer component. The next steps in that line of research will be to determine if parts other than the peels also have silica nanoparticles, and to develop an efficient fertilizer using them.—Debbie Ponchner(The above text is a transcript of this podcast)
Patrick O'Neill, Marketing and Communications Manager at CASIS, talks about the part of the International Space Station designated as a U.S. National Laboratory, what that means, and how CASIS manages research from all over the world that could ultimately benefit humankind. HWHAP Episode 29.
Patrick O'Neill, Marketing and Communications Manager at CASIS, talks about the part of the International Space Station designated as a U.S. National Laboratory, what that means, and how CASIS manages research from all over the world that could ultimately benefit humankind. HWHAP Episode 29.
Independent investigative journalism, broadcasting, trouble-making and muckraking with Brad Friedman of BradBlog.com
Cosmic Inflation and Gravity waves Scientists in the BICEP 2 Group say they've found the earliest rumbles of the Big Bang. Theory predicts how the universe first expanded. Now we have the first observation of the phenomenon behind it. The universe was kick-started by a so called 'inflation' - vigorous growth within a fraction of a second of the Big Bang going bang. To confirm inflation you need to detect ripples in the fabric of space called gravitational waves. And to find those, you need to look for twists and kinks in this stuff. The BICEP 2 radio telescope, at the South Pole, has been measuring the direction of twists of light from the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation - which is a form of primordial light, a remnant of the Big Bang. The signals have been released that show distortions in that light that can only have been caused by gravitational waves. They could only be there if there was inflation. In other words, these observations have shored up one of the most important theories in cosmology. Gareth Mitchell discusses what this means with BBC Science Correspondent Jonathan Amos and Astronomer at UCL Dr. Hiranya Peiris.Photonic Radar As the search closes in on missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370, radar technology has been in the spotlight. At the same time, new research published in this week's Nature journal reports on field trials of the next generation of radars - photonics based. Lead-author Paolo Ghelfi, from the National Laboratory of Photonics networks in Pisa, Italy explains their methods. Professor David Stupples, a radar expert from City University, London, explain that this cheaper, more accurate technology could end up in your car.Show Us Your Instrument - Infrared camera Infrared cameras detect heat, and process this as a colourful image. Dominic McCafferty, from Glasgow University, uses this kit to study stress levels in birds. When an animal is stressed, blood is drawn away from its skin and routed to the essential organs. This 'fight or flight' reflex means the temperature of certain parts of the animal drops. The infrared camera measures this, providing a non-invasive way of testing an animal's stress level. Current projects include one to test chickens, aiming to improve their welfare.Water research When listener Dave Conway emailed in to ask about what research is being done on water, if any - we went straight to materials scientist Professor Mark Miodownik at UCL to find out.Taxidermy Is taxidermy a dying art? Not for the chattering classes of New York apparently. There's been a rise in demand for people to attend classes where they learn to stuff and mount animals, and often dress them up in costumes. But what is the value of the stuffed animals in museums? In the multimedia age of interactive displays, 3D printing and computer models - do we still need the stuffed and stitched creatures in glass cases?Producer: Fiona Roberts.
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