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| The latest news from the Academies
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Aug. 19 -- The Bureau of Reclamation has invested significant resources in security and is better able to protect its facilities and personnel, says a new report from the National Research Council. However, the bureau should take a more strategic approach to its security program and develop a long-term plan that addresses policy, programmatic, and resource issues, said the committee that wrote the report.
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Aug. 15 -- A new report from the National Research Council finds that conventional prompt global strike -- a military option under consideration by the U.S. Department of Defense -- could be of particular value in some scenarios, because it would eliminate the dilemma of having to choose between using nuclear weapons or not responding at all to a fleeting opportunity to deal with a dangerous threat. The report provides near-, mid-, and long-term recommendations for possible CPGS development.
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Aug. 13 -- The intelligence community frequently monitors global technology trends to identify advances that could impact national security, yet the pace and breadth of research in emergent fields can overwhelm intelligence analysts, says a new report from the National Research Council. The report reviews the field of cognitive neuroscience, suggests which areas of research the intelligence community should focus on, and discusses how these areas could impact national security.
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| Breaking stories in science
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Aug. 19 -- The number of coastal areas known as dead zones is on the rise. A new study published in Science counted more than 400 dead zones globally, including 166 in U.S. waters, covering 245,000 square kilometers. Once filled with fish and many other organisms, these ocean waters are no longer habitable.
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Aug. 15 -- On July 29, 1958, nine months after the launch of the Soviet Sputnik satellite sparked concern that the U.S. was falling behind in technology, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act into law. The act authorized the creation and funding of a civilian agency that would direct and conduct civil aeronautics and space research and programs. Three months later on October 1, NASA opened its doors.
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Aug. 1 -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognize August as National Immunization Awareness Month. Immunization, noted as one of the most significant health interventions of the 20th century, has helped eradicate smallpox worldwide, virtually eliminated polio from this hemisphere, and significantly reduced the occurrence of measles, diphtheria, rubella, pertussis, and other diseases in the U.S. While many people are routinely immunized, there are still tens of thousands of deaths around the world caused by vaccine-preventable diseases.
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Jul. 25 -- Texas utility regulators announced the largest renewable-energy investment in the U.S. when they recently approved a $4.9 billion plan that will build extensive transmission lines to carry wind-generated electricity from remote western parts of the state to urban centers like Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio.
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