On Thursday, the House Oversight Committee will hold a public hearing about national security implications of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs). It comes on the heels of public inquiries in 2022 by Congress, the Department of Defense, NASA, and the intelligence community (PDF) into what were once called UFOs. If extraterrestrials are visiting our planet, the… Continue reading UFOs Are Not the Only Potential Threat in American Skies
Math Proof Draws New Boundaries Around Black Hole Formation
The modern notion of a black hole has been with us since February 1916, three months after Albert Einstein unveiled his theory of gravity. That’s when the physicist Karl Schwarzschild, in the midst of fighting in the German army during World War I, published a paper with astonishing implications: If enough mass is confined within… Continue reading Math Proof Draws New Boundaries Around Black Hole Formation
Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, Neurodiversity, Russia’s ‘Forever War’: RAND Weekly Recap
This week, we discuss public reports of unidentified aerial phenomena; the effects of a potential change in U.S. policy toward Taiwan; how neurodiversity can help national security organizations; treatment for people facing opioid use disorder and mental illness; Ukraine’s path to victory; and pain care for U.S. service members. Photo by Stringer/Reuters The federal government… Continue reading Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, Neurodiversity, Russia’s ‘Forever War’: RAND Weekly Recap
Racism in Health: The Roots of the U.S. Black Maternal Mortality Crisis
[CLIP] Window rolling down Tulika Bose [tape]: Hey, what’s that? Protestor: It’s a brochure about all the help that’s available for pregnant women. Bose: I’m pulling up to one of the last clinics in Georgia where you can still get a medical abortion. Protestor: [tape] It’s a brochure. Bose: [tape] What’s it a brochure about? … Continue reading Racism in Health: The Roots of the U.S. Black Maternal Mortality Crisis
Service Members and Their Families Are Paying for the Air Force’s Fiscal Shortfalls
Recently, the U.S. Air Force announced that it is experiencing a shortfall in Fiscal Year 23 military personnel appropriation funding driven by higher-than-projected personnel costs. To address this insolvency, the Department of the Air Force directed actions to avoid exhausting funds. These actions included pausing permanent change of station (PCS) moves, delaying issuance of retirement… Continue reading Service Members and Their Families Are Paying for the Air Force’s Fiscal Shortfalls
Complexity Theory’s 50-Year Journey to the Limits of Knowledge
Impediments remain to proving NP-completeness for the full version of MCSP. But none are the sort of barriers that suggest an entirely new toolkit is needed — it may just be a matter of finding the right way to combine known techniques. A proof would finally settle the status of one of the few problems… Continue reading Complexity Theory’s 50-Year Journey to the Limits of Knowledge
It Should Not Have Been a Surprise: The Threat from Putin’s Russia
The recent NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, left the world asking a hard question: “Are we in a new Cold War with Russia?” Our answer is to a different, and harder, and more important question: Is Russia already at war with the West? Vladimir V. Putin has been in perpetual war with the West—defined by… Continue reading It Should Not Have Been a Surprise: The Threat from Putin’s Russia
Flying Snakes! (Herodotus, Isaiah, Bible, Fossils, Uraeus, Wadjet, Serpent, Cobra)
Podcast: Download MYS273: Some ancient sources report snakes that had wings and could fly, including Herodotus and even the Bible. Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli discuss the ancient Greek historian’s reports, what Isaiah had to say, and whether there really could have been ancient flying snakes. Get all new episodes automatically and for free: Follow… Continue reading Flying Snakes! (Herodotus, Isaiah, Bible, Fossils, Uraeus, Wadjet, Serpent, Cobra)
Quaking Giants Might Solve the Mysteries of Stellar Magnetism
Our planet is doomed. In a few billion years, the sun will exhaust its hydrogen fuel and swell into a red giant — a star so big it will scorch, blacken and swallow up the inner planets. While red giants are bad news for planets, they’re good news for astrophysicists. Their hearts hold the keys to understanding… Continue reading Quaking Giants Might Solve the Mysteries of Stellar Magnetism
Truth Decay and National Security
The line between fact and opinion in public discourse has been eroding, and with it the public’s ability to have arguments and find common ground based in fact. We at RAND call this diminishing role of facts and analysis in American public life “Truth Decay.” Everyone can feel how it affects their day-to-day lives—the family… Continue reading Truth Decay and National Security