TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2021 HOMELAND SECURITY NEWSLETTER (NUKES, VIRUSES, DRONES - OH MY!!!)

 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2021 HOMELAND SECURITY

HOMELAND SECURITY

I subscribe to many newsletters.  One that I haven’t used in a while is the Homeland Security Newsletter.  Nuclear weapons, nuclear arsenals, nuclear warheads | Homeland Security Newswire

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So, let’s see what is going on with Homeland Security.  The articles are frequently from research studies.

NUMBER OF NUKES!!
“The United States has disclosed the number of nuclear weapons in its arsenal for the first time since former President Donald Trump decided to keep the figures a secret. At the height of the cold war, in 1967, the U.S. nuclear stockpile reached its peak; 31,255 warheads.”

The U.S. Has a Stockpile of 3,750 Nuclear Warheads.  With a population of about 331,000,000 that is about 1 nuclear weapon per 100,000 people!!!  

(Hmmm - the Austin area is about 1 million people - I’m not sure how many each nuclear weapon could kill, but I think we still have plenty to go around!!!

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“The figures were released on the heels of a bid by President Joe Biden’s office to restart arms control dialogue with Russia after stalling under Trump.

“President Biden’s administration is also conducting a nuclear weapons posture and policy review that is expected to be completed early in 2022.

“In February this year, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Conference on Disarmament that “President Biden has made it clear: the US has a national security imperative and a moral responsibility to reduce and eventually eliminate the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction.”

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At least the trend line is lower (as far as the United States is concerned).  But, if you factor in North Korea and Iran - we are still under a nuclear threat!!

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VIRUSES RESEARCH

“A new project, funded with $125 million from USAID, aims to detect and characterize unknown viruses which have the potential to spill over from wildlife and domestic animals to human populations. The 5-year project is expected to yield 8,000 to 12,000 novel viruses, which researchers will then screen and sequence the genomes of the ones that pose the most risk to animal and human health.

“Washington State University (WSU) says that to better identify and prevent future pandemics, WSU has entered into a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to head up a new five-year, approximately $125 million global projects.

The USAID Discovery & Exploration of Emerging Pathogens – Viral Zoonoses, or DEEP VZN project, will build scientific capacity in partner countries to safely detect and characterize unknown viruses which have the potential to spill over from wildlife and domestic animals to human populations.”

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We do need to be looking forward to the next viruses - and I’m glad that research is looking at future pandemics!!!

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DRONES

“We are all familiar with drones, or as they are more formally called, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). They are becoming more and more ubiquitous, and are being used for everything from backyard fun to military operations. Relatively inexpensive, small, and easy to deploy, they can be controlled with a specialized remote control, an app on your phone, or they may be programmed to autonomously follow a predetermined mission. And, as the technologies for UAS continues to improve, so has the potential for them to be used in illegal and dangerous ways.”

“The primary objective of this project is to establish airspace flight corridors, geo-fencing, route planning, terrain avoidance guidance, and weather alerts (among other capabilities) that will enable the safe and secure integration of UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems)  into our NAS (National Aircraft Systems).”

I’ve seen some nice things from drones.  They can fly into fires or disasters - as so what if they crash or burn.  But, having a United Flight delayed because of some drones in the area isn’t quite what is expected!!!

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ASTEROID DETECTION

“If an asteroid is determined to be on an Earth-impacting trajectory, scientists typically want to stage a deflection, where the asteroid is gently nudged by a relatively small change in velocity while keeping the bulk of the asteroid together.

“This approach is called disruption and it is often what people think of when they picture planetary defense. While scientists would prefer to have more warning time, they need to be prepared for any possible scenario, as many near-Earth asteroids remain undiscovered.

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I’d just hate to be wiped out by an asteroid!!!  <grin>

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But, with all this good research on a variety of topics, maybe we can survive nuclear war, new viruses, drone mishaps, and asteroids!!!

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LOVE WINS!!!

Karen