Things I've Been Reading

1. Can we future-proof against another financial crisis?

   (PhysOrg.com) -- On the day that the UK emerges from the recession, an Oxford University study warns that by continuing to test and future-proof individual banks without considering the resilience of the financial system as a whole, we run the risk of making the same mistakes again.

2. Dartmouth researchers help secure the power grid

   Dartmouth researchers are part of the national Trustworthy Cyber Infrastructure for the Power Grid team that has been awarded a five-year $18.8 million grant from the US Department of Energy with contributions from the US Department of Homeland Security. This represents continued funding that started in 2005 with support from the National Science Foundation.

3. Close Encounter with Mars

   It rises in the east at sunset, pumpkin-orange and brighter than a first magnitude star. You stare at it, unblinking. Unblinking, it stares right back. It is Mars.

4. Engineered metamaterials enable remarkably small antennas

   In an advance that might interest Q-Branch, the gadget makers for James Bond, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and partners from industry and academia have designed and tested experimental antennas that are highly efficient and yet a fraction of the size of standard antenna systems with comparable properties. The novel antennas may be useful in ever-shrinking and proliferating wireless systems such as emergency communications devices, micro-sensors and portable ground-penetrating radars to search for tunnels, caverns and other geophysical features.

5. In Organic Cover Crops, More Seeds Means Fewer Weeds

   (PhysOrg.com) -- Farmers cultivating organic produce often use winter cover crops to add soil organic matter, improve nutrient cycling and suppress weeds. Now these producers can optimize cover crop use by refining seeding strategies, thanks to work by an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist.