Stephen Young

We @ucs.org proudly host a Scoville fellow now and are so lucky to have them on our team! We encourage anyone interested in working in the field of international peace and security to apply! It is a great opportunity for the fellows and real benefit to UCS.

Bigelow later said: "“When you see something horrible happening, your instinct is to do something about it. You can freeze in fearful apathy or you can even talk yourself into saying that it isn’t horrible. I can’t do that. I have to act. This is too horrible. We know it. Let’s all act.”

Albert Bigelow was the original captain of Golden Dome, a navy commander who resigned his post in protest US use of the nuclear bomb and the massive destruction caused by nuclear testing. The Golden Dome was voyaging to the US testing site in the Pacific when it was halted and the crew arrested.

Seeking a New Moral Compass on Nuclear Weapons Aboard the Golden Rule A sailboat that symbolized anti-nuclear activism in the late 1950s has been restored as a reminder of the need for arms control.

My colleague @dkspaulding.bsky.social with a deeply moving essay about his time on the "Golden Rule," a sailing ship that decades ago sought to halt nuclear testing and today, run by @veteransforpeace.bsky.social, continues to oppose nuclear weapons and war: blog.ucs.org/dylan-spauld...

When Rescuing Environmental Data, Are We Archiving the Past or Illuminating the Future? In an era defined by climate disruption, widening inequality, and political volatility, the role of scientific data in informing public health and environmental policy has never been more critical. Independent, reliable, and verifiable datasets are essential for answering pressing questions such as:

In an era defined by climate disruption, widening inequality, and political volatility, the role of scientific data in informing public health and environmental policy has never been more critical. UCS’s Melissa Finucane explores the challenges of protecting it in uncertain times.

Exclusive | USDA Puts Food Researchers on Leave The move comes days after the Trump administration abruptly canceled an annual Agriculture Department report that measures hunger in America.

On Saturday, @wsj.com broke the news that the USDA canceled its annual report on food insecurity & hunger. Now, researchers in the unit responsible for the survey have been put on indefinite leave.

How to Make the Next Trump-Kim Meeting a Success Kim Jong Un could be willing to agree to a nuclear weapons-free zone in Northeast Asia because it would threat North Korea the same as China, Russia, and the United States.

“As unrealistic as the establishment of a nuclear weapons–free zone in Northeast Asia may seem, talking about it can be a vehicle for improving security in the region..” The latest from my colleague, @gkucs.bsky.social on prospects for a potential Trump-Kim reunion.

How to Make the Next Trump-Kim Meeting a Success Kim Jong Un could be willing to agree to a nuclear weapons-free zone in Northeast Asia because it would threat North Korea the same as China, Russia, and the United States.

"We live in a rapidly changing geopolitical landscape where the established rules and norms of the post–Cold War era are dissolving quicker than we can devise new ones to take their place. It’s a transition fraught with dangers but also ripe with new possibilities."

Very much an amateur who dabbles in gardening - in fact I am more the laborer and my spouse the planner/designer!

"Pentagon kicks off space-based interceptor development, $5.6B available to fuel effort"

Putin offers Trump a temporary nuclear arms control deal that would extend status quo by one year Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that he was ready to extend by one year the last arms control treaty between Washington and Moscow that limits the number of nuclear weapons each side has if U.S. President Donald Trump does the same.

New START is the last remaining arms control agreement between the US and Russia. Extending it would keep sensible limits on nuclear weapons while further reductions and limits are negotiated. The US should reciprocate and get to work on a follow up to New START.

Self-Driving Cars Explained Self-driving cars are hitting the streets—are we ready for the potential impacts?

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are cars or trucks that can operate safely without human drivers taking control. But how do they work, and what impact do they have? Learn more in our updated explainer:

Even conservative thinktanks are projecting the cost of Golden Dome to be anywhere from $252 billion to $3.6 trillion over 20 years. Before the US commits itself to an unfeasible, easily defeated, false sense of security, it should be honest about the costs and capabilities.

It’s Time to Rethink US Nuclear Weapons Manufacturing There is no technical justification for replacing the entire US nuclear arsenal—but the government is willing to spend more than $2 trillion to do just that.

The DOE has ordered a review of a key part of nuclear modernization - plutonium pit production. Here’s my take on why it (and plans for other parts of the US triad) deserve reconsideration and rescoping. At present, ambition and reality don’t align.

Plutonium Pit Production The US plan to build new plutonium pits for nuclear weapons is unnecessary, risky, and dangerous to the health of workers and communities.

For a deep dive on plutonium pits and a sensible, affordable and sustainable alternative to the mad rush to producing pits in bulk that is the current US plan, see my colleague Dylan Spaulding’s report: www.ucs.org/resources/pl...

Asked about pit production, she notes the Livermore is deeply involved because they are designing the first warhead with new pits - they have a team full time at PF-4 at LANL. She notes PF-4 is working 24-7 to both make pits and install pit-making equipment - which (I note) is a risky approach.

On fusion research, she notes that China is making MASSIVE investments in multiple approaches, something the US is not able to do. They are building a laser-based system far more powerful than NIF. They have other approaches as well.

Speaking about the lab’s bio programs, Budil notes that she plans to live to be 120, based on the historic progress in human life spans. But, she adds, they need to pick up the pace. (Aren’t US lifespans actually declining in recent years? They will be now due the RFK and his ilk.)

In the computing world, they now can create full digital models of each item that is produced, that can simulate aging for that specific item. (Did I get that right?)

The system was designed to do one or two new weapons at a time, and now we are doing seven. Labs are looking at new, modern approaches, including things like functional polymers that can do more than one thing. (Wow but, um what? How useful in a nuclear weapon?)

Asked about nuclear modernization and possible futures that might not lock us into a particular future, Budil notes how long it has taken to begin this effort. Two options: redo all the existing capabilities, which is possible but very expensive she says.

What Does a Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough Mean for Energy Production and Nuclear Weapons? Fusion represents a powerful dichotomy as nature’s ultimate energy source and man’s most destructive capability.

NIF is still the only fusion energy effort in 60 years of effort in the field that achieved more energy output than input. My colleague Dylan Spaulding, who worked at Livermore, wrote this piece on the successs: blog.ucs.org/dylan-spauld...

The have the worlds largest most powerful supercomputer, El Capitan, with three teraflops of computing capability. That is a three with 18 zeros after it. Even to her as an experimental physicist, it is pretty cool.

Livermore has models that can simulate the entire US electric grid and can study attacks and threats to that system.

She notes that our potential adversaries would benefit FAR more from a return to testing than the US would. Clearly true - the US has done more than 1000 nuclear tests, while China has done less than 40.

World is changing dramatically. Today we are learning about the new environment where it is no longer two peer competitors. We also know more about our weapons than ever before, without the need for a return to nuclear testing.

Kim Budil, head of Livermore, speaking at @nti.org. Opens by noting the different cultures between Livermore and Los Alamos. Livermore is the smaller kid that focuses on practical applications. Multidisciplinary teams all within 1 square mile.

What’s the Plan for ‘Golden Dome’? Even Experts Aren’t Sure A sweeping U.S. missile defense program comes with many risks, costs and uncertainties, analysts say

Excellent @sciam.bsky.social Golden Dome article details the lack of information about the proposed system, the enormous amount of taxpayer $$$s it will consume (even as it fails), & the negative ramifications for US security overall: www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-...

Missing Pieces: Why Filling Gaps in Voting Data is Key to Building Trust in Elections When scientists study anything at all, the first step is nearly always the same: sourcing reliable, standardized data. Without it, analysis is impossible—like knitting a sweater with no yarn. Election science is no exception. In theory, if I request this data from election commissioners, I should be

"If I request [election] data from election commissioners, I should be able to request and receive it, easily analyze it, and understand how it was gathered. It is, after all, public and available upon request. The reality, however, is far different." Find out what’s missing in Rose Nafa’s blog.

YouTube video by Union of Concerned Scientists Space-based Missile Defense: Not a Good Idea

Here is a @ucs.org animation showing how space-based missile defenses cannot be relied on as a defense: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEkX...