Solomon Asch Center

Correlates of radical localism across American counties April 15, 2024 Juan MerizaldeChristopher Linebargera Independent Researcher, Arlington, VA, USAb School of Criminology, University of Massachusetts-Lowell, Lowell, MA, USA
Examining the counterinsurgency-counterterrorism tradeoff: the effects of targeted strikes on militant attacks February 26, 2024 Brittnee CarterThomas GuarrieriDaniel S. Smitha Department of Political Science, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USAb National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USAc Department of Political Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USADr. Brittnee Carter is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Kansas.Dr. Thomas Guarrieri is an Associate Research Scientist at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism and the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Global Terrorism Studies Minor at the University of Maryland.Daniel S. Smith is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science at The Ohio State University.
Keeping up appearances: US domestic extremist organizations and the effects of membership on domestic terrorism perpetrators February 13, 2024 Andrew VitekDepartment of Political Science, Penn State University, University Park, USA
International kidnapping by non-state actors: Exploring the relationship between political predictors and the selection of victims January 26, 2024 Kathryn M. LambertDepartment of National Security, American Military University Online, USA
Foreign fighters from the far right and extreme left in the Russia–Ukraine conflict January 23, 2024 Nicola GuerraItalian Studies, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

U.S. may end drone strikes in Pakistan

After years of Pakistani anger over U.S. drone strikes, Secretary of State Kerry’s statement is probably viewed as a good sign there.

Robotic pruning

Pruning, fruit picking, and tree management are time consuming tasks heavily dependent on human pattern detection and visual processing. Even though computer systems are notoriously bad at those skills, it has not stopped scientists and engineers from trying to produce a fully automated pruning system.

Drones in Games: Eve Online

Eve Online is a massively multiplayer online game set in the far future. Players pilot space-ships and interact in a universe where almost all aspects of the economy and government are dependent on players, up to and including ponzi schemes and assassinations. Players can also control their own fleet of drones, which can be used for asteroid mining, transportation, repair, and both offensive and defensive combat roles. As in the real world, they automate tasks too dangerous or too dull for actual pilots.

National Geographic: Cheap, Disposable UAS are the New Storm Chasers

The military is not the only organization with hazardous flight missions. Besides hurricanes and wildfires, the article also discusses the development of small, quiet, and mostly biodegradable drones for wildlife tracking.

Driverless tractors till German high-tech farm

Germany’s manufacturing industry – already known for high-tech heavy machinery – is well placed to supply this transition to automated agriculture.

India: Army ‘mistook planets for spy drones’

A tense border and a paranoid view of Chinese military developments conspired to produce this absurdity.

FAA Certifies First 2 Types Of Drones For Civilian Use

While civilians have long had access to remote control aircraft and other hobby-level drones, these tended to be small and operated in unrestricted Class G airspace. This FAA certification opens the door for larger, longer range civilian UAVs capable of surveying and mapping inaccessible areas.

A Meta-Study of Drone Strike Casualties

This article investigates the high variance in attempts to count civilian casualties of drone strikes. While the government has at times claimed that there were no civilian casualties, the studies looked at here indicate 7% to 34% of deaths were noncombatants.

U.S. Drone Strike Kills at Least 6 in Pakistan

Article states that a senior commander in a Pakistani Taliban group was killed. It also states that Pakistan continues to see the drone strikes as counterproductive and an affront to their sovereignty.

Testing the Future: Astronaut in Space Remote-Controls Robot in California

A new series of tests on how best to remotely operate unmanned vehicles in outer space. While light-speed will still limit the practical range of such techniques, it’s certainly useful for orbital to lunar operations.

Published by the University of Texas Press the book features 100 of Hyman's photographs and six critical essays that depict and discuss the emotional aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks -- a time when people from all walks of life created and encountered memorials to those who were murdered. Vernacular art appeared almost everywhere—on walls, trees, playgrounds, vehicles, houses, tombstones, and even on bodies. This outpouring of grief and other acts of remembrance impelled photographer Jonathan Hyman to document and preserve these largely impermanent, spontaneous expressions. This book, a unique archive of 9/11 public memory, is the result of his compiling a collection of 20,000 photographs, along with field notes and personal interviews. For more information about the book or to purchase it, visit the book's page at Amazon or Facebook.

Sramana Majumdar

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Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict

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