Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States


Book Description

Scores of talented and dedicated people serve the forensic science community, performing vitally important work. However, they are often constrained by lack of adequate resources, sound policies, and national support. It is clear that change and advancements, both systematic and scientific, are needed in a number of forensic science disciplines to ensure the reliability of work, establish enforceable standards, and promote best practices with consistent application. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward provides a detailed plan for addressing these needs and suggests the creation of a new government entity, the National Institute of Forensic Science, to establish and enforce standards within the forensic science community. The benefits of improving and regulating the forensic science disciplines are clear: assisting law enforcement officials, enhancing homeland security, and reducing the risk of wrongful conviction and exoneration. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States gives a full account of what is needed to advance the forensic science disciplines, including upgrading of systems and organizational structures, better training, widespread adoption of uniform and enforceable best practices, and mandatory certification and accreditation programs. While this book provides an essential call-to-action for congress and policy makers, it also serves as a vital tool for law enforcement agencies, criminal prosecutors and attorneys, and forensic science educators.




Global Trends 2040


Book Description

"The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic marks the most significant, singular global disruption since World War II, with health, economic, political, and security implications that will ripple for years to come." -Global Trends 2040 (2021) Global Trends 2040-A More Contested World (2021), released by the US National Intelligence Council, is the latest report in its series of reports starting in 1997 about megatrends and the world's future. This report, strongly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, paints a bleak picture of the future and describes a contested, fragmented and turbulent world. It specifically discusses the four main trends that will shape tomorrow's world: - Demographics-by 2040, 1.4 billion people will be added mostly in Africa and South Asia. - Economics-increased government debt and concentrated economic power will escalate problems for the poor and middleclass. - Climate-a hotter world will increase water, food, and health insecurity. - Technology-the emergence of new technologies could both solve and cause problems for human life. Students of trends, policymakers, entrepreneurs, academics, journalists and anyone eager for a glimpse into the next decades, will find this report, with colored graphs, essential reading.




Critical Materials Strategy


Book Description

This report examines the role of rare earth metals and other materials in the clean energy economy. It was prepared by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) based on data collected and research performed during 2010. In the report, DoE describes plans to: (1) develop its first integrated research agenda addressing critical materials, building on three technical workshops convened by the DoE during November and December 2010; (2) strengthen its capacity for information-gathering on this topic; and (3) work closely with international partners, including Japan and Europe, to reduce vulnerability to supply disruptions and address critical material needs. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand report.




Direct Energy Conversion


Book Description

Direct Energy Conversion discusses both the physics behind energy conversion processes and a wide variety of energy conversion devices. A direct energy conversion process converts one form of energy to another through a single process. The first half of this book surveys multiple devices that convert to or from electricity including piezoelectric devices, antennas, solar cells, light emitting diodes, lasers, thermoelectric devices, and batteries. In these chapters, physical effects are discussed, terminology used by engineers in the discipline is introduced, and insights into material selection is studied. The second part of this book puts concepts of energy conversion in a more abstract framework. These chapters introduce the idea of calculus of variations and illuminate relationships between energy conversion processes.This peer-reviewed book is used for a junior level electrical engineering class at Trine University. However, it is intended not just for electrical engineers. Direct energy conversion is a fascinating topic because it does not fit neatly into a single discipline. This book also should be of interest to physicists, chemists, mechanical engineers, and other researchers interested in an introduction to the energy conversion devices studied by scientists and engineers in other disciplines.




Fuel Cells: Technologies for Fuel Processing


Book Description

Fuel Cells: Technologies for Fuel Processing provides an overview of the most important aspects of fuel reforming to the generally interested reader, researcher, technologist, teacher, student, or engineer. The topics covered include all aspects of fuel reforming: fundamental chemistry, different modes of reforming, catalysts, catalyst deactivation, fuel desulfurization, reaction engineering, novel reforming concepts, thermodynamics, heat and mass transfer issues, system design, and recent research and development. While no attempt is made to describe the fuel cell itself, there is sufficient description of the fuel cell to show how it affects the fuel reformer. By focusing on the fundamentals, this book aims to be a source of information now and in the future. By avoiding time-sensitive information/analysis (e.g., economics) it serves as a single source of information for scientists and engineers in fuel processing technology. The material is presented in such a way that this book will serve as a reference for graduate level courses, fuel cell developers, and fuel cell researchers. - Chapters written by experts in each area - Extensive bibliography supporting each chapter - Detailed index - Up-to-date diagrams and full colour illustrations




Handbook on Nuclear Law


Book Description

This handbook is a practical aid to legislative drafting that brings together, for the first time, model texts of provisions covering all aspects of nuclear law in a consolidated form. Organized along the same lines as the Handbook on Nuclear Law, published by the IAEA in 2003, and containing updated material on new legal developments, this publication represents an important companion resource for the development of new or revised nuclear legislation, as well as for instruction in the fundamentals of nuclear law. It will be particularly useful for those Member States embarking on new or expanding existing nuclear programmes.




Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review 2020


Book Description

The sixth edition of the series highlights employment trends in renewables worldwide, noting increasing diversification of the supply chain.




Hydrogen and Fuel Cells


Book Description

Hydrogen and fuel cells are vital technologies to ensure a secure and CO2-free energy future. Their development will take decades of extensive public and private effort to achieve technology breakthroughs and commercial maturity. Government research programs are indispensable for catalyzing the development process. This report maps the IEA countries' current efforts to research, develop and deploy the interlocking elements that constitute a "hydrogen economy", including CO2 capture and storage when hydrogen is produced out of fossil fuels. It provides an overview of what is being done, and by whom, covering an extensive complexity of national government R & D programs. The survey highlights the potential for exploiting the benefits of the international cooperation. This book draws primarily upon information contributed by IEA governments. In virtually all the IEA countries, important R & D and policy efforts on hydrogen and fuel cells are in place and expanding. Some are fully-integrated, government-funded programs, some are a key element in an overall strategy spread among multiple public and private efforts. The large amount of information provided in this publication reflects the vast array of technologies and logistics required to build the "hydrogen economy."--Publisher description.