Topic: Science

Can the Pentagon Lead the Tech Sector Again?

Can the Pentagon Lead the Tech Sector Again?

Silicon Valley was built on defense dollars, but bureaucracy and a rise of Big Tech and startups have left the U.S. military behind in defense acquisitions.

How the Marine Corps Struck Gold in a Trash Heap During the Defense Department’s Fight Against Climate Change

The DOD treats climate change as a catastrophic threat to national security. “A shrinking polar ice cap doesn’t just mean thinking about polar bears.”
A burn pit in Balad, Iraq. Photo courtesy of Dan Clare

Burn Pits—The Military’s Next Agent Orange

Burn pits have been poisoning soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan for the last 11 years. But Veterans Affairs seems reluctant to do anything about it.
Brandon Alt, right, was one of at least six Marines and Navy corpsmen who deployed from Camp Pendleton, California, to Afghanistan in 2010 who later developed seizures or seizure-like episodes. Photo courtesy of Brandon Alt.

Mystery Seizures Haunt Marine Units a Decade after Deployment

Seizures among veterans are surging. Some blame PTS and TBI. Others blame toxic exposures.

Gulf War Illness Treatments Discovered. Will Veterans Affairs Officials Listen Now?

“That’s what made them sick.” Scientists say toxic exposures and anti-nerve agent pills, paired with DEET, poisoned veterans during the Gulf War.

“Pulling the Crazy Card”—Choosing to Show Empathy for a Suicidal Sailor

Thibaut Delloue rushed a suicidal sailor to shore after he asked for help on deployment only to see his shipmate ostracized and labeled a malinger.
Master Sgt. Darryl Sterling, 332nd Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron equipment manager, throws trash into a burn pit at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, in 2008. Photo by Senior Airman Julianne Showalter, courtesy U.S. Air Force.

“It’s so inaccurate”—How the VA Is Failing to Track Veterans Burn Pit Claims

VA figures show an astonishingly low rate of approval of burn pit claims: Of the 10,588 claims, 2,360 veterans had their benefits granted and 8,228 were denied.