In the news: Michigan Engineering experts August 16-20

Alex Halderman explains there are real vulnerabilities in some voting machines across the country that need to addressed to prevent potential exploitation and manipulation in future elections.

Gabor Toth tells MSN there are only two natural disasters that could severely impact the U.S. — a pandemic and a space weather event that knocks out the power grid. Toth and a team of researchers are working to improve space weather prediction models to prevent the latter from happening.

A fusion experiment at the world’s biggest laser facility released 1.3 million joules of energy, coming close to a break-even point known as ignition. Carolyn Kuranz, who wasn’t involved in the experiment, explains that the milestone is a “truly amazing feat” that makes her hopeful for fusion as a clean energy source in the future.