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Modern civilization relies on a complex, globally interconnected industrial agriculture system to produce food. Its unprecedented yields hinge on external inputs like machinery, fertilizers, and pesticides, rendering it vulnerable to disruptions in production and international trade. Such a disruption could be caused by large‐scale damage to the electrical grid. Solar storms, nuclear detonations in the upper atmosphere, pandemics, or cyber‐attacks, could cause this severe damage to electrical infrastructure. To assess the impact of such a global catastrophic infrastructure loss on major food crops (corn, rice, soybean, wheat), we employ a generalized linear model. The predictions show a crop‐specific yield reduction between 15% and 37% in phase 1, the year after the catastrophe, assuming rationed use of fertilizers, pesticides, and fuel stocks. In phase 2, when all stocks are depleted, yields decrease by 35%–48%. Soybean is less affected in phase 1, while all crops experience strong declines in phase 2. Europe, North and South America, and parts of India, China, and Indonesia face major yield reductions, potentially up to 75%, while most African countries are less affected. These findings underscore the necessity for preparation by highlighting the vulnerability of the food system. Modern farming, dependent on machinery, fertilizer and pesticides, is at risk from electrical grid disruptions due to various catastrophes. Yields may drop 15%–37% in the first year and 35%–48% after industrial inputs run out, varying by crop. Europe, the Americas, and parts of Asia can see up to 75% yield reductions. Preparation is crucial.

The food supply chain’s heavy reliance on electricity poses significant vulnerabilities in the event of prolonged and widespread power disruptions. This study introduces a system-dynamics model that integrates five critical infrastructures—electric grid, liquid fossil fuels, Internet, transportation, and human workforce—to evaluate the resilience of food supply chains to major power outages. We validated the model using the 2019 Venezuelan blackouts as a case study, demonstrating its predictive validity. We then explored how more extreme electricity losses would disrupt the supply chain. More specifically, we modeled the impact of a large-scale cyberattack on the US electric grid and a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) event. A cyberattack severely damaging the US electric grid and allowing for recovery within a few weeks or months would lead to substantial drops in food consumption. However, it would likely still be possible to provide adequate calories to everyone, assuming that food is equitably distributed. In contrast, a year-long recovery from a HEMP event affecting most of the continental United States could precipitate a state of famine. Our analysis represents a first attempt at quantifying how food availability progressively worsens as power outages extend over time. Our open-source model is made publicly available, and we encourage its application to other catastrophic scenarios beyond those specifically considered in this work (for example, extreme solar storms, high-lethality pandemics).

Geomagnetic storms occurring due to sustained, high-speed solar winds are known to induce currents in power distribution networks. These geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) can cause high voltage transformers (HVT) to overheat, thus resulting in a catastrophic electricity loss event (CELE). Since significant portions of infrastructures around the world rely heavily on access to electric power, it is essential to estimate the risks associated with GICs on a global scale. We assemble multiple methodologies across various scientific disciplines to develop a framework assessing the probability of a severe geomagnetic storm causing a long-term, widespread power outage. Our model incorporates thermal models of HVT tie bar hot spots, historical geoelectric field estimates, and a global conductivity model to estimate the risk of long-term power outage for regions between -70 degrees and 80 degrees geomagnetic latitude due to transformer overheating failure. Assuming a uniform 33% HVT spare capacity, our analysis indicates that a 1 in 10,000 year storm would result in approximately 1% of the population in Europe and North America experiencing a long-term (months to years) electricity loss.

Optical frequency standards, lasers stabilized to atomic or molecular transitions, are widely used in length metrology and laser ranging, provide a backbone for optical communications and lie at the heart of next-generation optical atomic clocks. Here we demonstrate a compact, low-power optical frequency standard based on the Doppler-free, two-photon transition in rubidium-87 at 778 nm implemented on a micro-optics breadboard. The optical standard achieves a fractional frequency stability of 2.9x10\\(^{-12}\\)/\\(\\sqrt{\\tau}\\) for averaging times \\(\\tau\\) less than 10\\(^{3}\\) s, has a volume of \\(\\approx\\)35 cm\\(^3\\) and operates on \\(\\approx\\)450 mW of electrical power. These results demonstrate a key step towards the development of compact optical clocks and the broad dissemination of SI-traceable wavelength references.

We examined whether point value information on a scoring rubric influences learners’ study time and concept selection when learning educationally relevant STEM information. Participants (N = 92) engaged in the self-regulated study of five concepts in mineral formation—geological processes, inorganic substances, compounds, elements, and crystalline solids—while having access to a scoring rubric that contained varying point values (concepts were worth 12, 8, or 4 points), uniform point values (all concepts were worth 8 points), or no point values for each concept. Participants chose how long to study and how many times to study each of the concepts. Concepts were selected for study more times when they were high-value than low-value on a grading rubric, an effect that was stronger for some concepts relative to others. Concepts were also studied slightly longer when they were high-value compared to low-value on a rubric. Our findings are consistent with value-directed remembering and agenda-based regulation and suggest that learners can use scoring rubrics to guide their decisions during learning.

Emergency Department (ED) crowding and boarding impact safe and effective health care delivery. ED clinicians must balance caring for new arrivals who require stabilization and resuscitation as well as those who need longitudinal care and re-evaluation. These challenges are magnified in the setting of critically ill patients boarding for the intensive care unit. Boarding is a complex issue that has multiple solutions based on resources at individual institutions. Several different models have been described for delivery of critical care in the ED. Here, we describe the development of an ED based critical care consultation service, the early intervention team, at an urban academic ED.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003793.].