Research

Senate to take up Supplemental Funding Bill next week that includes vital cancer research funds

June 20, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. – Continuing his intensive work to provide funds for life-saving biomedical research, U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that funds health and education initiatives, today praised the House of Representatives for approving $150 million in additional funds for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and pledged to include and approve the funds on the Senate side.

The House passed the Supplemental Funding Bill late last night that includes the NIH funding; the Senate intends to consider the legislation next week.    » read more »

Governor, Senate President, Speaker Head to BIO International Convention with Cutting-Edge Life Sciences Law in Hand

BOSTON– Monday June 16, 2008 – Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, joined by Senate President Therese Murray and Speaker of the House Salvatore F. DiMasi, signed pioneering legislation today at the Joslin Diabetes Center that will secure Massachusetts’ position as a global leader in life sciences, unveiling for the first time the comprehensive, innovative Massachusetts Life Sciences Law.    » read more »

Three-Plant Complex will help recruit new industry, support existing industry and train workforce for high-tech jobs

June 09, 2008 -- MONTGOMERY - Alabama Governor Bob Riley announced today that Calhoun Community College in Decatur will be the site of a robotics research, education and training campus that will help the state attract new industry, support the needs of existing industry and train workers for high-tech careers.

Alabama Governor Riley announces site of robotics center: Photo courtesy Alabama Governor's office    » read more »

Emission Reductions Proposed for New Cement Plants

(1)EPA Study Confirms Low Mercury Emissions from Chlorine Manufacturing

Washington, D.C., Monday June 2, 2008 -- EPA has completed a study to better characterize fugitive mercury emissions from chlorine manufactures that use mercury cell technology. There are currently five such facilities nationwide. Study findings show that mercury emissions average about 0.2 tons per year per facility.    » read more »

June 3, 2008 -- NEWPORT NEWS, VA - Research performed at the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility has found that protons are about 20 times more likely to pair up with neutrons than with other protons in the nucleus. The result will be published online by the journal Science, at the Science Express website.

The result, based on the first-ever simultaneous measurement of such pairings and their constituents, could have implications for understanding the structure of nuclear systems from light nuclei to neutron stars.    » read more »

June 3, 2008 -- Colorado Governor Bill Ritter today welcomed global wind-industry leader Siemens Energy to Colorado.

Siemens Energy announced today at the American Wind Energy Association annual conference in Houston that it will establish its U.S. wind research and development center in Boulder, creating 50 new green-collar jobs here in Colorado.

"This is another great testament to Colorado's growing New Energy economy," Gov. Ritter said. "We continue to establish ourselves as a worldwide leader in renewable, sustainable and modern energy. The arrival of Siemens Energy's U.S. wind turbine research center draws particular attention to the creative and groundbreaking work being done in energy R&D in Colorado."    » read more »

Portland Stop -- May 29 -31-- is first of Four Northwest Port Visits

Seattle, Wash., May 27, 2008 -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Ocean Survey Vessel, the OSV BOLD, will make its first northwest appearance in Portland, Oregon, beginning May 29th.EPA’s Ocean Survey Vessel (OSV) “BOLD”

EPA's 224-foot research flagship will be docked at Tom McCall Waterfront Park and will be open to the public. Free public tours will be conducted May 29th – 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and May 30 and 31st – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The OSV BOLD came straight from Arcata, California where it completed seafloor monitoring at the Humbolt Bay Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site.    » read more »

RICHLAND, Wash. – The pipes that rise from oil fields, topped with burning flames of natural gas, waste fossil fuels and dump carbon dioxide into the air. In new work, researchers have identified the structure of a catalytic material that can turn methane into a safe and easy-to-transport liquid.

Flaring oil platforms: Photo by Travelling Steve (CC)

The insight lays the foundation for converting excess methane into a variety of useful fuels and chemicals.    » read more »

ARGONNE, Ill. -- May 23, 2008 -- When air-quality monitors and environmental regulators inspect the pollution levels of certain cities, the difference of one or two parts per million in the concentration of pollutants like ozone and carbon monoxide can mean the difference between achieving a target and having to implement additional costly provisions to get failing areas back on track.

Because of the high stakes involved in meeting air-quality targets, scientists, city officials and regulators all desire an effective and accurate way not only to measure air quality but also to predict where pollution "hot spots" will occur and plan for additional control strategies.    » read more »

May 22, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC –U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Representative Bill Foster (D-IL) and Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) today announced that by a vote of 75-22 the US Senate passed the domestic funding portion of the emergency supplemental bill that includes an amendment to fund critical science programs administered by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Fermilab control room: Photo by WBEZ Chicago Public Radio (CC)    » read more »

May 21, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC — Today, the Office of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, released the following statement in response to President Bush signing the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act into law.

Melissa Wagoner, spokeswoman for Senator Kennedy, said, "Today, the President signed what Senator Kennedy calls the first civil rights law of the century of the life sciences. This bipartisan legislation continues Senator Kennedy's ongoing commitment to a fairer and more just America, by barring discrimination on the basis of an individual's DNA code, just as the nation has previously prohibited discrimination based on race, gender or national origin."

Source: Senator Ted Kennedy's office

May 21, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC -- Senator Hillary Clinton today issued the following statement on the President’s signing into law of the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act.

“Today our nation has struck down a barrier that has for too long threatened the privacy and equality of many Americans. Personal genetic information will no longer stand in the way of anyone’s ability to obtain health care. The fear of discrimination must never stop people from undergoing critical tests for genetic illnesses.    » read more »

Funds Represent Next Round in 11-Year, $600-Million Stem Cell Research Initiative; Requests for Applications (RFAs) to Access the Funding will be Issued Today

May 8, 2008 -- New York Governor David A. Paterson today announced that nearly $109 million in new state funding is being made available to support stem cell research initiatives in New York. The nearly $109 million represents the second round of available funding from the state’s 11-year, $600 million stem cell research initiative that was approved as part of last year’s state budget.    » read more »

LIVERMORE, Calif. – The radioactive carbon-14 produced by above-ground nuclear testing in the 1950s and ’60s has helped researchers determine that the number of fat cells in a human’s body, whether lean or obese, is established during the teenage years. Changes in fat mass in adulthood can be attributed mainly to changes in fat cell volume, not an increase in the actual number of fat cells.

These results could help researchers develop new pharmaceuticals to battle obesity as well as the accompanying diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes.    » read more »

May 5, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced up to $7.5 million in federal funding for research and development to help advance the viability and cost-competitiveness of advanced water power systems.

Through this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), DOE seeks partnerships with U.S. industry and universities to develop innovative and effective technologies capable of harnessing water power energy resources, including ocean wave, tidal, current and other water-based resources.

Photo by watch4u (CC)    » read more »