Research

March 18, 2010 -- WASHINGTON -- NASA's Operation IceBridge mission, the largest airborne survey ever flown of Earth's polar ice, kicks off its second year of study when NASA aircraft arrive in Greenland March 22.

The IceBridge mission allows scientists to track changes in the extent and thickness of polar ice, which is important for understanding ice dynamics. IceBridge began in March 2009 as a means to fill the gap in polar observations between the loss of NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite, or ICESat, and the launch of ICESat-2, planned for 2015. Annual missions fly over the Arctic in March and April and over Antarctica in October and November.    » read more »

ARPA-E’s 3rd funding opportunity to focus on grid-scale energy storage, electrical power technology, and building energy efficiency

March 2, 2010 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – At the inaugural ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit today, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced $100 million in Recovery Act funding will be made available to accelerate innovation in green technology, increase America’s competitiveness and create new jobs. Today’s announcement comes as some of the nation’s top energy leaders and members of the scientific research community have gathered to ensure U.S. leadership in clean energy technologies.    » read more »

GOES-P has improved severe weather, solar storm detection capabilities

March 4, 2010 -- NOAA and NASA officials announced a new Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), launched tonight, successfully reached its initial orbit, joining four other GOES spacecraft that help NOAA forecasters track life-threatening weather and solar activity.

The new satellite, GOES-P, lifted off at 6:57 pm EST from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, and separated from the launch vehicle at 11:18 pm EST. The first signal from the satellite was captured at the same time.    » read more »

Gene Network-Based Analysis Reveals Unexpected Results

LA JOLLA, CA – March 1, 2010 – The underlying causes of the debilitating psychiatric disorder schizophrenia remain poorly understood. In a new study published online in Genome Research March 2, 2010, however, scientists report that a powerful gene network analysis has revealed surprising new insights into how gene regulation and age play a role in schizophrenia.    » read more »

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have launched a joint effort to gather enhanced climate data from spaceborne climate observation instruments planned for a group of satellites now under development.

The Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) Mission includes a fleet of satellites tentatively scheduled for launch later this decade that will gather data for long-term climate projections. The CLARREO mission will provide an accurate climate record of the complete spectrum of energy that Earth reflects and radiates back into space, measurements that should provide a clearer understanding of the climate system.    » read more »

Scientists report discovery of heaviest known antinucleus and first antinucleus containing an anti-strange quark, laying the first stake in a new frontier of physics

March 4, 2010 -- UPTON, NY — An international team of scientists studying high-energy collisions of gold ions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), a 2.4-mile-circumference particle accelerator located at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, has published evidence of the most massive antinucleus discovered to date.    » read more »

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have learned how an interval of DNA in an unexplored region of the human genome increases the risk for coronary artery disease, the leading cause of death worldwide.

Their research paints a fuller picture of a genetic risk for the disease that was discovered only three years ago and which lurks in one out of two people.

It also reinforces the tantalizing possibility that many more disease risks — and potential disease-fighting therapies — are hidden in the vast and uncharted part of the genome that doesn’t contain instructions for making proteins.

The research is reported in the February 21 advance online publication of the journal Nature.    » read more »

Announces First Sponsored Research Program Project with Konarka Technologies

The Center for Revolutionary Solar Photoconversion (CRSP) has funded 10 advanced solar research projects totaling $800,000 – its second round of Shared Research Program funding.

Separately, CRSP also has launched its first Sponsored Research Program effort – a project between Konarka Technologies and Colorado State University (CSU).

CRSP is a research center of the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory. The center is dedicated to the basic and applied research necessary to create revolutionary new solar energy technologies as well as educational and training opportunities.    » read more »

Investing in Innovation to Create the Industries and Jobs of Tomorrow

Having steered the economy back from the brink of a depression, the Administration is committed to moving the Nation from recession to recovery by sparking job creation to get millions of Americans back to work and building a new foundation for the long-term prosperity for all American families. To do this, the 2011 Budget makes critical investments in the key areas that will help to reverse the decline in economic security that American families have experienced over the past decade with investments in education, clean energy, infrastructure, and innovation.    » read more »

Blocking Key Protein in Mice Helps them Resist Viral Infection

LA JOLLA, CA, January 27, 2010 -- Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a potential new way to stimulate the immune system to prevent or clear a viral infection. By blocking the action of a key protein in the mouse immune system, they were able to boost immune "memory" in those mice—work that may one day help doctors increase the effectiveness of human vaccines designed to prevent viral infections.

Immune memory in humans (or mice) is what allows the body—after an initial exposure to a virus—to quickly recognize, respond to, and eliminate that same virus upon some later exposure. Viral vaccines basically work through this mechanism.    » read more »

January 13, 2010 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will co-lead a new national program to develop advanced biofuels that are compatible with the nation's existing hydrocarbon fuels infrastructure.

The $33.8 million in funding for this research effort comes as part of a larger package of biofuels investments under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act announced today by Energy Secretary Steven Chu.    » read more »

Boeing, Etihad Airways, Honeywell and Masdar Institute to Establish the First Integrated, Sustainable Bioenergy Research Project for Aviation; Pioneering system using seawater and desert for bioenergy to be located in Abu Dhabi

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 18 -- Boeing (NYSE: BA), the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Etihad Airways and Honeywell's UOP today announced an agreement to establish a major research institution and demonstration project in Abu Dhabi dedicated to sustainable energy solutions. The Sustainable Bioenergy Research Project (SBRP) will use integrated saltwater agricultural systems to support the development and commercialization of biofuel sources for aviation and coproducts.    » read more »

January 8, 2010 -- GAITHERSBURG, Md. — The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) today awarded more than $123 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants to support the construction of new scientific research facilities at 11 universities and one non-profit research organization.

With ultimate research targets ranging from off-shore wind power and coral reef ecology to quantum physics and nanotechnology, the 12 projects will launch more than $250 million in new laboratory construction projects beginning early this year.    » read more »

Dec. 15, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- NASA and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) have signed a joint statement that allows for collaboration in lunar and asteroid science research. The partnership recognizes the Saudi Lunar and Near-Earth Object Science Center as an affiliate partner with the NASA Lunar Science Institute at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.    » read more »

Critical Step Forward For Stem Cell Research; Congratulates the NIH on approving the use of the first human embryonic stem cell lines under new guidelines

December 9, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin today congratulated the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on approving the use of thirteen human embryonic stem cell lines under the new ethical guidelines adopted this past July.

Senator Harkin chairs the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that funds health research initiatives and the Senate health committee. He has been a long-time leader in the fight to lift restrictions on stem cell research.    » read more »