Science

Ask for “Top Ten” Actions Needed to Strengthen and Preserve America's Competitive Edge

June 22nd, 2009 - WASHINGTON - Four congressional leaders have asked the National Academies to form a distinguished panel to assess the competitive position of the nation’s research universities. “America's research universities are admired throughout the world, and they have contributed immeasurably to our social and economic well-being,” the Members of Congress said in a letter delivered today. “We are concerned that they are at risk.”    » read more »

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Announces $176 Million In Recovery Act Funding To Improve Research Capacity At Laboratories In 29 States

WASHINGTON, June 19, 2009 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that the USDA is distributing $176 million in Recovery Act funding to upgrade laboratory buildings and support facilities at research locations across the country.

Not only will these projects further important research being conducted at USDA laboratories in 29 states, these funds will help revitalize local economies by creating jobs and supporting local businesses that supply needed construction products and services.    » read more »

Quantum criticality in chromium is a stand-in for more complex systems

ARGONNE, Ill. (June 18, 2009) — Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago have reached a milestone in the study of emergent magnetism.

Funding for this research was provided by the National Science Foundation Division of Materials Research and the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences.    » read more »

New Details Revealed; Inhibitor molecules mimic interaction; could become drugs to block deadly poison

June 21, 2009 -- UPTON, NY — New structures of a botulism toxin interacting with a mimic of the nerve-cell protein it destroys suggest new ways to block this often-fatal interaction. Indeed, the mimic molecules have such high affinity for the toxin and bind to it so tightly that they themselves could possibly serve as anti-toxin drugs with further modification, the researchers said.    » read more »

Report Analyzes Best Paths to Cut Carbon Emissions at Existing Coal Plants; Entergy CEO Leonard: Report Provides Policy Makers a Clear Roadmap

June 22, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – An MIT Energy Initiative report outlines clear steps the nation must take to develop cost-effective options for cutting carbon emissions at existing coal-fired power plants, Entergy Corporation Chairman and Chief Executive Officer J. Wayne Leonard said Friday.

There is “no credible pathway” toward stringent cuts in greenhouse gas emissions worldwide without addressing coal-fired plants, according to the report released Friday at a press conference here.    » read more »

June 16, 2009 -- Berkeley Lab scientists have developed nanocrystals that act as individual investigators of activity within a cell. These light emitting probes represent a significant step in scrutinizing the behaviors of proteins and other components in complex systems such as a living cell

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have created bright, stable and bio-friendly nanocrystals that act as individual investigators of activity within a cell. These ideal light emitting probes represent a significant step in scrutinizing the behaviors of proteins and other components in complex systems such as a living cell.    » read more »

Climate change impacts on the southwestern U.S. are projected to include decreased rainfall and runoff, more drought and wildfire, and more days hotter than 100°F, according to a major report released by the multi-agency U.S. Global Change Research Program.

June 16, 2009 -- Berkeley, CA—Two researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), Evan Mills and Michael Wehner, contributed to the analysis of the effects of climate change on all regions of the United States, described in a major report released today by the multi-agency U.S. Global Change Research Program.    » read more »

Regional and national fact sheets summarizing the main findings of the federal climate report, including state-specific findings, are available on the UCS Web site.

WASHINGTON (June 16, 2009) – The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) today released a comprehensive report on the impact climate change could have on the United States. The landmark report, which compares the potential impacts of higher and lower emissions scenarios, bolsters the growing consensus that there are significant economic, public health and environmental advantages to moving quickly to dramatically reduce emissions, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).    » read more »

Finding Yields Clues for Potential New Therapies

LA JOLLA, CA, June 12, 2009—New research by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute, the University of Virginia and the University of Utah provides a close-up look at the cone-shaped shell that is the hallmark of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), revealing how it is held together—and possible ways to break it apart.

Previously, scientists had known that the genetic material within HIV is enclosed within a cone-shaped shell called the capsid, which is formed by a honeycomb arrangement of about 250 hexagonal protein building blocks. For HIV to infect human cells, the virus binds to cell surface receptors, and then the capsid is delivered into the cytoplasm of the cell.    » read more »

Construction Begins on World-Class Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory; Project will enable scientific discoveries for the 21st Century, bring jobs to Long Island

June 15, 2009 -- UPTON, N.Y. – The U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory announced today that it is beginning construction of the conventional facilities at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), a project that will advance energy research for the nation and create hundreds of jobs for Long Island over the next several years.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu visited the laboratory earlier this year and announced $150 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for the facility, some of which went towards accelerating the construction of NSLS-II.    » read more »

Hearing Will Focus on Waxman-Markey Bill and Biofuel Emissions

WASHINGTON (June 11, 2009) – The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and nineteen other groups are urging Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) to ensure that the federal government uses all available science to determine the amount of heat-trapping emissions biofuels produce.    » read more »

PALO ALTO, Calif., June 15, 2009 -- HP today announced it has selected professors from around the world to receive awards as part of its second annual HP Labs Innovation Research Program.

Sixty projects from 46 universities in 12 countries will receive awards from HP Labs, the company’s central research arm. The program is designed to create opportunities for colleges, universities and research institutes to conduct breakthrough collaborative research with HP.    » read more »

Using an atomic force microscope, nanoscience milestone opens up new possibilities in molecular electronics

ZURICH, Switzerland, June 12, 2009 -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) scientists in collaboration with the University of Regensburg, Germany, and Utrecht University, Netherlands, for the first time demonstrated the ability to measure the charge state of individual atoms using noncontact atomic force microscopy.    » read more »

Experts Find Progress, but Room for Improvement, in Putting Science Before Politics at EPA; Whitehouse Chairs Oversight Hearing Focusing on Reform

June 9, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. - President Obama's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has made progress towards ensuring that environmental policy is based in science, not politics - but there's still room for improvement, experts testified before a Senate oversight hearing today.    » read more »

"STEM" Education Coordination Act seeks to foster "a workforce that can out-discover, out-think, out-innovate, and out-produce our worldwide competition"

June 8, 2009 --WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a speech today on the Senate floor, Senator Ted Kaufman (D-DE) introduced the STEM Education Coordination Act of 2009. As the only serving U.S. Senator to have worked as an engineer, Sen. Kaufman has advocated for a renewed emphasis on science and innovation to meet the increasing challenges of a competitive global economy on numerous occasions.

Co-sponsored with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), this legislation seeks to ensure existing STEM education resources are employed efficiently and effectively through greater coordination at the federal level.

Full remarks:    » read more »