Government Policy
Beijing releases pollution data; U.S. figures higher
January 23, 2012 4:21 am | by Louise Watt, Associated Press | News | CommentsCaving to public pressure, Beijing environmental authorities started releasing more detailed air quality data Saturday that may better reflect how bad the Chinese capital's air pollution is. But one expert says measurements from the first day were low compared with data U.S. officials have been collecting for years.
DOE to spur construction of small modular nuclear reactors
January 20, 2012 12:04 pm | News | CommentsThrough a draft Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) announced Friday, the U.S> Department of Energy plans to establish cost-shared agreements with private industry to support the design and licensing of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). About one-third the size of current nuclear plants, SMR are expected to both safer and cheaper to build and operate.
S & T report: Asian countries rapidly closing rank with U.S.
January 18, 2012 2:39 pm | News | CommentsIn supporting science and technology (S&T), no country outranks the United States. But the margin is closing quickly as Asian nations invest heavily in knowledge-based economies, according to a new report from the National Science Board.
Protest exposes Silicon Valley-Hollywood rivalry
January 18, 2012 1:42 pm | News | CommentsInternet users quickly learned about the standoff between technology companies and Hollywood on Wednesday. Google blacked out its name, Reddit shut down for 12 hours, and Wikipedia blacked out its main site for the full day. At issue are two congressional proposals intended to limit online piracy of movies and TV programs.
Countries consider time out on the 'leap second'
January 18, 2012 5:33 am | by Frank Jordans, Associated Press | News | CommentsAfter a long decade of deliberation, United Nations member countries will cast their vote this week on an issue that lasts literally just a second. Leap seconds are necessary to prevent atomic clocks from speeding ahead of solar time, but the United States and other countries want to abolish it for all time.
Scientists say cut soot, methane to curb warming
January 13, 2012 1:37 pm | by Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer | News | CommentsAn international team of scientists says it's figured out how to slow global warming in the short run and prevent millions of deaths from dirty air: Stop focusing so much on carbon dioxide.
How to kick-start new energy technologies
January 3, 2012 3:05 am | by David L. Chandler, MIT News Office | News | CommentsThe world desperately needs innovation in energy technologies—but those innovations are unlikely to happen by themselves. A three-year study by a team of researchers based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has now identified a suite of policy and investment strategies that could accelerate innovation in the United States.
2012 Global R & D Funding Forecast Resources
December 15, 2011 6:27 am | by Martin Grueber, Research Leader, Battelle and Tim Studt, Editor-in-Chief, Advantage Business Media | Articles | CommentsThe following Websites are good sources of information related to the global R&D enterprise. Much of the information in the 2012 Global R&D Funding Forecast was derived from these sources, which are certainly not all-inclusive.
Economy, Energy, and Entrepreneurship: Argonne National Laboratory
December 15, 2011 3:57 am | by R&D Editors | Articles | CommentsArgonne National Laboratory's Deborah Clayton speaks on topics including funding, peer review, entrepreneurship, nanotechnology research, and communicating research missions in a social networking environment.
Economy, Energy, and Entrepreneurship: Los Alamos National Laboratory
December 15, 2011 3:54 am | by R&D Editors | Articles | CommentsLos Alamos National Laboratory's David Pesiri speaks on topics including funding, peer review, entrepreneurship, nanotechnology research, and communicating research missions in a social networking environment.
Economy, Energy, and Entrepreneurship: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
December 15, 2011 3:49 am | by R&D Editors | Articles | CommentsLawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Erik Stenehjem speaks on topics including funding, peer review, entrepreneurship, nanotechnology research, and communicating research missions in a social networking environment.
Economy, Energy, and Entrepreneurship: NASA Glenn Research Center
December 15, 2011 3:44 am | by R&D Editors | Articles | CommentsNASA Glenn Research Center's Ramon (Ray) Lugo III speaks on topics including funding, peer review, entrepreneurship, nanotechnology research, and communicating research missions in a social networking environment.
Economy, Energy, and Entrepreneurship: National Energy Technology Laboratory
December 15, 2011 3:39 am | by R&D Editors | Articles | CommentsNational Energy Technology Laboratory's Paul E. King speaks on topics including funding, peer review, entrepreneurship, nanotechnology research, and communicating research missions in a social networking environment.
Economy, Energy, and Entrepreneurship: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
December 15, 2011 3:35 am | by R&D Editors | Articles | CommentsNational Renewable Energy Laboratory's Bob Hawsey speaks on topics including funding, peer review, entrepreneurship, nanotechnology research, and communicating research missions in a social networking environment.
Congress reaches deal on SBIR reauthorization
December 13, 2011 7:14 am | News | CommentsThe Small Business Innovation Research and the Small Business Technology Transfer programs were both set to expire on Dec. 16, 2011. But on Monday evening, Congress successfully negotiated a long-term reauthorization.
Climate conference approves landmark deal
December 12, 2011 8:10 am | by Arthur Max, Associated Press | News | CommentsA U.N. climate conference reached a hard-fought agreement Sunday on a complex and far-reaching program meant to set a new course for the global fight against climate change for the coming decades. The United States was a reluctant supporter, concerned about agreeing to join an international climate system that likely would find much opposition in the U.S. Congress.
DOE to remove commercialization barriers between industry, labs
December 9, 2011 12:38 pm | News | CommentsThe U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced that it intends to begin a new pilot initiative, called the Agreements for Commercializing Technology, to reduce some of the hurdles that prevent innovative companies from working with the DOE’s national laboratories.
Fuels expert: put practicality before policy
December 8, 2011 6:35 pm | News | CommentsA transportation fuels expert from Sandia National Laboratories says policy makers should consider such practical issues as the number of gas stations selling ethanol and how long it takes to get new transportation technologies to market as they introduce aggressive federal and state energy policies.
Billion-dollar weather disasters smash U.S. record
December 8, 2011 2:25 pm | by Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer | News | CommentsWith an almost biblical onslaught of twisters, floods, snow, drought, heat, and wildfire, the U.S. in 2011 has seen more weather catastrophes that caused at least $1 billion in damage than it did in all of the 1980s, even after the dollar figures from back then are adjusted for inflation.
Carbon capture? Go for the source
December 6, 2011 3:34 am | by David L. Chandler, MIT News Office | News | CommentsSince most of the world's governments have not yet enacted regulations to curb emissions of greenhouse gases, some experts have advocated the development of technologies to remove carbon dioxide directly from the air. But a new Massachusetts Institute of Technology study shows that, at least for the foreseeable future, such proposals are not realistic because their costs would vastly exceed those of blocking emissions right at the source, such as at the powerplants that burn fossil fuels.
With changes, the grid can take it
December 5, 2011 7:52 am | by David L. Chandler, MIT News Office | News | CommentsOver the next two decades, the United States electric grid will face unprecedented technological challenges stemming from the growth of distributed and intermittent new energy sources such as solar and wind power, as well as an expected influx of electric and hybrid vehicles that require frequent recharging. But a new Massachusetts Institute of Technology study concludes that the grid is most likely up to the challenge.
Report: geoengineering could save or destroy Earth
December 2, 2011 11:41 am | News | CommentsA report released late Thursday in London and discussed Friday at the U.N. climate conference in South Africa said that—in theory—reflecting a small amount of sunlight back into space before it strikes the Earth's surface would have an immediate and dramatic effect. But no one knows what the side effects would be.
U.K. spy agency asks hackers to crack code
December 2, 2011 3:56 am | by Cassandra Vinograd, Associated Press | News | CommentsBritain's electronic listening agency, GCHQ, quietly launched a cryptic Website last month featuring a box of code made up of numbers and letters. There is no branding on the site, only the phrase "Can you crack it?" and a box to type in an answer.
Efficiency metrics for energy storage devices need standardization
November 30, 2011 8:58 am | News | CommentsSolving the mystery of prematurely dead cell phone and laptop batteries may prove to be a vital step toward creating a sustainable energy grid, according to Drexel researcher Yury Gogotsi. In a newly published piece, Gogotsi calls for a new, standardized gauge of performance measurement for energy storage devices that are as small as those used in cell phones to as large as those used in the national energy grid.
Researchers draft blueprint to boost energy innovation
November 22, 2011 6:35 am | News | CommentsThe United States government could save the economy hundreds of billions of dollars per year by 2050 by spending a few billion dollars more a year to spur innovations in energy technology, according to a new report by researchers at the Harvard Kennedy School.
