Policy/Regulations
Livermore Lab, Cool Earth Solar partner on renewable energy demonstration project
May 14, 2013 2:53 pm | News | CommentsThe California Energy Commission has awarded $1.7 million to a partnership between Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Cool Earth Solar Inc. to conduct a community-scale renewable energy integration demonstration project at the Livermore Valley Open Campus.
Navy to launch unmanned aircraft from carrier
May 14, 2013 11:38 am | by BROCK VERGAKIS - Associated Press - Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Navy will make its first attempt to launch an unmanned aircraft the size of a fighter jet from an aircraft carrier on Tuesday, marking a significant step toward the possibility of expanded drone use in future conflicts. The X-47B can reach an altitude of more than 40,000 feet, has a range of more than 2,100 nautical miles and can reach high subsonic speeds.
Huge drug cost disparities seen in health overhaul
May 13, 2013 3:11 am | by RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR - Associated Press - Associated Press | News | CommentsCancer patients could face high costs for medications under President Barack Obama's health care law, industry analysts and advocates warn. Where you live could make a huge difference in what you'll pay. To try to keep premiums low, some states are allowing insurers to charge patients a hefty share of the cost for expensive medications used to treat cancer, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and other life-altering chronic diseases.
Nanomaterial toxicity study sets stage for policies to address health risks
May 6, 2013 7:41 am | News | CommentsFor the first time, researchers from institutions around the country have conducted an identical series of toxicology tests evaluating lung-related health impacts associated with widely used engineered nanomaterials (ENMs). The study provides comparable health risk data from multiple laboratories, which should help regulators develop policies to protect workers and consumers who come into contact with ENMs.
Navy unveils squadron of manned, unmanned craft
May 2, 2013 4:59 pm | by JULIE WATSON - Associated Press - Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Navy on Thursday inaugurated its first squadron with both manned and unmanned aircraft. Military officials launched the effort by reactivating the Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 35, known as the "Magicians" or HSL-35, which served for 19 years before being deactivated in 1992.
U.N. chemicals summit expected to adopt new controls
April 27, 2013 1:42 pm | by JOHN HEILPRIN - Associated Press - Associated Press | News | CommentsAt the start of a major conference to regulate chemical and hazardous waste safety, top officials voiced optimism Saturday that delegates will approve new international controls on several industrial compounds and agree to clamp down on some cross-border pollution.
Unmanned aircraft system proposal takes flight
April 26, 2013 8:59 am | News | CommentsA consortium of Washington-based organizations will soon submit the final section of a proposal to site an unmanned aircraft system research and testing facility in central Washington. If successful, the proposal to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will result in the FAA naming the Pacific Northwest Unmanned Aerial Systems Flight Center as one of six U.S. testing facilities later this year.
A Close Eye on Nanotechnology
April 24, 2013 12:30 pm | by Lindsay Hock | Articles | CommentsNanotechnology typically describes any material, device, or technology where feature sizes are smaller than 100 nanometers in dimension. However, this new and uncharted direction in research provides a large spark for new product and drug delivery development. To achieve these discoveries, scientists must rely on specialized instruments and materials to drive their experiments and analysis.
Fertilizer that fizzles in a homemade bomb could save lives around the world
April 23, 2013 8:24 am | News | CommentsA Sandia engineer who trained U.S. soldiers to avoid improvised explosive devices (IEDs) has developed a fertilizer that helps plants grow but can’t detonate a bomb. It’s an alternative to ammonium nitrate, an agricultural staple that is also the raw ingredient in most of the IEDs in Afghanistan. Sandia has decided not to patent or license the formula, but to make it freely available in hopes of saving lives.
Israeli official says drones could replace planes
April 21, 2013 1:57 pm | by DANIEL ESTRIN - Associated Press - Associated Press | News | CommentsIsrael's air force is on track to developing drones that within four to five decades would carry out nearly every battlefield operation executed today by piloted aircraft, a high-ranking Israeli officer told The Associated Press Sunday. The officer, who works in the field of unmanned aerial vehicle intelligence, said Israel is speeding up research and development of such unmanned technologies for air, ground, and naval forces.
Alaska, DOE agree to study unconventional energy
April 16, 2013 8:50 pm | by DAN JOLING - Associated Press - Associated Press | News | CommentsThe U.S. Department of Energy and the state of Alaska will collaborate on future research of unconventional energy resources in the Arctic, including abundant reservoirs of methane hydrate. The DOE's acting assistant secretary for fossil energy, Christopher Smith, and Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan announced the agreement Tuesday.
Court: Can human genes be patented?
April 15, 2013 3:38 am | by JESSE J. HOLLAND - Associated Press - Associated Press | News | CommentsDNA may be the building block of life, but can something taken from it also be the building block of a multimillion-dollar medical monopoly? The Supreme Court grapples Monday with the question of whether human genes can be patented. Its ultimate answer could reshape U.S. medical research, the fight against diseases like breast and ovarian cancer and the multibillion-dollar medical and biotechnology business.
FDA finds safety issues at specialty pharmacies
April 12, 2013 11:29 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Food and Drug Administration says it has uncovered potential safety problems at 30 specialty pharmacies that were inspected in the wake of a recent outbreak of meningitis caused by contaminated drugs. The agency said its inspectors targeted 31 compounding pharmacies that produce sterile drugs, which must be prepared under highly sanitary conditions.
NC renewable energy law diminished in House bill
April 4, 2013 9:24 am | by GARY D. ROBERTSON - Associated Press - Associated Press | News | CommentsA House panel on Wednesday narrowly approved an effort to scale back and ultimately repeal a 2007 law requiring North Carolina electric utilities to generate a percentage of their power through alternative sources and locate energy savings. The House commerce subcommittee voted 11-10 in favor of the bill that would cap renewable energy and efficiency requirements by power companies, electric cooperatives, and city-owned electric utilities at roughly half the level the law ultimately demands.
New world strategy aims to eradicate polio by 2018
April 2, 2013 5:44 pm | by LAURAN NEERGAARD - AP Medical Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsA new global plan aims to end most cases of polio by late next year, and essentially eradicate the paralyzing disease by 2018 — if authorities can raise the $5.5 billion needed to do the work, health officials said Tuesday. Part of the challenge will be increasing security for vaccine workers who have come under attack in two of the hardest-hit countries. And the plan calls for changing how much of the world protects against polio, phasing out the long-used oral vaccine in favor of a pricier but safer shot version.
Project will improve heat dissipation in 3D microelectronic systems
April 2, 2013 1:15 pm | News | CommentsResearchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology have won a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contract to develop 3D chip-cooling technology able to handle heat loads as much as ten times greater than systems commonly used today. In addition to higher overall chip heat dissipation demands, the new approach will also have to handle on-chip hot-spots that dissipate considerably more power per unit area than the remainder of the device. Such cooling demands may be needed for future generations of high-performance integrated circuits embedded in a wide range of military equipment.
Obama to propose $100M brain mapping project
April 2, 2013 9:46 am | by NEDRA PICKLER - Associated Press - Associated Press | News | CommentsPresident Barack Obama is proposing a new research investment to map the human brain in hopes of eventually finding treatments for traumatic injuries and disorders like Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy. The president planned to propose an initial $100 million investment next year during remarks Tuesday morning. The White House said in a statement that the goal of the project—called the BRAIN Initiative for Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies—is "to revolutionize our understanding of the human mind" and create jobs.
FDA approves first-of-its-kind diabetes drug from J&J
March 29, 2013 3:38 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a first-of-its-kind diabetes drug from Johnson & Johnson that uses a new method to lower blood sugar—flushing it out in patients' urine. The agency cleared J&J's Invokana tablets for adults with Type 2 diabetes, which affects an estimated 26 million Americans. The once-a-day medication works by blocking the kidneys from reabsorbing sugar, which occurs at higher levels in patients with diabetes than in healthy patients.
Drone industry worries about privacy backlash
March 29, 2013 3:05 am | by JOAN LOWY - Associated Press - Associated Press | News | CommentsIt's a good bet that in the not-so-distant future aerial drones will be part of Americans' everyday lives, performing countless useful functions. A far cry from the killing machines whose missiles incinerate terrorists, these generally small, unmanned aircraft will help farmers more precisely apply water and pesticides to crops, saving money and reducing environmental impacts. They'll help police departments find missing people, reconstruct traffic accidents and act as lookouts for SWAT teams.
Optimism in UN over 1st global arms trade treaty
March 27, 2013 9:25 pm | by EDITH M. LEDERER - Associated Press - Associated Press | News | CommentsThe first global treaty on regulating the multimillion-dollar arms trade appeared to be nearing consensus, supporters said, though worries remained that Iran, India, or other countries would back off an agreement that requires approval from all 193 United Nations member states.
High court weighs drug companies' generics policy
March 25, 2013 3:14 am | by JESSE J. HOLLAND - Associated Press - Associated Press | News | CommentsFederal regulators are pressing the Supreme Court to stop big pharmaceutical corporations from paying generic drug competitors to delay releasing their cheaper versions of brand-name drugs. They argue these deals deny American consumers, usually for years, steep price declines that can top 90%.
Report find mobile LIDAR technology expanding rapidly
March 18, 2013 10:43 am | News | CommentsA new report on the uses and current technology of LIDAR, which has just been completed and presented to the National Academy of Sciences, reveal the potential for mobile version of this laser-based imaging system. Because of its ability to obtain in an hour more data about the landscape than a surveying crew could collect in months, the technology find use in a wide variety of fields.
Obama wants research to wean vehicles off oil
March 15, 2013 6:01 am | by MATTHEW DALY - Associated Press - Associated Press | News | CommentsPresident Barack Obama is pushing Congress to authorize more federally funded research into clean energy technologies that can wean automobiles off oil. Obama proposed the idea of an energy security trust last month in his State of the Union address, but he was putting a price tag on the idea during a trip Friday to the Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago—$2 billion over 10 years.
Researchers find German-made spyware across globe
March 13, 2013 5:28 pm | by Raphael Satter, Associated Press | News | CommentsA Canadian research center said Wednesday that it had identified 25 different countries that host servers linked to FinFisher, a Trojan horse program which can dodge anti-virus protections to steal data, log keystrokes, eavesdrop on Skype calls, and turn microphones and webcams into live surveillance devices. This finding doesn't necessarily mean those countries' governments are using FinFisher, but it is an indication of the spyware's reach.
Researchers map out an alternative energy future for New York
March 12, 2013 2:39 pm | by Rob Jordan, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment | News | CommentsHydraulic fracturing may soon be approved for the state of New York. However, a new study finds that it is technically and economically feasible to convert New York's all-purpose energy infrastructure to one powered by wind, water, and sunlight. The authors say that overall switch would reduce New York's end-use power demand by about 37% and stabilize energy prices.
