Nation

Government Openness and Transparency Highlighted During Sunshine Week

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Courtesy photo

Staff Report

Sunshine Week, the annual celebration of government openness and transparency ran March 16-22. Leading up to and during the week, events were held nationwide to highlight transparency in government.

There were legislative hearings, film screenings, public discussions, editorials, reports published, and awards presented recognizing those who have advanced government openness and transparency.

It all began in 2002 when Florida newspapers launched Sunshine Sunday as a single day to highlight the importance of government transparency. The event went nationwide Read More

Cell Phones and Cable Signals: Interference Can Happen

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Jason Coder, left, and John Ladbury in the reverberation chamber used for studying interference between cell phones and various kinds of telecommunications equipment. The angled metal surfaces are ‘stirrers’ that are rotated in order to vary the direction and polarization of the signal. At front on the tripod is a microwave horn used in testing. Courtesy/NIST

NIST News:

When your cell phone talks to your cable TV connection, the conversation can get ugly. In certain conditions, broadband 4G/LTE signals can cause significant interference with Read More

DOE Invests $17 Million in Small Businesses

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DOE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Building on President Obama’s Climate Action Plan to continue U.S. leadership in clean energy innovation, the Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has awarded $17 million in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) projects to help small businesses in 13 states develop prototype technologies that could improve manufacturing energy efficiency, reduce the cost of installing clean energy projects, and generate electricity from renewable energy sources. 

These projects will include technologies such Read More

VA Pressed on Delay of Open Air Burn Pit Registry

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U.S. Senate News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a letter to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Eric K. Shinseki Wednesday, U.S. Senators Tom Udall, D-N.M., a member of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations subcommittee and Bob Corker, R-Tenn., ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, pressed the VA for answers regarding its failure to diligently and expeditiously implement the Open Air Burn Pit Registry as mandated under Section 201 of PL 112-260, which Udall and Corker coauthored and introduced in 2011. 

“As you know from previous Read More

Los Alamos American Legion Riders Escort ‘The Wall That Heals’ to Santa Fe

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Members of the Los Alamos Chapter of the American Legion Riders joined the New Mexico Patriot Guard in escorting ‘The Wall That Heals’ Tuesday from west of Albuquerque to Ft. Marcy Park in Santa Fe where it will be on display this week. Los Alamos American Legion Riders from left, Jim Hay, Fred Humphry, Ron Shuttles, Ken Nadeau, Dave Bullock and Chris Larribas. Photo by Los Alamos Rider Randi Moore
 
Staff Report

SANTA FE—A half-size replica of the National Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., is now in Santa Fe for a six-day stop. The Wall That Heals arrived Tuesday

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Heinrich Co-signs Letter to Protect LGBT Workers

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Sen. Martin Heinrich

U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M. co-signed a letter Wednesday calling on President Barack Obama to issue an executive order banning contractors from receiving federal government contracts unless they have a policy prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The letter was led by U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., and is signed by more than 175 members of Congress.

“[We] urge you to fulfill the promise in your State of the Union address to make this a ‘year of Read More

Deep Energy Retrofits Make 50 Percent Energy Savings Possible

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By RACHEL CLUETT
Research Analyst, ACEEE

The need for innovative ways to reduce residential energy use is growing. States are setting increasingly aggressive energy savings targets for utilities and program administrators, as well as longer-term energy reduction goals that call for even greater savings.

In California, for example, their goal calls for a 40 percent reduction in existing homes’ energy use by 2020. While this is an ambitious goal, considering that savings from the highest-performing residential retrofit programs top out at about 30 percent, it is increasingly feasible. Read More

Heinrich: I Support Sen. Feinstein’s Effort to Set the Record Straight on CIA Misconduct

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Sen. Martin Heinrich

U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M. responded to a floor statement made last week by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, chair of the Select Committee on Intelligence, on Congress’s oversight of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA):

“I thank and recognize Chairman Feinstein for her efforts to set the factual record straight regarding the deeply disturbing events and indefensible judgment exhibited by the CIA with respect to the Intelligence Committee’s report on the CIA’s detention and interrogation Read More

New Airborne GPS Technology For Weather Conditions Takes Flight

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Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego geophysicist Jennifer Haase is seated at the controls of GISMOS, a 205-pound GPS atmospheric measurement system, testing the equipment prior to flights during a 2010 campaign. The equipment is installed in the cabin of a reconfigured Gulfstream V business jet. Courtesy/Scripps Institution of Oceanography

AGU News:

LA JOLLA – GPS technology has broadly advanced science and society’s ability to pinpoint locations and motion, from driving directions to tracking ground motions during earthquakes. A new technique stands to improve weather

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Udall Introduces Tech Transfer Legislation

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U.S. Sen. Tom Udall

U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Tom Udall introduced legislation to improve the Department of Energy’s (DOE) technology transfer process and help innovators turn research into marketable products and businesses. 

Udall’s Accelerating Technology Transfer to Advance Innovation for the Nation (ATTAIN) Act would help New Mexico entrepreneurs create jobs and revolutionary products. The changes it proposes are critical to helping leverage research at the state’s two DOE labs and develop high-tech private sector businesses. 

Udall discussed Read More