District of Columbia News

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will brief reporters about the agency's fiscal year 2013 budget at 2 p.m. EST on Monday, Feb. 13. The news conference will take place in the James E. Webb Memorial Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, located at 300 E St. SW, in Washington. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) NASA Chief Financial Officer Elizabeth Robinson will join Bolden. The news conference will be broadcast live on NASA Television and the agency's website. Questions will be taken from news media representatives at headquarters and ... read more

Blackboard Inc. today announced a major update for its flagship online learning platform with a new release incorporating a sleek, modern design that marks the platform's biggest shift in look and feel in years. Service Pack 8 for Blackboard Learn(TM) 9.1 also brings a number of feature enhancements that make it easier to navigate the system, take advantage of its powerful capabilities and complete common tasks more quickly. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120208/PH50128 ) The new design, applied to the user interface and throughout the ... read more

NASA is seeking technology demonstration proposals for green propellant alternatives to the highly toxic fuel hydrazine. As NASA works with American companies to open a new era of access to space, the agency seeks innovative and transformative fuels that are less harmful to our environment. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) Hydrazine is an efficient and ubiquitous propellant that can be stored for long periods of time, but is also highly corrosive and toxic. It is used extensively on commercial and defense department satellites as ... read more

The giant black hole at the center of the Milky Way may be vaporizing and devouring asteroids, which could explain the frequent flares observed, according to astronomers using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) For several years Chandra has detected X-ray flares about once a day from the supermassive black hole known as Sagittarius A*, or "Sgr A*" for short. The flares last a few hours with brightness ranging from a few times to nearly one hundred times ... read more

The nation's emergency physicians are seeing an alarming increase in the amount of patients being treated in emergency departments for synthetic (or chemically enhanced) drug use. For example, in 2010, there were a little fewer than 2,900 calls to poison control centers regarding synthetic marijuana exposure. That number nearly doubled in the first 8 months of 2011. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100616/DC22034LOGO-d) "As emergency physicians, we witness first-hand how these dangerous synthetic drugs are harming users," said Dr. David Seaberg, president of ... read more

Health-care professionals who use iPads and iPhones now have a new way to access interactive "e-book" versions of the Consortium for Spinal Cord Medicine's popular Clinical Practice Guidelines. The new free App, available at iTunes or the App Store under "Paralyzed Veterans of America," enables users to download the e-books, which contain vital information for health-care professionals when treating individuals with spinal cord injury. The Consortium for Spinal Cord Medicine is anchored by 23 professional organizations, including Paralyzed Veterans of ... read more

By harnessing quantum dots—tiny light-emitting semiconductor particles a few billionths of a meter across—researchers at the University of Washington (UW) have developed a new and vastly more targeted way to stimulate neurons in the brain. Being able to switch neurons on and off and monitor how ... read more

It's official: Americans don't think very highly of the people in the so-called 1%, but they wouldn't mind joining them, according to a new survey released today that examines the views on the richest of Americans. Americans believe that the so-called 1% - the richest Americans that have raised the ire of the Occupy Movement - live a life of luxury, pampering and ease, don't have to work that hard and don't pay enough in taxes considering their lofty status, according ... read more

PerspecSys Inc., the creator of cloud data control solutions for the enterprise, has expanded operations by opening its first U.S. office in the Washington, D.C. Metro area and naming industry executives Gerry Grealish, John Emerson, David Stott and Eric Hay to key positions within ... read more

The March of Dimes campaign to reduce medically unnecessary early deliveries is being elevated to the forefront of the nation's maternal and child health agenda. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced the launch of Strong Start, a multi-faceted perinatal health campaign. This public-private partnership includes expansion of "Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait(TM)" -- the March of Dimes public awareness campaign to let women and health care providers know that if a ... read more

The Synthetic Biology Project at the Woodrow Wilson Center is launching a new web-based Synthetic Biology Scorecard, designed to track federal and non-federal efforts to improve the governance of synthetic biology research and development so risks are minimized and broad social and economic benefits can be realized. The Scorecard, unveiled today, monitors the progress made toward implementing the recommendations in New Directions: The Ethics of Synthetic Biology and Emerging Technologies, a December 2010 report from the Presidential Commission for the ... read more

Mark Riccobono, executive director of the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, testified today before a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. The hearing, “The Promise of Accessible Technology: Challenges and Opportunities,” was convened to explore the barriers and opportunities ... read more

As part of NASA's ongoing efforts to foster development of a U.S. commercial crew space transportation capability to and from low Earth orbit and the International Space Station, NASA has issued a call for industry to submit proposals for the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability Initiative. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) It's expected that proposals will lead to Space Act Agreements that will help NASA and the U.S. achieve safe, reliable, and cost effective human access to space. NASA expects to make multiple awards ... read more

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) President and CEO John J. Castellani responded to new efforts unveiled today by the Administration to combat Alzheimer's Disease: (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20091027/PHRMALOGO) "Alzheimer's disease is one of America's top health challenges. It ravages the minds of patients, seriously impacts entire families and currently costs the U.S. health care system $172 billion a year. According to the Alzheimer's Association, an American will develop the disease every 33 seconds in 2050, costing the U.S. health care system ... read more

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and other senior agency officials joined President Obama in honoring student science fair winners from across the country at the second annual White House Science Fair today in the East Wing of the White House. The event highlighted student achievement and excellence in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) In November 2009, the president announced his "Educate to Innovate" campaign and emphasized the importance of encouraging students to pursue STEM studies and careers. NASA ... read more

It has just been announced that Advanced Security by ACE, one of the leading and most cutting edge IT security training companies in the world, will host this year's EC-Council SUMMIT 2012, Washington DC. This event will be held at Advanced Security's location in Greenbelt, MD, which is just inside the DC beltway and is also located directly off of the Baltimore-Washington parkway. The event's location is ideal since it is in close proximity to Baltimore, Washington, Fort Meade (MD) and ... read more

The Trust for America's Health (TFAH) has released a new report, Bending the Obesity Cost Curve, which finds that reducing the average body mass index by just five percent in the United States could lead to more than $29 billion in health care savings in just five years, due to reduced obesity-related costs. The analysis found that the country could save $158.1 billion in 10 years and $611.7 billion in 20 years. "Prevention is the key to halting the ... read more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- -- Designed and engineered for multiple transport, first responder and military applications -- Phibian features large load capacity and off-road capability -- Humdinga is designed for light-duty patrol with rapid-response capability -- Quickly reconfigurable for cargo and passenger-carrying operations -- ... read more

NASA's Spinoff 2011 publication, now available online, reveals how the space agency's ingenuity and partnerships have saved thousands of lives, generated billions of dollars, and created thousands of American jobs. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The latest edition of Spinoff records 44 journeys of NASA's most innovative technologies. It chronicles their origins in NASA missions and programs and their transfer to the public in the form of practical commercial products and benefits to society. "This year's Spinoff demonstrates once again how through productive and innovative partnerships, ... read more

SmartBrief, Inc. launched a digital media news service on Thursday, January 19, 2012, in partnership with the International SPA Association (ISPA), the voice of the spa industry, representing health and wellness facilities and providers in more than 70 countries. ... read more