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The National Science Board (NSB) released a new report that identifies threats to the U.S. science and engineering (S&E) enterprise on which the health, security, and economic prosperity of Americans depend. In Vision 2030, NSB, the policymaking board of the National Science Foundation (NSF), urges action to retain America’s lead in fundamental research and to increase science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills and opportunities for all Americans, all of which are necessary to empower U.S. businesses to succeed globally. “This report provides a vision of where the U.S. S&E enterprise must be in 2030 and lays out the actions that the Board, NSF, and others can take to achieve that vision so that America remains a global leader,” said Roger Beachy, NSB Vision 2030 Task Force Chair. “We hope Vision 2030 inspires others to join with NSF to take the actions our country needs.” The current pandemic highlights the crucial role that S&E play in guiding the U.S. to a better future. Scientists and engineers across the country have joined the fight against COVID-19 and are studying the virus, scaling up manufacturing processes to produce critical equipment, and developing vaccines and treatments. NSF-funded research and education are key foundations for these and other efforts that enhance the lives of people around the globe. Vision 2030 builds on NSB’s recently released Science and Engineering Indicators, which found that the U.S. is playing a less dominant global role in many S&E areas than it did in preceding decades. Indicators also reported that U.S. K-12 student performance in science and mathematics is mediocre and stagnant and, despite some progress, that women and minorities remain underrepresented in many S&E degree programs and jobs. READ MORE>>>

The U.S. Dept of Agriculture (USDA) Forest service Rocky Mountain Research Station has several upcoming webinars to teach about topics such as restoration with native plants, wildland fire mitigation, vulnerability of southwestern landscapes to climate change, riparian ecosystem dynamics, public engagement protocols and more. All webinars are free and you can chat with the researchers directly. Example: on May 21, 2020 at 10am MT as RMRS researchers Vicki Saab and Todd Cross discuss FIRE-BIRD, an ArcGIS spatial tool for applying habitat suitability models for woodpecker species of concern to generate maps that inform forest management planning. FIRE-BIRD was developed to help managers make the best decisions for maintaining habitat of key wildlife species, while still allowing economic benefits to local communities. Habitat suitability models can inform forest management for wildlife species of conservation concern. Models quantify relationships between known species locations and environmental attributes, which are used to identify areas most likely to support species of concern. Managers can then limit negative human impacts in areas of high suitability or conduct habitat improvements in areas of marginal suitability. RMRS researchers developed FIRE-BIRD, an ArcGIS toolbox, to map habitat suitability for woodpeckers of conservation concern to help inform locations for management activities in predominantly dry coniferous forests of the Inland Northwest and Northern Sierras. READ MORE>>>

Every year, The USDA Agricultural Research Service scientists develop new varieties of fruits & vegetables, eventually making their way onto your food plate. Check out our new podcast series, “Science in Your Shopping Cart” where you'll find aisles full of interesting nuggets:

The National Institutes of Health today announced a new initiative aimed at speeding innovation, development and commercialization of COVID-19 testing technologies, a pivotal component needed to return to normal during this unprecedented global pandemic. With a $1.5 billion investment from federal stimulus funding, the newly launched Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative will infuse funding into early innovative technologies to speed development of rapid and widely accessible COVID-19 testing. At the same time, NIH will seek opportunities to move more advanced diagnostic technologies swiftly through the development pipeline toward commercialization and broad availability. NIH will work closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to advance these goals. The stimulus investment supercharges NIH’s strong research efforts already underway focused on prevention and treatment of COVID-19, including the recently announced planned Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines public-private partnership to coordinate the international research response to the pandemic. “We need all innovators, from the basement to the boardroom, to come together to advance diagnostic technologies, no matter where they are in development,” said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. “Now is the time for that unmatched American ingenuity to bring the best and most innovative technologies forward to make testing for COVID-19 widely available.” READ MORE>>>

Several of the labs and programs that make up NOAA Oceanic and Atmospheric Research are getting new names to better reflect their mission and contributions, thanks to a newly-announced reorganization effort. The reorganization, approved by Congress on January 14, became effective on April 2, 2020. The changes are being made to improve workplace efficiency by positioning NOAA Research to meet recent shifts in its priorities to understand and predict the Earth system; develop technology to improve NOAA science, service, and stewardship; and transition results so they are useful to society. "There is groundbreaking weather, climate, ocean and atmospheric research being conducted across NOAA's science enterprise,” said Craig McLean, NOAA Research Assistant Administrator. “This reorganization and elevation of the individual laboratories on NOAA's Boulder campus reflects their position and value to the American people and their respect in the international science community." NOAA Research’s labs and programs play a critical role in conducting and funding agency research. The four divisions of the Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) in Boulder, CO are being designated as full laboratories. The missions of the four labs—the Chemical Sciences Laboratory, Global Monitoring Laboratory, Global Systems Laboratory, and the Physical Sciences Laboratory—will stay the same, and the labs will continue to work closely with each other and the rest of the NOAA Research labs. These labs provide vital research aimed at understanding and predicting our planet’s atmosphere, climate and weather, and their upgrade to full laboratory status reflects how important this work is to NOAA. READ MORE.

“No,” came the resounding answer from a panel of experts at a recent grand rounds through the School of Medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Experts say herd immunity through exposure is not feasible: “We need a vaccine”. The panel was composed of Rosemary Rochford, PhD, professor of immunology and microbiology and adjunct professor of environmental and occupational health; Ross Kedl, PhD, professor of immunology and microbiology in the CU School of Medicine; and Florian Krammer, PhD, professor of microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. Questions raised to the panel revealed there are over 80 COVID-19 vaccine candidates under development, with most still in the early phases of testing. Six have reached clinical trials, where they are being evaluated in humans. Krammer highlighted one vaccine candidate from a company in Beijing, and said early results made available last week showed some “pretty good data that this vaccine protected animals exposed to the virus.” Read the full debrief and comments from the panelists>>>

On Wednesday, April 28, 2020 the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable of the National Academies is holding a webinar on the COVID-19 Technology Access Framework. Developed by Stanford University, Harvard University, and MIT, the framework aims to “allow for and incentivize rapid utilization of available technologies that may be useful for preventing, diagnosing, and treating COVID-19 infection during the pandemic.” READ MORE>>>

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals across the United States are disinfecting N95 masks by placing them in repurposed rooms or shipping containers injected with a disinfectant known as vaporized hydrogen peroxide, or VHP. A new tool from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) can help hospitals and medical professionals determine which rooms should be used to disinfect N95 masks. The tool estimates the amount of VHP masks would receive and suggests that larger rooms containing fewer objects, with less-reactive surfaces and slower ventilation, maintain VHP concentration the best. “Hospitals have used VHP systems to disinfect isolation rooms after a highly infectious person has left,” said Andrew Persily, chief of NIST’s Energy and Environment Division. “Now there are efforts underway to do the same to disinfect masks.” For hospitals, choosing and configuring rooms to house the N95 disinfection processes means accounting for conditions that vary from room to room, such as size, airflow and surface materials. These factors influence VHP concentration and, in certain cases, could prevent masks from receiving effective doses. “Even if you’re hitting a room with a huge dose of VHP and you're assuming it's all going on your masks, a lot of it may be going on your walls or ceiling,” said Dustin Poppendieck, a NIST environmental engineer and the developer of the new tool. “Then you might not be disinfecting as effectively as you think.” VHP’s interactions with various materials came into focus for Poppendieck in the early 2000s, before he joined NIST, when he studied the chemical’s ability to disinfect post office rooms containing anthrax-causing bacteria. Those experiments revealed that VHP deposits onto certain surfaces much more readily than others. For example, tile floors consume much less VHP than does carpet, which can reduce the VHP concentration in a room by as much as 10 times. Now, the data from those experiments has become the foundation of the new NIST tool — packaged into a spreadsheet — that models where VHP settles after being injected into a room. By entering important parameters related to a room’s size, materials and ventilation into the spreadsheet, users get estimates of how much VHP would actually deposit onto the masks versus being lost through leaks or absorbed by surfaces, Poppendieck said. The tool can help hospitals and other institutions make more informed decisions when choosing and adapting rooms for mask disinfection. However, it is not a one-stop shop, Poppendieck cautioned. Facility management, safety professionals and infection control experts would still need to work together to determine how to apply VHP safely and effectively. “It should be a unified approach if you're going to do this, and this tool is just one small piece of the puzzle to figure out how to appropriately disinfect masks using VHP,” Poppendieck said. READ MORE and download the spreadsheet.

At the ready to help the local community process more coronavirus tests, the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Colorado State University is bringing its expertise in animal disease surveillance into the human health world. The laboratory conducts over 600,000 tests annually, helping identify and diagnose a variety of animal diseases for veterinarians, livestock producers, pet owners, government agencies, and animal-health companies. From a technological perspective, adding SARS-CoV-2 testing to its repertoire of capabilities is actually pretty simple. SARS-CoV-2 is the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. “We respond to animal disease outbreaks often,” said Kristy Pabilonia, director of the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. “What we do here on a daily basis uses the same processes and technology for animal testing as those used for human testing.” In their Biosafety Level 3 facility, a special laboratory for testing highly infectious bacteria and viruses, high-throughput testing equipment can test 96 samples at a time, multiple times a day. The diagnostic test, called a real-time polymerase chain reaction assay, detects a virus’s nucleic acid (SARS-CoV-2 is an RNA virus) in each sample to determine if the virus is present. READ MORE>>>

Colorado School of Mines students and faculty are putting their ingenuity and engineering skills to work as part of a statewide effort to provide personal protective equipment to Colorado health care providers on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19. Two Mines freshmen are among the makers firing up 3D printers across the state as part of Make4Covid, a coalition of Colorado  manufacturers and makers working to provide health care professionals with the equipment they need. Photo: Plastic extenders for surgical masks come off the printer.Photo courtesy of Samuel Wicklund “Helping out has always been a part of my background,” said Samuel Wicklund, who is majoring in electrical engineering. “Since I have a 3D printer, lots of extra material, and enjoy helping others, I decided that I would start printing these surgical mask extenders as a way to help those who were risking their own health and safety as well as being away from family so that they could help others.” The simple plastic extenders are designed to go around the back of the head – instead of attaching the elastic of a surgical mask around the ears, the wearer can attach them to the extender, for a secure yet more comfortable wear. READ MORE>>>

Five decades ago, an idea sprouted into an event that grew into a movement, which today, on its 50th anniversary, we recognize as Earth Day—a global day of awareness and a celebration of principle, responsibility, and sustainability. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), originally the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI), has always enjoyed strong ties to Earth Day. NREL’s second laboratory director, Denis Hayes, played a key role in its creation, coordinating the first Earth Day in 1970, in collaboration with Earth Day founder and U.S. senator from Wisconsin Gaylord Nelson. Hayes founded the Earth Day Network. The research NREL conducts every day aligns seamlessly with the network’s mission to build the world’s largest environmental movement to drive transformative change for people and planet. Hayes recognized this, observing “… a huge part of the answer was with the issues SERI was addressing then and NREL is addressing now—the transition to a super-efficient world that was run largely by renewable energy sources.” READ MORE>>>

CU Boulder researcher Daniel Larremore and several colleagues from Colorado joined a nationwide study that seeks to use social media data to better understand how coronavirus cases might grow and travel in the coming weeks. The COVID-19 Mobility Data Network will draw on huge volumes of anonymized location information supplied by Facebook to follow how groups of people move from spot to spot over time. That will allow researchers like Larremore, an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and in the BioFrontiers Institute, to build maps that show where people are still traveling in the age of social distancing. It’s totally anonymous and designed with privacy as a top priority, he said. “You can’t tell anything about individual mobility since Facebook gives us only anonymized and aggregated data,” said Larremore. “But we will be able to see, for example, how many people went from Jefferson County to Boulder County last week and compare it to how many people made the same trip several weeks ago.” He and his colleagues will soon provide these maps to local public health leaders on a daily basis so that they can craft more efficient policies around how to slow the spread of the virus. Read More.