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Under Secretary Padilla Discusses Trade and Investment in Central America
Washington (Feb. 22)—Under Secretary for International Trade Christopher A. Padilla discusses efforts to strengthen trade and investment ties in Central America before reporters at the Foreign Press Center. Padilla will travel to Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica Feb. 25-29 to review implementation of the CAFTA-DR. Within one year of CAFTA-DR coming into force, the United States went from a trade deficit to a trade surplus with its CAFTA-DR partners. (More)
NOAA Co-Sponsors Southern Ocean Cruise to Probe Climate-Relevant Gases
Washington (Feb. 21)—Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is co-sponsoring a six-week Southern Ocean gas exchange experiment cruise with scientists from NASA and the National Science Foundation to study the movements of gases in order to improve the accuracy of climate models and predictions. Scientists will conduct the experiments aboard the NOAA ship Ronald H. Brown, named for the late Secretary of Commerce killed in a plane crash in 1996. (More)
NIST Acting Director Speaks to Students at Black History Month Event
Olney, Md. (Feb. 21)—Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Acting Director James Turner spoke to students at Olney Elementary School about the importance of science and math. The event was sponsored by NAACP Parent Council representatives as part of the school’s Black History Month activities. NIST promotes and participates in many educational activities in conjunction with local schools both public and private as well as higher education institutions. (More)
Charles Geer/Heritage Foundation
Under Secretary Mancuso Addresses Dual-Use Export Control Policies to China
Washington (Feb. 20)—Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Mario Mancuso delivered the keynote address, “Technology Leadership, Economic Power and National Security: Dual-Use Export Controls to China,” at the Heritage Foundation. Mancuso addressed how recent changes to our dual-use export control policies toward China fit into a new strategy to ensure safe, secure, technology trade and investment. (More)
NTIA Acting Assistant Secretary Baker Addresses Internet Governance
Washington (Feb. 20)—National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Acting Assistant Secretary Meredith Baker addressed Internet governance and the importance of Internet name and address management at the 2008 Online Brand Abuses and Internet Governance Policy Forum. NTIA will consult with interested stakeholders on Feb. 28 regarding the mid-term review of the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) between the Department and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). (More)
Statement of Secretary Gutierrez, Co-Chair of the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba
Washington (Feb. 19)—Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez, the Co-Chair of the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, issued the following statement on the news that Fidel Castro had resigned as president of Cuba: “Fidel Castro’s legacy has been one of hate, violence, repression of the Cuban people, and countless human rights violations. For the man who created a Caribbean gulag, history’s verdict will be as severe as his rule. Fidel Castro’s announcement merely represents a change in name only; the same repressive communist regime continues to rule Cuba. …” (More)
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NIST Partners on New Method for Detecting Aggressive Breast Cancer
Gaithersburg, Md. (Feb. 19)—Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their colleagues in government and private industry have recently shown that chicken antibodies may one day improve the detection of an aggressive form of breast cancer that affects 40,000 women every year in the U.S. When attached to quantum dots—tiny, intense and tunable sources of colorful light—the chicken antibodies could potentially improve diagnosis of this form of breast cancer in clinical tests. (More)
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Gutierrez Announces TV Converter Box Coupon Program on Track, Retailers Open for Business
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (Feb. 15)—Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez announced today that Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which runs the TV Converter Box Coupon Program, will begin mailing $40 coupons to consumers next week—one year from the date of the digital television transition—to be used to purchase eligible TV converter boxes. “With the first coupons going out to households nationwide, the TV Converter Box Program is on track,” said Gutierrez. (More)
2008 Inventors Hall of Fame Inductees Announced
Washington (Feb. 14)—United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director Jon Dudas helped announce the 2008 inductees into the National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) at a Capitol Hill press conference on February 14. Support of The National Inventors Hall of Fame is part of the Department of Commerce’s ongoing support for programs that recognize the vital role inventors and innovation play in our economy. (More)
Photo Credit: Greg Kuebler/JILA
NIST Announces New Atomic Clock Promising Improved Navigation, GPS
Boulder, Colo. (Feb. 14)—Physicists at JILA, a joint institute of the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado at Boulder, have demonstrated a next-generation atomic clock that tops previous records for accuracy in clocks based on neutral atoms. The new clock, based on thousands of strontium atoms trapped in grids of laser light, surpasses the accuracy of the current U.S. time standard based on a “fountain” of cesium atoms.(More)