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Census Bureau Reports World Population Approaches Seven Billion
Washington (June 19)—According to the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of the Census, world population is projected to reach seven billion in 2012. The world population hit six billion in 1999. These figures come from the updated world population estimates and projections released today through the Census Bureau’s International Data Base (IDB). The IDB provides information on population size and growth, age and sex composition, mortality, fertility and net migration. The data are available for 226 countries and other selected geographies. (More)
U.S. and China Conclude Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED)
Annapolis, Md. (June 18)—Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr., and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao stand with Vice Premier Wang Qishan and colleagues on the concluding day of the SED held this week at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. The focus of the SED includes: financial sector reform and increased currency flexibility, the integrity of trade and product safety, and investment.
NIST Announces New Technology for Color Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Boulder, Colo. (June 18)—Researchers at Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and National Institutes of Health have developed customized microscopic magnets that when injected into the body could add color to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the first time, while also increasing MRI speed and image detail. The new micro-magnets, designed and made at NIST, could also act as “smart tags” identifying particular cells and tissues in medical diagnosis. (More)
Rapid Response to Coastal Ports a Key Hurricane Season Goal of NOAA’s Navigation Response Teams
Washington (June 17)—With an active hurricane season forecast by NOAA's National Weather Service, planning and preparation is the message both to the general public as well as to key components within NOAA who respond with emergency services support following a storm's passage. Critical to a coastal community's rebound after a major coastal storm hit, is the work of NOAA's Office of Coast Survey's Navigational Response Teams (NRTs). (More)
U.S. Cabinet Secretaries Meet with Chinese Counterparts to Discuss Economic Issues
Annapolis, Md. (June 17)—Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr., and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao participate in a meeting with their Chinese counterparts at the Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. The SED provides a forum for senior U.S. and Chinese officials to discuss broad economic issues of importance to both countries.
Assistant Secretary Baruah Addresses Role of Biosciences in Economic Development
San Diego (June 16)—U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Sandy K. Baruah delivered remarks on the importance of innovation to American competitiveness and the role of the biosciences in economic development at the Association of University Research Parks and the Biotechnology Industry Organization-sponsored BioParks 2008 Conference “Translating Discovery into Innovation.” (More)
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Secretary Gutierrez Statement on Call with Dissidents in Cuba
Washington (June 15)—U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez released the following statement after speaking with Cuba’s leading dissidents on Father’s Day, June 15: “Today I had the distinct privilege to speak with some of Cuba’s leading dissidents in Havana who continue to struggle every day living in repression under Raul Castro’s communist regime. I have the utmost respect and admiration for their continued efforts on behalf of freedom for political prisoners and democracy in Cuba, and assured them of President’s Bush’s continued support.” (More) (Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba)
NIST Physicists Produce Quantum-Entangled Images
Gaithersburg, Md. (June 13)—Using a convenient and flexible method for creating twin light beams, researchers at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) of the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Maryland have produced “quantum images,” pairs of information-rich visual patterns whose features are “entangled,” or inextricably linked by the laws of quantum physics. (More)
Gutierrez Honors Cuba’s Oppressed at Victims of Communism Memorial
Washington (June 12)—U.S. Secretary of Commerce Secretary Carlos M.Gutierrez, members of Congress and Annette Lantos, the widow of Congressman Tom Lantos, honored the Victims of Communism at the Memorial’s first anniversary. Secretary Gutierrez said that while great strides have been made, “The light of liberty still does not shine in every corner of the earth… Today we stand in solidarity with the people of Cuba and those political prisoners who are shackled in jail cells because they dare speak out in favor of freedom, of liberty and of democracy.” (Transcript) (Video)
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Secretary Gutierrez Welcomes May Retail Sales
Washington (June 12)—Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez released a statement on May Retail and Food Sales, which showed that retail sales increased 1.0 percent in May, the largest one month increase since last November. Furthermore, after upward revisions to the March and April estimates, sales for the three-month period ending in May 2008 were up 2.6 percent from the same period a year ago. (More)