August 14, 2008 According to USDA's NASS August Crop Production Report, U.S. farmers are on pace to produce second largest corn crop and 4th largest soybean crop in history. Soybean production is forecast at 2.97 billion bushels, up 15% from last year, and corn yields are expected to average 155 bushels per acre, up 3.9 bushels from last year. Plant biotechnology helps contribute to crop yield increases, allowing farmers to meet growing demand for food, feed, and fuel.

August 14, 2008 Sponsored by AASHTO, AAA, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce, competition honored transportation projects from Southeastern Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Reconstruction of 2 Mississippi bridges destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, replacement of Woodrow Wilson Bridge over Potomac River connecting Maryland and Virginia, and one of country's first Green rest areas are among projects that won America's Transportation Award.

August 14, 2008 Ten signature transportation projects that reflect best in management and innovation by state departments of transportation were named as finalists for America's Transportation Award and will now compete for Grand National Prize and People's Choice Award. Competition is cosponsored by AAA, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and AASHTO to bring public attention to transportation projects around the country that make positive difference to people, businesses, and communities.

August 13, 2008 Scheduled for March 23-26, 2009, International Laser Safety Conference will address all aspects of laser safety, from instruction on practical activities of Laser Safety Officers to scientific research supporting establishment of safe exposure limits. Conference will also include 2-day Laser Safety Practical Applications Seminar for Laser Safety Officers. Participants will be involved in interactive workshops, panel discussions, and hot topics addressing common safety issues.

August 13, 2008 According to AMT and AMTDA, June U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $360.43 million, which was level with May and up 2.0% from total of $353.40 million reported for June 2007. With year-to-date total of $2,318.34 million, 2008 is up 15.3% compared with 2007. These numbers and all data in report are based on totals of actual data reported by companies participating in United States Manufacturing Technology Consumption program.

August 13, 2008 Comprised of members from ISO, IEC, and ITU, Joint Video Team Standards Committee has been chosen to receive Emmy Award for work on High Profile capability for MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding, also known as H.264. MPEG-4 AVC gives guidelines for video compression at high quality, with bit rates that are much lower than those of previous standards. High Profile capability is applicable to broadcast and disc storage applications, particularly for HDTV applications.

August 13, 2008 An American National Standard from ANSI member, Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, ensures that household coffee makers perform consistently and safely. ANSI/AHAM CM-1-2007, Method for Measuring Performance of Household Coffee Makers, guides measurement of specified product characteristics, facilitating comparison and evaluation of different brands and models. No matter what brewing technology used, quality and consistency of coffee is ensured by standards developed by ISO.

August 13, 2008 Published by ISO, 7th edition of ISO 4217:2008 specifies structure for unique 3-letter alphabetic codes and equivalent 3-digit numeric codes that represent global currencies and funds. Standard also contains table of fund codes registered with maintenance agency, table of codes giving historic denominations of currencies, and annex of information to be provided by those wishing to apply for issue of new codes, amendments, and deletions.

August 13, 2008 Published by IEC, 2nd edition of IEC 60751 defines minimum quality requirements for resistors or thermometers for temperature range of -200 to 850°C. Standard also defines relationship between temperature and electrical resistance of thermometer, allowing for replacement of sensors independent of manufacturer. In this version, number of tolerance classes has been increased to 4, and tolerance classes are given separately for wire-wound resistors, film resistors, and thermometers.

August 13, 2008 To help manufacturers make sense of data, SME is bringing experts in RFID and other automated data collection technologies to Manufacturing Data Management Conference, November 11-12, 2008, at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. Wal-Mart, Tyson Foods, Boeing, and others will share their best practices. By learning from leaders like Wal-Mart, manufacturers can develop their own processes for increasing productivity, controlling inventory, and managing supply chains.

August 13, 2008 According to Commerce Department's trade numbers, U.S. exports of manufactured goods are accelerating their growth pace and are among strongest parts of trade picture. June manufactured goods exports were 17.4% higher than 1 year ago and are growing at more than twice as fast as imports of manufactured goods. June's manufactured goods trade deficit was 9% lower than it was 1 year ago.

August 12, 2008 IPC - Association Connecting Electronics Industries® will offer a 3-day HDI Technology Conference: Building the Supply Chain Infrastructure, October 6-8, 2008 in Dallas. The conference will lay the groundwork for competing in the growing HDI market, addressing HDI technology as it relates to all aspects of the supply chain. Keynote addresses will be given by Matt Holzmann and Roberto Tulman and the 2½-day conference will be divided into 4 phases following the implementation program.

August 12, 2008 Scheduled for Aug 19-21, 2008, Intel Developer Forum will include STA's "SAS ROCKS" static display exhibiting various Serial Attached SCSI products from 3ware, Adaptec, Finisar, Fujitsu CPA, LSI, LeCroy, PMC-Sierra, Seagate, and Xyratex. Products will include RAID controllers, protocol analyzer/tester, hard disk drives, RAID adapters, SAS/SATA test system, and SAS storage arrays.

August 12, 2008 Through induced pluripotent stem cell technique, researchers at Harvard Stem Cell Institute created 20 disease-specific stem cell lines. BIO President and CEO, Jim Greenwood commended Institute for their research and for making stem cell lines available to researchers worldwide. According to Greenwood, we must do all we can to accelerate research and explore all avenues of therapeutic possibilities to their fullest to determine which areas can present treatment options fastest.

August 11, 2008 Bradford Perkins, Jr., of the University of Colorado and David Nesbitt of NIST report first direct observation of rotational dynamics of molecule bouncing off liquid surface. Perkins and Nesbitt directed beam of carbon dioxide molecules at pool of synthetic fluorinated fluid in a vacuum. They found molecules had pronounced tendency for forward, end-over-end top spin, with rate of tumbling strongly correlated with how molecular rotation is aligned relative to light path.

August 11, 2008 On Aug. 5, in conjunction with 2008 Workshop on Precision Indoor Personnel Location and Tracking for Emergency Responders at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, NIST demonstrated prototype approach to maintain 2-way communications with first responders as they make their way in building fires or mine and tunnel collapses. System features smart multi-hop relays that advise first responders when to place next device to extend communications range.

August 11, 2008 Designed to move nation toward production of advanced biofuels made from renewable resources, Renewable Fuel Standard specifies that 21 billion of 36 billion gallons of biofuels to be produced and used each year by 2022 will come from non-food sources. It also says that advanced biofuels must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 60% compared to petroleum gasoline. BIO supports U.S. EPA's decision not to grant Texas Gov. Rick Perry's petition to cut RFS.

August 11, 2008 Scheduled for Oct 1, 2008, Short-Run Metalforming Seminar will help attendees learn how to offer customers best possible stamping and/or fabricating solution. Seminar is intended for product designers, process engineers, estimators, purchasing personnel, plant managers, and other upper-level management. Five speakers will cover planning and understanding costs, turret-press and press-brake technology, spinning/hydroforming, low-cost tooling materials, and reduction in setup time.

August 11, 2008 Scheduled for Nov 18-19, 2008 Expo and Conference will feature Michigan Emerging Life Sciences Showcase, a preview of next wave in regional bioscience companies. During Michigan Life Sciences Summit, participants will discuss Michigan's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and identification of critical priorities. On day 2, CEOs of Michigan's leading health systems will discuss how biotechnology is changing therapeutic and surgical interventions, diagnostics, and predictive medicine.

August 11, 2008 During meeting, representatives from space agencies in 9 countries discussed cooperation on International Lunar Network, which is designed to gradually place 6-8 fixed or mobile science stations on lunar surface. Stations will form second-generation robotic science network to replace hardware left by Apollo Program to study moon's surface and interior. Representatives considering participation agreed on statement of intent as first step in planning.