Agencies

Eastern Tennessee Communities Awarded $2 Million for Helene Costs

Published: 7 May 2025
Categories: FEMA News

RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

The state of Tennessee and FEMA have awarded nearly $2 million for emergency and permanent work to repair bridges, restore utilities, remove debris and take measures to protect 14 Eastern Tennessee counties affected by Tropical Storm Helene.

The major presidential declaration designated Carter, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins, Jefferson, Johnson, Sevier, Sullivan, Unicoi and Washington counties for FEMA Public Assistance, a program that helps communities as they respond to declared disasters or emergencies. 

In Cocke County, the City of Newport cleared more than 4,726 cubic yards of sand, soil and mud from streets and sidewalks after the storm. The city also contracted to have 4,156 cubic yards of vegetative debris and 570 cubic yards of mud, soil and sand removed from the public rights-of-way. 

FEMA’s share for this project is $83,731; the nonfederal share is $27,910.

The Public Assistance program reimburses communities for emergency work to save lives and protect property; remove debris; and repair roads, bridges, public buildings, utilities and parks. Because this is a cost-sharing program, FEMA reimburses state applicants 75% of eligible costs. The remaining 25% represents nonfederal funds.

Below is a list of community projects, the total dollars awarded, and the category of Public Assistance funding:

Carter County: First Utility District $4,966 for emergency protective measures.

Hawkins County: Emergency Communications District $4,632 for emergency protective measures.

Johnson County: $624,640 for Morefield Bridge repairs; $617,344 for Furnace Creek Bridge

Click this link to continue reading the article on the source website.

Using machine learning to speed up discovery for drug delivery and disease treatment

Published: 7 May 2025
Categories: National Science Foundation

RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

A new computational tool developed with support from the U.S. National Science Foundation could greatly speed up determining the 3D structure of RNAs, a critical step in developing new RNA-based drugs, identifying drug-binding sites and using RNAs in other biotechnology and biomedicine applications.

The tool, NuFold, leverages state-of-the-art machine learning techniques to predict the structure of a wide variety of RNA molecules from their sequences. This new capability will allow researchers to visualize what a given RNA structure could look like based on its sequence and identify its potential use in drug delivery, disease treatment and other applications.  The research leading to NuFold was published in Nature Communications.

RNAs are critical biological molecules — encoding information, like DNA, and performing cellular functions, like proteins — but relatively few RNA structures have been determined through experimentation thus far, which severely limits understanding of their functions. For example, RNAs in the NSF-funded Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics Protein Data Bank (RCSB PDB) represent only about 3% of total entries. Experimentally determining RNA structures is often time-consuming and costly. By providing a path to reliably predicting RNA structure from sequence, NuFold could greatly expedite the discovery of RNA function and enable quicker development of RNA-based therapeutics and technologies.

Credit: Daisuke Kihara, Purdue University. Figure taken from the Nufold

Click this link to continue reading the article on the source website.

4 planets discovered around Barnard’s star, one of the closest stars to Earth

Published: 7 May 2025
Categories: National Science Foundation

RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

Researchers supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation have discovered four tiny exoplanets orbiting Barnard’s star, a red dwarf at the center of the nearest single-star system to Earth. Using a specialized instrument mounted on the NSF-supported Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii, the team detected “wobbles” in the motion of Barnard’s star by observing subtle shifts in the color of its light, indicating the gravitational pull from nearby exoplanets. The planets’ surfaces are too hot to support life as we know it.

The researchers made their discovery using the M-dwarf Advanced Radial velocity Observer Of Neighboring eXoplanets (MAROON-X) spectrometer, which is designed to detect exoplanets. Their results were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and show promise for finding and confirming more small planets around other red dwarf stars, which are numerous in the universe.

“The U.S. National Science Foundation is collaborating with the astronomy community on an adventure to look deeper into the universe to detect planets with environments that might resemble Earth’s,” says Martin Still, NSF program director for the International Gemini Observatory. “The planet discoveries provided by MAROON-X mounted on Gemini North provide a significant step along that journey.”

Most of the planets previously discovered in the Milky Way galaxy are much larger than Earth, making detecting these relatively tiny planets a fundamental step towards a more complete understanding of planet populations.

Click this link to continue reading the article on the source website.

FEMA Continued Temporary Housing Assistance Available

Published: 6 May 2025
Categories: FEMA News

RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

LOS ANGELES – If you received rental assistance from FEMA and require further rental assistance while working toward your permanent housing goals, we encourage you to stay in touch with FEMA. Continued Temporary Housing Assistance (CTHA) may be available for those who qualify. 

Rental Assistance is available as an initial temporary two-month grant for homeowners and renters to pay for somewhere to live if their primary residence suffered damage from the Los Angeles County wildfires. If you were displaced and need assistance covering housing costs you should contact FEMA to determine your eligibility for this program. If temporary housing is still needed after the first two months of receiving rental assistance, survivors can apply for CTHA based on three months of their actual monthly costs for rent and utilities or the Fair Market Rent, for up to 18 months from the date the disaster was declared, January 8, 2025, as long as they remain eligible.

If you received funds for Additional Living Expenses through your insurance, you may be eligible for initial Rental Assistance once those funds are exhausted.

To be eligible to apply for CTHA, survivors must meet the following conditions:

Be awarded initial Rental Assistance and show they used this money to pay for temporary housing,Are unable to return to their pre-disaster residence because it is not safe to live in or is no longer available

Click this link to continue reading the article on the source website.