RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

A Disaster Recovery Center with FEMA Individual Assistance staff is opening in St. Louis County to help people affected by the May 16 tornado and storms.

The Disaster Recovery Center opens this Friday, June 27.

At all locations, FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration will help impacted residents with their disaster assistance applications, answer questions, and upload required documents.

An additional location in St. Louis County will be announced in the coming days.

Opening Friday, June 27LOCATIONHOURS OF OPERATIONSt. Louis County Library – Prairie Commons Branch
915 Utz Ln.
Hazelwood, MO 63042Monday-Thursday: 8 a.m.-7 p.m.
Friday-Saturday: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. 
Sunday: ClosedLocations Currently Open in St. Louis CityLOCATIONSHOURS OF OPERATIONSumner High School — Parking Lot                             
4248 Cottage Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63113Monday-Saturday: 8 a.m.-7 p.m.
Sunday: 8 a.m.-6 p.m.  Union Tabernacle M.B. Church
626 N. Newstead Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63108Monday-Saturday: 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
Sunday: Closed

To save time, please apply for FEMA assistance before coming to a Disaster Recovery Center. Apply online at DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 800-621-3362. 

If you are unable to apply online or by phone, someone at the Disaster Recovery Center can assist you. 

You may visit any location, no matter where you are staying now.

If your home or personal property sustained damage not covered by insurance, FEMA may be able to provide money to help you pay for home repairs, a temporary place to live,

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RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

U.S. National Science Foundation-funded researchers have stabilized a composite material in a superconducting state at ambient or normal, everyday pressure. Their technique, called the “pressure-quench protocol,” offers a new approach for exploring and developing superconducting materials. Superconducting materials have the potential to enable highly efficient electronic devices and minimal energy loss in power grids.

Superconducting materials typically exhibit zero electrical resistance only at very low temperatures or very high pressures, depending on the material. Researchers at the University of Houston overcame these limitations by using their pressure-quench technique to stabilize a composite of bismuth, antimony and tellurium in a superconducting state under ambient pressure. This study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also included contributions from researchers at the University at Buffalo and the University of Illinois Chicago.

Credit: Liangzi Deng and Ching-Wu Chu

A multi-purpose measurement device used in the pressure-quenching experiments can reach a temperature of 1.2 degrees Kelvin (-457 degrees Fahrenheit).

The new protocol also opens up a new way to explore material phases that usually exist only under extreme pressure. “It should help our search for superconductors with higher transition temperatures,” says Paul Ching-Wu Chu, a study author and professor of physics at the University of Houston.

“The technique used in this study not only demonstrates potential

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RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

A new chemical process funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation has produced methanol — a type of alcohol essential for manufacturing many common products and a potential fuel source — more efficiently than ever before. The method generates methanol from carbon dioxide nearly 66% more efficiently than the next best approach.

The process uses a dual combination of nickel- and cobalt-based compounds as a catalyst on nanotubes, where multiple chemical reactions and electricity convert carbon dioxide to methanol. More of the C02 is transformed into methanol and with comparatively less electricity consumption, making the overall process more efficient. The findings are published in Nature Nanotechnology by a team of scientists spanning Yale University, Oregon State University and The Ohio State University.

“Methanol is a flexible chemical feedstock that is used for hundreds of common products including plastics, chemicals and solvents,” says Alvin Chang, an OSU doctoral student and coauthor on the study. By improving methanol production, scientists could make it faster, cheaper and with less waste.

Methanol is being explored as a low-cost fuel for generating electricity, powering ships, supplementing gasoline for automobiles and more. In addition to using C02 from the atmosphere, the process could enable methanol production from plentiful agricultural and municipal waste.

Having steady access to such a versatile and renewable resource could transform many aspects of daily life, including the transportation

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