RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

SANTA FE, NM — Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire claimants whose structures were left with increased risks of wildfires, flooding or other cascading impacts may be reimbursed for costs to reduce these risks to pre-fire levels, but they must finish the work by the deadline of November 14, 2025. 

DEADLINE DETAILS: Claimants must have a valid NOL requesting risk reduction, must complete the risk reduction project, and incur all costs by November. 14, 2025.  Claimants must own the property, identify the heightened risks to structures and outline the project’s costs, scope, date of completion and how the project reduces the risks to pre-fire levels. 

Risk-reduction costs may be reimbursed under the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act.  Risk reduction differs from repairing or rebuilding a damaged property, which is done to restore structures to their pre-fire condition, capacity and function. 

A site visit may be required to verify a completed project. Total reimbursement for projects will be capped at 50% of the replacement cost value of the structure being protected. Any costs that exceed this cap are the claimant’s responsibility. Eligible risk reduction projects for public facilities must first be submitted to FEMA’s Public Assistance (PA) program and denied for all or partial assistance before they can be submitted to the Claims Office.

Properties in areas damaged by wildfire are often more vulnerable to natural hazards or cascading impacts

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RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

Disaster Recovery Centers (DRC) will open in Howell, Ozark, Perry and Webster counties to provide in-person assistance to residents affected by the March 14-15 disaster. 

If you’ve already applied for assistance, you can speak with a FEMA representative in-person about the status of your application or get help uploading needed documents to complete your application.

DRC LocationsDRC Hours of OperationPerry County
Perry County Courthouse
15 W. Sainte Marie St. 
Perryville, MO 63775June 18: 9 a.m.-7 p.m.
June 19-21: 8 a.m.-7 p.m.Webster County
Webster County Emergency Management
433 E. Commercial St
Marshfield, MO 65706June 18: 9 a.m.-7 p.m.
June 19-21: 8 a.m.-7 p.m.Howell County
West Plains Civic Center 
110 St Louis St.
West Plains, MO 65775June 23: 9 a.m.-7 p.m.
June 24-27: 8 a.m.-7 p.m.Ozark County
Bakersfield R IV School District
1201 SSR-O
Bakersfield, MO 65609June 23: 9 a.m.-7 p.m.
June 24 and 25: 8 a.m.-7 p.m.

If you still need to apply for FEMA disaster assistance, you can go online to DisasterAssistance.gov, call toll-free 800-621-3362, or download the FEMA App

Homeowners and renters affected by the March 14-15 disaster in Bollinger, Butler, Camden, Carter, Franklin, Howell, Iron, Jefferson, Oregon, Ozark, Perry, Phelps, Reynolds, Ripley, St. Louis, Wayne, Webster, and Wright counties may be eligible for FEMA assistance that includes rental assistance, lodging expenses reimbursement, home repair and other needs.

You may visit any of our DRCs in your community to apply for FEMA assistance.

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RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

The United States semiconductor industry is projected to have between 60,000 and 100,000 unfilled jobs by 2030. As the need for semiconductor technicians, engineers and scientists continues to increase, there is also a growing demand for innovative ways to train this anticipated workforce. But such training typically requires expensive clean rooms and advanced equipment, resources that many schools don’t have access to.

A team of researchers, which included high school and community college students, found a solution to this challenge by using artificial intelligence-powered virtual reality (VR) to create simulations as a cost-effective alternative for people to learn about the process of semiconductor fabrication. The results of their research, which is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Micro Nano Technology Education Center at Pasadena City College (PCC), in collaboration with the University of California, Irvine (UCI), are available in the Journal of Advanced Technological Education.

“Many students, especially those at underfunded schools, never get to see or touch the real semiconductor fabrication tools,” said Kristal Hong, a member of the research team and a computer science major at UCI. “I, myself, was a community college student without access to a cleanroom, so I know how that gap can dampen student enthusiasm.”

By using AI-powered VR to create cleanroom simulations, the team is offering a learning channel outside of traditional classrooms and

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RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

At Brown University, an innovative new project is revealing that teaching artificial intelligence to perceive things more like people may begin with something as simple as a game. The project invites participants to play an online game called Click Me, which helps AI models learn how people see and interpret images. While the game is fun and accessible, its purpose is more ambitious: to understand the root causes of AI errors and to systematically improve how AI systems represent the visual world.

Over the past decade, AI systems have become more powerful and widely used, particularly in tasks like recognizing images. For example, these systems can identify animals, objects or diagnose medical conditions from images. However, they sometimes make mistakes that humans rarely do. For instance, an AI algorithm might confidently label a photo of a dog wearing sunglasses as a completely different animal or fail to recognize a stop sign if it’s partially covered by graffiti. As these models become larger and more complex, these kinds of errors become more frequent, revealing a growing gap between how AI and humans perceive the world.

Recognizing this challenge, researchers funded in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation propose to combine insights from psychology and neuroscience with machine learning to create the next generation of human-aligned AI. Their goal is to understand how people process

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