Agencies

FEMA Offers Equal Access to Assistance for all Tennessee Disaster Survivors

Published: 10 July 2025
Categories: FEMA News

RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

FEMA is committed to providing equal access to federal assistance for Tennesseans who were affected by the April 2-24 severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding. Anyone with an accessibility need who is applying for FEMA assistance should let FEMA know. 

If you or anyone in your household has a disability or language need—as well as a need to interact with FEMA or have disability-related losses due to the storms, it is important to answer “yes” to the appropriate questions when completing the application for FEMA disaster assistance. You will be asked to identify what you need to help you throughout your recovery process. Questions will also help identify other services for which you may be eligible to receive reimbursement.

Examples of the type of questions you can expect include: 

Do you have a disability or language need that requires an accommodation to interact with FEMA staff and/or access FEMA programs? Do you or anyone in your household have a disability that affects your ability to perform activities of daily living or requires an assistive device? Did you have any disability-related assistive devices or medically required equipment/supplies/support services damaged, destroyed, lost, or disrupted because of the disaster? 

A disaster can take away the key components that enable people with disabilities and people with other access and functional needs to live independently or to communicate with others.

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NSF Graduate Research Fellow contribution to flight could aid disaster relief

Published: 9 July 2025
Categories: National Science Foundation

RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

With the devastating hurricanes that swept the southeastern United States at the end of 2024, new and better ways to get critical supplies to disaster zones and rural areas are essential. U.S. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow Garrett Asper is devoting his research during his fellowship to advancing flight control systems for electric or hybrid vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (eVTOLs), which can move people and cargo “more quickly, quietly and cost-effectively than traditional helicopters or ground transportation” according to this article from Virginia Tech.

EVTOLs, which combine the vertical takeoff of helicopters with the ability to transition to horizontal flight like airplanes, are being called “the future of flight.” However, the controls during transitioning from horizontal to vertical flight still need improvement before they can be deployed during disasters. Asper’s research focuses on developing and flight-testing new control algorithms to ensure the safety, speed and efficacy of eVTOL transport. He aims to make the tools he’s creating open source, allowing other researchers to use them to test their work. By doing so, he hopes to advance the entire field and bring us closer to the day when critical supplies and aid can be quickly airlifted to disaster zones.

An aerospace engineering doctoral candidate at Virginia Tech, Asper is a researcher in the Nonlinear Systems Laboratory and the NSF-funded Uncrewed Systems Laboratory. He

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NSF advances 29 semifinalists in the second NSF Regional Innovation Engines competition

Published: 8 July 2025
Categories: National Science Foundation

RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

The U.S. National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) program announced the 29 semifinalists advancing to the next stage of the second competition – spanning critical technologies and applications ranging from energy grid security to maximizing the yield of critical minerals mining to advanced optical sensors. The semifinalist teams, many of whom have been building their regional coalitions for a year or longer, are led by universities, nonprofits, private industry and other organizations from across the United States. View a map of the NSF Engines semifinalists.

Credit: U.S. National Science Foundation

A map showing the locations of the U.S. National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) program’s 29 finalists for 2025. Explore the map semifinalists in more detail.

“This outstanding cohort of semifinalists clearly demonstrates that America’s technology competitiveness will depend as much on expanding our ability to unlock innovation capacity in every part of our country — from the rural plains and western ranges to cities with rich industrial and manufacturing legacies — as it will on advancing the technologies themselves,” said Erwin Gianchandani, NSF assistant director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (NSF TIP). “Each team was selected because it brought strong public and private partners to the table and outlined a promising vision for research, innovation and workforce development in

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Breast Cancer Risk in Younger Women May Be Influenced by Hormone Therapy

Published: 30 June 2025
Categories: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

RSS feed source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found that two common types of hormone therapy may alter breast cancer risk in women before age 55. Researchers discovered that women treated with unopposed estrogen hormone therapy (E-HT) were less likely to develop the disease than those who did not use hormone therapy. They also found that women treated with estrogen plus progestin hormone therapy (EP-HT) were more likely to develop breast cancer than women who did not use hormone therapy. Together, these results could help to guide clinical recommendations for hormone therapy use among younger women.

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