Washington, DC - Today, the Energy Department announced $23 million in funding for 23 new projects led by small businesses to further develop clean energy technologies with a strong potential for commercialization and job creation. These Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) awards for $1 million each over the next two years will help small businesses advance their promising concepts that improve manufacturing processes, boost the efficiency of buildings, increase transportation sustainability, and generate electricity from renewable sources.

Washington, DC - A high-tech version of an old-fashioned balance scale at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has just brought scientists a critical step closer toward a new and improved definition of the kilogram. The scale, called the NIST-4 watt balance, has conducted its first measurement of a fundamental physical quantity called Planck’s constant to within 34 parts per billion - demonstrating the scale is accurate enough to assist the international community with the redefinition of the kilogram, an event slated for 2018.

Washington, DC - On January 20, 2009, President Obama issued a simple and powerful pledge: to restore science to its rightful place. Coming into office, the President was committed to reinvigorating the American scientific enterprise through a strong commitment to basic and applied research, innovation, and education; to restoring integrity to science policy; and most importantly, to making decisions on the basis of evidence, rather than ideology.

Mediterranean Sea - Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) reached another deployment milestone, launching its 2,000th aircraft mission in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.

Washington, DC - Remarks With Special Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Angelina Jolie Pitt:

Washington, DC - In honor of World Refugee Day on June 20, officials from the U.S. Department of State are participating in a variety of outreach activities in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., New York City, and New Jersey to honor the contributions of refugees making new lives in communities across the U.S.