Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "On St. Patrick’s Day, we celebrate Ireland for its rich history and culture, and the works of St. Patrick. Each year on this day, the people of the United States celebrate the especially deep cultural connections between the United States and Ireland. For centuries, Irish immigrants have shaped United States. From Dublin, California, to Shamrock, Texas, and of course my hometown of Boston, deep community connections to Ireland span coast to coast. St. Patrick’s Day is an opportunity to appreciate our unique shared history.

Washington, DC - The antimicrobial arsenal that we count on to save millions of lives each year is alarmingly thin—and these microbes are rapidly evolving resistance to our weapons. But help may be on the way: In a study posted in the AMB Express, researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) show that automated techniques commonly used to screen new drugs for mammalian cell toxicity could also dramatically speed up the challenging task of antimicrobial discovery.

Phoenix, Arizona - Elio Motors, Inc., the startup vehicle manufacturer planning to launch a three-wheeled vehicle that will get up to 84 MPG with a targeted base price of $6,800, announced it plans to sell 100 pre-production vehicles built at its Shreveport, Louisiana, production facility fourth quarter of 2016.

Washington, DC - As President Obama said in his State of the Union address, we have sought ways to increase opportunity for Americans and improve the lives of the Cuban people, including by opening the door to increased travel and commerce between our two countries. Among other changes, today the Departments of the Treasury and Commerce announced significant regulatory changes to make it easier for Americans to travel to Cuba, expand access to U.S. financial institutions and the U.S. dollar from Cuba, and expand the ability for Cubans living in the U.S. to earn a salary.

Cambridge, Massachusetts - Yongquan “YQ” Lu is perfectly at home surrounded by sheets of paper. For him, these rectangles represent endless possibilities for math-based art, ranging from exquisite, three-dimensional origami forms created without a single cut, to intricate, multicolored geometric designs assembled with laser-cut paper strips.

Washington, DC - Schools across the United States purchased $789 million in local foods from farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and food processors and manufacturers in school year 2013 – 2014, according to results from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm to School Census released today. That represents a 105 percent increase over the 2011-2012 school year when the first census was conducted, signifying the deepening commitment of schools nationwide to bring local food into the cafeteria and strengthen their local economies.