This county is California’s harshest charging ‘desert’

for eletric cars. Local activists want to change that

By Alejandro Lazo | CalMatters

Few places in California are as unforgiving for driving an electric car as the remote and sparsely populated Imperial Valley.

Only four fast-charging public stations are spread across the valley’s vast 4,500 square miles just north of the US-Mexico border, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. That means if you’re Greg Gelman — one of only about 1,200 Imperial County residents who own an electric car — traveling almost anywhere is a maddening logistical challenge.

“It’s been, I won’t say a nightmare, but it’s been very, very, very inconvenient,” Gelman said on a recent afternoon as he charged his all-electric Mercedes-Benz at a charging station in a Bank of America parking lot in El Centro. “Would I do it again? No.”

California’s electric charging “deserts” like the Imperial Valley pose one of the biggest obstacles to the state’s efforts to combat climate change and air pollution by electrifying cars and trucks.

Experts say the slow installation of chargers in California’s remote regions could jeopardize the state’s phaseout of new gas-powered cars. Under the state’s mandate, 35 percent of sales of 2026 models must be zero-emissions, ramping up to 68 percent in 2030 and 100 percent in 2035.

Nestled in the desert in California’s far southeast corner, Imperial County ranks dead last in electric car ownership among California counties with populations of 100,000 or more, according to a CalMatters analysis of 2023 data. Only 7 out of every 1,000 cars are battery-powered there, compared with 51 out of every 1,000 statewide.

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Top Photo: A map shows the electric car charging stations that the nonprofit group Comite Civico Del Valle plans to build in the Imperial Valley. (Photo by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters)

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Cubic awarded NAVAIR contract to provide live virtual and constructive training

 Cubic Defense, the world’s leading provider of advanced air combat training, is awarded a contract modification with Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) to provide engineering support services for a demonstration in Guam, Valiant Shield ‘24.

“Cubic’s SLATE technology injects synthetic entities and computer-generated forces to bring the realism of the pacing multi-domain high-end threat environment to the live cockpits and operator consoles, said Paul K. Averna, VP and GM, Advanced Training Solutions for Cubic Defense. “Tomorrow’s fight will be different, and our Joint and Coalition operators deserve a fully vetted system that ensures combat readiness today”

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The unexpected connection between  brewing and understanding turbulence

By Michelle Franklin | UC San Diego

In 1883 Osborne Reynolds injected ink into water in a short, clear pipe to observe its movement. His experiments showed that as the input water velocity increased, the flow went from laminar (smooth and predictable) to turbulent (unsteady and unpredictable) through the development of localized patches of turbulence, known today as “puffs.”  His work helped launch the field of fluid mechanics, but, as experiments often do, it raised more questions. For example, why do these transitions between laminar and turbulent flows occur and how can the transitions be characterized quantitatively?

Although Reynolds was not able to find the answer, an international team of researchers, led by University of California San Diego Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Physics Nigel Goldenfeld and Björn Hof of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria have used statistical mechanics to solve this longstanding problem. Their work appears in Nature Physics.

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TrueCare and MiraCosta offer medical assistant scholarships

The Prebys Foundation has awarded a $500,000 two-year grant to TrueCare, a nonprofit healthcare provider in San Diego and Riverside counties, for an initiative to provide internships and support for students in the MiraCosta College Medical Assistant program. The new grant, which establishes an impactful partnership between MiraCosta and TrueCare, will provide paid internships and scholarships to encourage students to seek training for a career as a medical assistant. The grant funding stems from the Youth Health Career Pathways Investments initiative. This initiative empowers underserved youth by providing access to top-tier healthcare career training programs. By diversifying the healthcare workforce, we take strategic strides toward mitigating health disparities and enhancing healthcare accessibility for marginalized communities.

Rich Dicker, program director for the Medical Assistant program, said the grant will enable students who otherwise might not have been able to afford it to enroll. To be eligible, a student must be 16-26 years old, enrolled in the Medical Assistant program, and have faced issues with financial hardship.

Scripps  research scientists uncover new molecular drivers of Alzheimer’s

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 5.8 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease, which is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for Alzheimer’s, in part because scientists do not yet have a full understanding of what causes the disease. But a new study from Scripps Research is shedding light on the molecular drivers that could contribute to Alzheimer’s progression.

In the study, published in Advanced Science on May 21, 2024, the researchers used a new technique for studying single, living brain cells affected by Alzheimer’s disease. By measuring the electrical activity of single neurons and the protein levels within those neurons, the scientists discovered new molecules linked to Alzheimer’s. The hope is these molecules could be targeted by drugs to treat or slow the progression of the neurodegenerative disease in the future.

Close collaboration among Scripps Research’s professors, including clinical neurologist Stuart Lipton, MD, PhD, protein expert John Yates, III, PhD, and bioinformaticist Nicholas Schork, PhD, (who is also the deputy director and distinguished professor of quantitative medicine at The Translational Genomics Research Institute, or TGen) enabled the scientists to develop this biotechnology feat.

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Cure unveils U.S. biotech industry Benchmark Report 2024

Cure, a healthcare innovation campus in New York City, unveiled results from Ready, Set, Growth! Biotech Benchmark Report 2024 at the 2024 BIO International Convention in San Diego. Cure conducted this highly anticipated assessment of the biotech industry in partnership with the Deerfield Institute, a division of Deerfield Management Company. The stakeholders surveyed included company founders and CEOs, managing directors, investors, scientists, and more.

Intersolar & Energy Storage North America open call for abstracts for 2025 event

Intersolar & Energy Storage North America (IESNA), the industry’s premier solar, storage, and EV charging infrastructure event, is now accepting abstracts for speaking opportunities at the conference to be held Feb. 25-27, 2025, at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego. The Intersolar & Energy Storage North America conference and expo connects installers, developers, utilities, technology providers, policy makers, and other key stakeholders through innovative programming, networking events, and exhibits that maximize learning and facilitate business.

Aethlon Medical prepares for Phase 1 Cancer Treatment studies

Aethlon Medical, Inc., a medical therapeutic company focused on developing products to treat cancer and life-threatening infectious diseases, provided the following update on its planned phase 1 safety, feasibility and dose-finding clinical trials of its Hemopurifier in patients with solid tumors who have stable or progressive disease during anti-PD-1 monotherapy treatment, such as Keytruda or Opdivo. Aethlon Medical is a medical therapeutic company focused on developing the Hemopurifier, a clinical stage immunotherapeutic device which is designed to combat cancer and life-threatening viral infections and for use in organ transplantation

Psylo announces first close on $8 million series seed financing

Psylo, a leading biotechnology company focused on the development of next-generation neuroplastogens, announced at the BIO Conference in San Diego the successful first close toward an $8 million USD Series Seed financing. This funding will accelerate the advancement of PSYLO-100X, the company’s flagship non-hallucinogenic 5-HT2A agonist, poised to revolutionize the treatment of depression and other mental health disorders.

PriceSmart releases 2023 Environmental and Social Responsibility report

PriceSmart Inc., operator of 54 warehouse clubs in 12 countries and one U.S. territory, announced the publication of its fiscal year 2023 Environmental and Social Responsibility (ESR) report.  The comprehensive report provides information on PriceSmarts commitment to sustainability and positively impacting communities and the environment. Through detailed insights into the company’s programs and initiatives, the report describes PriceSmart’s dedication to fostering environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and strong corporate governance across its operations.

Neurocrine Biosciences  announces publication of pediatric study

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. announced that the primary study results from its CAHtalyst Pediatric Phase 3 study investigating crinecerfont for the treatment of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency have been published in The New England Journal of Medicine online edition and will appear in a future print issue of the journal. The CAHtalyst Pediatric Phase 3 global registrational study was conducted in 103 participants. Over 95 percent of participants completed the 28-week double-blind, placebo-controlled treatment period of the study with minimal missing data.

Spotline to showcase innovative solutions at DIA 2024 in San Diego

Spotline, Inc., a leader in cutting-edge enterprise solutions for the life sciences industry, is excited to announce its participation in the upcoming Drug Information Association (DIA) 2024 Global Annual Meeting in San Diego. The event will take place from June 16-20, 2024, at the San Diego Convention Center. Spotline Inc. will be showcasing its latest innovative products. These groundbreaking solutions are designed to enhance efficiency and streamline processes for organizations utilizing the Veeva Vault platform.

Illumina appoints Everett Cunningham to chief commercial officer

Illumina Inc., a global leader in DNA sequencing and array-based technologies, announced the appointment of Everett Cunningham as chief commercial officer (CCO), effective June 10. Cunningham will be responsible for building, guiding, and managing the company’s global commercial organization. He brings extensive commercial experience across the healthcare tech, life sciences, and pharmaceutical industries. Most recently, Cunningham served as chief commercial oficer at Exact Sciences, where he oversaw the company’s marketing, sales, and customer service functions.

Navigate BioPharma Services announced launch of new assay

Navigate BioPharma Services, Inc., a specialty laboratory offering high-quality, innovative precision medicine solutions and bioanalytics for clinical development and diagnostic applications, launched a new assay for quantifying pharmacodynamic markers of radioligand therapies in tumors. The development of this assay was presented in a poster titled “Quantifying pharmacodynamic markers of radioligand therapies (RLTs) in tumor by multiplex immunofluorescence and automated quantitative analysis (AQUA) algorithms” at the American Association for Cancer Research 2024 Annual Meeting held in San Diego.

Shionogi expands global infectious disease and antimicrobial research operations

Shionogi & Co. Ltd. announced the company is responding to the urgent global need for additional antimicrobial research and development by establishing its first discovery laboratory in the U.S., in San Diego. The Shionogi Qpex Lab will expand the existing R&D facility for Qpex Biopharma Inc., a Shionogi Group Company, with a new state-of-the-art discovery laboratory at the SD Tech by Alexandria mega campus in San Diego. In 2023, Qpex was acquired by Shionogi Inc., a New Jersey-based subsidiary of Shionogi.

Inocras and Massive Bio forge groundbreaking alliance

Inocras, a leading AI-driven whole genome testing company, and Massive Bio, a cutting-edge AI-driven clinical trial matching platform provider, have joined forces to set a new standard for cancer patient care. This strategic collaboration leverages Inocras’s expertise in whole genome sequencing (WGS) and bioinformatics alongside Massive Bio’s advanced AI technology for clinical trial matching, with the shared mission of enhancing personalized care for cancer patients.