Hey, Alexa, does Amazon have any job openings for its Alexa project? Amazon has posted its first job listings for its new Arlington County headquarters and is moving two vice presidents from Seattle to Arlington, reports the Washington Post. One will oversee workforce development, and the other will run a technical team focused on international growth of its virtual assistant Alexa.
Commercializing one of the world’s most awesome materials. Graphene is 200 times stronger than steel. It is superb at conducting heat and electricity. And it’s incredibly pliable. Now the Carbon Research and Development Co. is building a Graphene Research Center in Wise County with the backing of a $1.5 million loan from the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority. The Center, which is focusing on applications in the manufacturing center, is collaborating with Virginia Tech, reports the Roanoke Times, to derive the carbon-based material from coal.
First nurse practitioner licensed under new law. To address the shortage of physicians in rural areas, the General Assembly passed a law this year that allows nurse practitioners in Virginia to be licensed to practice autonomously without collaborating physicians. Now Susan Adamson, a nurse practitioner, is the first in Virginia to receive such a license, reports WHSV. She works at the Free Clinic in Harrisonburg. Nurse practitioners must have worked for 9,000 hours or five years to qualify. Clearly the law represents a step forward for rural health care, but it’s not clear how many nurse practitioners ultimately will qualify.
