1+ hour, 41+ min ago (393+ words) The University of Central Florida has laid off 57 employees at the Florida Solar Energy Center, leaving seven remaining employees at the facility in Cocoa. The staffing reductions coincide with the Trump administration's ongoing efforts to strip back renewable energy programs previously enacted by the Biden administration. The state legislature designated FSEC the state's energy research institute in 1975. This year is the center's 50th anniversary. A celebratory open house event originally scheduled for last month was later canceled due to "unforeseen circumstances," according to FSEC's website. According to UCF: "In recent years, FSEC has experienced a decline in external funding, limiting its ability to sustain core research activities. This challenge was further compounded by recent shifts in federal funding priorities in energy research, including reductions and cancellations of key programs that historically supported the center's research activities." UCF didn't immediately provide details…...

13+ hour, 56+ min ago (792+ words) Florida continues to struggle in its efforts to detect and treat lung cancer early, ranking low in several key measures, according to a new report from the American Lung Association. Nearly 27% of Floridians diagnosed with lung cancer do not receive any treatment " one of the worst rates in the nation. The state ranks 45th out of 49 states with available data. The findings are especially worrisome for a disease that remains the deadliest form of cancer in the nation. For Brenda Connolly, chair of the association's Gulf Coast Florida Board and administrator of the thoracic and sarcoma program at Moffitt Cancer Center, the numbers are deeply troubling. The disease is among the deadliest cancers in the nation. "It's alarming that, just in general, lung cancer is a devastating disease. But then even in Florida, the lack of treatment, it's dismal," Connolly told…...