News from Los Alamos National Laboratory for Dec. 15 - 19
Los Alamos lab aims to sort out harmless liquids
Albuquerque's airport is testing new technology aimed at sorting out harmless shampoos in baggage from liquids that could potentially pose a threat aboard an airplane. Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists, who adapted technology first used for medical imaging, unveiled their prototype MagViz machine Tuesday at the Albuquerque International Sunport, where it will be tested.
The next time scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory need to convince Congress to fund basic research, they should bring the “MagViz” machine to Washington.
Looking a lot like the standard conveyor belt X-ray machines that scan carry-on luggage, the MagViz is being tested this week at the Albuquerque airport to detect explosives and other contraband that could elude X-ray examinations. (Read it here.)
The Laboratory also posted a video about MagViz on its YouTube channel.
Nuclear weapons complex changes approved
The Energy Department gave final approval Tuesday to a program to limit the most dangerous nuclear material to five sites, improving safety and security, and consolidating management of the country's nuclear weapons. The proposals to scale back the nuclear weapons complex and its activities had been in the works for more than a year. They reflect the significant decline in the number of warheads being maintained and an expectation of further reductions. (Read it here.)
Are better nukes needed?
Amidst the economic crisis should the taxpayers pay start buying newer, and more effective nuclear weapons. Quinn Klinefelter of WDET Detroit Public Radio speaks with Robert Smolen who argues in the affirmative. Smolen is the Deputy Administrator for the Office of Defense and Program Director of the Stockpile Stewardship Program for the National Nuclear Security Administration. (Listen and learn!)
Jumbo 'nanotube' existence confirmed at Sandia/LANL nanotech center
A jumbo nanotube, like a jumbo shrimp, sounds contradictory. A giant lightweight carbon nanotube with good strength and electrical properties is desirable, all right. A micron-sized carbon tube is easier to exploit commercially than any (so to speak) littler nanocousin.
But is it still a nanotube?
Jianyu Huang at the joint Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT), with colleagues elsewhere, got around this problem by naming their new creation "colossal carbon tubes" in a paper published in a recent issue of Physical Review Letters. (Full story)
Carbon storage models get realer
Two new modeling studies are tackling simulations of long-term CO2 storage. The first examines leakage of stored CO2 from abandoned oil wells. The second study from Los Alamos National Laboratory and the National Energy Technology Laboratory created a model to examine a comprehensive approach, including surface injection, leakage, costs and risk analysis. (It don't get any 'realer' than this.)
Nuclear power in a small package
It sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie: A nuclear reactor smaller than an SUV that could produce electricity for 20,000 homes. It would have no weapons-grade material, produce very little waste and would need refueling once every five to 10 years. A company partly owned by Los Alamos National Security, the consortium that runs the national lab, hopes to start manufacturing the mini-reactors within a few years. (Read it here.)
The fastest computers are going hybrid
Automobiles aren’t the only machines taking a hybrid approach. Judging by the recent SC08 conference in Austin, Texas, the future of supercomputer design seems to be heading toward using multiple types of processors in a single system….For example, developers of the top computer on the most recent Top500 list — Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Roadrunner, a 1.1 petaflop IBM machine — augmented its AMD Opterons with IBM PowerXCell processors. (Full story)
LANL workers set record
Los Alamos National Laboratory employees pledged a record $1 million to United Way programs in Northern New Mexico and Santa Fe, according to a statement from the lab. With a dollar-for-dollar match by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, which operates the laboratory, the total contribution is more than $2 million. (Full story)
Los Alamos National Laboratory was mentioned in Tuesday night’s episode of ABC’s fictional television series Eli Stone (story recap online). Stone is a San Francisco lawyer who finds out that he has prophetic powers and decides to use them for good. In this episode, Stone represented a young woman working on cold fusion who was arrested for suspected terrorist intentions. It was discovered, after a LANL scientist read her notes, that she was brilliant and that her research had merit. In short, her options were to work for the scientist at LANL or go to jail.
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News from Los Alamos National Laboratory for Dec. 6 - 14
Disarming ourselves
A new report warns Obama about our aging nuclear weapons.
Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo get more press, but among the most urgent national security challenges facing President-elect Obama is what to do about America's stockpile of aging nuclear weapons. No less an authority than Secretary of Defense Robert Gates calls the situation "bleak" and is urging immediate modernization. (Want to know more?)
LANL: Contract extension 'a vote of confidence'
Good report card earns lab incentive fee, bump on DOE expiration date
The managers of Los Alamos National Laboratory are pleased with their report card for the year, a federal assessment that led to a one-year extension of their contract to run the lab for the Department of Energy. The assessment, by the National Nuclear Security Administration's Los Alamos site office, awarded Los Alamos National Security LLC 87.9 percent of the possible fees available, up from 81.3 percent the previous year. The assessment was for Oct. 1, 2007, through Sept. 30, the second full year LANS has operated Los Alamos. See this story in the Albuquerque Journal or the Santa Fe New Mexican.
LANL: Dust Isn't From Us
Data show the small contribution that LANL makes to the overall dose from natural radioactive sources.
Los Alamos scientists have concluded that the vast majority of radioactive dust identified last year by a research group did not come from the nuclear weapons lab.
The author of the study, which was commissioned by a watchdog group, said Wednesday he did not disagree with the lab's conclusion that the dust was either naturally occurring or the result of nuclear fallout from decades-old weapons tests.
The Government Accountability Project caused a stir last year when it reported elevated levels of radioactivity in dozens of places in the Los Alamos area, from a dusty restroom fan in White Rock to a vacuum bag in an a local office. See stories in the Albuquerque Journal and the Santa Fe New Mexican.
Los Alamos Magnet Lab Explores Superconductivity
A schematic drawing of the magnetic field surrounding a simple wire coil. LANL illustration
Researchers at the Magnet Lab at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) are using magnetic fields to explore the properties of superconductors and other exotic materials.
The LANL facility houses some of the largest and most powerful magnets in the world and is part of a larger group offering free access to non-affiliated researchers in the fields of chemistry, biology, physics, geophysics, and medicine.
The LANL Magnet Lab typically focuses on condensed matter physics and materials science. See the whole story here.
Astronomers Find The Two Dimmest Stellar Bulbs
This artist's concept shows the dimmest star-like bodies currently known - twin brown dwarfs referred to as 2M 0939. NASA/JPL illustration
The new record-holder for dimmest known star-like object in the universe goes to twin "failed" stars, or brown dwarfs, each of which shines feebly with only one millionth the light of our sun.
"Both of these objects are the first to break the barrier of one millionth the total light-emitting power of the sun," said Adam Burgasser of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Burgasser is lead author of a new paper about the discovery appearing in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Didier Saumon of the Los Alamos National Laboratory is one of the paper's co-authors. Gaze upon the whole story here.
Community generosity recognized by United Way
"I feel very blessed to have done the campaign at this time," Campaign Chairman Ralph Damiani said. "We have raised more than $2 million and that's more than $200,000 more than last year and the big thanks has to go out to all the good folks at LANL."
United Way Executive Director Donna Schroeder agreed saying, "this has been an amazing year for the lab." Los Alamos National Laboratory employees contributed more than $1 million and Los Alamos National Security LLC matched all monies raised throughout the campaign to bring the total to more than $2 million.
"We're really proud of our employees - I didn't think we'd make the million but we were committed to it and it really felt good all across the lab," said LANL Deputy Director Jan Van Prooyen. See the whole story here.
FDA Approval Granted on New Titanium Dental Implant
The patented new form of titanium metal originally developed by Russian scientists in concert with scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory is expected to significantly improve dental implants.
Studies have shown that bone integrates with these new metals up to 20 times faster than with conventional metals. Patients should experience shorter post surgery healing times and a more reliable integration of these new implants into their body. Sink your teeth into this story here.
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News from Los Alamos National Laboratory for Dec. 1–5
LANL pledges $2 million to United Way
Los Alamos National Laboratory employees have pledged a record $1 million in new donations to United Way programs in northern New Mexico and Santa Fe. Los Alamos National Security LLC, which operates the laboratory, will match employee pledges dollar-for-dollar, bringing the total to more than $2 million. (Get the whole story here.)
Team uncovers unconventional superconductivity
An international team of researchers working at Los Alamos published a paper in the scientific journal Nature proposing an "unconventional" approach to superconductivity. The work has emerged from a series of discoveries over the last several years, involving the interplay of traditional cold temperatures and magnetism with a newly identified boundary area governed by quantum physics. (Uncover more here.)
Cosmic rays point to Orion
Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory's Milagro observatory and their collaborators have pinpointed two side-by-side sectors in our region of the Galaxy that are generating more than their share of cosmic rays. Seven years of recording over 200 billion cosmic ray collisions with the Earth's atmosphere went into the calculations. "Earth is always bombarded by cosmic rays," said Brenda Dingus, who heads operations at the Milagro observatory. "Now we've found that instead of being uniform, there are localized sources." (Zzzap! Catch it all here!)
Los Alamos ships volatile waste to WIPP
Los Alamos National Laboratory has shipped the last of one group of high-activity radioactive waste drums to the federal government's waste dump near Carlsbad, saying it made good on a commitment to remove the material from lab property. The nuclear weapons lab shipped 282 high-activity drums to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant after repackaging much of the material identified as high activity - which means it's above a certain level of radioactivity. The last of the drums went to WIPP earlier this month. (Want to know more? Go here.)
Robert C. Albers, Paul A. Johnson and Kurt E. Sickafus were recognized for their “sustained outstanding scientific contributions and exceptional promise for continued professional achievement,” according to a statement released by the northern New Mexico laboratory. (Check it out here!)
Energy Department, change is coming
President-elect Barack Obama's pick for energy secretary will likely lead the department through a new era with a sharp focus on renewable energy, but who'll lead a revamped agency is far from clear. Despite what some may think, the current Department of Energy isn't really about wind or solar power. It's not even about coal, oil or gas. Mainly, the agency is about nuclear - nuclear weapons to be exact. The new agency is likely to focus on a big push into renewable R&D greater conservation efforts and some role in curtailing greenhouse gas emissions. (Learn more here.)
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News from Los Alamos National Laboratory for Nov. 22 - 30
Cosmic ray hotspots seen near Orion
Research discovers two distinct hot spots bombarding Earth with anexcess of cosmic rays. The hot spots were identified in the two red-colored regions near the constellation Orion. LANL image.
Orion the Hunter appears to be firing his arrows at Earth, report international researchers who have detected an excess of cosmic rays coming from the starry constellation.
"This discovery calls into question our understanding of cosmic rays and raises the possibility that an unknown source or magnetic effect near our solar system is responsible for these observations," says team scientist John Pretz of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in a statement. See the USA Today story here, and a longer version from the Los Alamos Monitor.
LANL: HIV's complexities make work on vaccine difficult
"Usually we see how nature does things with the immune system, and then we try to imitate that - that's how it's been done for other vaccines," Ribeiro said. "But with HIV we don't know what a successful response by the immune system is. We've never seen it. So it's very hard to find a way to replicate it."
Ribeiro spoke about the difficulty in creating an HIV vaccine Tuesday night at the Center for Nonlinear Studies in Santa Fe, as part of a ongoing science public lecture series there. Read the story here.
NASA needs help naming rover
The Mars Science Laboratory investigates the Red Planet’s geology with thelaser-based ChemCam developed in part at Los Alamos. NASA illustration.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration needs your help to name a rover that's going to Mars in October. Right now it's called the Mars Science Laboratory. If you can come up with the coolest name: Game on.
Kids in Los Alamos may have a tiny advantage in this contest, because two very important parts of the new rover are connected with the laboratory. Roger Wiens, who has been working on an instrument called ChemCam, said the idea of ChemCam is that it's going to be able to tell what kind of rocks there are in the area around the rover when it's on Mars. Read the story here.
Los Alamos Lab Names New Deputy Director
Isaac Richardson has been named the new deputy director of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Richardson will begin his new job Feb. 1. He will replace Jan Van Prooyen, who is retiring early next year after three years at the northern New Mexico lab.
The lab said Richardson has 37 years of leadership experience. He spent 31 years in the Navy, where he attained the rank of rear admiral and commanded the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. See the story here.
Los Alamos ships volatile waste to WIPP
A shipment of transuranic waste leaves the Laboratoryfor the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad.
Los Alamos National Laboratory has shipped the last of one group of high-activity radioactive waste drums to the federal government's waste dump near Carlsbad, saying it made good on a commitment to remove the material from lab property.
The nuclear weapons lab shipped 282 high-activity drums to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant after repackaging much of the material identified as high activity - which means it's above a certain level of radioactivity. The last of the drums went to WIPP earlier this month. See the full story here.
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Los Alamos Press Highlights is a product of the Los Alamos National Laboratory Communications Office. News media interested in more information about Los Alamos may contact the office at (505) 667-7000
Los Alamos lab aims to sort out harmless liquids
Albuquerque's airport is testing new technology aimed at sorting out harmless shampoos in baggage from liquids that could potentially pose a threat aboard an 
airplane. Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists, who adapted technology first used for medical imaging, unveiled their prototype MagViz machine Tuesday at the Albuquerque International Sunport, where it will be tested.
Score one for science [editorial]
The next time scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory need to convince Congress to fund basic research, they should bring the “MagViz” machine to Washington.
Nuclear weapons complex changes approved
Are better nukes needed?
Jumbo 'nanotube' existence confirmed at Sandia/LANL nanotech center
A jumbo nanotube, like a jumbo shrimp, sounds contradictory. A giant lightweight carbon nanotube with good strength and electrical properties is desirable, all right. A micron-sized carbon tube is easier to exploit commercially than any (so to speak) littler nanocousin.
Carbon storage models get realer
Two new modeling studies are tackling simulations of long-term CO2 storage. The first examines leakage of stored CO2 from abandoned oil wells. The second study from Los Alamos National Laboratory and the National Energy Technology Laboratory created a model to examine a comprehensive approach, including surface injection, leakage, costs and risk analysis. (It don't get any 'realer' than this.)
Nuclear power in a small package
The fastest computers are going hybrid
LANL workers set record
Los Alamos National Laboratory was mentioned in Tuesday night’s episode of ABC’s fictional television series Eli Stone (story recap online). Stone is a San Francisco lawyer who finds out that he has prophetic powers and decides to use them for good. In this episode, Stone represented a young woman working on cold fusion who was arrested for suspected terrorist intentions. It was discovered, after a LANL scientist read her notes, that she was brilliant and that her research had merit. In short, her options were to work for the scientist at LANL or go to jail.
