Super-size Mars rover blasts off

NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover lifts off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral.

Surrounded by 50 American and French members of his team, Los Alamos National Laboratory's Roger Wiens, a planetary scientist in charge of Curiosity's laser blaster, called ChemCam, shouted, "Go, Go, Go!" as the rocket soared into a cloudy sky.

The 1-ton Curiosity — as large as a car — is a mobile, nuclear-powered laboratory holding 10 science instruments that will sample Martian soil and rocks, and analyze them right on the spot. There’s a drill as well as the laser-zapping device. (Full Story)


The most capable robot geologist ever built now heads to Mars

Curiosity rover. NASA illustration.

From a distance of nearly 25 feet, the ChemCam laser zaps material from the surface of a rock, dusting it off and ablating weatherized surfaces, creating a plasma that can be analyzed using the instrument’s telescope. For just five nanoseconds, the laser directs the energy of a million light bulbs into the area the size of a pinhead, said Roger Wiens, the instrument’s principal investigator, based at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

“ChemCam is supposed to be a workhorse for the rover in identifying unique samples for the other instruments to spend more time on,” he said. “The ability to reach out and touch the rock from almost 25 feet away is a real advantage.” (Full Story)


From New Mexico to Mars

ChemCam laser investigates Mars geology. NASA illustration.

The ChemCam laser, developed by researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory and put into use by scientists at the University of New Mexico, is one of several connections between the car-size rover named Curiosity and the Land of Enchantment.

The ChemCam laser will maximize the efficiency of the other instruments by working like a long-range tentacle to study the chemistry of surrounding areas and help the scientists determine where to send the slow-moving rover, traveling at a top speed of 10 feet per minute, said Los Alamos scientist Roger Wiens, ChemCam’s principal investigator. (Full Story)


After 25 years, sustainability is a growing science that's here to stay

Luís M. A. Bettencourt. LANL photo.

Sustainability has not only become a science in the past 25 years, but it is one that continues to be fast-growing, according to new research from Los Alamos National Laboratory and Indiana University.

The findings, recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, were assembled from a review of 20,000 academic papers written by 37,000 distinct authors representing 174 countries and over 2,200 cities. Authors of the paper are Los Alamos research scientist Luís M. A. Bettencourt and Jasleen Kaur, a Ph.D. student in Indiana University. (Full Story)


McMillan: PF-4 safer than home

Don Cook and Charlie McMillan at the DNFSB hearing. LANL photo.

McMillan was so confident in the upgrades that he remarked “I must stress that PF-4 even without its recent upgrades is among the most robust structures in the region if not the state. In the event of a major earthquake, I believe I would rather be in PF-4 than in my own home. (Full Story)


Also from the Monitor this week:

Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff visits LANL

Adm. Winnefield is greeted at LANL by Bret Knapp, Principal Associate Director for Nuclear Weapons. LANL photo.

Admiral James A. Winnefield, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff visited Los Alamos National Laboratory Thursday. Winnefield is a four star Navy Admiral, and as Vice Chairman is the second highest-ranking U.S. military officer.
Winnefield was at Los Alamos to receive a wide variety of classified briefings that covered the broad spectrum of national security science at Los Alamos. (Full Story)


All structures strong and small

Bryce Tappan. LANL image.

“These materials are unique in that they achieve aerogel-like densities with highly regular structures,” comments Bryce C. Tappan, an expert in lightweight metal foams at Los Alamos National Laboratory. (Full Story)



Light pulled out of empty space

Getting something from nothing. Illustration from NewScientist.

"This is a significant breakthrough," says Diego Dalvit, a physicist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The energy of virtual photons is cosmologists' best guess of what lies behind the dark energy that is causing the universe's expansion to accelerate. (Full Story)

To subscribe to Los Alamos Report, please e-mail listmanager@lanl.gov and include the words subscribe losalamosreport in the body of your email message; to unscubscribe, include unsubscribe losalamosreport.

Please visit us at www.lanl.gov
And follow us on Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube

Fusion energy is the future; but the future might be quite a long ways off

It’s hard not to get excited listening to Wurden explain the process they’re using at Los Alamos called Magnetized Target Fusion. Wurden and his team are working with an Air Force research lab in nearby Albuquerque.

“We built a plasma injector, and they built a can-crusher, and you put the plasma into that aluminum canister, and then you crush the aluminum can, with the huge current produced by the capacitor bank,” Wurden began.

"You put 11 million amps of current, and that produces a big magnetic field on the outside; that crushes the can very smoothly and uniformly (full story)."

Researchers unravel mystery of quantum-dot blinking

Research by Los Alamos scientists developed a novel spectro-electrochemical experiment that allowed them to controllably charge and discharge a single quantum dot while monitoring its blinking behavior. These experiments facilitated the discovery of two distinct blinking mechanisms.

"Our work is an important step in the development of nanostructures with stable, blinking-free properties for applications from light-emitting diodes and single-photon sources to solar cells," said Victor Klimov (full story).

Also from the Monitor this week:

LANL works on ultra-low field MRI

LANL researchers are developing a system to make ultra-low field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) commercially viable for medical applications. The researchers have been working on an ultra-low field MRI system using low temperature SQUIDS (supercomputing quantum interference devices).

Ultra-low field MRI with low temperature SQUIDs in a shielded room has many potential advantages for medical imaging, such as convenience, enhanced contrast, and open design (full story).

Vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff visits LANL

Admiral James A. Winnefield, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff visited Los Alamos National Laboratory Thursday. Winnefield is a four star Navy Admiral, and as Vice Chairman is the second highest-ranking U.S. military officer.

Winnefield was at Los Alamos to receive a wide variety of classified briefings that covered the broad spectrum of national security science at Los Alamos. The Vice Chairman was briefed by the laboratory’s senior leadership including director Charlie McMillan, and Principal Associate Directors Bret Knapp and Terry Wallace. The briefings included details of the laboratory’s Nuclear Weapons Program and Global Security portfolio (full story).

NASA sets MSL/ATLAS V launch coverage events

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft with the Curiosity rover is set to launch to the planet Mars aboard an Atlas V rocket on Nov. 25, 2011 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Curiosity Mission Science Briefing: This briefing will immediately follow the prelaunch news conference. Participating in the briefing will be: Roger Wiens, principal investigator for Chemistry and Camera investigation on Curiosity Los Alamos National Laboratory (full story).

Fujitsu, Cray, HP, IBM dominate list of top 10 fastest supercomputers

Cielo was built by Cray using its XE6 systems and leverages AMD’s eight-core Opteron 6136 chips for a performance level of 1.11 petaflops.

Roadrunner, an IBM-built supercomputer, is a cluster of BladeCenter systems powered by Big Blue’s 3.2GHz PowerXCell 8i and AMD’s dual-core Opteron chips. Its performance is listed at 1.04 petaflops (full story).

Los Alamos tagged New Mexico's 'brainiest' mid-sized city

The home to Los Alamos National Laboratory came in at No. 48 among 3,012 communities in the category. Almost 38 percent of its residents have earned a graduate and/or professional degree (full story).

And, from Los Alamos, on YouTube . . .

How DARHT works

The Dual Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test (DARHT) facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory is an essential scientific tool that supports Stockpile Stewardship at the Laboratory. The World's most powerful x-ray machine, it's used to take high-speed images of mock nuclear devices - data that is used to confirm and modify advanced computer codes in assuring the safety, security, and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear deterrent (full-size video here).

To subscribe to Los Alamos Report, please send an email and include the words "subscribe losalamosreport" in the body of your email message; to unscubscribe, include "unsubscribe losalamosreport".

Please visit us at www.lanl.gov

and don't forget to follow us on Twitter, YouTube and Flickr!

Los Alamos researchers unravel the mystery of quantum dot blinking

Artists conception of how solving the problem of quantum blinking may lead to applications in areas such as solid state lighting. LANL illustration.

Research by Los Alamos scientists published today in the journal Nature documents significant progress in understanding the phenomenon of quantum-dot blinking.

Their findings should enhance the ability of biologists to track single particles, enable technologists to create novel light-emitting diodes and single-photon sources, and boost efforts of energy researchers to develop new types of highly efficient solar cells. (Full Story)



Collaborative smart grid demonstration project breaks ground in LA

Officials at the groundbreaking includes Duncan McBranch (far left) deputy principal assoc. director for Science, Technology & Engineering. Monitor photo.

Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) broke ground today for the construction of a two megawatt solar array on the Los Alamos capped landfill. This is the first phase of the larger New Mexico/Japan Smart Grid Collaborative Demonstration Project in Los Alamos.

NEDO is teaming with Los Alamos County’s Department of Public Utilities, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory for the Los Alamos project. (Full Story)



Retired physicist teaches hands-on science at Moffat County elementary schools

Retired physicist John McConnell, left, helps teach science to Ridgeview Elementary School fourth-graders. Daily Press photo.

Physicist John McConnell worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory before he retired and began working with children. He travels and helps students learn about math and science through hands-on experiments.

Give retired physicist John McConnell a piece of PVC pipe and an empty pop can, and he can show you a way to teach young children about static electricity. (Full Story)



LANL to unveil new research journal

A new research journal in the burgeoning field of algae science will begin publication in 2012, steered by editors-in-chief José Olivares and Richard Sayre of Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Algal Research is an international journal that will cover all areas of emerging technologies in algal biology, biomass production, cultivation, harvesting, extraction, bioproducts, and econometrics. The journal publishes original scientific research papers, review articles, and invited commentaries. (Full Story)


To subscribe to Los Alamos Report, please e-mail listmanager@lanl.gov and include the words subscribe losalamosreport in the body of your email message; to unscubscribe, include unsubscribe losalamosreport.

Please visit us at www.lanl.gov
And follow us on Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr

What are you working on today, Roadrunner?

Roadrunner belongs to the Department of Energy via Los Alamos National Lab. That means it often spends its processing time on rather ominous problems like nuclear weapons modeling and simulation to “assure the safety, security, and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear deterrent.” In other words, Roadrunner’s work is super top-secret classified.

But Roadrunner was willing to tell us--whilst glancing over both shoulders and dropping its voice slightly--that “models and simulations could include hydrodynamic mixing and turbulence of exotic materials under extreme conditions - temperatures at the core of the sun, time scales in the microseconds, and velocities of millions of miles per hour (full story).”

Secret security supercomputer Cielo, what are you working on today?

Maintaining America's nuclear deterrent is a 24x7 job, but Cielo isn't complaining

Installed this year, Cielo is Los Alamos National Labs’ newest nuclear weapons modeling and simulation platform. As such, specifics on what it’s working on at any given time are closely held. Cielo works for three national laboratories: Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Like its sister system Roadrunner, it performs advanced physics and predictive simulations to assure the safety, security, and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear deterrent (full story).

Also in Popular Science:

Advanced supercomputer models supplant real-world nuclear weapons tests

After live nuclear testing ended in 1992, supercomputers supplanted explosions so scientists could continue studying how they work. The nation’s stockpile stewardship program, run by the NNSA at three national laboratories, checks the nation’s nukes for any problems.

Supercomputers at Los Alamos, Sandia and Lawrence Livermore national labs conduct tests that can in some ways go beyond the detail of any live explosion (full story).

Supercomputers offer tools for nuclear testing — and solving nuclear mysteries

The simulation of the B-83, a device designed and developed by Livermore in the late years of the Cold War, marked the first time such a major fault in a nuclear weapon was detected largely by computer simulation, Goodwin said. “We have a more fundamental understanding of how these weapons work today than we ever imagined when we were blowing them up,” he added (full story).

Scientist: Global warming 'is real'

Los Alamos National Laboratory senior scientist Manvendra Dubey expressed similar sentiments Tuesday. "The uncertainties are big enough that I don't think we should be talking catastrophe," said Dubey, a co-chairman of this week’s Global and Regional Climate Change conference in Santa Fe (full story).

Also in the Journal this week:

Los Alamos tops nation in millionaires

Los Alamos has a higher percentage of millionaires than any other city in America, according to a new survey.

But it isn’t exactly “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” up there (full story).

LANL wins grant for antibody research

From the ABQ Journal - Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory will be getting a financial boost as they work to unravel the secrets of how many human genes function. The lab’s bioscience division has been awarded a grant worth more than $4 million from the NIH for the Antibody Library Project.

One way to expose a gene’s function is to take the protein it produces and generate specific antibodies. That’s usually done by vaccinating mice or rabbits (full story).

With improved cybersecurity, Los Alamos moves to cloud, wireless

The Energy Department's Los Alamos National Laboratory has done a yeoman's job in fixing its cybersecurity problems from a decade ago, and now is moving into the cloud and going wireless.

Tom Harper, Los Alamos's chief information officer, said the organization is running an internal virtualized cloud to create an infrastructure-on-demand platform for its applications (full story).

LANL wins cyber security award

The SANS Institute announced Monday that Los Alamos National Laboratory has won the 2011 U.S. National Cybersecurity Innovation Award for their innovative use of vShield and other defense tools that represent a breakthrough model for securing virtual computing and private cloud deployments. As federal agencies and commercial organizations move quickly to take advantage of cloud computing, they are also concerned about the increasing risk of cyber-attacks

(full story).

Also in the Monitor this week:

It’s not if, but when

Rick Aster, the associate department chair and professor of geophysics at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology said "the building design is certainly seismically very, very strong. There is no doubt that the lab and DOE are taking this remote but nonzero probability of a large earthquake very seriously (full story)."

NNSA honors LANL's emergency operations team

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Defense Programs today announced the recipients of the Defense Programs’ Employee of the Quarter Awards.

The Emergency Operations Team at Los Alamos National Laboratory was recognized for “outstanding performance in the operations of the Emergency Operations Center and field response throughout the Los Conchas Fire, the largest wildfire in state history (full story).

To subscribe to Los Alamos Report, please send an email and include the words "subscribe losalamosreport" in the body of your email message; to unscubscribe, include "unsubscribe losalamosreport".

Please visit us at www.lanl.gov

And don't forget to follow us on Twitter, YouTube and Flickr!