Proton beam experiments open new areas of research
Ph.D. student Despina Milathianak, performs experiments at the TRIDENT Laser Facility. LANL photo.By focusing proton beams using high-intensity lasers, a team of scientists have discovered a new way to heat material and create new states of matter in the laboratory.
Using the Trident sub-picosecond laser at Los Alamos, the team generated and focused a proton beam using a cone-shaped target. The protons were found to have unexpectedly curved trajectories due to the large electric fields in the beam. (Full Story)
e2v imaging sensors launched into space on NASA mission to Mars
Launch of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission. NASA image.The Mars Science Laboratory is a long-term robotic exploration to assess if Mars is, or ever has been, an environment that can support life. It will be the biggest, most capable robot to ever land on another planet.
e2v imaging sensors equip both the rover’s Chemistry and Mineralogy instrument (CheMin) which was developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Chemistry & Camera instrument (ChemCam) which was developed by the Los Alamos National Lab under an agreement with NASA’s JPL.
CheMin will identify and measure the minerals on the planet using sophisticated x-ray detection techniques. The ChemCam instrument consists of a laser, which will be used to vaporise rock samples, and a camera which will then use Laser Induced Breakdown (LIB) spectroscopy to analyse the material produced. (Full Story)
National science award for Taos’ David Chávez
David Chávez. Photo by Dorie Hagler.Taos Municipal School Board member and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) scientist David Chávez has been awarded the prestigious Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award.
“Just to have been nominated by the Lab as their person to put forward — that was an honor in itself for me,” Chávez said. “I didn’t have any expectations at all to make it past any kind of competitive application process.” (Full Story)
MIIS student transforms nuclear intelligence
Frank Pabian. LANL Photo.A Monterey graduate student is adding another dimension to nuclear intelligence and attracting the interest of high-ranking defense officials.
“It’s seeing nuclear infrastructure in a different way, that is more real to people,” said Frank Pabian, a visiting lecturer at MIIS and senior geospatial information analyst at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. (Full Story)
Former colleagues remember Manhattan Project scientist
Lawrence H. Johnston during his time at Tinian Island. LANL photo.In 2006, Lawrence Johnston visited Los Alamos to speak about his wartime experiences. Johnston flew on the first mission for the Trinity test and then both missions that dropped Little Boy and Fat Man.
Alan B. Carr, laboratory historian, revealed that no copy of the talk exists, but he still remembers it vividly. “The auditorium filled up, so approximately 30 people listened from the foyer.” (Full Story)
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