Los Alamos Press Highlights

 
LANL scientist to help with water woes

A scientist from Los Alamos National Laboratory has been tapped to help New Mexico with complex issues related to energy and water science.

The state Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department says Jeri Sullivan Graham will lead the Brackish Water Work Group.

One of the group’s overarching goals is to identify the state’s brackish water resources and find ways to make it more available and usable as a buffer against drought. (full story)


This one better pan out

The city, the University of New Mexico and others are betting big, with a $7 million investment in the Innovate ABQ business factory Downtown, that they can mine companies and technology from the state’s national labs and research universities.

Dave Pesiri, the director of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Feynman Center for Innovation, its technology transfer division, said execution is not easy and the goals have to be clear. (full story)



Also this week in Albuquerque Business First:

Summit spotlights 10 companies for innovation

The state’s three national labs and research universities spend billions every year on developing technology.

“There’s a lot we have to offer each other,” said Duncan McBranch, the chief technology officer at Los Alamos National Laboratory in his luncheon keynote talk. “Innovation flows both ways. Innovation is tied to a sense of who we are as Americans.” (full story)

NASA radiation probes aiding space weather Forecasts

Two NASA probes are helping scientists get a better understanding of how the giant belts of radiation around Earth affect the spacecraft circling the planet.

“The Van Allen Probes are gathering great measurements, but they can’t tell you what is happening everywhere at the same time,” Geoff Reeves, of Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, said in a statement. (full story)

Forests and climate change focus of Frontiers in Science lectures

Los Alamos National Laboratory climate researcher Nate McDowell will discuss climate change and its effects on forest systems in a series of Frontiers in Science lectures beginning Wednesday, April 2 in Albuquerque.

“The data we have suggests that forests of the Southwest and many other areas are in jeopardy of a massive die-off in the next few decades,” McDowell said. “I was a doubter of these results until we generated more than three estimates, all independent, which came to the same conclusion.” (full story)

Flipping the switch on magnetism in strontium titanate

Interest in oxide-based semiconductor electronics has exploded in recent years, fueled largely by the ability to grow atomically precise layers of various oxide materials.

One of the most important materials in this burgeoning field is strontium titanate (SrTiO3), a nominally nonmagnetic wide-bandgap semiconductor, and researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have found a way to magnetize this material using light, an effect that persists for hours at a time. (full story)

Small businesses get lift from national labs

Ten New Mexico small businesses using the technical expertise and assistance of Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories are being recognized at the Innovation Celebration.

The celebration is part of Technology Venture Corporation’s Innovation Summit. The New Mexico Small Business Assistance program was created by the New Mexico Legislature in 2000. Los Alamos National Laboratory joined the program in 2007. (full story)

Students from Bernalillo, Santa Fe and Los Alamos win top LANL employees’ scholarships

Seventy-three students from seven Northern New Mexico counties receive LAESF scholarships, funded through pledges from LANL employees, and a matching amount from LANS, LLC, the contractor that runs the lab.

“These scholarships are awarded to deserving students who excel in academic achievement, whose leadership potential is highlighted by his or her dedication to community service,” Jeff Mousseau, the Laboratory’s Environmental Programs director and leader of the Laboratory’s 2014 LAESF campaign. (full story)

Seizing Our Teachable Moments: Dr. Kurt Steinhaus at TEDxABQ


 
Dr. Kurt Steinhaus serves as the Director of Community Programs at Los Alamos National Laboratory. His work is focused on math, science, engineering, and technology education. To address the comparatively poor scores of United States students on the math portion of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Dr. Steinhaus believes that each of us can contribute to improved academic performance if we look for and seize the teachable moments that we share with the students in our lives. (check it out)

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