Los Alamos Press Highlights

Researchers find new high-energy gamma-ray sources in the galaxy

High-Altitude Water Cherenkov Gamma-Ray Observatory, HAWC photo.
 
“These are actually the highest-energy gamma rays ever seen,” said Brenda Dingus, a physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and a senior member of the HAWC collaboration. Some of these gamma rays have about 10 times the energy of the most energetic gamma rays that have been created in particle accelerators on Earth.

Interestingly, the new high-energy gamma-ray sources are all located near pulsars — extremely magnetic rotating neutron stars that shoot jets of radiation through space. This makes the researchers wonder whether the high-energy gamma rays — and the cosmic rays that produced them — are a common feature of pulsars, says Kelly Malone, an LANL physicist and lead author of the new paper. (Full Story)

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Why the Taal volcano's eruption created so much lightning

Thunder clapped and lightning streaked through the dark column of volcanic ash. From Mashable.

Volcanic lightning, however captivating, is common, explained Sonja Behnke, a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory who researches these volcanic phenomena and has repeatedly observed volcanic lightning in places like Iceland and Japan.

First, the volcanic ash needs an electric charge. When a volcano erupts explosively it ejects exploded particles of molten rock into the air, which becomes volcanic ash. In the towering plume of ash, these billions of particles start colliding and rubbing against each other, which creates charged volcanic particles. It's similar to how you create static electricity by rubbing socks on carpet. "The ash gets charged as the volcano is erupting," said Behnke. (Full Story)

Why premature claims of life on Mars hurt science

The seemingly artificial "Face" on Mars turned out to be just an eroded mesa on closer inspection, image from SciAm

Most scientists aren’t surprised when some people come up with a sci-fi explanation for an image from another planet. After all, humans evolved to find recognizable patterns amid chaos. There’s even a word for it: pareidolia. But what we don’t expect is for fellow scientists—those who have been trained in the scientific method—to make those claims. When they do, it hurts science as a whole. (Full Story)

New Mexico faces worst flu season in a decade

Experts at Los Alamos National Lab (LANL) say this is the worst flu New Mexico has seen in a decade. The most recent report from the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) shows the flu is hitting hard all across the state.

"We're just seeing elevated flu activities kind of everywhere," said Dave Osthus, who created last year's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) flu forecast model. "And the main reason for that is influenza A and influenza B, two different strands of influenza, are sort of ramping up at the same time." (Full Story)

Colloidal quantum dot laser diodes are just around the corner

Colloidal quantum dots operating in LED mode. LANL image.

Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have incorporated meticulously engineered colloidal quantum dots into a new type of LED containing an integrated optical resonator, which allows the LEDs to function as lasers.

The researchers demonstrated an operational LED that also functioned as an optically pumped, low-threshold laser. To achieve those goals, they incorporated an optical resonator directly into the LED architecture without obstructing the charge-carrier flows into the quantum dot emitting layer. (Full Story)

Biologists in search of a powerful combination of cancer-fighting drugs

Zebrafish with the human form of mutated BRAF are used to test melanoma treatment. ACS photo.

Critical to the NAU-based pilot project team is Richard Posner, a professor in NAU’s Department of Biological Sciences, and William Hlavacek, a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Posner and Hlavacek are computational systems biologists who have developed mathematical models for predicting optimal strategies to target mutations in BRAF. In recent work, they and their collaborators predicted that two-drug combinations will be able to effectively suppress mutant BRAF (V600E) signaling. These predictions were validated in melanoma cell lines. (Full Story)

Northern offering classes for LANL workers

Northern New Mexico College is now offering continuing education courses in mathematics for technicians and basic blueprint reading to current employees of Los Alamos National Laboratory. The program is aimed at those working in LANL’s Detonator Production Division, in order to enhance their skill sets.

The continuing education courses to be conducted at LANL are being provided by the college under a $458,000 contract with LANL. Northern is to deliver 360 hours of instruction to at least 50 technicians over the next two years, according to a news release. (Full Story)

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