Los Alamos National Lab uses new supercomputer to study COVID-19
Los Alamos National Laboratory has a new High Performance Computer (HPC) called Chicoma to help fight COVID-19. Karissa Sanbonmatsu, a scientist with LANL, is using the supercomputer along with other scientists.
“I’m on a project where we’re using the supercomputers to help design drugs that will work as therapeutics for COVID-19,” said Sanbonmatsu. "There are a number of other efforts at Los Alamos. Some (scientists) are looking at how the disease spreads throughout the population and through the country to try to look at the strategies to stop the spread.” (Full Story)
As COVID-19 cases surge, what's next for schools
Covid-19 illustration, from CDC.
The future of New Mexico schools, both for the remainder of the semester and next semester, hangs in the balance. In Tuesday night's special Rio Rancho Public School board meeting, district leaders were joined by medical professionals to talk about how they can continue to make the best decisions for the district's reentry plans moving forward.
Medical experts and researchers at Los Alamos National Labs studied groups of students to see how different age groups act with wearing masks and following directions. (Full Story)
Seasonal or occasional outbreaks - what are the possible outcomes of the current pandemic?
In June, a team from the Scripps Research Institute published a study that the original D614 Wuhan strain evolved into the G614 in the Americas and in Europe which was ten times more deadly.
A month later, another team from Los Alamos National Laboratory, confirmed that the coronavirus evolved into a more infectious strain. However, researcher Bette Korber said that "infectiousness and transmissibility are not always synonymous." Virologist Nathan Grubaugh, who was not involved in either study, said that there is also a huge difference between transmission observed in laboratories and live infections between people. (Full Story)
Los Alamos National Lab participates in new initiative to help reduce plastic pollution
We’ve all seen images of plastic bottles piling up where they shouldn’t be. Now, Los Alamos National Laboratory is trying to be part of the solution.
"Nobody wants to stop using plastics. They're lightweight and they're easy to use. There is a reason why these types of polymers are in everything we use, but we have to find a way to do this better,” said Taraka Dale, LANL lead for the BOTTLE program.
LANL has teamed up with four other national labs and four academic institutions to tackle the plastic pollution problem. It’s dubbed the "BOTTLE" consortium, which stands for Bio-Optimized Technologies to keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment. (Full Story)
How to improve natural gas production in shale
A Los Alamos study reveals how production pressures can be optimized to efficiently recover natural gas, LANL photo.
Anew hydrocarbon study contradicts conventional wisdom about how methane is trapped in rock, revealing a new strategy to more easily access the valuable energy resource.
"The most challenging issue facing the shale energy industry is the very low hydrocarbon recovery rates: less than 10 percent for oil and 20 percent for gas. Our study yielded new insights into the fundamental mechanisms governing hydrocarbon transport within shale nanopores," said Hongwu Xu, an author from Los Alamos National Laboratory's Earth and Environmental Sciences Division. (Full Story)
Quantum-dot transistors: A potential alternative to flexible electronics?
Quantum dot sizes and corresponding emitted light. Image used courtesy of Nano Werk
In a study published in the journal Nature in mid-October, researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of California Irvine explain how quantum dot technology provides an opportunity to combine the advantages of well-understood inorganic semiconductors with the chemical processability of molecular systems, presenting a functional CMOS circuit.
This innovation, the researchers say, promises a cheaper and manufacturing-friendly approach to complicated electronic devices that can be fabricated via simple solution-based techniques. But what exactly are quantum dots and what makes this research significant? (Full Story)
Rare ‘superbolt’ flashes found to be 1,000 times brighter than normal lightning
Superbolt-producing lightning flash captured by the Geostationary Lightning Mapper, LANL image.
Two new studies about the brightest lightning events on Earth—called “superbolts”—found that they are distinct from normal lightning flashes and can be more than 1,000 times brighter. The new findings could help scientists better understand these mysterious strokes and inform safety efforts, such as public advisories and engineering guidance. The two studies analyzed lightning events seen from orbiting satellites and give a better picture of how these energetic lightning flashes originate.
“One lightning stroke even exceeded 3 terawatts of power—thousands of times stronger than ordinary lightning detected from space,” said Michael Peterson, a remote-sensing scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and lead author on the studies, which were published today in the American Geophysical Union’s Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. (Full Story)
Also from Newswise the week:
Los Alamos National Laboratory and New Mexico State University sign agreement for joint appointments
From left, Director Thom Mason, Chancellor Dan Arvizu of NMSU and John Sarrao, LANL image.
Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Thom Mason and Chancellor Dan Arvizu of New Mexico State University (NMSU) today announced the signing of a new institutional agreement to enable joint appointments.
“The Laboratory is pleased to work with partners like NMSU to build scientific and engineering collaborations that mutually benefit both institutions,” said Director Thom Mason. “The exchange of NMSU faculty and Laboratory staff builds enduring collaborations and workforce pipelines.” (Full Story)
LANL: Preserving Manhattan Project Historic Sites
Historic photo of the "Concrete Bowl" and its wooden tower. LANL photo.
Beginning in 1943, Project Y – the code name for Los Alamos during World War II – transformed the isolated Pajarito Plateau. The sounds of construction equipment replaced the voices of the Los Alamos Ranch School boys and local homesteaders.
A story that is often overshadowed when sharing Manhattan Project history is that of plutonium recovery. The Concrete Bowl helps bring that story to life.
Throughout the Manhattan Project, uranium and plutonium were so rare and costly that scientists carefully conserved every gram. By the end of 1945, it cost an estimated $390 million to create the plutonium for the Manhattan Project—that is over $5 billion in today’s money! (Full Story)
DOE-EM, Los Alamos National Laboratory preserve America’s nuclear knowledge base
Team members at the Denver Federal Center, DOE-EM photo.
A little-known team of experts at the Denver Federal Center and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is preserving America’s nuclear weapons research, a commitment that involves capturing, organizing, and digitizing decades of information.
“We are working as fast as we can to provide access to the entire collection of nuclear weapons manufacturing and research records,” said Dr. Robert Putnam, a chief scientist at LANL. “The work we’re doing is critical to preserving America’s nuclear knowledge. We need to ensure that the next generation has access to historical information. If you’ve never been taught to run procedures for a nuclear facility, we’re ensuring you can learn from history.” (Full Story)
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