An asteroid or icy object collided with the gas giant Jupiter on Sept. 13, where it eventually blew up in the planet's thick clouds. The object was around dozens of meters across (possibly some 120 to 160 feet wide, maybe more, maybe less). Traveling at a high speed, it journeyed deeper and deeper into Jupiter's heavy atmosphere, where it experienced strong friction and heated up as it fell through the planet's clouds.
Yet the impact, and resulting explosion, certainly produced a bright flash. Astronomers and other researchers use this brightness to gauge the size of an impacting object, explained Cathy Plesko, a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory who researches asteroid and comet impacts. A larger object creates a more energetic explosion, and flash.
Even tiny objects produce vivid flashes. The common shooting star is a rice-sized meteor burning up in Earth's atmosphere. "That's pretty bright for a grain of rice," Plesko said. (Full story)
Scientists study microbiomes in soil to develop drought resistant plants
Regardless, most of the state is still in some sort of drought and it's something people need to be prepared to deal with, and scientists at Los Alamos National Lab are currently working on this.
"We are studying and trying to develop microbes that could actually help plants grow bigger through the drought, so that you don't need to irrigate your fields as much as before,” said Sanna Sevanto, plant physiologist at Los Alamos National Lab. (Full story)
MOFs help to protect perovskite LEDs
In a paper in Nature Photonics, researchers from the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory report that they have prepared stable perovskite nanocrystals for such LEDs. Also contributing to the effort was Academia Sinica in Taiwan.
Perovskites are a class of material with a particular crystalline structure that gives them light-absorbing and light-emitting properties that are useful in a range of energy-efficient applications, including solar cells and various kinds of detectors. (Full story)
LANL Principal investigator Kipton Barros leads the multi-disciplinary data science initiative.
A Los Alamos National Laboratory research team’s project was selected in a highly competitive $26 million Department of Energy (DOE) grant program to advance chemical and materials sciences by using data science. The goal of the funding program is to harness cutting-edge research tools for new scientific discoveries fundamental to clean energy solutions.
“This award is a vote of confidence in Los Alamos National Laboratory expertise, as well in the potential of data science to solve critical problems,” said Deputy Laboratory Director John Sarrao. “Modeling the behavior of complex systems is an exciting challenge, and we’re looking forward to seeing the new chemistries and materials systems that are developed from this project.”
Principal investigator Kipton Barros of the Theoretical division will lead a multi-disciplinary team of researchers on a three-year, $2.4 million project in partnership with the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) to use data science—including artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML)—to advance the understanding of chemical and materials systems. (Full story)
