Exosphere confirmed at Saturn’s moon Dione

Dione. NASA image.

The Cassini spacecraft flew by Dione, one of Saturn’s icy moons, on 7 April 2010. During that flyby, instruments detected molecular oxygen ions around the moon. Co-author: R. L. Tokar: Space Science and Applications, Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Researchers used those measurements to estimate the density of the molecular oxygen ions to be in the range of 0.01 to 0.09 ions per cubic centimeter (or ions per 0.06 cubic inch). These molecular oxygen ions are produced when neutral molecules are ionized; the measurements confirm that a neutral exosphere surrounds Dione. (Full Story)


Massive computer simulation detects cause of high-speed electronics in space

Aurora as seen from the International Space Station. NASA Image.

A simulation performed using a plasma-physics code developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory shows that an active region in Earth’s magnetotail, where “reconnection” events take place in the magnetic field, is roughly 1,000 times larger than had been thought. This means a volume of space energized by these magnetic events is sufficient to explain the large numbers of high-speed electrons detected by a number of spacecraft missions, including the Cluster mission. (Full Story)


LANL researchers to develop detection tools for pathogenic E.coli

The Shiga toxin producing E.coli lodged in human intestines. WHO image.

Researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the New Mexico Consortium (NMC) received a portion of a recent $25 million grant from the US Department of Agriculture to study E. coli in the beef industry.

The USDA awarded the grant to this team of researchers to help reduce the occurrence and public health risks from Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) along the entire beef production chain. (Full Story)


Mesoscale physics buzz eludes exact definition

John Sarrao. LANL photo.

An Office of Science advisory committee has already begun to make a list of areas of study that could benefit from being considered mesoscale physics, said John Sarrao of the Los AlamosNational Laboratory in New Mexico.

They include the evolution of defects and accumulation of damage in materials, the behaviour of functional systems such as batteries and supercapacitors, the transport of liquids through mesoporous media such as rock — that might benefit efforts at carbon dioxide sequestration or fracking — and bioinspired assembly such as large-scale photoarrays. (Full Story)


Light-emitting nanocrystal diodes go ultraViolet

Glass-based, inorganic light-emitting diodes (LEDs) now produce light in the ultraviolet range.

A multinational team of scientists has developed a process for creating glass-based, inorganic light-emitting diodes. The team includes Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Sergio Brovelli and Alberto Paleari at the University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy.

The work, reported this week in the online Nature Communications, is a step toward biomedical devices with active components made from nanostructured systems. (Full Story)


Climate scientists compute in concert

The SEACISM project will improve the fidelity of ice-sheet models.

The Community Earth System Model (CESM) is a mega-model that couples components of atmosphere, land, ocean, and ice to reflect their complex interactions.

“The model is about getting a higher level of detail, improving our accuracy, and decreasing the uncertainty in our estimates of future changes,” said Los Alamos National Laboratory climate scientist Phil Jones. (Full Story)


Close to the flame

Representatives of Los Alamos county meet with Governor Thomas Mabry in the late 1940s.

In May 1943, both Los Alamos and Santa Fe looked peaceful enough, even bucolic. But appearances don’t always reflect what’s going on just a little deeper down.

While local New Mexicans went about their daily business, scientists from around the world began gathering here, secretively and silently.

See pages 26-33 for the full story.


Los Alamos boasts first photovoltaic system installed on a landfill in New Mexico

NEDO has begun installing the photovoltaic system on the capped landfill. Image from Daily Post

Los Alamos County is installing the 1mw photovoltaic array at the Eco Center. This is the first photovoltaic system installed on a landfill in New Mexico. It is part of the smart grid demonstration project with NEDO, the Department of Public Utilities and Los Alamos National Laboratory. (Full Story)


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More grapes, less wrath: hybrid antimicrobial protein protects grapevines from pathogen

A team of researchers has found a way to ensure that your evening glass of wine will continue to be available, despite the potential attack of Xylella fastidiosa (Xf), a bacterium that causes Pierce’s Disease and poses a significant threat to the California wine industry’s valuable grapevines.

Researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Univ. of California at Davis (UCD) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service have created specially engineered grapevines that produce a hybrid antimicrobial protein that can block Xf infection (full story).

This story also appeared in Laboratory Equipment

Nuclear reactors not needed to make the most common medical isotope

"This is wonderful for Canada," says Robert Atcher, director of the National Isotope Development Center at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. But Atcher questions whether the approach will work in the United States.

For starters, he says, most Canadians live in metropolitan centers near large hospitals that have cyclotrons. By contrast, the U.S. population is more diffuse, and many outlying hospitals don't have access to a cyclotron (full story).

MIT-LANL Awarded 2012 Federal Laboratory Consortium ‘Excellence in Technology Transfer Award’

Manhattan Isotope Technology, LLC, (MIT) is proud to announce that in partnership with Los Alamos National Laboratory, was awarded the 2012 Federal Laboratory Consortium ‘Excellence in Technology Transfer Award' for "Recycling of Strontium-82 for Use in Medical Diagnostic Imaging." (full story)

Hyperion founders launch IX Power LLC

The new company created by Hyperion’s founders, pronounced “Nine Power,” will focus on commercializing energy and water technology from LANL, said John “Grizz” Deal, former Hyperion president and now CEO of IX Power.

Deal said he and his four partners left Hyperion last summer because of disagreements with Altira, which specializes in energy-related investments (full story).

No tritium found in Santa Fe wells

Alex Puglisi is the environmental compliance officer with the City of Santa Fe. And he knows there are people that don’t always buy the Los Alamos National Laboratory¹s story.

Puglisi, though, is confident the lab is right on this one.

Back in March of last year, samples at three of the wells at Santa Fe Buckman Water Supply Wells came back positive for tritium, which is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen (full story).

Los Alamos plans to step up security

Los Alamos National Laboratory announced Thursday that it is implementing several changes to its security procedures — including random vehicle inspections with bomb-sniffing dogs — as the result of a recent security assessment by the Department of Defense and Department of Energy.

The assessment team gave the lab a set of security enhancement recommendations, including expansion of random inspections of vehicles crossing the lab on West and East Jemez Roads and roadways leading to the main administrative area, Technical Area 3.

The lab will start the random vehicle inspections next month (full story).

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LANL researcher Roger Wiens discusses ChemCam

LANL’s Roger Wiens at a NASA news conference. From NASA.

Los Alamos National Laboratory researcher Roger Wiens discusses the ChemCam instrument on this video. ChemCam uses a laser to "zap" features of the Martian landscape and then uses a spectrometer to gather information about the composition of the sample. ChemCam will help the Curiosity Rover determine whether Mars is or was habitable. The Rover is expected to touch down on the Red Planet on August 5, 2012. (See the video here!)


New footage released from Manhattan Project

Laboratory historian Alan Carr. From KOAT-TV

Action 7 News sheds light on rare film of the scientist who came to Los Alamos to create an atomic bomb to end World War II.

Laboratory historian Alan Carr is interviewed about the cultural importance of this film that shows some of the everyday activities at Los Alamos in the 1940s. (Full Story)


Scientists say nuclear bomb CAN save Earth from asteroid collision

Computer model that describes the effects of a nuclear energy source on a granular asteroid. LANL image.

It sounds like a plot fit for a disaster movie – but this is real life. Scientists say they have worked out a way to blast an asteroid into space dust using an atomic bomb.

Using one of the world's most powerful supercomputers at Los Alamos National Laboratory, physicists have calculated the effect of a nuclear blast on an incoming space rock.

Although NASA and other space agencies have mapped most nearby asteroids, the effect of one catching us by surprise would be catastrophic and, they believe, is worth preparing for. (Full Story)


LANL gets $239 million for cleanup

While most of the attention fell on the deferment of the Chemistry Metallurgy Research Replacement Facility, President Obama’s FY13 budget called for an increase in appropriation when it comes to cleanup.

The request is up $51 million from $188 million to $239 million, and will allow LANL to pursue cleanup in accordance with the consent order with the state. (Full Story)



Four New Mexico firms vie for $200 million in LANL contracts

The Laboratory's primary waste storage and handling facilities - Area G. LANL photo

Four small northern New Mexico companies have been authorized to bid on up to $200 million in waste-related services at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

LANL selected Environmental Dimensions Inc., North Wind Inc., Navarro Research and Engineering Inc. and Portage Inc. to compete on contracts to safely package Cold War-era waste for final disposal. (Full Story)


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Space voyages shouldn’t become politically incorrect

It's the kind of question a presidential candidate might ask: "Why should we spend money on space programs and going to Mars, when we need dollars so desperately here on Earth?"

“For thousands of highly-skilled jobs, and the knowledge to survive,” says Princeton physicist Gene McCall, former chief scientist of the Air Force Space Command and a fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory (full story).

Supercomputers help decode space weather

"When a storm goes off on the sun, we can't really predict the extent of damage that it will cause here on Earth. It is critical that we develop this predictive capability," says Homa Karimabadi, a space physicist at the Univ. of California, San Diego (UCSD).

Karimabadi's team, in close collaboration with William Daughton at Los Alamos National Laboratory, is currently using the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility's Cray XT5 Jaguar supercomputer, one of the most powerful in the world with a peak performance of 2.33 petaflops, to better understand the processes giving rise to space weather (full story).

Video: Open science rides LANL Mustang super

In this video, Bob Tomlinson from LANL describes the recently acquired Mustang supercomputer from Appro.

"The Mustang system has been supporting larger jobs as was intended and in just few months of use it has already offered 434 Million CPU hours for competitive, peer-reviewed, open science. According to the latest November 2011 Top500 list, Mustang was ranked as the 46th fastest supercomputer in the world supporting Climate, Environment, Electronic and many other science research projects. (full story)"

Quantum cryptography could be the real deal for smart phone security

Using smart phones for online banking and shopping has been promoted as the next big thing, but adoption has been slow, partly due to the fact that smart phones have security issues. Scientific American reports that this might change with the development of quantum cryptography.

Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have revamped quantum encryption to make it more viable for smart phone usage by developing a minitransmitter to hold the encryption key on one photon. If a hacker attempts to change the quantum information in the photon during a transaction, the transaction is cancelled (full story).

No tritium found in water system

Results from routine monitoring tests of the Santa Fe water system’s Buckman well field in 2010 came back with results showing traces of radioactive tritium, but Los Alamos National Laboratory and city officials now say the finding was erroneous (full story).

New facility boosts ability to ship transuranic waste

Construction has begun on a new facility that will help Los Alamos National Laboratory accelerate the shipment of transuranic (TRU) waste stored in large boxes at Technical Area 54, Area G.

“This facility will help us accelerate shipment of TRU waste,” said Waste Program and Services Project Director Andy Baumer. “Since the majority of our TRU waste inventory that is in large boxes can be processed in this facility, it’s going to be our workhorse.”

The new facility will contain a number of safety features. Construction is scheduled for completion in March 2012 (full story).

LANL Foundation announces its scholarship recipients

The Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation through the Los Alamos Employees Scholarship Fund (LAESF) announces ten 2012 Regional College/Returning Student Scholarship Fund recipients.

This fund awards scholarships to students returning to formal education, after a hiatus for other pursuits. These scholarship candidates may have left formal education for business, the military, or other reasons, possibly for an extended period, and are now seeking to expand their opportunities with a certificate or a two-year degree through a program in the regional area (full story).

New from LANL

2011 Annual Report

Video about stewardship of the nuclear weapons stockipile

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