Los Alamos Press Highlights

New studies point to 'carbon starvation' as a cause for tree mortality

Tree death rates could increase globally because of rising temperatures and prolonged droughts linked to climate change, according to multiple studies.

The reasons for tree mortality in a warmer, drier world have been narrowed down to three main scenarios -- greater prevalence of insects and diseases in a warmer world, the drying out of plants, and a third mechanism where water-stressed trees stop photosynthesizing, called carbon starvation.

While researchers are still debating the relative merits of the three, scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory have pointed to the last scenario as the most relevant for tree mortality. (Full story)

LANL screener detects dangerous liquids

Congressman Ben Ray Lujan said one of the best ways to keep planes from blowing up in the sky can be found at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and President Barack Obama is listening. (Full story)

Green topics top Los Alamos lab’s most popular science stories

Climate change mitigation-related stories were among the top ten most read science stories from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2009. (Full Story)

News also posted on Earth Times (here)

U.S. uses CT scans to check out nuclear stockpile

From the New York Times -- The first user of the CoLOSIS will be Los Alamos National Laboratory, which will test the Air Force's B61 gravity bomb, checking components for signs of aging or manufacturing defects. (Full story)


NREL, Mines, CSU, Solix join in new biofuels partnerships

The federal National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden will help lead a new national program, funded with $33.8 million in economic stimulus money, to develop advanced biofuels. Members of the consortium include Argonne National Laboratory, BP Products North America Inc., Los Alamos National Laboratory, University of California-Davis, and several others. (Full story)

How terahertz waves tear apart DNA

The evidence that terahertz radiation damages biological systems is mixed. "Some studies reported significant genetic damage while others, although similar, showed none," say Boian Alexandrov at the Center for Nonlinear Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and a few buddies. Now these guys think they know why. (Full story)


Solar tech company helps catch a brighter ray

Starting with Energy Related Devices (ERD) a research and development company with technology transferred out of Los Alamos National Laboratory, [Bob] Hockaday later teamed up with a Japanese company, Kyosemi Corporation to combining their complementary technological strengths in order to develop micro concentrator arrays. (Full story)


Los Alamos' acoustic flow cytometry going to market

Life Technologies recently released a flow cytometer, an analyzer to sort through large quantities of cells, that features acoustic focusing technology developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory. (Full story)





Group briefed on reduced chromium threat

In October, the researchers formally reported that the pollutant has largely been absorbed or transformed into a harmless substance by geochemical processes in the mountain. That document is now in the hands of the environment department, which is due to respond in the spring. (Full story)


LANL Foundation awards science grants

Santa Fe Public Schools, Santa Fe Community College and Santa Fe Indian School are among dozens of recipients of science education grants handed out by the Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation.

The foundation awarded 155 educational enrichment, educational outreach and small grants totaling $3,630,993 in 2009. Most awards address critical public education needs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. (Full story)


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