Friday, August 2, 2013




Lab celebrates 70 years of research, looks ahead


Ross McDonald speaks about magnetic coils at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. New Mexican Photo.
                
The lab celebrated its 70th anniversary last week with nostalgic memories, memorable talks, community visits and employee reunions. LANL Director Charles McMillan opened the first day of an anniversary conference (the second day was devoted to classified subjects) by recalling the grim circumstances of the lab’s beginning in the early days of World War II. But he also invited an open discussion of the decades to come. (
Full Story)


Lab celebrates 70th


Lab director Charlie McMillan talks to the crowd on Saturday.  LA Monitor Photo.

The Los Alamos National Laboratory let the public get a small peek behind the curtain this weekend as it wrapped up its week-long 70th anniversary celebration on the grounds of Los Alamos High School Saturday.

Throughout the week, the public was treated to lectures from prominent scientists and government officials, such as U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill and deputy administrators from the National Nuclear Security Administration, Anne Harrington and Don Cook. (Full Story)

Extended coverage from the Los Alamos Monitor this week:

McMillan talks of lab’s past, present, future



Los Alamos National Laboratory director Charlie McMillan offered a bit of a history lesson this week when the lab hosted a series of lectures and tours to celebrate its 70th anniversary.

McMillan cited the first Los Alamos Primer, which came out in 1943 and made up a second primer, which came out this week. (Full Story)

Guest Column: LANL Family Day builds community relationships

This week, I wanted to offer my personal kudos to Los Alamos National Laboratory, for a wonderful Family Day. The event was obviously the result of many hours of planning and lots of effort by both staff and volunteers. The result was a success. (Full Story)




Governor attends LANL’s 70th Anniversary family day


LA Daily Post Photo.

Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Charlie McMillan introduces New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez who spoke at Saturday’s 70th anniversary celebration for Lab employees, families, alumni and retirees.

The event included a picnic, family activities and visits to Lab facilities.

Dignitaries at Saturday's event included Rep. Stephanie Garci Richard, center, and Los Alamos County Council Chair Geoff Rodgers. (Full Story)
 
Also from the Daily Post this week:

LANL announces express licensing program



KIVA code simulation of an experimental engine, software available for express licensing. LANL image.

With the launch of a new "Express Licensing” program, access to innovative technology invented at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has gotten easier.

“The Express License program offers an additional licensing resource for local entrepreneurs as well as national collaborators,” said David Pesiri, director of LANL’s Technology Transfer Division. (Full Story)



Ultrasound measurements reveal a long-sought phase transition in superconducting cuprates



Arkady Shekhter.  LANL Photo.

More than a quarter century has passed since the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in a class of copper oxide compounds, and in many ways the materials remain as confounding as ever.

Among the biggest puzzles in superconductivity is the origin of the pseudogap state. Now Arkady Shekhter, Albert Migliori, and their colleagues at the NHMFL at Los Alamos National Laboratory have found that signature. (Full Story)




Van Allen probes pinpoint driver of speeding electrons


An artist's rendering of a mechanism within the Van Allen radiation belts. LANL illustration.

“For years we thought the Van Allen belts were pretty well behaved and changed slowly,” said Geoffrey Reeves of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Intelligence and Space Research Division. “With more measurements, however, we realized how quickly and unpredictably the radiation belts change, and now we have real evidence that the changes originate from within the belts themselves.” (Full Story)

Also from the Monitor this week:

Exhibits open at Bradbury



Watch the biofuels video on YouTube.

LANL employees, friends, family, and community members come together to take a first look at two new Bradbury Science Museum exhibits: Nanotechnology and Algae Biofuels. The crowd explored the newly installed exhibits, which took 18 months to prepare. and tackle subjects such as detecting cancer with nanoparticles and the possible invention of invisibility cloaks. (Full Story)



Top-secret super-secure vault declassified


One of five vault rooms at the TA-41 site. LANL image.

Once one of the most secret and secure locations in the United States, it is the original post-Second World War nuclear stockpile storage area. Located in Los Alamos canyon, the Tunnel Vault was built between 1948 and 1949.

At the end of the tunnel is a large alcove room with a single bank vault door. Through that door is a vault built inside a vault with five storage areas, all protected with identical bank vault doors. All these features can be seen on a video that tours the recently declassified, historically significant facility available on the Los Alamos National Laboratory YouTube channel. (Full Story)



Long-range tornado prediction: Is it feasible?


UCAR Photo by Greg Thompson.

An innovative model could help serve as a bridge between large-scale seasonal forecasts and potential tornado outlooks. The Model for Prediction Across Scales (MPAS), whose development is based at Los Alamos National Laboratory and NCAR, includes atmosphere and ocean components. MPAS was made available to the research community at large in June. (Full Story)


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