Friday, July 4, 2014



Gates says fixing education toughest challenge

Bill Gates with Charlie McMillan (left) and Gary Grider at the Laboratory's Metropolis Computing Center. LANL photo.

Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates says eradicating malaria is easier than fixing the United States’ education system. But what he really wishes he could do is write a check to eliminate biological, chemical and nuclear weapons.

Gates made the comments in a 45-minute talk Monday to employees at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He was in northern New Mexico for a private tour of the nation’s premier nuclear weapons facility. (Full Story)



Bill Gates talks health, education in LANL visit

Gates speaks to Lab employees.  LANL photo.               
 

The world’s richest man said he saw some great science during a brief visit Monday to Los Alamos National Laboratory. “Obviously, I believe in science and innovation,” said Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Gates was introduced by LANL Director Charles McMillan, who identified lab interns in the audience who were recipients of Gates Foundation scholarships. (Full Story)

Also in the Albuquerque Journal and Los Alamos Monitor




Scientists ignite aluminum water mix

Bryce Tappan ignites a small quantity of aluminum nanoparticle water mixture. LANL photo.

Research by Los Alamos National Laboratory explosives scientist Bryce Tappan, published as the cover story in the prestigious German journal of chemistry Angewandte Chemie, for the first time confirms that chemical kinetics—the speed of a chemical reaction—is a primary function in determining nanoaluminum combustion burn rates.

Tappan and his co-authors, Matthew Dirmyer of Los Alamos, and Grant Risha of Penn State University, made this discovery by looking for the “kinetic isotope effect” in nanoaluminum particles. (Full Story)



In virus hunt, Saudi Arabia suspects African camel imports

Somali camels are seen before being exported to Middle East countries. Reuters photo.

Lisa Murillo, an expert in virology and affiliate scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the United States, said she had analyzed data on human MERS cases in the Middle East and camel imports from the Horn of Africa - and found striking correlations that cry out for further investigation.

As a result of her findings, Murillo says she has developed what she acknowledges is a "very speculative hypothesis" - that the number of MERS cases in Arabian Peninsula countries is related to the number of camels imported into those countries. (Full Story)



Record $327,000 pledged by LANL employees in 2014 scholarship drive

2014 Los Alamos Employees' Scholarship recipient Nicolette Gonzales, right, talks with Laboratory Director Charlie McMillan. LANL photo.

Los Alamos National Laboratory employees pledged a record $327,000 during the recently completed 2014 Los Alamos Employees’ Scholarship Fund (LAESF) drive.

Coupled with $250,000 in matching funds from Los Alamos National Security, LLC, which manages and operates the Laboratory, the total amount contributed in this year’s campaign is more than $577,000. (Full Story)



Ten local companies win funding from Los Alamos Venture Acceleration Fund

Ten New Mexico companies have been awarded funds from the Los Alamos Venture Acceleration Fund.

Los Alamos National Security, which manages Los Alamos National Laboratory, has invested approximately $3 million via the Venture Acceleration Fund in 49 companies in New Mexico. (Full Story)


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