Predicting earthquakes using machine learning
A simulation of the buildup and release
of stress along an artificial fault. LANL image.
By listening to the acoustic signal emitted by a
laboratory-created earthquake, a computer science approach using machine
learning can predict the time remaining before the fault fails.
“At any given instant,
the noise coming from the lab fault zone provides quantitative information on
when the fault will slip,” said Paul Johnson, a Los Alamos National Laboratory
fellow and lead investigator on the research, which was recently published in
Geophysical Research Letters. (Full story)
Computing the physics that links nuclear
structure, element formation, and the life and death of stars
When a neutron star forms, compression creates
heat that generates neutrinos. ORNL image.
Collaborators on the first project, the Nuclear Computational Low
Energy Initiative (NUCLEI), will calculate properties and reactions of diverse
atomic nuclei that are important in earthly experiments and astrophysical
environments. Approximately 30 researchers at 12 national labs and universities
are slated to share funding of $10 million. Joseph Carlson of Los Alamos
National Laboratory heads NUCLEI, with Stefan Wild of Argonne National
Laboratory as co-director for applied math and computer science and Thomas
Papenbrock of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) and ORNL as the
co-director for physics. (Full story)
Gevo and Los Alamos to collaborate on high
energy denisity biofuels
News has emerged from Gevo (GEVO) in Colorado and New Mexico’s
Los Alamos National Lab that the two will collaborate to improve the energy
density of Gevo hydrocarbon products to meet product specifications for
tactical fuels for specialized military applications such as RJ-4, RJ-6 and
JP-10, which are currently purchased by the US Department of Defense (DoD).
High energy-density
fuels are currently used in air and sea-launched cruise missiles used by the US
military forces. If this project is successful in scaling the fuels
cost-effectively, there may be an even broader application in the general
aviation sector, enabling higher energy density jet fuel that would provide
superior mileage to traditional aviation fuels. (Full story)
Dena Edwards named DOE outstanding contractor
security professional of the year
Dena Edwards receives the award from
Laboratory Director Charlie McMillan, LANL photo.
Dena Edwards, a security professional in Los Alamos National
Laboratory’s Associate Directorate for Mission Assurance, Security and
Emergency Response, was named Outstanding Contractor Security Professional of
the Year by the Department of Energy.
“Dena is a true
professional who has made a visible and valuable positive difference in our
laboratory and our community,” said Laboratory Director Charlie McMillan. (Full story)
