Vaccine shows signs of protection against dozen-plus flu strains
Pigs are susceptible to swine, avian, and human influenza viruses, making them the perfect “mixing vessel”
Anovel computer algorithm that could create a broadly reactive influenza vaccine for swine flu also offers a path toward a pan-influenza vaccine and possibly a pan-coronavirus vaccine as well, according to a new paper published in Nature Communications.
“This work takes us a step closer to a pan-swine flu virus vaccine,” said Bette Korber, a computational biologist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and a co-author on the paper. “The hope is to eventually be prepared with an effective and rapid response if another swine flu epidemic begins to spread in humans, but this swine flu vaccine could also be useful in a veterinary setting.” The immune responses to the vaccine showed very promising breadth against diverse viral variants. “The same basic principles may be applicable to developing a pan-coronavirus vaccine to enable a rapid vaccine response to future coronavirus cross-species jumps,” said Korber. (Full Story)
Also from Heath News Digest
Prescribed burns and other low-intensity fires are highly responsive to changes in winds
A firefighter sets a firebreak, from Newswise.
Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory and partners have used modeling to highlight the large impact that small changes in wind conditions can have on low-intensity fires or prescribed burns. Conducting safe prescribed fires depends on anticipating the range of potential fire behavior associated with complex wind conditions.
“This study has important implications for the future use of observations to aid in model development,” said Alexandra Jonko, a computational earth scientist at Los Alamos, whose team authored an article published in a special issue in MDPI Atmosphere. “Adequately characterizing variations in the wind at multiple scales is critical. Ultimately, this work will lead to scientific improvements that will allow prescribed fire managers to conduct burns based on a better understanding of possible fire behavior.” (Full Story)
LANL scientist teaches chess as intellectual 'gateway drug'
Mark Calassi analyzes a chess game before a virtual lesson, New Mexican photo.
In addition to his full-time job as an astrophysicist and computer programmer at Los Alamos National Laboratory (often w 60-hour workweek that has him searching for the birth of black holes) and raising two teenagers, Galassi puts in some 40 hours a week overseeing four programs for children and youth: a chess club, two computer programming courses and an initiative that trains young people to become paid researchers, working alongside LANL scientists.
“His house is always open to everybody, and he’s doing something very different and unique,” said Ed Fenimore, a retired Los Alamos lab astrophysicist . “He’s created a pipeline. And the relationships he’s developed with these kids — it’s a relationship for life.” (Full Story)
Freshwater release into the Atlantic Ocean could wreak havoc on climate balance
Freshwater flow model, LANL image.
The Beaufort Sea, the Arctic Ocean's largest freshwater reservoir, has increased its freshwater content by 40 percent over the last two decades, putting global climate patterns at risk. A rapid release of this freshwater into the Atlantic Ocean could wreak havoc on the delicate climate balance that dictates global climate.
"A freshwater release of this size into the subpolar North Atlantic could impact a critical circulation pattern, called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, which has a significant influence on northern-hemisphere climate," said Wilbert Weijer, a Los Alamos National Laboratory author on the project. (Full Story)
Unexpected twist in quantum physics may explain matter/antimatter imbalance
A team of quantum theorists seeking to cure a basic problem with quantum annealing computers—they have to run at a relatively slow pace to operate properly—found something intriguing instead. While probing how quantum annealers perform when operated faster than desired, the team unexpectedly discovered a new effect that may account for the imbalanced distribution of matter and antimatter in the universe and a novel approach to separating isotopes.
“Although our discovery did not cure the annealing time restriction, it brought a class of new physics problems that can now be studied with quantum annealers without requiring they be too slow,” said Nikolai Sinitsyn, a theoretical physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Sinitsyn is author of the paper published on February 19, 2021, in Physical Review Letters, with coauthors Bin Yan and Wojciech Zurek, both also of Los Alamos, and Vladimir Chernyak of Wayne State University. (Full Story)
Machine Learning cuts through the noise of quantum computing
Quantum technologies seem poised to disrupt the world of high-performance computing, but developing – and stabilizing – the technology itself poses serious computing challenges. Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory are using machine learning to help manage harmful disruptions in quantum computers, allowing them to perform more reliably in the real world.
“In this new research, we let the computer discover what’s best,” explained Patrick Coles, a quantum physicist at Los Alamos and lead author of the paper. “In essence, we say, ‘Computer, please find the best strategy for making a resilient circuit.’ We found the computer discovers strategies that make sense to us. Noise-aware circuit learning (NACL) will play an important role in the quest for quantum advantage, when a quantum computer solves a problem that’s impossible on a classical computer.” (Full Story)
Taos girls win statewide STEM contest with cities on the moon
Sixth-grader Amaya Struck's team 'Eclipse’ won two awards for their planned city on the moon. Taos News photo.
Taos Charter School students won multiple awards in a national STEM competition recently. The two teams of sixth-graders were comprised of all girls. This year's competition, ‘Future City’ teaches science, technology, engineering and math to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders by challenging them to design and build sustainable cities of the future. The 2020-21 theme was ‘Living on the Moon.’
“The competition is arranged by Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories. They put out the theme for each year in September,” said Avery Blair, a sixth-grade teacher at Taos Charter School who led her students through the months-long competition. (Full Story)
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