Eye in the sky among Los Alamos projects

If computers can drive our cars and watch cat videos on YouTube, what’sto stop them from overthrowing the human race?

“It’s no more a Terminator than Google is,” said Michael Ham, a member of the applied machine learning team at Los Alamos National Laboratory, of the computer they’ve built that can see and identify animals (including a cat in motion on YouTube) and track vehicles by satellite.

Tuesday was Laboratory-Directed Research and Development Day at Buffalo Thunder casino. It’s an annual event of poster presentations where LANL unveils dozens of projects. LDRD takes up about6 percent of the lab’s budget for research related to realizing long-term scientific goals.

LDRD program director William Pierdhorsky said the projects on display “are the kinds of things that will change lives in 20-50 years.”

http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2011/09/14/north/eye-in-the-sky-among-los-alamos-projects.html

LANL to host third annual research, development event

Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists are working on a lot of nifty projects that have little to do with nuclear stockpiles.

Take theor

etical physicist Luis M.A. Bettencourt and his team studying how the brain sees. Let's say you spot a warm pizza coming out of an oven. Your brain processes a ton of information insta

ntly c

oming through your eyes — the toppings, the size, the crust thickness, the distance between the delectable food and your stomach. Bettencourt isn’t studying pizza, but he has spent three years working on computer models to understand how information is translated betw

een eyes and brain cells.

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/localnews/LANL-to-host-third-annual-research--development-event-

LANL looks to tweets in epidemic

Scientists at Los Alamos

National Laboratory have their eyes on some of you, specifically those on the social media website Twitter.

They are looking at millions and millions of tweets could help them help others when it comes to a deadly disease outbreak.

Each day people send 50 million tweets, cyber thoughts and statements, on everything from sports to weather.

But LANL scientist Sara DelValle said the tweets could help save lives.

http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/local/central/lanl-to-look-to-tweets-in-epidemic-

NM labs to benefit from geothermal research funds

Two of New Mexico's national laboratories and a separate research firm will share nearly $5 million in federal funds for the development of geothermal energy technologies.

The U.S. Department of Energy is awarding the funds to Sandia and Los Alamos laboratories and Applied Technology Associates in Albuquerque through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9PN5MCO0.htm

Terahertz radiation's impact on cellular function and gene expression

Terahertz (THz) technologies show promise for myriad medical, military, security, and research applications ranging from the detection of cancer to airport security systems to shipment inspection to spectroscopy.

Relatively little is known, however, about the effect of THz radiation on biological systems. So a team of researchers, led by Los Alamos National Laboratory, evaluated the cellular response of mouse stem cells exposed to THz radiation.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110913103217.htm

. . . and here is the technical paper:

Non-thermal effects of terahertz radiation on gene expression in mouse stem cells

Terahertz (THz) technologies are emerging with many promising medical, military, security, and research applications, e.g., detection of cancer.

Despite this emerging ubiquity of THz applications, relatively little is known about the effect of THz radiation on biological systems.

http://www.opticsinfobase.org/DirectPDFAccess/7F57A47D-A347-9569-C2195DF29D6A553A_222111/2679.html

NASA’s Dawn collects a bounty of beauty from Vesta

PASADENA, Calif. - A new video from NASA's Dawn spacecraft takes us on a flyover journey above the surface of the giant asteroid Vesta.

The data obtained by Dawn's framing camera, used to produce the visualizations, will help scientists determine the processes that formed Vesta's striking features. It will also help Dawn mission fans all over the world visualize this mysterious world, which is the second most massive object in the main asteroid belt.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-293

Astronomers find extreme weather on an alien world

Cosmic oddball may harbour a gigantic storm

TORONTO – A University of Toronto-led team of astronomers has observed extreme brightness changes on a nearby brown dwarf that may indicate a storm grander than any seen yet on a planet. Because old brown dwarfs and giant planets have similar atmospheres, this finding could shed new light on weather phenomena of extra-solar planets.

“We found that our target’s brightness changed by a whopping 30 per cent in just under eight hours,” said PhD candidate Jacqueline Radigan, lead author of a paper to be presented this week at the Extreme Solar Systems II conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and submitted to the

Astrophysical Journal. “The best explanation is that brighter and darker patches of its atmosphere are coming into our view as the brown dwarf spins on its axis,” said Radigan.

Other co-authors of this work are David Lafrenière and Étienne Artigau at the Université de Montreal, Didier Saumon at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Mark Marely at NASA Ames Research Center.

http://www.exchangemagazine.com/morningpost/2011/week37/Tuesday/091312.htm

U.S., Germany formalize partnership during WIPP visit

CARLSBAD - A high-ranking energy official from Germany formalized a partnership between her country and the United States during a visit to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Wednesday.

Dr. Dorothee Mûhl, deputy director general manager of Germany's Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, and other German officials visited WIPP, the U.S. Department of Energy's underground repository for disposal of defense-generated transuranic waste and signed a memorandum of understanding agreeing to an exchange of knowledge between the two nations on matters related to radioactive waste disposal.

Representatives from URS Washington TRU Solutions LLC, Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory joined Mûhl and the Carlsbad Field Office in signing the agreement at DOE offices in Carlsbad. Mûhl and her staff toured the WIPP site itself, 26 miles southeast of Carlsbad, earlier in the day.

http://www.currentargus.com/ci_18897721

A closer look at Los Alamos and how they interpret their history

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — I was fortunate to have been invited by the Los Alamos Historical Society to speak at Fuller Lodge in Los Alamos, N.M., on Oak Ridge's history.

The trip was also filled with tours of historic sites in Los Alamos, The Los Alamos County Historical Museum, The Bradbury Science Museum, The National Museum of Nuclear Science and History and The Trinity Site. It was a great week of intense visual stimulation and getting to see many new historic artifacts. It made me wish for more such exhibits in Oak Ridge.

When I returned to Oak Ridge, I could hardly wait to tell readers what I had seen in Los Alamos. I wanted to chide us about our lack of attention to the same details they were exceptional at featuring.

I tried in a Historically Speaking article and in presentations to civic groups around town, but was never satisfied that I had succeeded in adequately conveying my frustration. Eventually, I came to realize that what I felt was not conveyed was the important single element of statues.

http://www.oakridger.com/columnists/x848572214/A-closer-look-at-Los-Alamos-and-how-they-interpret-their-history

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LANL using cost-effective methods

Continuing the explosions

It's a sight to see: The explosion of an old test weapon with the mountains in the background. It happens all the time at two remote sites on Los Alamos lab property.

Los Alamos National Lab wants to keep those booms coming.

The lab has been blowing up waste high explosives for years and it's now applying with the state in order to k

eep blowing up the waste safely (full story).

NM lab seeks permit to detonate explosive waste

In a desolate canyon in northern New Mexico, a b

lack puff of dust and smoke rises up from the ground following a quick flash. It takes about a second and a half for the loud boom and rush of air to catch up.

Explosives experts at the nation's premiere nuclear laboratory just blew up 85 pounds of waste left over from some of the experiments Los Alamos National Laboratory conducts on improvised explosives and other terrorist threats.

Some of the high explosive waste also comes from the work scientists do to bolster national security and to ensure the stability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile.

Critical is how lab officials describe the work — and the detonations needed to get rid of the waste.

They're asking New Mexico regulators to modify the lab's sweeping hazardous waste permit so the detonations can continue (full story).

LANL employees remember those lost on 9/11

Los Alamos, like the rest of the country lives in the memory of Sept. 11, 2001.

But the people here had a slightly different ex

perience that day. As the Twin Towers were attacked and slowly crashed to the ground – the Pentagon was hit and the bravest of Americans took down Flight 93 in Pennsylvania – Los Alamos police and fire fighters prepared for a strike and the town’s air space was shut down.

Nancy Ambrosiano worked inside the Los Alamos National Laboratory that day (full story).

U.S. expert: North Korea may need more atomic tests

VIENNA (Reuters) - North Korea has "good technical reasons" to carry out at least one more atomic test if it wants to develop a nuclear-armed missile, a prominent U.S. scientist who has often visited the reclusive Asian state said on Friday.

Stanford University's Siegfried Hecker, who late last year was shown a previously undetected uranium enrichment facility in North Korea, said he believed the isolated state knew

how to build a "relatively simple, rudimentary plutonium bomb. . . ."

North Korea often uses Hecker, a former director of the U.S. Los Alamos National Laboratory where the atomic bomb was developed, as its preferred foreign scientist to demonstrate its nuclear capabilities. He has visited seven times since 2004 (full story).

Hubble movies provide unprecedented view of supersonic jets from young stars

Astronomers have combined two decades of Hubble observations to make unprecedented movies revealing never-bef

ore-seen details of the birth pangs of new stars. This sheds new light on how stars like the Sun form (full story).

About LANL’s contributions.

DoE: US$38m for geothermal technology development

The US Department of Energy (DoE) is awarding US$38 million over three years to accelerate the development of geothermal technologies.

The funding will benefit 32 geothermal innovation projects in 14 states, which will focus on developing and testing new ways to locate geothermal resources and improve resource characterisation, drilling, and reservoir engineering techniques.

Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM (US$1.0m): Allowing for more accurate imaging of seismic data through the development of an advanced processing technique.

Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM (US$1.6m): Reducing the cost of geothermal energy by developing an innovative method that combines high pressure impulses and thermal gradients to drill through hard rock;(Link)

Editorial: UNM is a catalyst for future R&D growth

Does New Mexico have a Silicon Valley in its headlights? Maybe someday, if the growing number of patents coming from New Mexico’s technical innovation centers are any indication.

The University of New Mexico, in cooperation with the Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory, is nurturing an ecosystem necessary to support start-up technology companies (full story).

LANL attracts 1,350 students

Interns conduct research in a wide range of disciplines

Los Alamos National Laboratory this summer attracted 1,350 student interns in both technical and nontechnical fields, giving them the opportunity to conduct research in a wide range of disciplines. In addition, a record number of postdocs – 452–are working at Los Alamos this year.

“Diverse people, new ideas, excellent work, that’s what the lab is about,” said Jerry Foropoulos, Jr. of High Explosives Science and Technology Division, a judge for the Laboratory’s 2011 Student Symposium, an event that showcases students’ summer projects (full story).

Also this week in the Monitor:

Lab to host LDRD Day Tuesday at Buffalo Thunder

Public has chance to view scientists’ work

Some of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s scientists will explain and present their work to the public Tuesday during LANL’s third annual LDRD Day.

The event is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Buffalo Thunder Resort near Pojoaque.

The event is free and open to the public, and provides an opportunity for people to see some of the most exciting research currently under way at the Laboratory (full story).

Los Alamos sets the educational pace for the nation

Los Alamos has the country's highest percentages of adults holding high-school diplomas and college degrees, according to an On Numbers analysis of the latest raw data from the U.S. Census Bureau (full story).

Capitalists, researchers meet clients

Conference fosters trade with entrepreneurs and customers

The business of ensuring the nation’s security has evolved into a vast and intimidating industry, but that doesn’t mean entrepreneurs and innovative researchers are shut out of the field.

The 2011 National Security Technology Conference & Expo, hosted by New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Center, is committed to helping entrepreneurs and researchers create networks, get valuable advice about venture capital and log face time with representatives from some of the biggest names in national security. . . .

The conference, sponsored by the Arrowhead Technology Incubator in support of a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration, takes place Sept. 12 at the Las Cruces Convention Center, 680 E. University Ave (full story).

WIPP driver makes history, again

When a brand-new shipping package arrived at the Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant during the early evening hours of Aug. 25, a familiar face was behind the wheel of the vehicle carrying the package.

Long-time WIPP driver Randy Anderson made history, again, when he guided the new TRUPACT-III on its maiden voyage from the Savannah River Site, located near Aiken, S.C., to the underground repository for defense-generated transuranic waste near Carlsbad. . . .

Anderson's participation in significant WIPP shipments reads a lot like the key history of the entire WIPP project. He was one of two drivers who brought the first shipment of TRU waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory to Carlsbad in 1999 (full story).

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Hydrogen fuel gaining respect

Gang Wu and Piotr Zelenay examine fuel cell energy production data. LANL photo.

In addition, the spent fuel can be recharged using a process described by researchers with the Los Alamos National Laboratory this March in the journal Science that uses the chemical hydrazine and liquid ammonia.

The Los Alamos researchers envision an ammonia borane fuel tank that is used to fuel cars, then taken out and sent to a factory to be recharged. (Full Story)

Also from MSNBC this week:

Stellar blasts caught on video

Astronomers are using movies created from Hubble Space Telescope imagery to track the gassy burps belched out by young stars. Video from ESA.

To improve the fidelity of the simulations, Patrick Hartigan of Rice University and his team turned to experts in fluid dynamics from Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the UK Atomic Weapons Establishment in Britain and General Atomics in San Diego.

In addition to Hartigan, the research team includes Rob Coker and Melissa Douglas of Los Alamos. The research is funded by NASA and the National Nuclear Security Administration. (Full Story)

A similar story is also available from Science Daily


LANL using cost-effective methods to continue explosions

Dynamic Experiments division leader David Funk. From KRQE

It's a sight to see: The explosion of an old test weapon with the mountains in the background. It happens all the time at two remote sites on Los Alamos lab property. Los Alamos National Lab wants to keep those booms coming.

The lab has been blowing up waste high explosives for years and it's now applying with the state in order to keep blowing up the waste safely. (See the story here)





Journal photo essay and Video












Using Monte Carlo methods to design domain-driven device clouds

Nicholas Metropolis was one of the founding fathers of the Monte Carlo method. LANL photo.

Since we're particularly interested in statistical analysis on data from a number of devices, we turn our attention to one such method called Monte Carlo methods.

Monte Carlo methods (MCM) were contrived in the 1940s by physicists working on nuclear weapons projects at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Specifically, MCM were used while investigating radiation shielding. (Full Story)


DOE inspector issues report on lab remediation

MDA-B excavation area. LANL photo

"We determined that the Delta Prime East and West, and Tritium Systems Test and Assembly projects were completed ahead of schedule and under budget.

MDA-B project costs had increased and the project schedule had slipped, however, due to reasons largely beyond Los Alamos’ control." (Subscription required to see full story)

Also from the Monitor this week:

Pa. school to launch STEM initiative with LANL help

"We have a direct relationship with scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratories who have helped us to create some of these Cutting Edge Science courses, and more are on the way." (Subscription required to see full story)

And finally, again from the Los Alamos Monitor:

LA pays tribute

LANL director Charlie McMillan takes the podium during the community "thank you" event at Ashley Pond. LANL photo.

"Most of you probably know that this fire was truly 'baptism by fire' in a literal sense for Charlie McMillan, who had only been on the job for a couple of weeks when he found himself in the Emergency Operations Center and in front of the cameras at those daily press conferences." (Subscription required to see full story)


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