Environment - Los Alamos Daily Post

Bear Takes A Stroll On Yucca Street

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on September 2, 2017

A bear takes a stroll along a stone wall Sunday afternoon on Yucca Street. The bear walked from Yucca toward the Mitchell trailhead at Arizona Avenue. Photo by Wolfgang Runde

Bear takes Sunday afternoon stroll. Photo by Wolfgang Runde Read More

SFNF: Closure Order For Segment Of Continental Divide Trail Extended For Safety Reasons

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on September 1, 2017

SFNF News:

The Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF) has extended the closure of a segment of the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) on the Coyote Ranger District to provide for public safety as fire crews continue to work on the Ojitos Fire in the Chama River Wilderness.

The temporary closure is in effect until Dec. 31, 2017, unless it is rescinded earlier.

The restricted area includes CDT #813 from the Ojitos Trailhead at Skull Bridge on the Chama River to the CDT crossing at NM Highway 96, known locally as Ojitos Trail #298. Potentially hazardous conditions may exist on this trail section, and through hikers Read More

Top Campsites For Last-Minute Labor Day Weekend

Submitted by Chris Clark on September 1, 2017

COMMUNITY News:

Labor Day is just a few days away, and public campgrounds, hotels, and Airbnbs are almost fully booked up, creating fierce competition for the last available spots.

Enter Hipcamp [https://www.hipcamp.com/discover]—a startup that solves this problem by creating new campsites on beautiful private lands such as nature preserves, farms, and ranches. Hipcamp has just compiled a list of their top 100 unbooked campgrounds across the nation under $100.

HIPCAMP.COM‘S TOP LABOR DAY CAMPGROUNDS UNDER $100

Each campground linked

Tips To Keep Bears Away From Your Property

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on September 1, 2017

Black bear. Courtesy/NMDG&F

Two bears climb a tree recently on Villa Street near Aspen School. Photo by Nancy Johnson

By AMOS SMITH

Corporal – Albuquerque Supervisory District

N.M. Department of Game and Fish

“I have a bear visiting my property and getting into my trash and birdfeeders.” This is how most phone calls regarding bear activity start. And believe me, there have been plenty of them in recent weeks and I anticipate many more in the weeks to come.

I have heard many residents say they have seen more bears this summer in town than in recent years. This is not Read More

Daily Postcard: An Afternoon At Fenton Lake

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on September 1, 2017

Daily Postcard: Afternoon clouds gather Sunday over Fenton Lake. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com Read More

World Futures: Cyber (Part Two)

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on August 31, 2017

World Futures: What Do We Need?

By ANDY ANDREWS
Los Alamos World Futures Institute

In the previous column we started by recalling the power outage in White Rock, noting that it was an inconvenience. But what if it had lasted longer, significantly longer? What if the affected area was much larger, perhaps the entire county of Los Alamos? What other inconveniences would you have suffered? The grocery store would have been closed. But it could have opened with candle light.

Of course, you would have to pay with cash or check since the credit/debit card machines would not run. In fact, your bill would Read More

Nature Center Presents Charles Strickfaden Talk Sept. 5

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on August 31, 2017

Courtesy photo

PEEC News:

The community is invited to the Los Alamos Nature Center at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5 to hear a talk by Charles Strickfaden, site manager of the developing Manhattan Project National Historical Park. This free talk is a Sierra Club event, and all are welcome to attend.

Visitors often take for granted the collaboration required to start a national park. Thanks to Strickfaden’s work; however, Los Alamos museums have partnered with the National Park Service to preserve local history. Strickfaden will discuss some of the

LANL: Superconductivity Research Reveals Potential New State Of Matter

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on August 31, 2017

Filip Ronning at work in his lab. Courtesy/LANL

LANL News:

A potential new state of matter is being reported in the journal Nature, with research showing that among superconducting materials in high magnetic fields, the phenomenon of electronic symmetry breaking is common. The ability to find similarities and differences among classes of materials with phenomena such as this helps researchers establish the essential ingredients that cause novel functionalities such as superconductivity.

The high-magnetic-field state of the heavy fermion superconductor CeRhIn5 revealed a so-called

SFNF Crews Continue To Monitor, Manage Ojitos Fire

Submitted by Chris Clark on August 31, 2017

SFNF News:

SANTA FE ― Fire managers on the Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF) continue to monitor the lightning-caused Ojitos Fire on the Coyote Ranger District, taking advantage of favorable windows to use low-intensity fire on the ground to achieve multiple resource benefits.

Since July 7 when lightning struck a tree in the 90,000-acre Rio Chama block that has been cleared under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for forest restoration, fire crews have added fire to the ground on both sides of Forest Road (FR) 468 and on the west side of the fire

Daily Postcard: Roses Bloom On Walnut

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on August 31, 2017

Daily Postcard: Red roses are blooming at a home on Walnut Street. Photo by Chris Clark/ladailypost.com Read More

LANL: Machine-learning Earthquake Prediction In Lab Shows Promise

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on August 30, 2017

LANL researchers have developed a two-dimensional tabletop simulator that models the buildup and release of stress along an artificial fault. In this image, the simulator is viewed through a polarized camera lens, photo-elastic plates reveal discrete points of stress buildup along both sides of the modeled fault as the far (upper) plate is moved laterally along the fault. Courtesy/LANL

LANL News:

Listening to faultline’s grumbling gives countdown to future quakes

By listening to the acoustic signal emitted by a laboratory-created earthquake, a computer science approach using machine Read More

Groups Call On Japan Not To Dump Radioactive Water Into Pacific Ocean

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on August 30, 2017

BN News:

TAKOMA PARK, Md. — Beyond Nuclear has signed onto a new letter from marine wildlife, environmental and conservation groups calling on authorities in Japan to avoid at all cost the dumping of hundreds and thousands of tons of radioactively contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean.

Currently, Japanese utility, TEPCO, is planning to release 777,000 tons of waste containing radioactive tritium into the Pacific Ocean from its stricken Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear site. The contaminated water, used to cool the destroyed reactors to avoid further

NNSA Removes All HEU From Ghana

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on August 30, 2017

NNSA News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. ― The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA), in cooperation with Ghana, China, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), repatriated approximately one kilogram of Chinese-origin highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Ghana’s GHARR-1 Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission’s National Nuclear Research Institute in Accra, Ghana Aug. 28.

This shipment removes the last known HEU from Ghana, making it the 32nd country plus Taiwan to become

Bjorklund Is Best Predictor In Weekly Pace Race

Submitted by Chris Clark on August 30, 2017

Courtesy photo

ACRR News:

Mark Bjorklund was the top predictor in the weekly pace race held under rainy conditions on the Lower Water Canyon Trail with a 4 second error.

Other accurate predictors were: Sanna Sevanto with a 5 second difference and the fastest female on the 3 mile course at 26:05, Ryan Smeltzer recorded a 18 second error off his first place 3 mile time of 23:12, Ning Xu had a 33 second differential, and David Kratzer had a 35 second error.

On the 1 mile course Alexandra Cunningham was the best finisher at 10:57 and her brother

Daily Postcard: Colorful Clouds

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on August 30, 2017

Daily Postcard: Colorful clouds spotted Monday from Pajarito Acres. Photo by Jaret McDonald

Daily Postcard: Colorful clouds spotted Monday from Pajarito Acres. Photo by Jaret McDonald Read More

Santa Fe National Forest Offices Closed Labor Day

Submitted by Chris Clark on August 29, 2017

SFNF News:

SANTA FE ― The Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF) Supervisor’s Office and all Ranger District offices will be closed Monday, Sept. 4 in observance of Labor Day. Normal business hours will resume Tuesday, Sept. 5.

The SFNF expects a large number of visitors for the final holiday weekend of the summer season. If you plan to visit the forest, please follow “Leave No Trace” principles:

Plan ahead and prepare
Travel and camp on durable surfaces
Dispose of waste properly
Leave what you find
Minimize campfire impacts
Respect wildlife
Be

Final Summer Drawing Class Of 2017 With Local Artist Lisa Coddington Sept. 7

Submitted by Chris Clark on August 28, 2017

Hummingbird and Wild Four O’clocks by Lisa Coddington. Courtesy/PEEC

PEEC News:

Artist and instructor Lisa Coddington is returning to teach a one-day workshop on drawing using botanical and natural subjects at the Los Alamos Nature Center.

This class, made possible by Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC), is great for all skill levels. The workshop runs 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sept. 7. Register to learn techniques for creating realistic, still life and nature-inspired art.

Participants will explore pencil techniques

Discover Nature Above, Below And On The Ground; Sept. 17 Nature Walk On SFNF

Submitted by Chris Clark on August 28, 2017

SFNF News:

SANTA FE ― Find out more about the butterflies and birds, wildflowers, rocks and geology on the Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF) on a nature walk with Forest Service staff and volunteer experts Sunday, Sept. 17.

The Sept. 17 event, which begins at 9:30 a.m. at the Holy Ghost Group Campground in Pecos Canyon, is part of the SFNF’s conservation education program to help people of all ages better understand their connection to nature and encourage responsible recreation and stewardship of public lands.

Tying in to the National Forest

Daily Postcard: Fawns Frequent Pajarito Acres Home

Submitted by Carol A. Clark on August 28, 2017

Daily Postcard: Two fawns spotted earlier this month frequenting a residence in Pajarito Acres are most recently seen eating some of the bushes at the home in White Rock. Photo by Robert Reedy