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This dual image of a Martian rock taken by the ChemCam instrument aboard the Curiosity rover shows a rock at the “Rocknest” area on Mars before it was interrogated with ChemCam’s high-powered laser (left) and after interrogation by 600 laser blasts (right). The crosshairs in the darkened portion of the image at right shows where the laser beam penetrated to a depth of at least 1 mm as a result of the repeated shots. The ChemCam laser vaporizes a small amount of material that can be read by a spectrometer to determine the target’s composition. Los Alamos National Laboratory Read More

NIST laser safety officer Joshua Hadler and his apparatus for measuring the properties of handheld laser devices. Photo by Burrus/NIST

NIST News:

Using a low-cost apparatus designed to quickly and accurately measure the properties of handheld laser devices, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers tested 122 laser pointers and found that nearly 90 percent of green pointers and about 44 percent of red pointers tested were out of compliance with federal safety regulations.

The NIST test apparatus was designed so that it can be replicated easily by other institutions. Read More

TVC News:

When: April 2-4, 2013 at the Hyatt Tamaya Resort in Albuquerque.

Ideas – Talent – Capital – Community—these are the themes driving the 20th annual Deal Stream Summit to be held April 2-4 at the Hyatt Tamaya Resort in Albuquerque.

With nearly 300 investors and partners in attendance, the 20^th Deal Stream Summit this year will feature promising, high-tech business opportunities. Additionally, investment approaches and funding models critical to early-stage startups will be spotlighted.

Audience Profile: venture capitalists, startups, research & development scientists, Read More

LANL News:

Under an agreement between Los Alamos National Laboratory and the U.S. Military Academy, Scott Runnels has been selected for a two-year faculty post in the Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering at West Point.

The teaching position is intended to strengthen the ties between the U.S. national laboratories and the U.S. military academies by bringing in a top scientist to teach at West Point with “a firm grounding in research and practice” to bolster the institution’s cadet and faculty research projects, faculty development, and cadet development activities. Read More

Voyager 1. Courtesy photo

AGU News:

WASHINGTON D.C. – Thirty-five years after its launch, Voyager 1 appears to have travelled beyond the influence of the Sun and exited the heliosphere, according to a new study appearing online today.

The heliosphere is a region of space dominated by the Sun and its wind of energetic particles, and which is thought to be enclosed, bubble-like, in the surrounding interstellar medium of gas and dust that pervades the Milky Way galaxy.

Aug. 25, 2012, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft measured drastic changes in radiation levels, more than 11 billion miles Read More

The Bradbury Science Museum https:////www.lanl.gov/museum is at 15th Street and Central Avenue in downtown Los Alamos, New Mexico. The museum’s regular hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday, and 1-5 p.m. Sunday and Monday. Admission is free and photography is allowed. Visit the museum’s website for more details regarding NanDays at https:////www.lanl.gov/museum/index.shtml Read More

U.S. CONGRESSIONAL News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – New Mexico Congressman Ben Ray Luján, a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and Co-Chair of the Science and National Labs Caucus, released the following statement on President Obama’s visit to Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois.

“Over the past few years, the United States has made progress toward a cleaner energy future that is better for our economy, our environment, and our security. However, with gas prices continuing to squeeze families across the country and the growing impact of climate change, significant work remains to build Read More