Environment

Community Invited To Mothing After Dark Sept. 28

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Visit the Los Alamos Nature Center to see beautiful moths and other nocturnal insects 8-10 p.m., Sept. 28. Photos by Mouser Williams

PEEC News:

Come see moths and other nocturnal insects at the Los Alamos Nature Center 8-10 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 28.

Mouser Williams will set up a moth attractor light and a big white sheet for the moths to land on. Over the course of the evening, various moths and other insects will stop by to investigate the lamp and will be easy to examine at close range.

Look for the bright black-light and white sheet near the flower beds in front of the nature center. We will provide Read More

LANL: New Insights Into ‘Plant Memories’

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Artist’s impression of a long, non-coding RNA system. Grey/blue/red indicates main long non-coding RNA. Green, showing a second RNA interacting with long-noncoding RNA. Magenta ribbons and blue barrels indicated RNA-interacting proteins. Image by Kara Fischer and Karissa Sanbonmatsu/LANL

LANL News:

A special stretch of ribonucleic acid (RNA) called COOLAIR is revealing its inner structure and function to scientists, displaying a striking resemblance to an RNA molecular machine, territory previously understood to be limited to the cells’ protein factory (the ‘ribosome’) Read More

Organic Farm Goes Green With Solar Power System

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USDA Rural Development State Director Terry Brunner (second from left) presents a certificate of congratulations to Ronald Ice (third from left) and his wife Gayle for the recent completion of construction of a solar power system at their farm; as Karen Paramanandam of SunPower by Positive Energy Solar looks on. Courtesy photo
 
USDA News:
 
ALBUQUERQUE ― USDA Rural Development State Director Terry Brunner dedicated the new solar photovoltaic system recently installed at the Ice’s Organic Farm and Tea House in Alcalde.
 
While presenting a certificate of completion,
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Valles Caldera Jemez Mountains Elk Festival Sept. 24

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The 8th Annual Jemez Mountains Elk Festival is 2-7 p.m., Sept. 24. Courtesy/nps
 
VCNP News:
 
The Valles Caldera National Preserve is home to one of the largest elk herds in New Mexico. Each fall, the sound of elk bugling in the mountains marks the start of their mating season, known as the ‘rut’.
 
To celebrate the upcoming elk rut and to learn about this fascinating creature, the National Park Service will host the 8th Annual Jemez Mountains Elk Festival 2-7 p.m., Sept. 24. 
 
This FREE festival features a food truck, bugling
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Heinrich, Flake Introduce Legislation To Complete Parks, Wilderness Areas And Increase Revenues For Schools

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SENATE News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. ― U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) have introduced legislation to better facilitate land exchanges between Western state land offices and federal public land agencies.
 
The Advancing Conservation and Education (ACE) Act specifically focuses on state trust land inholdings within the boundaries of federal conservation areas like parks, monuments, and wilderness areas.  

“Inholdings present challenges for both public land managers and state trust land commissioners because

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PEEC: Fourth Friday Fractal Show Sept. 23

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PEEC News:
 
Have you journeyed into the never-ending world of fractals?
 
Pajarito Environmental Education Center’s dynamic fractal show is back for one evening this month: at 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 23 in the Los Alamos Nature Center Planetarium.
 
This show incorporates math, science, art, and nature in a full-dome planetarium show featuring original music.
 
This spectacular show starts promptly at 7 p.m. and seating is limited. Tickets may be purchased by phone or at the nature center and are only $10 for adults
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Universal News: This Just In – Gravity Waves Are Real

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The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in Livingston, La. Courtesy/CalTech
 
By ROGER SNODGRASS
Los Alamos Daily Post

Gravity waves were detected in the universe for the first time on Sept. 14, 2015, a hundred years after they were predicted by Albert Einstein in his general theory of relativity. Even at the speed of light, they took 1.3 billion years to get here. The first detected gravitational waves were produced by a specific cataclysmic event, identified as two black holes coalescing, releasing enough energy in the last fraction of a second to warp time

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Public Astronomy Dark Night Saturday, Sept. 24

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PAJARITO ASTRONOMERS News:

The Pajarito Astronomers is holding a County-sponsored Dark Night starting at 7 p.m. (sunset) Saturday, Sept. 24 at Spirio Soccer Field, Overlook Park in White Rock.

Weather permitting, the public is invited to come out, wander among the telescopes and star gaze.

Five planets will potentially be visible during the evening:

  • Venus;
  • Mars;
  • Saturn;
  • Uranus; and
  • Neptune.

There will be a tour of the summer and fall constellations, and there will be telescope views of double stars, star clusters, nebulae and galaxies. 

The public is invited and encouraged to attend. Read More

DOE Releases Baseline Study Of Legacy Waste Cleanup Needs At LANL

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LANL News:
 
SANTA FE ― In a major development for the efforts of the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities, including Santa Fe, which is advocating for the cleanup of legacy radioactive and chemical waste resulting from historic uses of Los Alamos National Labs, the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Office has completed and released a Legacy Waste Cleanup Lifecycle Cost Estimate.
 
The 46-page document was obtained on behalf of and provided to the Coalition thanks to the efforts of Sen. Martin Heinrich, Sen. Tom Udall, and Rep. Ben Ray
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Giant Algal Bloom Sheds Light On Formation Of White Cliffs Of Dover

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The White Cliffs of Dover have been a symbol of England at least since Roman times. New research is teaching scientists more about how this great structure came to be. Photo by Immanuel Giel/Wikimedia Commons
 
This microscopic view of a coccolithophore shows the saucer-shaped calcite plates the algae build around themselves. Scientists suspect the plates help coccolithophores survive and evade predators. Photo by Alison R. Taylor/University of North Carolina Wilmington Microscopy Facility/Wikimedia Commons
 
AGU News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A great algae bloom at the bottom

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