Environment

Los Alamos Eco Station Collects Fruit For Bears

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Courtesy photo

COMMUNITY News:

The Los Alamos County Eco Station is collecting apples and other fruit for the two bear cubs orphaned this summer in the Valles Caldera. Dr. Kathleen Ramsay and the Land of Enchantment Wildlife Foundation are rehabilitating the cubs.

The community is invited to stop by the Eco Station and drop off fruit, 8 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The Eco Station is at 3701 E. Jemez Road and the telephone number is 505.662-8163.

The bear cubs, known as Valley Girl Read More

Planet Found In Habitable Zone Around Nearest Star

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ESO News:
 
Astronomers using ESO telescopes and other facilities have found clear evidence of a planet orbiting the closest star to Earth, Proxima Centauri [0].
 
The long-sought world, designated Proxima b, orbits its cool red parent star every 11 days and has a temperature suitable for liquid water to exist on its surface. This rocky world is a little more massive than the Earth and is the closest exoplanet to us — and it may also be the closest possible abode for life outside the solar system. A paper describing this milestone finding will be published in the journal Nature on
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Planetarium Feature Film: Mysteries Of The Unseen World Sept. 10-11

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PEEC News:
 
Embark on a journey into unseen worlds and hidden dimensions at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, September 10-11, in the Los Alamos Nature Center.
 
Mysteries Of The Unseen World, a full-dome, original production by National Geographic Entertainment and Days End Pictures, lets us see nature from a new perspective.
 
Mysteries Of The Unseen World uses innovative high-speed and time-lapse photography, electron microscopy, and nanotechnology to transport audiences to an enthralling secret world of nature, events, and breathtaking
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Hunt For Ninth Planet Reveals Extremely Distant Solar System Objects

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An artist’s conception of Planet X, courtesy of Robin Dienel.
 
An illustration of the orbits of the new and previously known extremely distant Solar System objects. The clustering of most of their orbits indicates that they are likely be influenced by something massive and very distant, the proposed Planet X. Courtesy/Robin Dienel
 
SCIENCE News: 
 
Washington, D.C.— In the race to discover a proposed ninth planet in our Solar System, Carnegie’s Scott Sheppard and Chadwick Trujillo of Northern Arizona University have observed several never-before-seen objects
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SFNF Prescribed Burns For Remainder Of 2016

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SFNF News:
 
SANTA FE ― Fire managers on the Santa Fe National Forest are planning to conduct multiple prescribed burns across the forest between now and the end of the year. Any decision to burn will be dependent on favorable conditions, including fuel moisture levels, air quality and weather forecasts.
 
Here is a list of planned burns:
 
Coyote Ranger District
  • Mesa Potrero – 470 acres on Mesa Alta 7 miles northwest of Coyote
  • French Mesa – 5,041 acres located 10 miles south of Gallina
Cuba Ranger District
  • Chaparral Diego Unit – 378 acres located 2 miles southwest of
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SFNF Tackles Parasitic Mistletoe In Jemez Mountains

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Parasitic Mistletoe. Courtesy/wikipedia.com

SFNF News:

  • Public Field Trip To Infected Area Sept. 24

SANTA FE – Initial surveys on the Santa Fe National Forest’s Southwest Jemez Mountains Collaborative Landscape Restoration project underestimated the incidence and severity of dwarf mistletoe infection in some stands. Stands along Forest Road (FR) 10 are heavily infected with the native parasitic plant that reduces the growth, seed production and life span of infected trees.

The areas of heavy mistletoe infestation total about 530 acres, including smaller patches Read More

DOE Exercises Both Option Periods On LANL Cleanup Bridge Contract

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EM-LA News:

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Management – Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) exercised both the first and second option periods on the Los Alamos Legacy Cleanup Bridge Contract today.

Each option period is for six-months and have a combined total value of $154.7 million. Exercising both option periods now extends the contract to Sept. 30, 2017. Prior to exercising these two options, the contract would have expired Sept. 30, 2016.

The Los Alamos Legacy Cleanup Bridge Contract is a Cost-Plus-Award Fee (CPAF) contract that is for the Read More

Deputy Under Secretary Of Energy To Provide Keynote At 2016 National Cleanup Workshop

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Deputy Under Secretary of Energy David Klaus
 
DOE News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. ― Deputy Under Secretary of Energy for Management and Performance David Klaus is set to provide a keynote address at the 2016 National Cleanup Workshop, scheduled for Sept. 14-15 at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center in Alexandria, Va.
 
The workshop is being hosted by the Energy Communities Alliance, and cooperating organizations for the event include DOE and the Energy Facility Contractors Group.
 
Klaus joins a long list of confirmed participants for the workshop
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LANL: Plants Found To Regulate Leaf Temperature To Boost Carbon Uptake

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The thermal traits of a leaf, critical for photosynthesis, may be under strong evolutionary selection that occurs in response to environmental temperatures. Here a thermal leaf image details temperature variation, which greatly affects plant functions since temperature is closely linked to metabolic kinetics—the plant’s pathways and speed of reactions that support growth and other functions essential for survival. Photo by Benjamin Blonder

LANL News:

  • Decoupling air and leaf temperatures will impact climate models

A new study has found that plants regulate their leaf temperature Read More

NNSA Announces Elimination Of Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) From Indonesia

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NNSA Deputy Administrator Anne Harrington

NNSA News:

  • All of Southeast Asia Now HEU-Free, Reducing a Major Proliferation Threat

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA), Indonesian Nuclear Industry, LLC (PT INUKI), the National Nuclear Energy Agency (BATAN), and the Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency (BAPETEN) of the Republic of Indonesia announced the completion of a collaborative effort to down-blend Indonesia’s stocks of highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU).

With the completion Read More