Environment

Energy Department Announces $58 Million To Advance Fuel-Efficient Vehicle Technologies

January 22, 2016 by Submitted by Chris Clark

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz

DOE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. ― U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced more than $58 million in funding for vehicle technology advancements and released a report highlighting the successes of DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program while touring the newest vehicle technologies Thursday at the Washington Auto Show.

Continuing the Obama Administration’s commitment to supporting the domestic automobile industry, Moniz announced a $55 million funding opportunity that will solicit

PEEC Offers Bosque del Apache Birding This Weekend

January 22, 2016 by Submitted by Chris Clark

Birders at Bosque del Apache. Photo by Mouser Williams

PEEC News:

Learn more about wildlife this weekend birding at the Bosque del Apache with two expert birders and excellent teachers, David Yeamans and Mouser Williams. The Pajarito Environmental Education Center is sponsoring the program.

Yeamans has watched birds most of his life starting in Los Alamos many years ago, and in the last five years, he has been a birder of the type he calls “semi-pro.”

Yeamans is active in Audubon bird counts, bird banding, field trips, and local birding activities.

Heinrich Applauds Cosmic Campgrounds International Dark Sky Sanctuary Designation

January 22, 2016 by Submitted by Chris Clark

SENATE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. ― U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., applauded western New Mexico’s Cosmic Campground on being designated International Dark Sky Sanctuary.

The Cosmic Campground is the first International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) location on U.S Forest Service land and the first dark sky sanctuary designated in the United States.

“The Cosmic Campground in Catron County brings visitors from around the United States and the world to enjoy New Mexico’s unmatched wild places,” Heinrich said. “Outdoor

Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority Approves Planned Irradiation Project At Halden Research Reactor

January 22, 2016 by Submitted by Chris Clark

LTBR News:

Reston, VA ― Lightbridge Corporation, a U.S. nuclear energy company, announced Thursday that the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE), which operates the Halden Research Reactor in Norway, had received formal regulatory approval from the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA) for all planned irradiation of Lightbridge metallic fuel at the Halden Research Reactor in Norway, which is expected to begin in 2017.

This regulatory approval follows a safety report previously submitted by IFE to the NRPA relating to irradiation testing of Lightbridge-designed

Explore Mars In The Nature Center Planetarium Friday

January 21, 2016 by Submitted by Chris Clark

Courtesy/PEEC

PEEC News:

Learn more about Mars at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22, at the Los Alamos Nature Center as Rick Wallace leads a planetarium show and discussion of Mars, the challenges, opportunities, and realities of this red planet.

This special planetarium show is $6 for adults and $4 for children. Tickets are available by calling or stopping by the nature center. Seating is limited.

Planetarium shows are suitable for ages four and up. For more information about this and other PEEC programs, visit here, email programs@peecnature.org

Caltech Researchers Find Evidence Of A Real Ninth Planet

January 21, 2016 by Submitted by Carol A. Clark

This artistic rendering shows the distant view from Planet Nine back towards the sun. The planet is thought to be gaseous, similar to Uranus and Neptune. Hypothetical lightning lights up the night side. Courtesy/Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)

CALTECH News:

Credit: Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)

– See more at: https:////www.caltech.edu/news/caltech-researchers-find-evidence-real-ninth-planet-49523#sthash.LN79Qeyo.dpuf

IET Issues Call For Papers To Gas Turbine Instrumentation Community

January 21, 2016 by Submitted by Chris Clark

IET News:

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)—a member organization of the Automation Federation—has issued a Call for Papers, inviting experts within the international gas turbine instrumentation community to share their latest research and results at the 2016 EVI-GTI Conference on Gas Turbine Instrumentation.

The conference, to take place in September in Berlin, Germany and bring together gas turbine professionals, process engineers and leading industry experts to discuss new and innovative instrumentation techniques, developments and applications

‘Earthshaking’ Science On Tap Jan. 21 At UnQuarked

January 20, 2016 by Submitted by Chris Clark

LACD News:

Does one big earthquake lead to another?

While large earthquakes have occurred throughout the Earth’s history, their number has dramatically increased in the last ten to fifteen years. What is it that makes the earth move under our feet? How is it that earthquakes can cause other earthquakes? Can human activities, such as “fracking,” also trigger earthquakes?

Paul Johnson with the Lab’s Geophysics group will help explore this topic at the next Science On Tap, at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 21, at UnQuarked Wine Room, 145 Central Park

Letter To The Editor: Bears Ears National Monument?

January 19, 2016 by Submitted by Carol A. Clark

By JODY BENSON

Los Alamos

Here in Los Alamos, we prefer data to anecdotal (so-called) information, and the data about public support of public lands as presented in the recent letter in the Los Alamos Daily Post about Colorado College’s Poll on Conservation in the West is heartening: 78 percent of New Mexicans value conserving public lands.

Los Alamites with access to the mesas and canyons appreciate the quality of life open space provides. In fact, 16 years ago, many of us put those values into action as we worked diligently for two years to save our beautiful Valles Caldera from development Read More

Secretary Jewell Launches Comprehensive Review Of Federal Coal Program

January 18, 2016 by Submitted by Chris Clark

Secretary Sally Jewell

INTERIOR DEPARTMENT News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. ― Secretary Sally Jewell announced Friday, that the Interior Department will launch a comprehensive review to identify and evaluate potential reforms to the federal coal program in order to ensure that it is properly structured to provide a fair return to taxpayers and reflect its impacts on the environment, while continuing to help meet our energy needs.

This is another step along the path that President Obama announced in Tuesday’s State of the Union address to improve