Environment

Kiwanis Club Sponsors Storytelling At Nature Center 6 p.m. Today

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Gathered around the campfire to listen and imagine. Courtesy/PEEC

PEEC News:

Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC) is bringing two great storytellers to the Los Alamos Nature Center at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10 to light up one’s imagination.

Gather under the planetarium stars to enjoy nature-inspired storytelling. With master storytellers Teralene (Terry) Foxx and Kimberly Gotches as guides, children and adults will embark on an adventure to meet all kinds of animals, learn about stars, and even go fishing.

This program is free thanks to a generous sponsorship from the Kiwanis Read More

PEEC Workshop Saturday: The New Age Of Birding

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Courtesy/PEEC

Do you enjoy watching birds? Would you like to know how to integrate new technology to further your birding efforts?

Expert birders Bob Walker and Dave Yeamans are leading a workshop 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14 at the Los Alamos Nature Center to explore how technology is transforming birding. This workshop is for all levels of birders and focuses on using digital tools.

Technology is quickly changing how we connect with nature. In many ways, the digital age is making it easier to view, identify, and document birds and other wild animals. That is if we know how to use our digital Read More

Interior, Energy Departments To Sign Agreement Establishing Manhattan Project National Historical Park

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U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz

DEPT. OF INTERIOR News:

WAHINGTON, D.C. – Tuesday, Nov. 10, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz will sign a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) at the Department of the Interior South Building Auditorium, to establish the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

The park will have three locations: Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Tenn. and Hanford, Wash. National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis will attend the ceremony along with Senators Martin Heinrich, Lamar Alexander and Maria Cantwell, who Read More

Looking For Deliberate Radio Signals From KIC 8462852

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Allen Telescope Array. Courtesy/Seth Shostak, SETI Institute

SCIENCE News:

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.— Could there be intelligent life in the star system KIC 8462852? A recent analysis of data collected by the Kepler space telescope has shown that this star, informally known as Tabby’s Star, evidences a periodic dimming of 20 percent and more. 

While several natural explanations for this strong change in luminosity have been proposed, one possibility is that a technologically adept civilization has built megastructures in orbit around star, causing the dimming. 

One example

Read More

Super Strypi Fails In First Minute Of Launch

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The Super Strypi launch vehicle blasted off from a rail launch platform at the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii at 5:45 p.m. (HST). Courtesy/U.S. Air Force/University of Hawaii/Spaceflight Now
 
 
By ROGER SNODGRASS
Los Alamos Daily Post
  • New Mexico CubeSat team weighs another shot

The maiden flight of the Super Strypi launch vehicle stumbled out of control in the first stage of a low-earth-orbit mission Tuesday night.

Lost in delayed glimpses of the disintegrating rocket were the pieces of a doomed payload, 13 small satellites. The main payload of six small CubeSats

Read More

Advanced Reactor Development To Strengthen Nuclear Power’s Role In Combating Climate Change

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DOE News:
 
WASHINGTON ― The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) made two announcements today at the White House Summit on Nuclear Energy that will bolster our nation’s commitment to nuclear power as a clean energy solution for combating climate change.
 
One of the efforts by DOE will accelerate the development of advanced designs for nuclear reactors through the Office of Nuclear Energy’s Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN).
 
Additionally, DOE’s Loan Programs Office will issue a supplement to the agency’s existing Advanced Nuclear Energy Projects
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Air Quality Meeting In Four Corners Region

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NMED News:
 
SANTA FE ― The Four Corners Air Quality Group will meet Monday, Nov. 9 and Tuesday, Nov. 10 at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo., to report upon and discuss regional air quality issues.
 
The States of New Mexico and Colorado, with their partners, sponsor the Four Corners Air Quality Group to support the ongoing effort of managing air quality in the Four Corners area. 
 
Ozone standards, which were recently revised by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA); EPA’s recently released Clean Power Plan; and
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Preservation Of 5,900 Acre Double E Ranch Celebrated At WNMU In Silver City

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NMONR News:
 
SANTA FE ― The New Mexico Office of Natural Resources Trustee and the United States Department of the Interior completed a cooperative natural resource damage assessment associated with natural resources in New Mexico, which had been injured, destroyed, or lost as a result of the release of hazardous substances into the environment.
 
They solicited a broad range of ideas for potential restoration projects from local, state, and federal agencies; nonprofit organizations; stakeholder groups; and private citizens.
 
The Double E Ranch
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Chromium Project Notice Of Proposed Floodplain Action Public Comment Period Closes Nov. 20

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DEEM News:
 
The Department of Energy Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office has prepared a Draft Environmental Assessment for the Chromium Plume Control Interim Measure and Plume-Center Characterization at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).
 
The proposed action may include well pad and access road installation and maintenance, piezometer placement, and pipeline placement in the 100-year floodplain in Mortandad and Sandia canyons on LANL.
 
The objectives of the proposed actions are to control migration of the chromium plume and to further characterize
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Access To Los Alamos Reservoir And Surrounding Area Closed Nov. 9, 2015 Through June 30, 2016

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The access road leading up to the reservoir shows flood damage. Courtesy/LAC

COUNTY News:

Pedestrian and motor vehicle access to the Los Alamos Reservoir will be restricted Monday, Nov. 9, and continue through June 2016. 

Los Alamos Department of Public Utilities awarded a contract to CBKN Dirtworks, Inc. to restore the reservoir after several flood events filled it with sediment and compromised the access road.

Department officials warn that construction crews with heavy equipment will be utilizing the single dirt road leading up to the Los Alamos Canyon Dam and Reservoir Read More