Nation

New Research Reveals Europa’s Mystery Dark Material Could Be Sea Salt

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AGU/NASA News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. ― New laboratory experiments suggest the dark material coating some geological features of Jupiter’s moon Europa is likely sea salt from a subsurface ocean, discolored by exposure to radiation.
The presence of sea salt on Europa’s surface suggests the ocean is interacting with its rocky seafloor―an important consideration in determining whether the icy moon could support life.
 
The new study has been accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, and is available
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Exhibition: ‘One Life – Dolores Huerta’ Opens July 3

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‘Dolores Huerta’ by Barbara Carrasco, Silkscreen, 1999, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, ©1999 Barbara Carrasco
 
SMITHSONIAN News:
 
The story of the modern agricultural workers’ movement in the United States is deeply intertwined with that of Dolores Huerta, a Latina leader who worked tirelessly on behalf of farm workers.
 
The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery will highlight her significant role in this movement of the 1960s and 1970s through the exhibition “One Life: Dolores Huerta,” July 3-May 15, 2016.
 
This 11th installment in
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DOE’s Better Buildings Challenge Saves $840 Million

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DOE News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. ― As part of the Administration’s effort to advance energy efficiency and combat the harmful effects of climate change, Better Buildings Challenge partners have cut energy waste by 94 BTUs since President Obama first launched the challenge in 2011.
 
The energy savings announced today have saved partners a total of $840 million dollars in energy costs and avoided 6 million tons of harmful carbon emissions, equivalent to cutting the emissions of 1 million cars.
 
To continue this progress, the Energy Department is expanding the Better Buildings
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Armenia Secures Dangerous Radioactive Sources In Cooperation With NNSA

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NSA News:

YEREVAN, Armenia – The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) joined the Republic of Armenia today to announce the safe and secure removal of three unused radioactive sources from two locations in Yerevan, Armenia.

The successful completion of the radioactive source recovery campaign was conducted by the Armenia Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ANRA).

Since 2002, the NNSA’s Radiological Security Program has committed over two million dollars to Armenia in support of radiological security projects. Together, ANRA and NNSA have removed, identified Read More

Mars Rover’s ChemCam Instrument Gets Sharper Vision

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Yellowjacket is the first rock targeted by the NASA Mars Rover’s ChemCam device after checkout of the auto-focus repair. It is a layered sedimentary rock. The laser analysis yielded a composition very close to that of Mars soil and unlike the lakebed sedimentary compositions observed at lower elevations and earlier in the mission. The soil-like composition may indicate that these rocks formed from sediment transported by wind, rather than by water. The ChemCam image also shows millimeter-size spherules of unknown origin, not seen in most earlier sedimentary rocks. Yellowjacket was analyzed Read More

DEA Releases National Heroin Threat Assessment

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DEA News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. ― The National Heroin Threat Assessment (NHTA), released Friday by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), shows heroin use and availability on the rise and causing more overdose deaths than at any time in the last decade. 
 
Although fewer people presently use heroin than other illicit drugs, the heroin user population is growing at a faster rate than any other drug of abuse, almost doubling between 2007 and 2013—from 161,000 to 289,000—according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
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WIPP: Work Begins On Interim Ventilation System

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WIPP News:
 
Recovery operations at the WIPP facility continue to move forward with work beginning on installation of the interim ventilation system.
 
This system will increase the overall amount of airflow in the underground facility from the 60,000 cubic feet per minute (CFM) available under the current configuration up to 114,000 CFM. Following the radiological event of February 2014, all air exiting the WIPP underground passes through High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters prior to being released into the environment.
 
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LAHS Junior EliseAnne Koskelo Receives Prestigious Awards For Work In Art, Design And Science

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LAHS student EliseAnne Koskelo wearing the medal she received from the YoungArts Foundation. Courtesy photo

LAHS News:

EliseAnne Koskelo, a junior at Los Alamos High School, is the recipient of several prestigious awards for her work in art, design and science. 

In December of 2014, Koskelo was awarded a Merit designation from the National Young Arts Foundation for her work. Koskelo’s portfolio was chosen from more that 11,000 applications from across the United States.

As one of 700 winners of this award, she travelled to New York City earlier this month to attend master classes Read More

NM Hosts National Conference On Court Interpreters

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COURT News:
 
SANTA FE ― Managers of programs providing interpreting services for state courts across the country gathered in New Mexico last week for a national conference.
 
New Mexico Supreme Court Chief Justice Barbara J. Vigil and Artie Pepin, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, officially opened the conference. Supreme Court Justice Edward L. Chávez delivered a keynote address.

Other New Mexico presenters included Paul Kippert, assistant general counsel with the Department of Finance and Administration, and Lisa Dignan and Roger Robb with the Read More

Letter To The Editor: Patriotic Speech One Of Best

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By TERRY GOLDMAN
Los Alamos

The turn-out for today’s VFW-Memorial Day event may have been a bit reduced due to the weather, which was unfortunate since the principal speaker, Col. Edmond Keith, USAF (ret.), gave one of the best patriotic speeches I have ever heard at thus annual event.

Keith averred that unlike every other country, America is more than simply a land or a people; rather America is an idea, a concept based on the highest aspirations of humanity. He argued forcefully that no one in our military service can die in vain, since they fight not for territory or possessions, but to protect Read More