National Laboratory

Rosetta’s Philae Probe Lands On A Comet

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Rosetta’s deployment of Philae to land on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Courtesy/ESA

Touchdown of Philae. Courtesy/ESA

ESA News:

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta mission has soft-landed its Philae probe on a comet, the first time in history that such an extraordinary feat has been achieved. Watch video here.

After a tense wait during the seven-hour descent to the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, the signal confirming the successful touchdown arrived on Earth at 16:03 GMT (17:03 CET). The confirmation was relayed via the Rosetta orbiter to Earth and picked Read More

Review: On My Own, New Autobiography By Dimas Chávez Beginning In Los Alamos

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Dimas Chavez
 
On My Own
Review By JOYCE JOSLIN WOLFF
Los Alamos

Editor’s note: This is a book review by Joyce Joslin Wolff who went to school with Dimas Chávez from 1944 through their graduation from Los Alamos High School in 1955. They shared teachers and experiences those many years.

It was 1943. A 6-year-old Dimas Chávez and his family from Torreon, New Mexico wound their way up the front hill road to make their home in Los Alamos. As the Manhattan Project was top secret they had little idea what living on the isolated Pajarito Plateau would be like. 

On My Own, a new autobiography Read More

100 Supercomputers Later, Los Alamos High-Performance Computing Still Supports National Security Mission

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LANL News:

  • Lab’s supercomputing capability core to proud legacy, bold future

From the 1952 MANIAC to Bonanza deployed just this month, Los Alamos National Laboratory has deployed 100 supercomputers in the last 60 years – a showcase of high-performance computing history.

“The computing capability in our data centers in any given year dwarfs what was there 10 years before,” said Randal Rheinheimer of the High Performance Computing division, “and Los Alamos has been on that curve for 60 years.”

The Los Alamos computers deployed along the way include the MANIAC II, which started its nearly 20-year Read More

International Scientific Society Reacts To L’Aquila Seismologists Acquittal

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Christine McEntee

AGU News:

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The following statement is attributable to Executive Director/CEO Christine McEntee of the American Geophysical Union (AGU):

“The October 2012 conviction of Italian scientists on manslaughter charges in connection with the L’Aquila earthquake was alarming to the worldwide scientific community, and today’s acquittal is an important step in sanctioning the role scientists play in advising governments and communicating the results of their research to the public. Scientists must be able to exchange data and information Read More

SFI Community Lecture: ‘Why We Kill: Violence As Socialization’

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Ginger and Richard Rhodes

SFI News:

The Santa Fe Institute will host a Community Lecture titled “Why We Kill: Violence as Socialization” by Ginger Rhodes and Richard Rhodes at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12 at the James A. Little Theater on the campus of New Mexico School For The Deaf, 1060 Cerrillos Road.

Acts of serious violence – often committed by seemingly average people – leave us only to ask “Why?” Culture, genetics, and low self-esteem are often cited, but growing evidence points to brutalization experienced in childhood, often at the hands of parents or peers. Ginger Rhodes and Richard Read More

Cafe Scientifique Presents Attack Of The Super-Bugs … By LANL’s Harshini Mukundan Thursday

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CAFE SCIENTIFIQUE News:

November’s Cafe Scientifique features Dr. Harshini Mukundan from Los Alamos National Laboratory who is speaking on “Attack of the Super-bugs … The global threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.”

The event is for all area teens and includes food and fun beginning at 6:30 p.m., Thursday at the Los Alamos Research Park.

About Harshini Mukundan

I am a scientist and team leader at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, working on the development of diagnostic and surveillance strategies for emerging infectious diseases and drug-resistant organisms. Read More

Unusual Light In Dark Space Revealed By LANL, NASA

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LANL News:

  • Near-infrared data could change the way we think about galaxies

By looking at the dark spaces between visible galaxies and stars the NASA/JPL CIBER sounding rocket experiment has produced data that could redefine what constitutes a galaxy.

“What was very surprising is the brightness of many fluctuations that appear between stars and galaxies,” said Los Alamos scientist Joseph Smidt, part of the data analysis team that studied the data from CIBER. “These fluctuations are having us rethink what goes Read More

SFI Colloquium: Agent_Zero …

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Joshua M. Epstein

SFI News:

The Santa Fe Institute will host a colloquium titled “Agent_Zero: Toward Neurocognitive Foundations for Generative Social Science” by Joshua M. Epstein of Johns Hopkins University, an SFI external professor.

The colloquium is 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13 in the Noyce Conference Room at SFI, 1399 Hyde Park Road in Santa Fe. The SFI host is Ben Althouse.

Abstract.  Professor Epstein will present Agent_Zero, a new theoretical entity developed under his NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, and just published by Princeton University Press. Agent_Zero is a software Read More

WIPP Reports Air Monitoring Results Following Fan Restart

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WIPP News:

Laboratory results from air samplers located on and around the WIPP facility following the restart of the 860A fan Oct. 21 showed minimal levels of radioactive contamination detected at two of the on‐site air sampling locations.

The levels were well below that which would impact worker health or the environment, according to WIPP.

The 860A fan, which is part of the underground ventilation and filtration system, ran for approximately two months following the radiological incident before being taken off‐line for maintenance. Since that time, the 860B
or the 860C fans have been operating Read More

DOE Announces New Investments In Gasification Research

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DOE News:

  • Advanced Technologies Improve Gasification Systems, Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, as part of the Administration’s all-of-the-above energy approach, the Department of Energy has selected four projects to receive funding for next-generation gasification systems that also reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

Awardees will receive approximately $16 million to advance the gasification process, which converts carbon-based materials like coal into syngas for use as power, chemicals, hydrogen, and transportation fuels.

“By partnering with Read More