National Laboratory

Letter to the Editor: Enjoy WGN’s ‘Manhattan’ But Don’t Believe A Word Of It

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By ALAN HACK
Los Alamos

With the finish of this year’s episodes of “Manhattan” I have a few comments.

There was indeed friction between the Army and civilians involving cutting down trees and other issues. But when the story gets to the scientific and technical issues almost everything shown is wrong.

A key issue was the need to develop an implosion system when reactor generated Pu proved to have too much spontaneous fission to be used in a gun type assembly. But rather than there being resistance to developing implosion, the Lab was immediately reorganized and enlarged to Read More

Venture Acceleration Fund Wins National Entrepreneurship Award

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RDC News:
 

The Venture Acceleration Fund (VAF) created by Los Alamos National Security, LLC (LANS) and administered by the Regional Development Corporation received the 2014 entrepreneurship award from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). The award was presented at IEDC’s annual conference this week in Fort Worth, Texas.

 

The IEDC annually recognizes the world’s best economic development programs and partnerships, marketing materials and most influential leaders. The VAF program was one of 34 recognized by the IEDC. Judging criteria Read More

LANL: Novel Rocket Design Flight Tested

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Screenshot/Laboratory’s YouTube Channel

Screenshot/Laboratory’s YouTube Channel

LANL News:

  • New Rocket Propellant and Motor Design Offers High Performance and Safety

Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists recently flight tested a new rocket design that includes a high-energy fuel and a motor design that also delivers a high degree of safety.

“What we’re trying to do is break the performance versus sensitivity curve, and make a rocket that’s both very high-energy, as well as very safe,” said Bryce Tappan, an energetic materials chemist at Read More

SFI Colloquium: The History of the Universe …

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John Mather

SFI News:

The Santa Fe Institute will host a colloquium titled “The History of the Universe: How We Got Here and Where We Are Going” by John Mather of NASA at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28 in the Noyce Conference Room at SFI, 1399 Hyde Park Road in Santa Fe. The SFI host is David Pines.

Abstract. The history of the universe in a nutshell, from the Big Bang to now, and on to the future – John Mather will tell the story of how we got here, how the Universe began with a Big Bang, how it could have produced an Earth where sentient beings can live, and how those beings are discovering their history. 

Mather Read More

SFI Lecture: The Complexity of Competition …

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Jessie Barker of the University of Arizona

SFI News:

The Santa Fe Institute will host a seminar, “The Complexity of Competition – How Contested Resources and the Scale of Competition Shape Cooperation in Human Groups” by Jessie Barker at 12:15 p.m. Monday, Oct. 27 in the Collins Conference Room at SFI, 1399 Hyde Park Road in Santa Fe. The SFI host is Caitlin Stern.

Abstract. Cooperation among people across societies is required to solve our most pressing social and environmental problems. Insights from evolutionary biology are already being used to promote cooperative Read More

High-Tech Halloween At Bradbury Friday

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The Cryogenics Show featuring ‘Lady Bug’ (Pam Matteson) and ‘Lance Armstrong’ (Brent Matteson of LANL’s Chemistry Division. Courtesy/BSM

BSM News:

High-Tech Halloween returns to the Bradbury Science Museum 4-6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24. This annual event is one of the most popular for the museum and is in conjunction with Los Alamos County’s Trick or Treat on MainStreet event.

Each year, hundreds of children from kindergarten through middle school flock to the museum to enjoy a variety of activities that teach them about STEM topics and the principals of

Read More

Sierra Club Presents Jeri Sullivan Graham On The Energy-Water Nexus

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Jeri Sullivan Graham

SIERRA CLUB News:

The public is invited to hear Jeri Sullivan Graham present “The Energy-Water Nexus” at an open meeting of the Sierra Club at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5 at UNM-LA Media Bldg. 2. Rm. 203.

Water and Energy are inextricably linked. It takes water to develop and transmit energy; it takes energy to acquire, treat, and transport water. Our current infrastructure for water is based upon pre-20th century methods in many cases, while energy development, including oil and gas exploration and production, is changing  faster than is our water knowledge Read More

First Liquid Fueled Vehicle Returned To Service In WIPP Underground

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WIPP News:

The first piece of diesel-powered equipment has been returned to service in the WIPP underground facility.

Last week, workers inspected the four-ton forklift and performed preventative maintenance so that it could be returned to service. The forklift will support various activities over the next several weeks, including resumption of bolting activities, final waste hoist inspections, and moving equipment associated with project REACH.

Preventative maintenance activities and inspections are also being performed on the roof bolting machine and the mobile vehicle that Read More

New Mexico Consortium Laboratory Open To Public

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Laboratory setup. Courtesy/NMC
Algae samples. Courtesy/NMC
 
By VICTORIA ERHART
 
Interested in using pond scum to power a jet? What to create your own multi-colored, glow in the dark, grow anywhere tomato plant? Need to study the effects of climate change from the molecular to the ultrascale level?
 
Then visit the New Mexico Consortium Laboratory in Los Alamos on the fourth Saturday of each month when the lab offers public tours of its facilities.
 
The New Mexico Consortium Laboratory is a cooperative venture bringing together scientists and researchers from Los Alamos
Read More

EM Chief Visits WIPP For First Underground Tour Since February Incidents

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CBFO Manager Joe Franco, left, points to a location on a map of the WIPP underground as EM Acting Assistant Secretary Mark Whitney looks on. Courtesy/WIPP

WIPP News:

Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Mark Whitney visited WIPP Thursday and became the first non‐WIPP employee to tour the underground facility since a truck fire and unrelated radiological release temporarily closed the facility in February.

“EM, and the greater DOE, is committed to reopening WIPP to support the important mission of cleaning up the nation’s legacy of nuclear waste,” Whitney Read More