National Laboratory

WIPP’s Primary Hoist Begins Inspection Processes

by

WIPP News:

The waste hoist, which is the largest and primary conveyance into the WIPP underground facility, is undergoing the final inspections necessary to return to operation.

The conveyance consists of a large enclosed platform, similar to an elevator, that transports people, equipment and waste containers from the surface to the WIPP underground facility.

The waste hoist has not been operated since the Feb. 5 fire event because of soot that accumulated on electrical components. These components were carefully cleaned and an electrical transformer was recently replaced to make the Read More

SFI Seminar: Carrots, Sticks and Other Smart Tricks…

by

Seth Blumsack

SFI News:

The Santa Fe Institute will host a seminar, “Carrots, Sticks and Other ‘Smart’ Tricks: Experiments With Electricity Pricing and Consumer Behavior in Vermont,” by Seth Blumsack of Penn State Univeresity at 12:15 p.m. Monday, Oct. 6 in the Collins Conference Room at SFI, 1399 Hyde Park Road in Santa Fe. The SFI host is Sid Redner.

Abstract. The dominant model for the pricing of residential electric service over roughly the past century has been one in which consumers face a time-invariant price, despite high temporal and spatial variability in the economic, Read More

SFI Seminar: More Disordered than Disorder…

by

Pablo Damasceno

SFI News:

The Santa Fe Institute will host a seminar, “More Disordered than Disorder: Self-Organization, Microstates and Why Entropy Might Not Be What You Think,” by Pablo Damasceno of the University of Michigan at 12:15 p.m. Wednesdy, Oct. 8 in the Collins Conference Room at SFI, 1399 Hyde Park Road in Santa Fe.

The public is invited to bring a lunch. The SFI host is Sid Redner.

Abstract.  Despite being usually associated to disorder, Entropy can be used to assemble building blocks into a variety of complex structures in a surprisingly predictive way. In this talk I will Read More

Energy Department Officials Kick Off National Energy Action Month

by

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz

DOE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will kick off National Energy Action Month with events in New York and Texas to highlight President Obama’s recent proclamation calling on stakeholders across the country to work together to combat climate change while spurring job creation and a low-carbon energy future.

Throughout the month of October, Moniz and other Energy Department officials will participate in events across the country to emphasize the important role that the Administration’s all-of-the-above energy strategy plays in strengthening

Read More

SFI: ‘Darwinian Approach To Complexity, Evolutionary Transitions In Individuality In Volvocine Green Algae’

by

Richard Michod

SFI News:

The Santa Fe Institute will host a Colloquium, “A Darwinian Approach to Complexity, Evolutionary Transitions in Individuality in the Volvocine Green Algae” with Richard Michod of the University of Arizona at 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 7 in the Noyce Conference Room at SFI, 1399 Hyde Park Road in Santa Fe. The SFI host is Eric Libby.

Abstract. Individuality is a complex trait, yet a series of stages each advantageous in itself can be shown to exist allowing evolution to get from unicellular individuals to multicellular individuals. We consider several of the key stages Read More

Applications Being Accepted For Los Alamos Scholarships

by

LAESF News:

Los Alamos Employees’ Scholarship Fund (LAESF) is now accepting applications for 2015 awards.

The largest scholarship pool in Northern New Mexico, LAESF supports students who are residents of Los Alamos, Mora, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe and Taos counties seeking four-year degrees in fields that serve the region.

High school seniors enrolling in or undergraduates currently attending an accredited post-secondary educational institution are eligible to apply. Applicants must have at least a 3.25 cumulative unweighted grade point average and scores of 19 ACT Read More

LANL Introduces ATHENA, the Desktop Human ‘Body’

by

Rashi Iyer

LANL News:

Creating surrogate human organs, coupled with insights from highly sensitive mass spectrometry technologies, a new project is on the brink of revolutionizing the way we screen new drugs and toxic agents.

ATHENA, the Advanced Tissue-engineered Human Ectypal Network Analyzer project team, is developing four human organ constructs – liver, heart, lung and kidney – that are based on a significantly miniaturized platform. Each organ component will be about the size of a smartphone screen, and the whole ATHENA “body” of interconnected organs would fit neatly on a desk. Read More

DOE Issues Draft Loan Guarantee Solicitation For Advanced Nuclear Energy Projects

by

DOE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Energy has issued a draft solicitation that would provide up to $12.6 billion in loan guarantees for Advanced Nuclear Energy Projects, supporting the Administration’s all-of-the-above energy strategy and bringing the nation closer to its low-carbon future.

Once finalized, these loan guarantees will provide critical financing to help commercialize advanced nuclear energy technologies, supporting projects that are often unable to secure full commercial financing due to their scale and use of innovative technology.

This draft solicitation Read More

Los Alamos Historical Society Discusses Manhattan Episode 10

by

Bernice Brode and James Tuck dancing. Courtesy/LAHS Archives

LAHS News:

  • Nearly Through  With the First Season of WGN’s Manhattan

WGN’s new series, Manhattan, a fictionalized look at life in Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project, is reaching its final episodes.

The Los Alamos Historical Society wants to again thank everyone who comes to our viewings and discussions for contributing their thoughts, questions, and experiences.

Every week, the Society updates a bulletin board in the Museum to continue exploring questions and reactions as the 13-episode series continues. Previous

Read More

LANL: Team Advances Understanding Of Greenland Ice Sheet’s Meltwater Channels

by

An international team of researchers deployed to western Greenland to study the melt rates of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Photo by Matthew Hoffman/LANL

LANL News:

An international research team’s field work, drilling and measuring melt rates and ice sheet movement in Greenland is showing that things are, in fact, more complicated than we thought.

“Although the Greenland Ice Sheet initially speeds up each summer in its slow-motion race to the sea, the network of meltwater channels beneath the sheet is not necessarily forming the slushy racetrack that had been previously considered,” said Matthew Read More