National Laboratory

Upgrade to Mars Rover Could Aid Discovery on More Distant Worlds

by

Mars Rover. Courtesy/NASA

AGU News:

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Smart as the Mars Curiosity mission has been about landing and finding its own way on a distant world, the rover is pretty brainless when it comes to doing the science that it was sent 567 million kilometers to carry out.

That has to change if future rover missions are to make discoveries further out in the solar system, scientists say.

 The change has now begun with the development of a new camera that can do more than just take pictures of alien rocks – it also thinks about what the pictures signify so the rover can decide on its own whether Read More

LANL Director Links Early STEM Education, National Security at TEDxABQ Talk

by

LANL Director Charlie McMillan discussed the linkage between national security and early education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) during his presentation Saturday at the TEDxABQ conference at Popejoy Hall on the University of New Mexico campus in Albuquerque. McMillan’s presentation also was streamed live at https:////tedxabq.com/livestream/ and on a large screen at the Bradbury Science Museum in downtown Los Alamos. Photo by Katy Korkos Read More

LANL Director to Link Science Education, National Security in TEDxABQ Talk

by

LANL Director Charlie McMillan

LANL News:

Watch live stream at home or at Bradbury Science Museum

Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Charlie McMillan will discuss the linkage between national security and early education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) during a presentation Saturday, Sept. 7 at the TEDxABQ conference in Albuquerque.

Although the event is expected to sell out Popejoy Hall on the University of New Mexico campus, a live stream will be available at https:////tedxabq.com/livestream/ and on a large screen at the Bradbury Science Museum, Read More

STEM Student Day at Bradbury Highlights High Tech

by

Staff Report

STEM Student Day is 4-7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13 at the Bradbury Science Museum in downtown Los Alamos.

The event is designed to stimulate interest and inspire young people about possible future careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. The educational event is open to young people in grades 7-11. Space is limited, so register now. 

The program this year will showcase three imaginative programs that all the students will participate in, including: “Show Me Your Muscle,” “How Cell Phones Work,” and “R2D2 and His Band Read More

LANL’s Next 70th Anniversary Lecture Focuses on Nuclear Weapons Testing During the Cold War

by

This photograph captures the expanding fireball of the world’s first full-scale hydrogen bomb test, Ivy-Mike, which was conducted Oct. 31, 1952. Courtesy/LANL

LANL News:

Los Alamos National Laboratory’s role in the development of nuclear weapons during the Cold War period of 1947 to 1991 will be discussed by Byron Ristvet of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency at 5:30 p.m., Sept. 11 at the Laboratory’s Bradbury Science Museum. The talk is part of the Laboratory’s 70th anniversary lecture series.

“Los Alamos National Laboratory’s role in conjunction with the Department of Defense in meeting Read More

Jonathan Plaue Tapped as LANL Site Representative

by

Dr. Jonathan Plaue

DNFSB News:

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (Board) is pleased to announce the assignment of Dr. Jonathan Plaue as a Site Representative at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico.

Dr. Plaue will join Todd Davis and Richard Verhaagen, the Board’s current Site Representatives, starting in November 2013. As a Site Representative, Dr. Plaue will advise the Board regarding overall safety conditions at LANL and will participate in technical reviews by the Board and its staff related to the design, construction, operation, Read More

DOE Secretary Stresses Energy Security During Los Alamos Visit

by

From left, Dr. Richard Sayre of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Bioscience Division and the New Mexico Consortium, briefs DOE Secretary Ernie Moniz, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology President Daniel Lopez, New Mexico Congressman Ben Ray Lujan and Laboratory Director Charlie McMillan Tuesday at the New Mexico Consortium biological laboratory. Courtesy/LANL

Dr. Richard Sayre, one of the nation’s top specialists in algae and energy-producing plant research, briefs DOE Secretary Ernie Moniz on work underway at the Bioscience Research Lab. Photo by Leland Lehman/ladailypost.com Read More

SFI Seminar: Noise-Induced Phenomena in One-Dimensional Maps

by

SFI News:

The next SFI Seminar is set for 12:15 p.m., Friday, Sept. 6, in the Collins Conference Room at the Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road.

Yuzuru Sato of Hokkaido University, Japan will present the seminar: Noise-Induced Phenomena in One-Dimensional Maps.

Abstract: Noise-induced phenomena arise out of interaction between deterministic dynamics and stochastic noise. Stochastic resonance, noise-induced synchronization, and noise-induced chaos are typical examples in statistical and nonlinear physics. The central problem in this research area is in which way the asymptotic Read More

LANL’s Hazardous Waste Facility Permit Community Relations Plan Available Year-Round for Comments

by

LANL News:

Los Alamos National Laboratory revises its Hazardous Waste Community Relations Plan annually in compliance with its Hazardous Waste Facility Permit (EPA ID No. NM0890010515.) 

The website is available year round and LANL revises the plan in August to include necessary changes and comments it has received during the year. LANL welcomes public comments, which can be provided online via the Plan Comments Form. 

The updated  Hazardous Waste Facility Permit Community Relations Plan and responses to comments will be posted Sept. 1. 

The attached Read More

B61-12 Life Extension Program Radar Drop Tests Completed Successfully

by

Pantex production technicians prepare a B61 for a surveillance test. The B61 is a tactical thermonuclear gravity bomb. Courtesy/NNSA

NNSA News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of the ongoing effort to refurbish the aging B61 nuclear bomb without resorting to underground nuclear testing, two successful B61-12 radar drop tests were successfully completed at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada on Aug. 14 and 15, 2013, by engineers from Sandia National Laboratories.

Current B61s use decades-old vacuum tubes as part of their radar system. The new radar system, which had not been tested outside of a laboratory Read More