Science

AGU: COVID-19 Lockdowns Lessen Global Lightning Activity

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Lightning reduction during COVID-19 period detected by WWLLN. The months March through May are bracketed with colored lines for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020. Courtesy/Yakun Liu

AGU News:

NEW ORLEANS — Global lightning activity dropped almost 8 percent during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns, according to new research being presented at the AGU Fall Meeting. The cause of the drop appears to be a connection between lightning and air pollution.

“When COVID-19 led to lock-downs, there was a reduction in pollution everywhere,” Yakun Liu said, a meteorological researcher at the Massachusetts Institute Read More

AFRL Opens State Of Art Digital Space Legacy Portal Exhibit

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Col. Eric Felt, director of the AFRL Vehicles Directorate and AFRL Phillips Research Site historian Dr. Darren Raspa cut the ribbon to open the directorate’s Legacy Portal Mission Control exhibit, at a ceremony Nov. 15 at Kirtland AFB. Supporting them from left, Project Mgr. Gina Gutierrez, Senior Facility Engineer Bradley Rieck, Chief Dan Von Tom of the Corporate Information Office and Project Coordinator Victor Mace. Photo by Arturo Cardona

AFRL News:

KIRTLAND AFB — With a video of the historic 1969 Apollo 11 launch shown on the nearly two-story screen behind him, Dr. Darren Raspa, the Air Read More

NMMNHS: Catch Last Morning Of Free Looney Tunes

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Visit The Art of Warner Bros. Cartoons Dec. 18 at the NMMNHS in Albuquerque. Courtesy/NMMNHS

NMMNHS News:

Catch the last morning of free Looney Tunes cartoons in the Versus Research Dynatheater, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18 at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science (NMMNHS), 1801 Mountain Road NW in Albuquerque.

View Daffy Duck and Marvin the Martian in “Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century”, the first Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoon – “Fast and Furry-ous” and more.

Afterward, Trax, the Rail Runner mascot, will give a special Science Story Time followed by fun activities Read More

New Mexico Museum Of Natural History & Science Joins NASA Celebration Of James Webb Space Telescope Launch

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Celebrate the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope – read details here. Courtesy/NASA

NMDCA News:

ALBUQUERQUE — New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science has joined almost 500 sites across the country to celebrate the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s next great space science observatory.

The museum will offer a range of public programs to bring the excitement of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) to children, teens and adults.

Webb is the largest and most complex space science telescope ever built – the premier observatory of the next Read More

New Mexico Museum Of Space History Presents ‘Cosmic Christmas Crafts’ Dec. 11

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NMMSH News:

ALAMOGORDO — Science Saturday blasts off with holiday cheer this Saturday, Dec. 11, when Museum of Space History educators present ‘Cosmic Christmas Crafts’.

Kids will learn how to take simple items and make planet ornaments that they can take home. This free event starts at 10 a.m. at Pizza 9 in the White Sands Mall.

Science Saturday is a free program offered by the museum on the second Saturday of each month. All supplies are included.

The New Mexico Museum of Space History, a Smithsonian Affiliate, is a division of the NM Department of Cultural Affairs. For more information, call Read More

Dr. Richard Sayre Elected To National Academy Of Inventors

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New Mexico Consortium Chief Scientist Dr. Richard Sayre has been elected to the prestigious NAI. Courtesy/LANL

New Mexico Consortium News:

Dr. Richard Sayre, a New Mexico Consortium Chief Scientist, has just been elected to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).

In 2021, the NAI has elected 164 academic innovators from all over the world to NAI Fellow status. The NAI Fellows Program is a distinction that calls attention to academic inventors that have demonstrated a spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a great impact on the quality of Read More

AFRL Celebrates Launch Of Small-Sat Ascent To GEO Space

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Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate engineers celebrate the liftoff of the lab’s Ascent spacecraft and four other flight experiments launched Dec. 5 from Cape Canaveral, Florida as part of the U.S. Space Force’s Space Test Program-3 mission, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket. Courtesy/U.S. Air Force/Allen Winston

AFRL News:

KIRTLAND AFB — The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate’s small satellite named Ascent was launched Dec. 7 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., as part of the U.S. Space Force’s Space Test Program-3 mission, aboard Read More

DOE/NNSA Awards $13 Million To Promote U.S. Production Of Critical Medical Isotope

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NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby

DOE/NNSA News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) issued a cooperative agreement worth $13 million to a Michigan company to support the commercial production of molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), a critical isotope used in more than 40,000 medical procedures in the United States each day, including the diagnosis of heart disease and cancer.

The agreement with Niowave Inc. of Lansing, Michigan, will help establish a reliable supply of Mo-99 without the need to use highly enriched uranium (HEU), which Read More

LANL: New Mexico Lab-Embedded Entrepreneur Program Announces First Cohort

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Kristina Trujillo of TNeuroPharma, Cliff Chan of OAM Photonics and Srikanth Kodeboyina of Blue Eye Soft are the first cohort of the New Mexico LEEP program. Courtesy/LANL

LANL News:

The New Mexico Lab-Embedded Entrepreneur Program (New Mexico LEEP) announces the three fellows in the program’s first cohort, scheduled to launch in January 2022.

The program, offered at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), provides a two-year fellowship for entrepreneurs focusing on deep tech for national security.

“New Mexico LEEP presents a unique opportunity for Los Alamos National Laboratory and Read More

History On Tap Online: My Nuclear Life Dec. 13

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Join nuclear physicist and podcaster Shelly Lesher, Los Alamos Historical Society and the Los Alamos Creative District for History on Tap online at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 13. Courtesy/Los Alamos Historical Society

History On Tap News:

Join the Los Alamos Historical Society and the Los Alamos Creative District for History on Tap online at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 13.

Explore how nuclear science has impacted and changed the world with Shelly Lesher, nuclear physicist and host of the podcast My Nuclear Life.

History on Tap is free, and the public can register to attend via Zoom here.

July 16, 1945 Read More