Science

Second Annual New Mexico Governor’s STEM Challenge

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NMDWS News:

ALBUQUERQUE — High school students from 33 schools will be competing for $5,000 in prize money from 18 employers in the 2nd Annual New Mexico Governor’s STEM Challenge.

Hosted and organized by New Mexico State University (NMSU), Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation, New Mexico Public Education Department (PED), and New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions (NMDWS), this event will be entirely virtual Saturday, Dec. 12.  

Ten-person student teams have submitted solutions to the NMSU formulated question, “How can you combine New Mexico’s natural resources with technology Read More

UbiQD Announces $7M In Series A Funding To Scale Deployment Of Quantum Dot Technology In Agriculture And Energy

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Greenhouses with UbiGro® consistently produce larger crop yields by enhancing the spectral quality of sunlight. Courtesy/UbiQD, Inc.

UbiQD, Inc. Founder and CEO, Hunter McDaniel, PhD. Courtesy/UbiQD, Inc.

BUSINESS News:

  • As the first company to implement quantum dots in an agriculture product, UbiQD addresses growers’ need for the best possible light quality in greenhouses

UbiQD, Inc., an advanced materials company powering product innovation in agriculture, clean energy, and security, today announced the close of a $7M Series A funding round.

The round was co-led by Scout Ventures Read More

AFRL Receives First Component Of Solar-Beaming Project

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AFRL’s Arachne spacecraft that will pave the way for development of a space-based solar power transmission system capable of providing useable power regardless of time of day, latitude or weather. Courtesy/Melissa Grim, Partise

AFRL News:

KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE — The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has received the first flight hardware component of the Arachne spacecraft from Northrop Grumman.

Arachne is the flagship experiment within the Space Solar Power Incremental Demonstrations and Research, or SSPIDR, project.

The component, named “Helios”, is a commoditized spacecraft Read More

LANL: Breakthrough Material Makes Pathway To Hydrogen Use For Fuel Cells Under Hot And Dry Conditions

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Researchers have developed a proton conductor for fuel cells based on polystyrene phosphonic acids that maintain high protonic conductivity at high temperatures without water. Courtesy/LANL

LANL News:

A collaborative research team, including Los Alamos National Laboratory, University of Stuttgart (Germany), University of New Mexico, and Sandia National Laboratories, has developed a proton conductor for fuel cells based on polystyrene phosphonic acids that maintain high protonic conductivity up to 200 °C without water.

The team describes the material advance in a paper published Read More

LANL: Machine Learning Expert Studies How Computers And Humans Perceive Photos Differently

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Nga Nguyen-Fotiadis

LANL News:

Which is more powerful, the Trinity supercomputer or a human brain? How is a computer’s neural network different from a human’s? And what, if anything, does that have to do with the shows Netflix recommended for you last night?

Los Alamos National Laboratory staff scientist Nga Nguyen-Fotiadis will lead a virtual conversation “Deep focus: Techniques for image recognition in machine learning,” 5:30–7 p.m., Monday, Dec. 14 during the latest Science on Tap.

Nguyen-Fotiadis is an expert in machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence allowing computer Read More

AGU: Cluster Of Alaskan Islands Could Be Single, Interconnected Giant Volcano

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An aerial oblique photo of the volcanoes in the Islands of Four Mountains, Alaska, July 2014. In the center is the summit of Mount Tana. Behind Tana are from left, Herbert, Cleveland, and Carlisle Volcanoes. Courtesy/John Lyons/USGS

AGU News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A small group of volcanic islands in Alaska’s Aleutian chain might be part of a single, undiscovered giant volcano, say scientists presenting the findings Monday, Dec. 7 at AGU’s Fall Meeting 2020.

If the researchers’ suspicions are correct, the newfound volcanic caldera would belong to the same category of volcanoes as the Read More

NIST: Software Shows Progress Recognizing Masked Faces

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Some of the digitally applied face mask variations used in the NIST study, including the four different colors used (black, red, white and light blue) and some of the different shapes and amounts of face covering. Courtesy/B. Hayes, M. Ngan/NIST

NIST News:

A new study of face recognition technology created after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic shows that some software developers have made demonstrable progress at recognizing masked faces.

The findings, produced by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), are detailed in a new report called Ongoing Face Recognition Read More

AGU: Roly Poly Bugs Threaten Fish Populations

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California’s Big Creek meets the Pacific Ocean on the stretch of coast known as Big Sur. New research finds steelhead trout in Big Creek accumulate mercury when the fish eat roly polies. Courtesy/Dave Rundio

AGU News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Roly poly bugs may be a source of fun for kids and adults but these little bugs that form into balls at the slightest touch are causing problems for some threatened fish.

New research finds steelhead trout in a stream on the California coast accumulate mercury in their bodies when the fish eat roly polies and similar terrestrial bugs that fall into local waterways. Read More

AGU: Area Burned By Severe Fire Increases 8-fold In Western U.S. Forests Over Last Four Decades

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Howe Ridge Fire in Montana’s Glacier National Park, seen Aug. 12, 2018 from across Lake McDonald, roughly 24 hours after the fire was started by a lightning strike. Courtesy/Glacier National Park

AGU News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The number of wildfires and the amount of land they consume in the western U.S. has substantially increased since the 1980s, a trend often attributed to ongoing climate change.

Now, new research finds fires are not only becoming more common in the western U.S. but the area burned at high severity is also increasing, a trend that may lead to long-term forest loss.

The new findings Read More