Science

Los Alamos Helps ‘Impossible Foods’ Save Environment

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Impossible Foods CEO and Founder Pat Brown

By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com

When Pat Brown founded his company Impossible Foods in 2011, he set a high-level objective: to eradicate the consumption of meat from animals by 2035.

Turns out several businesses in Los Alamos are helping Brown achieve this goal. During a virtual presentation Tuesday night, which was part of ScienceFest, Brown revealed several local restaurants including Sirphey, Pajarito Brew Pub and Cottonwood on the Greens serve dishes with Impossible Burger and Impossible Sausage.

Impossible Read More

Canceled: Doudna’s Oppenheimer Lecture

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JROMC News:

It is with profound disappointment that the J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Committee (JROMC) announces the cancellation of its 2020 Memorial Lecture.

Dr. Jennifer Doudna, best known for her work on the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology, was scheduled to come to Los Alamos for a presentation on July 13, 2020.

Current restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have necessitated our taking this step and, due to her heavy work commitments, Dr. Doudna is unable to reschedule her trip to Los Alamos in the foreseeable future.

This year’s Memorial Lecture would have been the 49th presented Read More

Daily Postcard: Comet NEOWISE Viewed From Quemazon

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Daily Postcard: Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) peeking through the clouds Thursday morning over Quemazon. Comet NEOWISE – discovered back in March by NASA’s NEOWISE mission – is getting the attention of skywatchers across the Northern Hemisphere this month. The comet survived its recent closest approach to the Sun, and is now headed back toward the outer solar system, where it travels to a farthest distance of 715 astronomical units, or AU, from the Sun. (For comparison, Earth orbits at 1 AU, Jupiter at 5 AU, and Neptune at 30 AU.) Its closest approach to Earth will be on July 22, at a distance of about Read More

Local Los Alamos Startup UbiQD Discusses ‘Space Veggies: How Quantum Dots Help Grow Vegetables On Earth And In Space’ Live Tonight at 5:30 p.m. As Part Of Los Alamos ScienceFest 2020

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ScienceFest News:

Local startup, UbiQD, Inc. will present virtually during a live lecture and Q&A tonight with Chief of Product, Dr. Matt Bergren on the topic of “Space Veggies: How quantum dots help grow vegetables on Earth and in Space.” This is part of the programming lineup for Los Alamos ScienceFest 2020: Eyes On The Future, which kicked off on Tuesday, July 7 and runs through Sunday, July 12. 

 
Those interested in tuning in should register for free in advance, via Zoom. A live Q&A with Dr. Bergren will follow the presentation.
 
Thursday, July 9
“Space Veggies:
Read More

Pioneering Women Poster Trail Debuts In Los Alamos

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COMMUNITY News:

In honor of the centennial anniversary of women’s right to vote, Los Alamos MainStreet, Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce, Los Alamos Historical Society, LANL and Triad, LLC and Del Norte Credit Union are debuting posters featuring women in Los Alamos who have been pioneers in advancing their respective fields, from the Manhattan Project days to today.

Local businesses and organizations around Los Alamos County will be displaying these posters. So, get out, explore, look for the posters highlighting these amazing women, and you’ll also have a chance to solve a puzzle and get Read More

AGU: Climate Change May Cause Extreme Waves In Arctic

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A wave washing up on the Inuvialuit hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk in Canada’s Northwest Territories during an August 2019 storm. Photo by Weronika Murray

AGU News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Extreme ocean surface waves with a devastating impact on coastal communities and infrastructure in the Arctic may become larger due to climate change, according to a new study.  

The new research projects the annual maximum wave height will get up to two to three times higher than it is now along coastlines in areas of the Arctic such as along the Beaufort Sea.

The new study in AGU’s Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans Read More

EYE On The Prize! A BreakOUT Box Scavenger Hunt Kicks Off Today For Los Alamos ScienceFest 2020 Week

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A virtual scavenger hunt leveraging Breakout boxes for Los Alamos ScienceFest 2020: Eyes On the Future begins today outside projectY cowork at 150 Central Park Square. Courtesy photo
ScienceFest News:
The Los Alamos STEAM Lab has partnered with Los Alamos MainStreet and the Creative District to launch an engaging in-person and virtual scavenger hunt leveraging Breakout boxes for Los Alamos ScienceFest 2020: Eyes On the Future.

Similar to an escape room, but at a smaller scale, a breakout box is a box secured with a six-lock hasp. Teams need to solve clues in order to get the combinations for

Read More

Ongoing Schedule Of ScienceFest Virtual Events

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ScienceFest News:

Below is the ongoing schedule for ScienceFest events:

WEDNESDAY, July 8

Noon Brownbag Lunch

“The shape of your genes: using supercomputers and strawberries to understand how DNA works”
Join LANL scientist Dr. Karissa Sanbonmatsu, who conducts research on DNA simulation and gene-mapping. This event should be engaging for all ages!

6 p.m. The Future of Energy
Join Explora as we investigate humanity’s greatest resource: electrical energy! We’ll take a look at electrical phenomena with shocks, sparks, and plasma balls! We’ll then explore how electricity gets from power Read More

LANL: Shock-Dissipating Fractal Cubes Could Forge High-Tech Armor

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Simulations show how fractal structures of increasing complexity dissipate energy from shockwaves. Courtesy/LANL

LANL News: 

  • Additively manufactured fractal structures with closely spaced voids dissipate shockwaves five times better than solid cubes.

Tiny, 3D printed cubes of plastic, with intricate fractal voids built into them, have proven to be effective at dissipating shockwaves, potentially leading to new types of lightweight armor and structural materials effective against explosions and impacts.

“The goal of the work is to manipulate the wave interactions resulting from Read More