Science

LANL: Vampire Algae Killer’s Genetic Diversity Poses Threat To Biofuels

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New DNA analysis has found genetic diversity in Vampirovibrio chlorellavorus, complicating efforts to protect algae ponds and the biofuels industry from this destructive pest. The predatory bacterium sucks out the contents of the algae cells, ultimately transforming a productive green algae pond to a vat of rotting sludge. Photo by Seth Steichen and Judith K. Brown, Plant Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.
 
LANL News:
 
New DNA analysis has revealed surprising genetic diversity in a bacterium that poses a persistent threat to the algae biofuels industry.
 
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Los Alamos National Laboratory Summer Science Camp Empowers New Mexican Young Women

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Laboratory researcher Adrianna Reyes-Newell, right, shows students how laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy works. The ChemCam instrument on the Curiosity rover uses this technology to investigate the composition of Martian rocks. Courtesy/LANL

LANL News:

  • Two-week program from Los Alamos National Laboratory aims to inspire and increase diversity in STEM fields

The third annual Los Alamos National Laboratory Summer Physics Camp for Young Women recently concluded in Pojoaque, giving the 22 students from Northern New Mexico communities a grounding in science, technology, engineering Read More

First Woman On The Moon From New Mexico

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Rocketeer Academy cadets Ariel Greene and Kason Henry inspect the lunar surface during a re-enactment of the Apollo 11 moonwalk July 17 at the New Mexico Museum of Space History. Courtesy/NMMSH
 
Rocketeer Academy cadets Ariel Greene and Kason Henry. Courtesy/NMMSH
 
NMMSH News:
 
ALAMOGORDO ― Rocketeer Academy cadets Ariel Greene of Alamogordo and Kason Henry of Las Cruces inspect the lunar surface during a re-enactment of the Apollo 11 moonwalk July 17 at the New Mexico Museum of Space History.
 
Greene and Henry communicated with fellow cadets who acted as mission
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Bradbury Science Museum Brings Summer Science On Wheels To Espanola Public Schools July 23-24

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LANL News:
 
The Bradbury Science Museum at Los Alamos National Laboratory is taking its Summer Science on Wheels program to several Espanola Public Schools to help students keep up with science education learning and inspire the youth toward future STEM careers.
 
Mel Strong, an educator with the museum, will engage students using a fun and creative hands-on activity on sound.
 
Students will build an instrument with straws and use tuning forks to listen to vibrations and understand how sound is created.
 
The classes are 12:30-2 p.m., July 23 at James H. Rodriguez Elementary
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LANL: Machine-learning Competition Boosts Earthquake Prediction Capabilities

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Competitors in an online Kaggle competition developed a variety of methods for predicting the timing of earthquakes generated in a laboratory. The work could someday help to improve earthquake hazard assessments that could save lives and billions of dollars in infrastructure costs. Courtesy/LANL

 

LANL News:

  • Competitors’ success predicting quake timing in the online Kaggle competition could help save lives, infrastructure

Three teams who applied novel machine learning methods to successfully predict the timing of earthquakes from historic seismic data are splitting $50,000

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An Open Book: Science And Humanity

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By DAVID IZRAELEVTIZ
Los Alamos
 
Last Saturday was ScienceFest Discovery Day, and it was certainly a discovery Saturday for me. I missed the prior Friday night concert (more about that later), but I wanted to make sure to walk around on Saturday and get a feel for what this ever-improving Los Alamos signature event was all about. I saw loads of kids doing hands-on science experiments or safely peering through telescopes at the Sun. There were museums, parks, vendors, and even my old LANL division sharing their passion for knowledge, curiosity and the intricacies of the universe; a universe
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Los Alamos MainStreet Thanks Community And Visitors For Successful ScienceFest 2019!

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Scene from Los Alamos ScienceFest 2019. Courtesy photo
 
Scene from Los Alamos ScienceFest 2019. Courtesy photo
 

 

Los Alamos MainStreet News:

 
The 12th annual Los Alamos ScienceFest attracted attendees from near and far throughout the 6-day festival that took place July 9-14. 
 
Attendees came to share their love of science in the town, “Where Discoveries Are Made.” More than 70 exhibitors and vendors provided unique and interactive Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM) related activities during the July 13 Discovery Day at Ashley Pond
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UA Scientists Move From Mapping Moon To Worlds Beyond With A Few Mouse Clicks Over Lunch

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UA News:
 
TUCSON — In 1972, it took an astronaut going on a spacewalk to do what Lynn Carter now can do with a few mouse clicks over lunch.
 
Carter, a planetary science professor at the Univerity of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, points to a small, framed photograph above her desk. It shows the Apollo 17 spacecraft, the last crewed mission to the moon, cruising high above the grey, cratered expanse below.
 
“See that little antenna sticking out there? That was the first planetary radar on a spacecraft, and while it went around the moon, it pinged the surface,”
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Who WIll Stump PEEC Astronomers Friday!

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See who can stump PEEC’s team of astronomers 7 p.m. Friday, July 19. The nature center also will play the full-dome film ‘Incoming!’ 2 p.m. Saturday, July 20. Courtesy photo
 
PEEC News:
 
See who can stump PEEC’s team of astronomers this Friday, July 19 at the Los Alamos Nature Center at another round of “Stump the Astronomers.”
 
The fun starts at 7 p.m. and features local astronomers Galen Gisler, Akkana Peck, Dave North, Steve Becker and Peter Polko. Guests should bring their toughest astronomy-related questions and see if they can stump the experts.
 
This
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Kirtland Air Force Base Releases RFP For New Intercontinental Ballistic Missile System

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Minuteman III ICBM launches during an operational test. An unarmed LGM-30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test at 2:42 a.m. Pacific May 1, 2019, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The Ground Based Strategic Deterrent ICBM is the follow-on to the aging Minuteman III, which first became operational in the mid-1960s. The GBSD program is managed by the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Hill AFB, Utah.  Photo by Airman 1st Class Aubree Milks
 
KAFB News:
 
KIRTLAND AFB ― The Air Force released a request for proposals Tuesday
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