Science

Air Force Research Lab Unveils New HPM System

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An image of a 3-D solid model of the Tactical High Power Microwave Operational Responder (THOR) system. The system is used for modeling and simulation before integrating and testing. Courtesy/Verus Research and BAE Systems
 
KAFB News:
 
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE ― The Air Force Research Laboratory has a new high power microwave system that will be a major asset to the warfighter.
 
The Tactical High Power Microwave Operational Responder (THOR) is a directed energy weapon that disables the electronics in flying drones. The technology is housed in a shipping container-sized
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LANL Director Emeritus Terry Wallace Speaks To MOWW At American Legion On Future Of War

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Dr. Terry C. Wallace, Jr., Director Emeritus of Los Alamos National Laboratory speaks to the Major General Franklin E. Miles Chapter 229 of The Military Order of the World Wars Tuesday at the American Legion in Los Alamos on the future of war. Photo by Bonnie J. Gordon/ladailypost.com
 
LTC Gregg Giesler, USA (Ret), Commander of the  Major General Franklin E. Miles Chapter 229 of The Military Order of the World Wars Companions presents Dr. Terry C. Wallace, Jr., Director Emeritus of Los Alamos National Laboratory with a plaque and certificate to express the group’s appreciation
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Leading Planetary Scientist Amy Mainzer Joins UA

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Amy Mainzer
 
UA News:
 
TUCSON, Ariz. — Amy Mainzer, one of the world’s leading scientists in asteroid detection and planetary defense, will join the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory as a professor of planetary sciences this fall.
 
Mainzer comes to the UA from the Science Division at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she has worked as a senior research scientist specializing in astrophysical instrumentation and infrared astronomy.
 
“We are the only university in the world currently leading a NASA sample return mission
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AGU: Climate Change May Shift Summer Thunderstorms

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Thunderstorm seen from Belfort, France. Courtesy/Thomas Bresson, Flickr
 
AGU News:
 
Climate change could affect the regularity of summer afternoon thunderstorms in some parts of the world, according to new research.
 
A new study in the AGU journal Geophysical Research Letters modeled weather patterns in western Germany, northern France and parts of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, under climate change.
 
Under a strong climate scenario, where greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, extreme summer thunderstorms in these areas might break out
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Take A Tour Of Stonehenge At Nature Center Friday

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Head to the Los Alamos Nature Center this weekend to learn about Stonehenge and Sea Monsters. Akkana Peck and Dave North will lead a discussion on Stonehenge at 6 p.m. Friday, June 14. The nature center will show the full-dome film ‘Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure’ at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 15. Courtesy/PEEC

 

PEEC News:

 

Take a tour of Stonehenge and some of its relatives this Friday, June 14 at the Los Alamos Nature Center. Dave North and Akkana Peck will discuss what Stonehenge and similar monuments can — and can’t — tell us about ancient astronomy. This talk begins Read More

Los Alamos County Council Green Lights Pebble Labs Plan To Advance Business

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Council Chambers is filled with Pebble Labs employees Tuesday night. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
 
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
 

Tuesday night, employees from Pebble Labs filled Los Alamos County Council Chambers to state their case on why council should support the budding biotech research company.

Pebble Labs employees’ efforts were successful. Los Alamos County Council unanimously approved an ordinance adopting an economic development project for public support of Pebble Labs. Additionally, council approved 7-0 to Read More

Los Alamos National Laboratory All-Woman Team Commands Rock-Zapping Laser On Mars

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Members of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s ChemCam Engineering Operations team, from left, Suzi Montano, Adriana Reyes-Newell, Roberta Beal, Lisa Danielson, Nina Lanza and Cindy Little. Not pictured is Margie Root. Courtesy/LANL

LANL News:

The laser that zaps rocks on Mars is commanded by a talented group of engineers and scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory—who also happen to all be women, a rarity in the engineering field.

“It’s unusual, simply because engineering still tends to be male-dominated,” said Nina Lanza, a planetary scientist on the team who has helped recruit Read More

AGU: China’s Bioluminescent Seas Glowing Brighter

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Blue bioluminescence produced by red Noctiluca scintillans near Taiwan’s Matsu Islands. Researchers now have a way to study the sparkly organisms by satellite. Courtesy/Yu-Xian Yang, Lienchiang County Government, Taiwan

 

AGU News:

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Scientists have, for the first time, used satellites to track the bioluminescent plankton responsible for producing “blue tears” in China’s coastal waters and found the sparkly creatures have become more abundant in recent years.

 

Red Noctiluca scintillans are single-celled organisms found in coastal waters all Read More

Science On Tap With Antonio Redondo June 17

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LANL researcher Antonio Redondo
 
Creative District News:
 
The community is invited to join the Bradbury Science Museum and Los Alamos Creative District for Science On Tap at 5:30 p.m., Monday, June 17, at projectY cowork in Central Park Square.
 
This On Tap will feature a conservation with Antonio Redondo about the use of super-computer simulations in the study of chemical processes.
 
Many are familiar with the M&M’s tagline, “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand,” but most don’t give much thought to the science responsible for that crunchy candy shell. At Los Alamos,
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Tiny Light Box Opens New Doors Into Nanoworld

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Using a box of stacked atomically thin layers of tungsten disulphide, Chalmers researchers have succeeded in creating a type of feedback loop in which light and matter become one. Courtesy/Denis Baranov/Yen Strandqvist/Chalmers University of Technology
 
Chalmers University of Technology News:
 
Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have discovered a completely new way of capturing, amplifying and linking light to matter at the nanolevel.
 
Using a tiny box, built from stacked atomically thin material, they have succeeded in creating a type of
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