Science

NOAA Announces Arrival Of El Nino

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Difference from average sea surface temperatures during January 2019 at the equator in the tropical Pacific. Courtesy/NOAA
 
NOAA News:
 
NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center issued an El Nino Advisory today, indicating the climate pattern has taken effect and is likely to continue through the spring.
 
While the El Nino is expected to be weak, it may bring wetter conditions across the southern half of the U.S. during the coming months.
 
“El Nino conditions across the equatorial Pacific have come together and we can now announce its arrival,” said Mike Halpert, deputy director,
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Can Anyone Stump PEEC’s Team Of Professional Astronomers In Planetarium 7 p.m. Friday?

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Try to stump PEEC’s professional astronomers at 7 p.m. this Friday, Feb. 15 in the planetarium. Courtesy/PEEC

 

PEEC News:

 

Do you think you have what it takes to stump a panel of PEEC’s expert astronomers? Then come to the Los Alamos Nature Center’s planetarium Friday, Feb. 15 for a “Stump the Astronomers” panel!

 

The fun starts at 7 p.m. Bring your most difficult astronomy-related questions and put the professionals to the test!

 

Peter Polko will be the M.C. for the evening. The astronomers on the panel have expertise in a variety of fields and will attempt to answer any Read More

LANL: World’s Finest Gold Specimen Probed With Los Alamos Neutrons

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The Ram’s Horn wire gold specimen Courtesy/Harvard University

LANL News:

  • Unraveling a 132-year-old gold wire structure mystery

Using neutron characterization techniques, a team of scientists have peered inside one of the most unique examples of wire gold, understanding for the first time the specimen’s structure and possible formation process.

The 263 gram, 12 centimeter tall specimen, known as the Ram’s Horn, belongs to the collection of the Mineralogical and Geological Museum Harvard University (MGMH).

“Almost nothing other than the existence of the specimen Read More

NMHU: Santiana Marrujo Accepted To Eight Chemistry Doctoral Programs Across The Country

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Santiana Marrujo
 
NMHU News:
 
LAS VEGAS, NM ― A New Mexico Highlands University chemistry graduate has her pick of eight doctoral programs around the country.
 
In December, Santiana Marrujo’s letters of acceptance started rolling in from Ph.D. programs at Notre Dame, Purdue University, Iowa State University, Colorado State University, Brigham Young University, Kansas State University, New Mexico State University and UC–Santa Barbara.
 
Every university offered Marrujo a full ride for her doctoral education. Many science programs bypass a master’s degree in
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Heinrich On American Artificial Intelligence Initiative

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U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich

From the Office of U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Armed Services and Senate Intelligence committees, issued the following statement on the executive order to be signed today launching the American Artificial Intelligence (AI) initiative:

“I welcome the administration’s announcement to invest more in the research and development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and to build a workforce that is prepared to take on the enormous changes that will come as a result of this technology. AI Read More

National Science Foundation Awards $224,780 Grant To Tibbar Plasma Technologies Of Los Alamos

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NSF News:

Tibbar Plasma Technologies, Inc. (TPTI) received a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant of $224,780 from the National Science Foundation Feb. 1 to develop a plasma heat engine for efficient production of fusion energy.

Over the next year, TPTI will be exploring the properties of oscillating plasmas with the goal of creating an experimental fusion device.

Confining plasma has always been a significant challenge in the development of fusion energy, but Tibbar’s approach is radically different from other fusion systems. The proposed concept, first proposed Read More

2019 Lectures & Curator’s Coffee Series: ‘The Brain: It’s More Than You Think’ Saturday Feb. 23

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2019 Lectures & Curator’s Coffee Series: ‘The Brain: It’s More Than You Think’ Feb. 23 at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. Courtesy/NMMNHS 
 
NMMNHS News:
 
ALBUQUERQUE ― As part of the programming associated with the new traveling exhibition Brain: The Inside Story, which opens Saturday Feb. 23 at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, the museum’s 2019 Lectures & Curator’s Coffee Series theme is, “The Brain: It’s More Than You Think.”
 
Brain: The Inside Story draws on research and technology to present recent findings in
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Talk/Film On Dark Matter This Weekend In Planetarium

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Explore the nature of Dark Matter and Dark Energy this weekend at the Los Alamos Nature Center’s planetarium. Astrophysicist Galen Gisler discusses the nature of these phenomena at 7 p.m. Friday and the full-dome film ‘Dark Matter Mystery’ will play at 2 p.m. Saturday. Courtesy/PEEC

PEEC News:

Unearth the mysteries of Dark Matter and Dark Energy this weekend at the Los Alamos Nature Center’s planetarium.

Astrophysicist Galen Gisler will give a talk called “The Dark Side of the Universe” at 7 p.m. Friday that will explore these phenomena. The following day, the nature center will show the full-dome Read More

SFI Lecture: ‘Networks Thinking Themselves’ Feb. 12

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The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat/ADAGP, Paris/ARS, New York 2014; (www.thebroad.org)

SFI News:

Neuroscientist Danielle S. Bassett

The Santa Fe Institute presents its first SFI Community Lecture of the 2019 season: “Networks Thinking Themselves” by neuroscientist Danielle S. Bassett. The lecture is 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 12 at The Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. in Santa Fe.

We are all embedded in multiple, ever-changing networks — the network of colliding particles in the universe, the interacting flows in Earth’s atmosphere, the highways and city streets Read More

‘Empty Trash Bag’ Orbiting Earth In Strange Way

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Lots of space debris is orbiting Earth, including non-functional satellites. Courtesy/NASA
 
LIVE SCIENCE News:
 
A bizarre object orbiting Earth is reminding astronomers of an empty trash bag.
 
The unusual satellite is trekking around the planet in an almost absurd ellipse, dipping as close as 372.8 miles (600 kilometers) from the surface and then swinging out to a distance of 334,460 miles (538,261 km), or 1.4 times the average distance of the Earth to the moon.
 
According to Northolt Branch Observatories in London, the object is a light piece of material left over
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