Science

LANL, PVSD And Highlands University Collaborate On Innovative Teacher Education Program

by

LANL Director Terry C. Wallace, Jr., Pojoaque Valley School District Board of Education President of the Jon Paul Romero and New Mexico Highlands University Sam Minner. Courtesy/LANL

LANL News:

Los Alamos National Laboratory, Pojoaque Valley School District and New Mexico Highlands University officially launched the region’s first professional development school at a Sept. 26 PVSD board meeting.

“The value of education and the critical role it plays in the future success of both Northern New Mexico and Los Alamos National Laboratory cannot be overstated,” LANL Director Terry C. Wallace,

Read More

NIST: New Instrument Will Give Scientists Window On Change At Nanoscale

by

The Very Small Angle Neutron Scattering (VSANS) instrument. Courtesy/NIST
 
NIST News:
 
It looks more like a long water main pipe than a microscope, but a new custom-built instrument at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will give scientists new ability to glimpse moment-by-moment changes in materials on the crucial nanometer scale.
 
(Link to video here).
 
The tool’s name is almost as lengthy as its 45-meter footprint—it’s called the Very Small Angle Neutron Scattering (VSANS) instrument. Culminating from several years of in-house engineering,
Read More

DOE Solar Competition At Los Alamos Makers

by

 The Department of Energy has broken down the American-Solar competition into a series of 3 distinct contests with increasing prize value. Courtesy/LA Makers
 
LOS ALAMOS MAKERS News:
 
Los Alamos Makers is excited to announce that it was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to participate in the American-Made Solar Prize.
 
The American-Made Solar Prize is a $3 million prize competition designed to revitalize U.S. solar manufacturing through a series of contests and the development of a diverse and powerful support
Read More

LANL: New Space Instrument Goes For A Spin

by

The High Explosives Centrifuge Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Courtesy/LANL

LANL News:

Scientists and engineers at Los Alamos National Laboratory are using a unique centrifuge facility to evaluate a flight-ready telemetry system for evaluating a nuclear weapons test missile launch.

“The telemetry unit was designed and manufactured by Los Alamos’ Intelligence and Space Research Division,” Telemetry Program Manager Myles Fitzgerald said. “Telemetry is a data stream of information on temperature, acceleration, vibration, strain, all the conditions a system Read More

PEEC: Discover Explosive Astronomy Friday

by

Learn about explosive astronomy at 7 p.m., Friday at the Los Alamos Nature Center. Courtesy photo
 
PEEC News:
 
Learn about explosive astronomy at 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 28 at the Los Alamos Nature Center Planetarium at 2600 Canyon Road.
 
Astrophysicist Rick Wallace will lead a discussion about supernovae, x-ray bursts, gamma-ray bursts, neutron stars and quasars.
 
At this talk, Wallace also will show the full-dome movie “Exploding Universe.” “Exploding Universe” explores the kinds of explosive events that shaped the Universe. Audience members can dive into a world
Read More

AGU: Ocean Research And Education Are Foundations For Economic Growth

by

AGU News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. ― Scientific research in Earth and space sciences advances our understanding of our world and contributes to strong global economies, security, and public health and safety.
 
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) announced a revision to its position statement, “Ocean Research and Education Are Foundations for Economic Growth.” The revision calls upon public and private entities to “forge cooperation and make bold investments that enable scientific discovery and solutions in ocean science to support the global economy.”
 
The statement
Read More

NIST: Quantum Information Science – Making The Leap

by

The first fully programmable and reconfigurable quantum computer module developed in 2016 by scientists at the Joint Quantum Institute, a partnership of NIST and the University of Maryland. The pioneering device takes advantage of the unique properties offered by trapped ions to run any algorithm. Quantum computers promise speedy solutions to some difficult problems, but building large-scale, general-purpose quantum devices is a problem fraught with technical challenges. Courtesy/E. Edwards/JQI and S. Debnath/IonQ
 
NIST News:
 
Quantum information science will contribute
Read More

Pajarito Astronomers Hold Dark Night Oct. 6

by

Pajarito Astronomers News:

The Pajarito Astronomers will be holding a County-Sponsored Dark Night starting at 6:30 p.m. (sunset), Saturday, Oct. 6 at Spirio Soccer Field, Overlook Park in White Rock.

Weather permitting, the public is invited to come out, wander among the telescopes, and star gaze. The planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and its moons, Saturn and its rings, Neptune and Uranus will potentially be visible during the evening.

There will be a tour of the late-summer and fall constellations and there will be telescope views of double stars, star clusters, nebulae and galaxies. Read More

SAR Hosts Computer Scientist Leah Buechley For A Creative Thought Forum Lecture Oct. 11

by

Courtesy photo
 
SAR News:
 
SANTA FE ― The School for Advanced Research (SAR) has announced the next lecture in its second annual Creative Thought Forum series.
 
Computer scientist Leah Buechley presents “Connecting Science, Technology, and Culture in Education” 6:30-7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 11 at the James A. Little Theater in Santa Fe.
 
Buechley is a founder and former science director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s High-Low Tech research group. From 2009 to 2014 the MIT research group developed projects like interactive wallpaper, circuit
Read More

AGU: New Study Suggests Martian Moon May Have Come From Impact On Home Planet

by

Phobos seen from Mars surface captured by the Curiosity rover in 2014. Courtesy/NASA / JPL / MSSS / Justin Cowart CC-BY-3.0
 
AGU News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The weird shapes and colors of the tiny Martian moons Phobos and Deimos have inspired a long-standing debate about their origins.
 
The dark faces of the moons resemble the primitive asteroids of the outer solar system, suggesting the moons might be asteroids caught long ago in Mars’ gravitational pull. But the shapes and angles of the moons’ orbits do not fit this capture scenario.
 
A fresh look at 20-year-old data from
Read More