Science

Rally For Science In Santa Fe … But Not Los Alamos

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By JODY BENSON
Los Alamos

Los Alamos isn’t hosting a Rally or a March for Science. Santa Fe is, though. It will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Earth Day, at the Roundhouse. Get out there with your dedication and brilliance. Remember, there is no planet B, and scientists can prove it. 

The organizers of the March state: “The mischaracterization of science as a partisan issue, which has given policymakers permission to reject overwhelming evidence, is a critical and urgent matter. It is time for people who support scientific research and evidence-based policies to take a public stand and be Read More

Science On Tap: Seeing Inside Fukushima April 20

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LA CREATIVE DISTRICT News:

In March 2011, a tsunami slammed into the coast of Japan and initiated the meltdown of three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Radiation levels inside the buildings there are still lethal, but the cleanup needs to proceed.

Come and listen to Chris Morris, of the Lab’s Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, talk about how our scientists are using people-friendly particles called muons to help assess the status of the nuclear fuel inside the damaged reactors. Accurate answers to questions about the fuel rods could help reduce recovery efforts by more Read More

Periodic Model Predicts Spread Of Lyme Disease

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SIAM News:
 
PHILADELPHIA, PA — Lyme disease is among the most common vector-borne illnesses in North America, Europe, and some parts of Asia. A spirochete bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi causes the disease, and blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) are responsible for the majority of North American transmissions.
 
Commonly known as deer ticks, blacklegged ticks exhibit two-year life cycles with the following four stages: eggs, larvae, nymphs, and adults. Larvae primarily attack white-footed mice, then become nymphs upon obtaining a blood meal.
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Letter To The Editor: Let’s Stand Strong Against Anti-Science Forces

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By STEPHANIE NAKHLEH
Los Alamos

This Saturday, April 22, people from all over northern New Mexico will gather in Santa Fe in support of science. As the event organizers put it, “The March for Science champions science as a pillar for the advancement of human knowledge, progress and prosperity. We unite on April 22, Earth Day, as a diverse, nonpartisan group to call for the freedom of science in the interest of the common good, and for political leaders and policymakers to enact evidence-based policies in the public interest.”

In Los Alamos, we benefit especially from federally-funded science,

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March For Science – Santa Fe April 22

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SCIENCE News:
 
SANTA FE ― In the wake of the Women’s March on Washington comes the March for Science, this Saturday, April 22.
 
People across the world have been posting photos of their poster board signs proclaiming #WhyIMarch (for science): I march for the planet. I march for truth. I march for clean water for BEER. Other signs elaborate: Climate change is not a Chinese hoax. Science is real. Science is not a liberal agenda. Earth needs thinkers not deniers. And so many more!
 
Scientists and non-scientists from across New Mexico are
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Fifty Taos 2nd Graders Tour Bradbury Science Museum

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Fifty Ranchos Elementary School 2nd graders on a field trip Thursday to the Bradbury Science Museum, made possible by the generous sponsorship of Los Alamos National Bank. Photo by KayLinda Crawford

Staff Report

Fifty 2nd graders from Ranchos Elementary in Taos took a field trip to the Bradbury Science Museum Thursday, April 13 thanks to the generous sponsorship of bus transportation provided by Los Alamos National Bank.

The Bradbury Science Museum Association, the museum’s non-profit education outreach partner, in collaboration with Los Alamos National Bank, is providing the Read More

NASA’s MAVEN Mission Reveals Mars Has Metal In Its Atmosphere

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AGU News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mars has electrically charged metal atoms (ions) high in its atmosphere, according to new results from NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft. 
 
The metal ions can reveal previously invisible activity in the mysterious electrically charged upper atmosphere (ionosphere) of Mars.
 
“MAVEN has made the first direct detection of the permanent presence of metal ions in the ionosphere of a planet other than Earth,” said Joseph Grebowsky of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland and lead author of a new
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LANL: On-The-Range Detection Technology Could Corral Bovine TB

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In cattle, Mycobacterium bovis causes the disease, which easily spreads among large herds, periodically resulting in the quarantine and destruction of thousands of cattle in the United States, Canada and abroad and restricting international shipments. Courtesy/LANL

LANL News:

  • Biomarker-based assay offers ranchers immediate, on-site test results

A research breakthrough allowing the first direct, empirical, blood-based, cow-side test for diagnosing bovine tuberculosis (TB) could spare ranchers and the agriculture industry from costly quarantines and the mass slaughter of animals Read More

AGU: ‘Cold’ Great Spot Discovered On Jupiter

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AGU News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A second Great Spot has been discovered on Jupiter by astronomers, rivaling the scale of the planet’s famous Great Red Spot and created by the powerful energies exerted by the great planet’s polar aurorae.
 
Dubbed the ‘Great Cold Spot’, it has been observed as a localized dark spot, up to 24,000 kilometers in longitude and 12,000 kilometers in latitude, in the gas giant’s thin high-altitude thermosphere, that is around 200 degrees Kelvin cooler than the surrounding atmosphere, which can range in temperature between 700 degrees Kelvin (426 degrees
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UbiQD Announces Record Efficiency From Its Cadmium-Free Quantum Dots

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Prototype electricity-producing quantum dot window developed by UbiQD, one square foot in size, sits on a rock outcropping near the company’s headquarters in Los Alamos. Courtesy photo

BUSINESS News:

  • Large-area solar harvesting window prototype development accelerating

UbiQD, LLC, a New Mexico-based quantum dot manufacturer, announced today that it has achieved greater than 80 percent quantum yield, or optical efficiency, for its quantum dots over a broad spectrum from the visible to the near infra-red (550 nm to 1000 nm peak emission). For some colors between orange (600 nm) Read More