World

Los Alamos National Laboratory: New Mars Rover Tool Will Zap Rocks To Investigate Planet’s Past Habitability

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The SuperCam instrument is attached to the Perseverance rover at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California in June 2019. Courtesy/NASA/JPL-Caltech

Roger Wiens leads the SuperCam team at Los Alamos National Laboratory. SuperCam is a tool that will go to Mars aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover to look for signs of past life on Mars. Courtesy/LANL 
LANL News:
  • Developed at LANL, SuperCam will examine the chemistry and mineralogy of rocks on Mars
When NASA’s Perseverance rover launches from Florida on its way to Mars, it will carry aboard what is likely the most versatile instrument ever made
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Potrero Chico Climbing Featured At Mountaineers Meeting

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The limestone walls at El Potrero Chico, Nuevo León, Mexico. Photo by Phil Martin

By BILL PRIEDHORSKY
Los Alamos Mountaineers

The July Los Alamos Mountaineers meeting continues in its electronic format, consistent with the needs of this special time. It will be held at the regular time of 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 28.

As usual, the Mountaineers meeting is held in collaboration with the Pajarito Environmental Education Center. This month, Phil Martin will speak on a climbing expedition to Potrero Chico.

Some call it a sport climbing paradise, others think it’s just a particularly beautiful

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Comet NEOWISE From Valles Caldera And Fenton Hill

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Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE is beginning to fade, and the monsoon clouds are not helping, but take a look through binoculars for it under the Big Dipper cup. Otherwise it will not be seen again for 6,800 years or so. The comet is seen here between between 10-11 p.m. One picture is from the Valles Caldera (7/18/2020) Pictured here is Valles Caldera. Photo by Glen Wurden

Comet NEOWISE seen between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. Monday from Fenton Hill. Photo by Glen Wurden Read More

NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography Enters ‘Selection Round’

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A select few algorithms, some of which fall into one of three mathematical ‘families’, are undergoing a final leg of review. Some will form the core of the first post-quantum cryptography standard. Courtesy/B. Hayes/NIST

NIST News:

The race to protect sensitive electronic information against the threat of quantum computers has entered the home stretch. 

After spending more than three years examining new approaches to encryption and data protection that could defeat an assault from a quantum computer, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has winnowed the 69 submissions Read More

Skolnik: COVID-19 – Time Is Running Out

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By RICHARD SKOLNIK
Los Alamos

The US is falling further and further behind in its fight against COVID-19. The number of new cases has been at an all-time high. The number of deaths has been climbing. We have the tenth highest number of deaths per million population in the world and Florida has almost as many cases in a week as China has had during its entire outbreak.

In addition, many hospitals are becoming overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients, health workers continue to face PPE shortages, and test results are taking so long in some places that they are of no value in managing the epidemic.

In fact, Read More

Three Views Of Comet NEOWISE Over Los Alamos

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The Los Alamos Nature Center in the foreground under the Comet NEOWISE at 9:15 p.m. Sunday. It seemed fitting to show the comet hovering above our local planetarium! Photo by Rick Wallace

Comet NEOWISE viewed Sunday at approximately 9 p.m. from Overlook Park in White Rock. Photo by Rick Wallace

Comet NEOWISE viewed Sunday at approximately 9:30 p.m. from Overlook Park in White Rock. Technical details: All photos were taken with Canon 5DIII, 15-35mm zoom lens set to 35mm, f/2.8, 10 sec. at an ISO of 3200. Photo by Rick Wallace Read More

World Futures: Distance Learning And Teaching – Part Two

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By ANDY ANDREWS
Los Alamos World Futures Institute

“But is the teacher a human or a machine?” This is the last sentence from the text of Part One. The learner (the student) controls the learning process for many possible reasons that, in my perception, are related to his or her personal objectives.

Clearly, one can argue that the young student does not reason that potty training is a needed skill, but she or he does recognize and appreciate positive feedback from the teacher. Can a machine effectively conduct potty training?

As a person grows a lot is learned by experience, part of which is the interaction Read More

Catch Of The Week: Twitter’s Big Hack

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By BECKY RUTHERFORD
Los Alamos

On Wednesday, July 15, accounts across Twitter began posting the same message: “Send bitcoins to this bitcoin address and you will get back double the bitcoins!”

Initially, tweets claimed to be linked to a fake charity, “Crypto for Health”.

The first wave of tweets went out from smaller Twitter accounts, and then cryptocurrency CEOs.

Then came the second wave – celebrities and politicians with verified Twitter accounts, including Elon Musk, Kanye West, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Joe Biden and Barack Obama.

Sample image of one of the fake tweets from Twitter. Read More

Latest View Of Comet NEOWISE From Los Alamos

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Comet NEOWISE viewed looking northwest at approximately 10 p.m. Saturday from the Los Alamos Nature Center on Canyon Road. The sky color is a little bluer than actual in order to compensate for the yellow nature center lights in the foreground. The core was actually a bright green color. As Galen Gisler said about his recent photo, ‘The two stars below the comet are at right, Iota Ursae Majoris and left, Kappa Ursae Majoris, magnitudes 3.14 and 3.56 respectively’. So the comet’s nucleus may be 3.3. The comet is still visible to the naked eye after about 9:30 p.m. and spectacular in binoculars. For Read More