World

Hear From Local Astronomers At Nature On Tap July 9

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PEEC News:
 
Join the Pajarito Environmental Education Center and the Los Alamos Creative District for Nature on Tap, 5:30 to 7 p.m. Monday, July 9, at UnQuarked Wine Bar.
 
Galen Gisler will lead a panel of local astronomers in a discussion about recent updates in astronomy. The panel features Erica Fogerty, Steve Becker, Joyce Guzik and Paul Arendt who will discuss topics like asteroid near misses, meteorites and dark matter. Audience members are welcome to ask any astronomy-related questions.
 
For more information about this and other PEEC programs, visit www.peecnature.org
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AGU: Freak Rockfall Accident In China

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The aftermath of the rockfall accident in Shimian County. Courtesy/Chengdu Business Daily
 
AGU News:
 
The Chengdu Business Daily has a report of a freak rockfall accident that occurred June 30 in Shimian County in Sichuan Province, China.
 
At the time a bus was driving on the S217 Provincial Road between Chengdu and Wuhu, carrying 38 people. The coach was struck by a large boulder. It appears that the boulder penetrated, and became wedged through, the windscreen of the coach. The driver, Zhao Jianguo, a 44-year-old native of Chengdu, was pinned in his seat and killed.
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Explore Asteroids & Comets At NMMNHS Planetarium

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Courtesy photo
 
NMMNHS News:
 
ALBUQUERQUE — Audiences at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science (NMMNHS) Planetarium will discover how asteroids and comets have collided with earth, changing the course of life on Earth and shaping today’s world, in the California Academy of Sciences’ latest original planetarium show, Incoming!
 
From the comfort of a planetarium seat, viewers will embark on a dynamic journey on the trail of asteroids and comets, get an up close look at the advanced technologies that allow scientists to detect asteroids before they reach
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Izraelevitz: The Honor And Blessing Of Becoming An American Citizen

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By DAVID IZRAELEVITZ
Los Alamos County Council Chair

When the Publisher of this newspaper asked if I would write a column celebrating the Fourth of July, I couldn’t help but look back to the previous July 4th at the Bandelier National Monument Visitor Center, where I was invited to speak at a new citizenship ceremony. I shared with them my feelings about the honor and blessing of becoming an American citizen as an adult. I hope you will enjoy an abbreviated version of my talk.

July 4, 2017

Thank you very much for your invitation to speak here today. I am not sure that I can fully express the honor I feel Read More

Leftist Firebrand Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Decisively Wins Mexico Presidency

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Newly elected president of Mexico Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador

HSNW News:

Leftist firebrand Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has won Mexico’s presidential election with more than 50 percent of the vote.

Mexican voters decisively backed Lopez Obrador in Sunday’s presidential election, giving him 53 percent of the vote.

The Telegraph reports that official projections show that Ricardo Anaya of the conservative National Action Party (PAN) won between 22.1 and 22.8 percent; Jose Antonio Meade of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) – the party of outgoing president Read More

Climate Change Making Night Clouds More Visible

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Noctilucent, or night-shining, clouds are the highest clouds in Earth’s atmosphere. They form in the middle atmosphere, or mesosphere, roughly 50 miles above Earth’s surface. The clouds form when water vapor freezes around specks of dust from incoming meteors. Courtesy/Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics NASA
 
AGU News:
 
Washinton, D.C. — Increased water vapor in Earth’s atmosphere due to human activities is making shimmering high-altitude clouds more visible, a new study finds. The results suggest these strange but increasingly common clouds seen only on
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Bandelier Hosts 4th Of July Naturalization Ceremony

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A previous naturalization ceremony at Bandelier National Monument. Courtesy/NPS

 

BANDELIER News:

July 4th is traditionally a day when Americans celebrate freedom and independence. For the eighth year, Bandelier National Monument is proud to partner with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to host a naturalization ceremony in the park on that day. 

Fifteen candidates from 12 countries, after working for years to fulfill their requirements, will be taking the oath and becoming the newest citizens of the United States. Read More

NNSA, Air Force Complete Successful End-To-End B61-12 Life Extension Program Flight Tests At Tonopah

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Courtesy/NNSA

NNSA News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) and the U.S. Air Force completed two non-nuclear system qualification flight tests of the B61-12 gravity bomb June 9 at Tonopah Test Range in Nevada.

“These qualification flight tests demonstrate the B61-12 design meets system requirements and illustrate the continued progress of the B61-12 life extension program to meet national security requirements” said Brig. Gen. Michael Lutton, NNSA’s Principal Assistant Deputy Administrator for Military Application. Read More

PEEC: Explore Fate Of Solar System & Humanity Friday

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Courtesy photo
 
PEEC News:
 
In about one billion years, the Sun will swell to nearly the size of the earth’s orbit and lose its outer atmosphere. All of the oceans will evaporate and temperatures will increase drastically. Join Rick Wallace for an exciting discussion about the fate of the earth and humanity at 7 p.m., Friday, June 29 at the Los Alamos Nature Center Planetarium.
 
In this talk, audience members will fly through 3D models of similar planetary nebulae while considering the eventual fate of our planet. Wallace will explain how we know the fate of our solar system and
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World Futures: Statistics (And Probability) – Part Two

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By ANDY ANDREWS
Los Alamos World
Futures Institute

In the previous column we looked at nuclear cross sections as the probability of a nuclear interaction and noted that the cross section is a statistic derived through experimentation. If the statistic was measured incorrectly, the nuclear reactor would fizzle and a mess would result. But what if the measurement dealt with people and was “sort” of wrong? What if the test was usually right, but sometimes could give a false result? And what if the test was applied to an entire population or a representative sample to draw an inference?

Thomas Bayes Read More