World

Skolnik: COVID-19 – The Quintessential Global Health Issue

by

By RICHARD SKOLNIK
Los Alamos

(This article is adapted from a talk given to the Global Health Interest Group of the Research Institute of Children’s National Hospital)

COVID-19 is the quintessential global health issue. We can see this clearly when we look at COVID-19 through a set of global health lenses: the globalization of disease; ethics; the economic and social impacts of health issues; the relationship between human well-being and global security and freedom; and, the need for cooperation.

When it comes to the interdependent boundaryless world in which we live, I like to say that “the Read More

LANL: SuperCam Sends First Data Back To Earth From The Perseverance Mars Rover

by

Photos of ‘Yeehgo’, the second rock target analyzed with SuperCam’s various imaging capabilities. Courtesy/LANL

LANL News:

Following the successful landing of NASA’s Perseverance rover in Jezero Crater on Mars, the SuperCam operational teams at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) received the first results showing that SuperCam is in good health and giving its first impressions of the crater.

“It’s amazing to see SuperCam working so well on Mars,” Roger Wiens said, the lead scientist on SuperCam at Los Alamos. “When we first dreamed

Read More

Kiwanis: African Library Effort Continues Despite Pandemic

by

Kiwanis volunteers help pack books March 4-5 for shipment to African libraries. Courtesy/Kiwanis

KIWANIS News:

The Kiwanis Club of Los Alamos has proven once again that while service projects may be a bit more difficult during a pandemic – they are certainly not impossible.

March just happens to be National Reading Month, so very small groups of 4-5 volunteers spread way out at the Sarah McLaughlin Hall at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church on Canyon Road to pack books, books and more books March 4-5 for the African Library Project.

Book donations have been steady and high all throughout Read More

2021 International Women’s Day Celebrating Achievements

by

Karl Maria Stadler (1888 – nach 1943), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Courtesy/IWD

IWD News:

Today is International Women’s Day (IWD) – a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. Significant activity is witnessed worldwide as groups come together to celebrate women’s achievements or rally for women’s equality. 

Marked annually March 8, IWD is one of the most important days of the year to:

  • Celebrate women’s achievements;
  • Raise awareness about women’s equality;
Read More

Dallas FBI And Dallas Museum Of Art Announce Transfer Of Recovered Stele Of Lakshmi-Narayana To Nepal Government

by

FBI and Dallas Museum of Art representatives pose Tuesday with the Stele of Lakshmi-Narayana. Courtesy/DMA

FBI agents trained in art transportation package and crate the stone artifact in preparation for its return to the government of Nepal. Courtesy/DMA

FBI News:

Officials from the Dallas FBI Field Office and the Dallas Museum of Art announced Tuesday the transfer of a recovered stone artifact previously on loan to the museum from a private collection.

With the full support of the object’s lender, the Stele of Lakshmi-Narayana was transported from Dallas, Texas, to Washington, D.C., Read More

Cornell Lab: Shade-Grown Coffee Could Help Save Birds

by

Female Blackburnian Warbler in a coffee bush in Colombia. Photo by Guillermo Santos

Cornell Lab of Ornithology News:

ITHACA, NY—The message about the bird-conservation benefits of shade-grown coffee may not be getting through to the people most likely to respond—birdwatchers.

A team of researchers from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Virginia Tech surveyed birdwatchers to learn if they drank shade-grown coffee and, if not, why not. Their findings were published today in the journal People and Nature.

“One of the most significant constraints to purchasing bird-friendly coffee among Read More

Male Lyrebirds Create ‘Acoustic Illusion’ To Snare Mates

by

Male Superb Lyrebird. Photo by Alex Maisey

Cornell Lab of Ornithology News:

ITHACA, NY — Famous for their uncanny ability to imitate other birds and even mechanical devices, researchers find that Australia’s Superb Lyrebird also uses that skill in a totally unexpected way.

Lyrebirds imitate the panicked alarm calls of a mixed-species flock of birds while males are courting and even while mating with a female. These findings are published in the journal Current Biology.

“The male Superb Lyrebird creates a remarkable acoustic illusion,” said Anastasia Dalziell, a Cornell Lab of Ornithology Read More

LANL: Beaufort Sea Freshwater Threatens Arctic, Climate

by

Dye tracer released from the Beaufort Gyre region of the western Artic Ocean indicates freshwater transport through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago into the western Labrador Sea, causing freshening there. Courtesy/Francesca Samsel and Greg Abram (University of Texas at Austin)

LANL News:

The Beaufort Sea, the Arctic Ocean’s largest freshwater reservoir, has increased its freshwater content by 40 percent over the last two decades, putting global climate patterns at risk.

A rapid release of this freshwater into the Atlantic Ocean could wreak havoc on the delicate climate balance that Read More

LANL: A look Into Mysteries Of Proton Structure And Dynamics Of Antiquarks And Gluons

by

A new paper out in Nature describes unusual results from the E-906/SeaQuest experiment, showing that distributions of antiquarks are significantly different than expected, with more abundant ‘down’ type antimatter quarks than ‘up’ antimatter quarks. Courtesy/LANL

LANL News:

  • Physics experiment explores antimatter asymmetry

A complex high-energy nuclear physics experiment, aiming to measure the contributions of antiquarks to the structure of the proton and neutron, has produced results that are the opposite of what had previously been understood about proton structure and the Read More

LANL Frontiers In Science Talk: COVID Solutions Feb. 24

by

At Wednesday talk, Nick Hengartner will set the stage for how disease modeling works. Courtesy/LANL

LANL News:

The community is invited to join an online Frontiers In Science Talk at 6 p.m., Feb. 24 with three top Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) researchers exploring COVID solutions.

Click here to register. Email fis@lanl.gov to submit questions.

Nick Hengartner is an applied mathematician at LANL and former leader of the Theoretical Biology and Biophysics group (T-6), one of the few research groups in the world devoted to mathematical biology and infectious disease modeling. 

He Read More