‘Frustrated’ nanomagnets order themselves through disorder: Extremely small arrays of magnets with strange and unusual properties can order themselves by increasing entropy, or the tendency of physical systems to disorder, a behavior that appears to contradict standard thermodynamics — but doesn’t. ‘Paradoxically, the system orders because it wants to be more disordered,’  said Cristiano Nisoli, a physicist at Los Alamos and coauthor of a paper about the research in Nature Physics. ‘Our research demonstrates entropy-driven order in a structured system of magnets at equilibrium.’ Read the full article here. Courtesy/LANL

LANL News:

Following is the weekly compilation of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) news stories for the week of April 4, 2022.

Science:

Perseverance analyzes first sounds from Mars:

The NASA Perseverance rover, which has been exploring the Jezero Crater on Mars since February 2021, has recorded the acoustic environment of the Red Planet for the first time. Using the SuperCam microphone developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and a consortium of French universities under the Centre National D’Etudes Spatiales, an international research team published the first analysis of these sounds April 1 in Nature. Read the full article here. Courtesy/LANL

Using tiny satellites to monitor harmful gases from space:

New technology developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory may provide a solution to high-resolution, trace-gas monitoring. The NanoSat Atmospheric Chemistry Hyperspectral Observation System, or NACHOS, is the first-ever cubesat-based hyperspectral imaging system that can compete with traditional large-satellite instruments in chemical detection applications. Hyperspectral imaging is conceptually similar to color imaging, except that instead of each pixel containing just the three familiar red, green and blue channels that mimic human vision, each pixel contains hundreds of wavelength bands, analyzing the light in great detail in order to spot the unique spectral fingerprint of each gas of interest. Read the full article in Space.com. Courtesy/LANL

Paving the path to a green future by capturing, storing CO2:

As the urgency increases to head off the worst effects of climate change, the airwaves and internet are buzzing with talk about how carbon capture and storage support various strategies to keep excess carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. What’s often missing from the discussion, though, is the science of how it works and how capturing and storing CO2 can make a huge difference as the economy shifts from dependence on oil and gas to renewable alternatives, which won’t happen overnight. Read the full article here. Courtesy/LANL

Using ‘ASSESS’ to detect subtle flaws in structures and materials:

When it comes to materials, engineers are always looking for something better. There is a constant need for stronger, lighter and easier-to-produce materials that can withstand harsh environments. This is particularly true for aerospace applications. To address these issues, researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory created a new technology called Acoustic Steady-State Excitation Spatial Spectroscopy, or ASSESS, that can rapidly and non-intrusively detect a wide variety of defects in materials used in reusable rockets. Read the full article here. Courtesy/LANL