LANL News Roundup For Week Of March 21, 2022

LANL News:

A weekly compilation of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) news stories for the week of March 21.

 

Science:

Un-Earthing planetary defense:

This summer, NASA will launch its first mission to a metallic asteroid, 16 Psyche, located in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Previous missions have explored rocky and icy asteroids, but Psyche’s composition is widely believed to consist of a considerable amount of metal. Psyche has two large impact structures in its southern hemisphere. Simulating the formation of these craters using computational models helps to probe how such large and relatively shallow craters could have formed on Psyche. Simulations using Los Alamos National Laboratory’s extensive computational resources indicate Psyche may be a rubble-pile configuration, consisting of large boulders held together by gravitational forces. In these simulations, impacts into rubble piles created crater shapes similar to those found on Psyche: large in diameter, relatively shallow in depth. Read full article in Space.com here, and watch the simulation video here. Courtesy/LANL

Printing circuits on rare nanomagnets puts a new spin on computing:

New research artificially creating a rare form of matter known as spin glass could spark a new paradigm in artificial intelligence by allowing algorithms to be directly printed as physical hardware. The unusual properties of spin glass enable a form of AI that can recognize objects from partial images much like the brain does and show promise for low-power computing, among other intriguing capabilities. Read full article here. Courtesy/LANL

New containers keep secrets and materials safe:

From safes containing top-secret files to pill bottles, custodians of sensitive materials need containers that let them know instantly whether and when it was tampered with. To this end, engineers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed Tamper Evident Containers using 3D printing to create arbitrarily complex-shaped, three-dimensional, tamper-sensitive sensors within the walls of the container, along with analog and encrypted digital boards safely stored inside the TEC to permanently record the complete security history of the protected items. Read full article here. Courtesy/LANL

Smaller, more versatile antenna could be a communications game-changer:

As wireless communications technology continues to advance, the need for smaller, more versatile and energy- and cost-efficient antennas is becoming increasingly important. Now, scientists and engineers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a new type of antenna, called LightSlinger, to meet this need. Read full article here. Courtesy/LANL

Accelerated Box of Flash: Powerful computational storage for big data projects:

Data is a vital part of solving complicated scientific questions, in endeavors ranging from genomics, to climatology, to the analysis of nuclear reactions. However, an abundance of data is often only as good as the ability to efficiently store, access and manipulate that data. To facilitate discovery with big data problems, Los Alamos researchers, in collaboration with industry partners, have developed an open storage system acceleration architecture for scientific data analysis, which can deliver 10 to 30 times the performance of current systems. Read full article here. Courtesy/LANL

Operations:

Hazmat Challenge tests responders’ skills in simulated emergencies:

Ten hazardous materials response teams from Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Tennessee will test their skills in a series of graded exercises Aug. 19-23 at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Hazmat Challenge. “The Challenge provides a unique training venue for hazmat responders where they are able to test and develop their technical response capabilities in a difficult but safe environment,” said Jeff Dare, group leader for Emergency Response at Los Alamos National Laboratory. “Recent upgrades to our Emergency Response Training Center have allowed us to create the most challenging scenarios yet.” Read the full article here. Courtesy/LANL

Community:

Native American engineering students explore career paths at Los Alamos:

A thousand miles may be a long way for a school field trip, but Los Alamos National Laboratory professionals teamed with faculty and students from North Dakota’s tribal colleges to make it happen this March. “As an Indigenous Lab employee, I am extremely pleased to be able to show these students the variety of work that is critical to our nation,” Darren Harvey said, Laboratory employee and co-chair of its American Indian Employee Resource Group. “Increasing STEM awareness within the Indigenous community is paramount to creating a diverse and unique workforce at the Laboratory. I am grateful to be part of this program and thankful for my colleagues who made this possible.” Read full article here. Courtesy/LANL

People:

What it’s like operating the world’s highest-powered magnet in MagLab:

Growing up in Japan as part of a family that tended rice fields, Hazuki Teshima never imagined having a career in science. “I only ever saw scientists on TV!” she says. As a lover of music and the visual arts, Teshima chose biology as her college major because the cover of the textbook was “so beautiful.” Now, as a generator operator at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory-Pulsed Field Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Teshima is a maestro at directing complex works of engineering used to produce cutting-edge science with high magnetic fields. Read article here. Courtesy/LANL

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