Quantum Gas Goes Below Absolute Zero
Temperature in a gas can reach below absolute zero thanks to a quirk of quantum physics. Michal Bednarek/Thinkstock
NATURE News:
It may sound less likely than hell freezing over, but physicists have created an atomic gas with a sub-absolute-zero temperature for the first time1.
Their technique opens the door to generating negative-Kelvin materials and new quantum devices, and it could even help to solve a cosmological mystery.
Lord Kelvin defined the absolute temperature scale in the mid-1800s in such a way that nothing could be colder Read More
SFI Colloquium: Reconstructing the Wiring Diagrams of Earth’s Biogeochemical Cycles
Dr. Paul G. Falkowsk
SFI News:
The next SFI Colloquium features Paul G. Falkowski (Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Rutgers University) speaking on “Reconstructing the Wiring Diagrams of Earth’s Biogeochemical Cycles.”
Falkowski’s talk is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 8 in the Noyce Conference Room at the Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road.
Abstract: Life is far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Over the past decade, together with collaborators, I have been analyzing the biochemical reactions responsible Read More
Korea Increases Support of NNSA’s Anti-Nuclear Smuggling Efforts
DOE and Korean officials sign a memorandum of understanding in 2010. Courtesy/NNSA News
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Republic of Korea announced Wednesday that the Republic of Korea renewed its partnership to combat nuclear smuggling with a $300,000 contribution to support NNSA’s ongoing nonproliferation work in Azerbaijan.
The funding, provided by the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and facilitated by the U.S. Department of State’s Nuclear Smuggling Outreach Initiative (NSOI), will be used for the installation of radiation Read More
Local Trial Set For Anti-Nuclear Protestors
LANL 6 protestors Cathie Sullivan, Wind Euler, Janet Greenwald, Benjamin (Summer) Abbott, Barbara Grothus and Pam Gilchrist. Photo by Greg Kendall/ladailypost.com
Staff Report
Trial is set for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 9 for six protestors arrested during last year’s Hiroshima Day demonstration at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The trial will be heard by Judge Alan Kirk in Los Alamos Municipal Court, 2500 Trinity Dr., in Los Alamos.
LANL Employee to Share Amazing Workplace Discoveries
Dr. Jack Shlachter
By Kirsten Laskey
Work sometimes gets a bad rep. It is easy to consider a job a necessity but not something that is entirely embraced.
Sometimes to truly appreciate an occupation you need to do what Theoretical Division Deputy Division leader Jack Shlachter did and do some digging. You may just luck out, as Shlachter did, and discover some amazing insights about your workplace.
Shlachter is a Ph.D. physicist as well as an ordained rabbi. He has worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory for 33 years. He arrived as a graduate student and stayed on, and has worked in various divisions Read More
NNSA Awards LANS Additional Contract Year
Courtesy/LANS
LANS News:
Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Charlie McMillan issued the following memo Friday, Dec. 21 to all employees regarding a recent NNSA evaluation of Lab performance:
MEMO
As a premier national security laboratory, we are held to very high standards for safety, security and mission performance – and rightly so.
These expectations are reflected in NNSA’s evaluation of our performance for Fiscal Year 2012, which we received last week.
While we fell short in some areas, I can report that NNSA gave us a final score of 80 percent and – I’m very pleased to say – did award Read More
NNSA Conducting Radiation Survey Over Washington
Courtesy/NNSA
NNSA News:
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will be flying a helicopter over portions of Washington, D.C., between Dec. 27, 2012, and Jan. 11, 2013.
The purpose of these flights is to measure naturally occurring radiation in the Washington, D.C., area.
The radiation assessment will cover approximately 70 square miles and NNSA will complete the assessment using a helicopter equipped with remote gamma radiation sensing technology.
The helicopter will fly in a grid pattern over the areas, 150 feet or higher above the ground surface, at a speed of approximately Read More
