National Laboratory

Small Businesses Providing Services to LANL Receive National Awards from DOE

LANL News:

Demolition of the former administration building at TA-3 conducted by ARSEC Environmental LLC. Courtesy/LANL

Three businesses that provide services to Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) received Department of Energy small business awards for fiscal year 2011 and will be recognized by DOE at a ceremony June 27 in Washington, D.C.

  • Eberline Services of Santa Fe received DOE’s Small Business of the Year award. Eberline conducted environmental drilling services at LANL. The work in 2011 was completed without recordable injuries or lost work time because of accidents. The company
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Bradbury Invites Public to Share Personal Fire Stories

Courtesy/Bradbury Science Museum

Interactive exhibit opens June 13

Beginning Wednesday June 13, the public is invited to Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) Bradbury Science Museum to take part in “Living With Wildfire: Share Your Stories.”

The museum will host an opening reception from 3:30-6 p.m. for the general public.

Nearly one year ago, the Las Conchas Fire burned in forest areas surrounding LANL and forced a one-week closure.

The wildfire spared the Laboratory but it affected thousands of residents in Northern New Mexico.

The exhibit provides an opportunity for people to share Read More

Elhanan Borenstein Presents Talk at SFI Tuesday

SFI News:

Elhanan Borenstein will present the talk, “From Metagenomics to Ecosystomics: Modeling the Human Microbiome” at 12:15 p.m., Tuesday June 12 in the Medium Conference Room at the Santa Fe Institute. 

Borenstein is a SFI External Professor and works at the University of Washington where the Borenstein lab focuses on computational research in Evolutionary Systems Biology – an emerging field that examines the interplay between the evolutionary process and the organization of complex biological systems. This is done primarily in the following research Read More

Federal Agencies Demonstrate Response Capabilities for a Radiological Event

NNSA News:

Courtesy/NNSA

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A joint federal, state and local government workshop and demonstration of the emergency response capabilities that will be deployed in the event of a radiological accident or incident was held this week in Kansas City, Kan.

This technical workshopwas part of a series of events associated with Amber Waves 2012, a radiological dispersaldevice (RDD) exercise series sponsored by the Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Personnel from the states of Kansas, Missouri and Iowa, as well as numerous federal agencies Read More

Aerial Survey of Los Alamos Townsite Begins Monday

Courtesy/NNSA

NNSA News:

The National Nuclear Security Administration plans this week to complete a high-fidelity aerial survey of Los Alamos town site, a dual-step project initiated last fall.

The survey is scheduled for June 11-13. Residents may notice the silver and blue Bell 412 helicopter flying overhead.

NNSA arranged for the Remote Sensing Laboratory/National Aerial Measuring System (RSL) of Las Vegas, Nev., to conduct this second flyover following a similar survey of lab property in August 2011, after the Las Conchas Fire.

“The objective of the flyover is to ensure that any and Read More

Evaluating NRC’s Progress on Open Government

In its Open Government Directive, dated Dec. 8, 2009, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) called upon Government agencies to open their doors and data to the American people.

To evaluate progress toward that goal, OMB instructed the Federal Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Chief Information Officer (CIO) to develop an Open Government Dashboard. Initially, that Dashboard focused on the various deliverables explicitly identified in the OMB Directive, but the current revision offers a more holistic set of metrics, informed by each agency’s Open Government Plan.

Consistent Read More

New Mexico Small Business Assistance Program Recognized by U.S. Department of Commerce

LANL News:

The New Mexico Small Business Assistance (NMSBA) program, a collaboration of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Sandia National Laboratories and the state of New Mexico, received the 2012 Manufacturing Advocate of the Year award from the Manufacturing Extension Partnership under the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The award was presented this month at the 2012 Manufacturing Innovation conference in Orlando, Fla., for “commitment to the business growth and transformation of U.S.–based manufacturing through work in the manufacturing sector.”

The NMSBA was specifically Read More

Quantum Computers Will Be Able to Simulate Particle Collisions

NIST News:

Stephen Jordan. Courtesy/NIST

Quantum computers are still years away, but a trio of theorists has already figured out at least one talent they may have.

According to the theorists, including one from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), physicists might one day use quantum computers to study the inner workings of the universe in ways that are far beyond the reach of even the most powerful conventional supercomputers.

Quantum computers require technology that may not be perfected for decades, but they hold great promise for solving complex problems.

The switches Read More

LANL Scientist Selected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry

Jaqueline Kiplinger of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Materials Chemistry group has been selected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC.)

The Royal Society of Chemistry is Europe’s largest professional and academic society for chemistry and traces its roots to the Chemical Society of London, established in 1841.

Fellowship is awarded to nominees who have made sustained outstanding contributions to the advancement or application of chemical science or who have demonstrated excellence in the chemical science profession.

Research achievements

Kiplinger is internationally Read More

Scientists Take Giant Step in Understanding Plutonium

  • Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Offers New Insights into the Element

“In nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, a resonance between the energy levels of the nuclear spin (black arrow) in a magnetic field (B) is achieved with the help of a coil. For the first time, the nuclear magnetic resonance signature of Plutonium 239 was observed at Los Alamos National Laboratory.” Courtesy photo

Plutonium is the most complex element in the periodic table, yet it is also one of the most poorly understood ones.

But now a well-known scientific technique, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, may

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