Science on Tap: Can you tell if a photo or video is generated by artificial intelligence? The Bradbury Science Museum invites the community to join Juston Moore virtually at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 11 to learn about potential approaches to reduce the risks of AI-generated misinformation. To register, click here. Courtesy/BSM
Science
Ghost Town In Playas Provides High-Tech Testing For AFRL
AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate researchers setting up test equipment overlooking the Playas Research and Training Center in southern New Mexico. Courtesy/AFRL
AFRL NEWS:
KIRTLAND AFB — In a dusty ghost town in southern New Mexico, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is conducting some of its most important testing.
Located in Hidalgo County, Playas was once a bustling “corporate town” built by the Phelps Dodge Corporation to house the workforce of a copper smelter built in 1971.
The boom town was all but abandoned when copper prices fell in 1999, the smelter was closed, and most of its Read More
AI World Society History Of AI 2020 Awards Recognizes People; Achievements That Are Pioneering, Influential
As a champion of democratic values and trained scientist who places humanity at the center of AI innovation, Dr. Ursula von der Leyen – president of the European Commission is recognized for HAI 2020. Courtesy/AIWS
AIWS News:
BOSTON, MA — The AI World Society Thursday announced the History of AI 2020 Awards. The HAI Awards recognize people and achievements in the AI world that are pioneering, meaningful, and influential.
The History of AI 2020 Awards for Achievement go to:
AlphaFold – the solution to a 50-year-old grand challenge in biology, developed by DeepMind. “This breakthrough Read More
Glimpse Of What’s New In COVID-19 Research At LANL
LANL continues working to better understand and mitigate the impacts of the pandemic. Courtesy/LANL
LANL News:
Los Alamos National Laboratory continues its work to better understand and mitigate the impacts of the pandemic.
Here’s a brief look at some of the research underway:
Infrastructure analysis and decision support
Los Alamos developed the Modeling Epidemics for Decision Support with Infrastructure Analysis (MEDIAN) to understand interdependencies between critical infrastructures and public health measures such as contact tracing and diagnostics as it relates to pandemic Read More
LANL: ‘Garbage To Gas … Using Biodigesters To Create Energy’ Wins 2020 New Mexico Governor’s STEM Challenge
Los Alamos National Laboratory awards a $4,500 cash prize to the winning students in the New Mexico Governor’s STEM Challenge. Courtesy/LANL
LANL News:
Student scientists at Monte del Sol Charter School earned a $4,500 cash prize awarded by Los Alamos National Laboratory judges in the New Mexico Governor’s STEM Challenge with their project, “Garbage to Gas: Using Biodigesters to Create Energy”.
“The STEM Challenge’s team-based approach of applying science, technology, engineering and math to address real needs is a microcosm of what we do at the Laboratory every day,” Laboratory Director Read More
Los Lunas Public Library Partners In National Project On Gender Equitable, Culturally Responsive Science Learning
LLPL News:
LOS LUNAS — Los Lunas Public Library has been selected as one of 12 libraries to participate in the STAR Net STEAM Equity Project, a competitive grant program that will enable the library and its collaborators to offer special programs, educational products, and exhibitions.
Through this project, Los Lunas and surrounding area residents are invited to join this effort to empower tweens and their families in equitable STEAM learning and career paths by building off of their existing strengths, interests, and diverse cultures.
The STEAM Equity project — where STEAM stands for Science, Read More
AFRL Spacecraft Collects Never Before Seen Data
A diagram of the Air Force Research Laboratory DSX and Japanese Space Agency Arase experiment in which the first space-to-space very low frequency transmission was conducted. The locations and directions of the spacecraft at the time of the experiment are shown, DSX in yellow and Arase in cyan, when they were 436 kilometers apart. Direct VLF wave paths from DSX are in blue, while the paths of waves reflected by magnetospheric plasma are in red. White dotted lines show magnetic field lines from the Earth’s magnetic field, which tends to guide the low-density plasma and, as a result, the VLF waves. Read More
AGU: Birth Of A Hawaiian Fissure Eruption
A fountaining eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano, which occurred May 5, 2018. Courtesy/AGU
AGU News:
Ready for a new kind of holiday yule log? Then this mesmerizing video of an erupting volcano is for you.
This spectacular footage captures a fountaining eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano May 5, 2018. The eruption went through several phases:
- First, there were pulsing bursts of escaping volcanic gas;
- Next, closely spaced weak explosions of particles torn from magma in the volcanic vent; and
- Last, weak incandescent fountaining of particles and gas.
Researchers analyzed the footage in Read More
Happy Holidays From New Mexico Museum Of Space History
NMMSH News:
The New Mexico Museum of Space History (NMMSH) in Alamogordo wishes everyone happy holidays.
The museum is a division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, under the leadership of the Governor’s Commission to the New Mexico Museum of Space History.
Programs and exhibits are supported by the International Space Hall of Fame Foundation through the generous support of donors.
Dedicated Oct. 5, 1976, as the International Space Hall of Fame, the New Mexico Museum of Space History’s mission is to inspire and educate, to promote and preserve, and to honor the pioneers of space
‘Great Conjunction’: NASA Tips To View ‘Christmas Star’
Jupiter and Saturn will appear just one-tenth of a degree apart this evening, in an event known as a ‘great conjunction’. The planets will be visible to the naked eye when looking toward the southwest about an hour after sunset. Courtesy/NASA/JPL-Caltech
By Samantha Mathewson
www.space.com
Jupiter and Saturn will align in the night sky this evening in an event astronomers call the “great conjunction” — also referred to as the “Christmas Star” — marking the planets’ closest encounter in nearly 400 years.
When Saturn and Jupiter converge tonight, the two planets may appear as a bright point of Read More