Los Alamos National Laboratory (DOE)
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12/22/2009 | Featured Articles
To say that the outlook for government R&D laboratory executives is brighter for 2010 than 2009 would be a great understatement. At this time last year most laboratories were scrambling to adjust to a short-term financial upheaval brought about by an across-the-board freeze on budgets until March 2009.
12/7/2009 | News
Designed to check the reliability of the nation’s nuclear stockpile, the DAHRT facility’s first operation was postponed last year after machine components were damaged in the prototype secondary beamline, the world’s largest pulsed linear accelerator. Now repaired, the x-ray machine has captured five images and other test data of the early stage’s of a nuclear weapon explosion.
11/17/2009 | News
We’ve all seen explosions with pieces of debris flying, but
what researchers using Los Alamos Lab’s Roadrunner supercomputer want to see is
how this happens at the atomic-scale. The physics of “spall” and the behavior
of “ejecta” are still largely a mystery and small sizes and minute time scales—the
multibillion-atom molecular dynamics code in Roadrunner may help us understand.
10/28/2009 | News
A team from Los Alamos National Laboratory is using an adapted version of VPIC, a particle-in-cell plasma physics code, on Roadrunner to model the nonlinear physics of laser backscatter energy transfer and plasma instabilities to assist colleagues at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as they attempt to reach fusion ignition at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) next year.
10/27/2009 | News
Even though it’s looking at only a small segment of the “accessible” universe, Habib’s “Roadrunner Universe” model requires a petascale computer because, like the universe, it’s mind-bendingly large. The model’s basic unit is a particle with a mass of approximately one billion suns (in order to sample galaxies with masses of about a trillion suns), and it includes 64 billion and more of those particles. The model is one of the largest simulations of the distribution of matter in the universe, and aims to look at galaxy-scale mass concentrations above and beyond quantities seen in state-of-the-art sky surveys.
10/22/2009 | News
A team of geneticists at Los Alamos National Laboratory, together with a consortium of international researchers, has recently proposed a set of standards designed to elucidate the quality of publicly available genetic sequencing information. The new standards could eventually allow genetic researchers to develop vaccines more efficiently or help public health or security personnel more quickly respond to potential public-health emergencies.
9/1/2009 | News
A new method for "recycling" hydrogen-containing fuel materials could open the door to economically viable hydrogen-based vehicles. Los Alamos researchers have been working with University of Alabama colleagues on developing methods for the efficient recycling of ammonia borane. The research team made a breakthrough when it discovered that a specific form of dehydrogenated fuel, called polyborazylene, could be recycled with relative ease using modest energy input.
6/26/2009 | News
An assistant professor in MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, along with a team based at Los Alamos National Laboratory, is developing nanocomposite materials that can endure high temperatures, radiation, and extreme mechanical loading. Demkowicz’s model tackles what material scientists call “the inverse problem” —specifying a desired set of properties and then predicting which structures will deliver them—and could dramatically speed up the design process.
12/1/2008 | Featured Articles
The upcoming changes in government leadership will create temporary issues in the government’s network of research labs until new strategies are defined and funded.
9/26/2008 | RD 100 Awards
Laser-Weave is a process that uses lasers to grow inorganic fibers and simultaneously weave them into finished cables, fabrics, and composites that have improved strength and elasticity. Developed by James Maxwell at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Laser-Weave combines monofilament formation with braiding or weaving, resulting in a single operation.