Sandia National Laboratories (DOE)
New instrument will quickly detect biothreat agents
April 2, 2013 8:04 am | News | Comments
Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories are developing a medical instrument that will be able to quickly detect a suite of biothreat agents, including anthrax, ricin, botulinum, shiga, and SEB toxin. The device, once developed, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and commercialized, would most likely be used in emergency rooms in the event of a bioterrorism incident.
High temperature alloy may be perfect solder for well electronics
April 17, 2013 9:01 am | by Meg Marquardt, Materials 360 Online | News | Comments
Technology used in downhole applications—such as geothermal or oil-well monitoring—...
Better monitoring and diagnostics tackle algae biofuel pond crash problem
April 10, 2013 12:28 pm | News | Comments
Sandia National Laboratories is developing a suite of complementary technologies to...
The future of ion traps
March 7, 2013 3:40 pm | by E. Edwards, JQI | News | Comments
Trapped atomic ions are a promising architecture that satisfies many of the critical...
Army Ground Combat Systems adopts Sandia tool
May 21, 2013 11:35 am | News | CommentsSandia National Laboratories has developed key components of a software tool to help the Army's PEO GCS analyze countless what-if scenarios that can be manipulated as technology advances and the global environment, the federal budget, or other factors change. Sandia calls this advanced combination of modeling, simulation, and optimization decision support software the Capability Portfolio Analysis Tool (CPAT).
Team observes real-time charging of a lithium-air battery
May 13, 2013 9:07 am | by David L. Chandler, MIT News Office | News | CommentsOne of the most promising new kinds of battery to power electric cars is called a lithium-air battery. But progress has been slow. Researchers have used transmission electron microscope (TEM) imaging to observe, at a molecular level, what goes on during a reaction called oxygen evolution as lithium-air batteries charge; this reaction is thought to be a bottleneck limiting further improvements to these batteries.
Fertilizer that fizzles in a homemade bomb could save lives around the world
April 23, 2013 8:24 am | News | CommentsA Sandia engineer who trained U.S. soldiers to avoid improvised explosive devices (IEDs) has developed a fertilizer that helps plants grow but can’t detonate a bomb. It’s an alternative to ammonium nitrate, an agricultural staple that is also the raw ingredient in most of the IEDs in Afghanistan. Sandia has decided not to patent or license the formula, but to make it freely available in hopes of saving lives.
Sequoia supercomputer transitions to classified work
April 18, 2013 8:05 am | News | CommentsThe National Nuclear Security Administration announced that its Sequoia supercomputer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has completed its transition to classified computing in support of the Stockpile Stewardship Program, which helps the United States ensure the safety, security, and effectiveness of its aging nuclear weapons stockpile without the use of underground testing.
Softening steel problem expands computer model applications
April 16, 2013 8:11 am | News | CommentsSandia National Laboratories researchers Lisa Deibler and Arthur Brown had a ready-made problem for their computer modeling work when they partnered with the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Kansas City Plant to improve stainless steel tubing that was too hard to meet nuclear weapon requirements.
Researchers measure reaction rates of second key atmospheric component
April 12, 2013 8:14 am | News | CommentsResearchers have successfully measured reaction rates of a second Criegee intermediate, CH3CHOO, and proven that the reactivity of the atmospheric chemical depends strongly on which way the molecule is twisted. The measurements will provide further insight into hydrocarbon combustion and atmospheric chemistry.
Sandia's new fiber optic network is world's largest
February 28, 2013 8:50 am | News | CommentsSandia National Laboratories has become a pioneer in large-scale passive optical networks, building the largest fiber optical local area network in the world. The network pulls together 265 buildings and 13,000 computer network ports and brings high-speed communication to some of the laboratories' most remote technical areas for the first time.
Researchers build nanotube photodetector
February 27, 2013 11:27 am | News | CommentsResearchers at Rice University and Sandia National Laboratories have made a nanotube-based photodetector that gathers light in and beyond visible wavelengths. It promises to make possible a unique set of optoelectronic devices, solar cells, and perhaps even specialized cameras.
Sandia Labs revitalizes nuclear security infrastructure
February 22, 2013 8:54 am | News | CommentsSandia National Laboratories has completed $199 million in facilities construction and repair as part of an 11-year national effort to revitalize the physical infrastructure of nuclear security enterprise sites.
Cool Earth Solar, Sandia form partnership
February 20, 2013 3:40 pm | News | CommentsIn a public-private partnership that takes full advantage of the Livermore Valley Open Campus for the first time, Sandia National Laboratories and Cool Earth Solar have signed an agreement that could make solar energy more affordable and accessible. The five-year Cooperative Research & Development Agreement calls for researchers with Sandia's New Mexico solar energy program to help pilot, characterize, and validate Cool Earth Solar's inflated, concentrated photovoltaic technology.
Sandia awards information technology contracts to three firms
February 13, 2013 2:14 pm | News | CommentsSandia National Laboratories has issued three information technology (IT) contracts totaling $353 million over a potential term of seven years. The awards streamline IT contracting at the laboratories.
"Zombie" replica cells may outperform live ones as catalysts, conductors
February 7, 2013 9:11 am | News | Comments“Zombie” mammalian cells that may function better after they die have been created by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico (UNM). The simple technique coats a cell with a silica solution to form a near-perfect replica of its structure. The process may simplify a wide variety of commercial fabrication processes from the nano- to macroscale.
Airborne pods seek to trace nuclear bomb’s origins
January 10, 2013 9:11 am | News | CommentsIf a nuclear device were to unexpectedly detonate anywhere on Earth, the ensuing effort to find out who made the weapon probably would be led by aircraft rapidly collecting airborne radioactive particles for analysis. Relatively inexpensive UAVs—equipped with radiation sensors and specialized debris-samplers—could fly right down the throat of telltale radiation over a broad range of altitudes without exposing a human crew to hazards. A Sandia National Laboratories-developed airborne particulate-collection system demonstrated those kinds of capabilities.
Engineering alternative fuel with cyanobacteria
January 7, 2013 12:06 pm | News | CommentsSandia National Laboratories Truman Fellow Anne Ruffing has engineered two strains of cyanobacteria to produce free fatty acids, a precursor to liquid fuels, but she has also found that the process cuts the bacteria’s production potential.
Sandia Lab building solar test centers across U.S.
December 24, 2012 12:17 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsOne of the National Security Administration's three national laboratories is building regional testing centers around the U.S. to field-test hardware for solar companies before their multimillion-dollar solar systems are installed in buildings.
Detecting tunnels using seismic waves not as simple as it sounds
December 10, 2012 1:09 pm | News | CommentsTunnels are often used to smuggle people and illicit goods between the border of the U.S. and Mexico. Researchers have attempted to use seismic waves to find these shallow tunnels, but current methods often miss them because of what is called the “halo effect”, in which fracturing and other geological anomalies create diffuse boundaries that hide open areas. A two-year study has shed light on this phenomenon and may lead to better results.
Researchers use shock tube for insight into physics early in blasts
November 20, 2012 10:58 am | News | CommentsSandia National Laboratories' multiphase shock tube began with a hallway conversation that led to what engineer Justin Wagner describes as the only shock tube in the world that can look a how shock waves interact with dense particle fields. The machine is considered multiphase because it can study shock wave propagation through a mixture of gas and solid particles.
Supercomputer simulations studied to improve helmets
November 14, 2012 1:36 pm | News | CommentsResearchers at Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico are comparing supercomputer simulations of blast waves on the brain with clinical studies of veterans suffering from mild traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) to help improve helmet designs.
Sandia Labs partner with Northrop Grumman, GE
November 5, 2012 9:40 am | News | CommentsSandia National Laboratories has signed a pair of cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs) that could broadly add to the Labs' research into combustion, defense, energy, and nuclear security. The umbrella CRADAs, which enable Sandia and its partners to pursue multiple projects in a variety of categories, are with Northrop Grumman Information Systems and General Electric Global Research.
Sandia shows why common explosive sometimes fails
September 21, 2012 5:05 am | News | CommentsThe explosive PETN has been around for a century and is used by everyone from miners to the military, but it took new research by Sandia National Laboratories to begin to discover key mechanisms behind what causes it to fail at small scales. By developing a novel technique based on physical vapor deposition to create samples with varying thickness, the researchers were able to study detonation behavior at the sub-millimeter scale and to determine that PETN detonation fails at a thickness roughly the width of human hair.
Dry-run experiments verify key aspect of Sandia nuclear fusion concept
September 17, 2012 4:18 am | News | CommentsMagnetically imploded tubes called liners, intended to help produce controlled nuclear fusion at scientific "break-even" energies or better within the next few years, have functioned successfully in preliminary tests, according to a Sandia National Laboratories research paper accepted for publication by Physical Review Letters .
Forcing the molecular bond issue
September 6, 2012 3:49 am | News | CommentsResearchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Molecular Foundry developed a first-of-its-kind model for providing a comprehensive description of the way in which molecular bonds form and rupture. This model enables researchers to predict the "binding free energy" of a given molecular system, a key to predicting how that molecule will interact with other molecules.
Life-like, cost-effective robotic hand can disable IEDs
August 16, 2012 4:22 am | News | CommentsSandia National Laboratories has developed a cost-effective robotic hand that can be used in disarming improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. The Sandia Hand addresses challenges that have prevented widespread adoption of other robotic hands, such as cost, durability, dexterity, and modularity.
Research provides new insights into actinide electronic structure
August 10, 2012 5:20 am | News | CommentsA team of researchers studying the fundamental properties of the actinide elements has significantly advanced the understanding of the electronic structure of elements that have electrons occupying f-orbitals.
Increased productivity, not less energy use, results from more efficient lighting
August 7, 2012 4:12 am | News | CommentsIn 2010, Sandia National Laboratories researcher Jeff Tsao and Harry Saunders of The Breakthrough Institute in Oakland, Calif., predicted that light-emitting diodes would have a similar improvement in productivity—but not less energy use—that occurred upon the introduction of the Edison light bulb. Now, they have reprised their report to emphasize conclusions they say were misinterpreted by the media.
