Sandia National Laboratories (DOE)
No-Wait Medical Diagnostic Tool
July 27, 2012 6:52 am | Articles | CommentsResearchers at Sandia National Laboratories have developed a lab-on-a-disk platform, SpinDx, that they believe will be faster, less expensive, and more versatile than current medical diagnostic tools.
World record neutron beam
July 11, 2012 5:51 am | News | CommentsUsing a one-of-a-kind laser system at Los Alamos National Laboratory, scientists have created the largest neutron beam ever made by a short-pulse laser, breaking a world record. To create the neutron beam the scientists used the TRIDENT laser to focus high-intensity light on an ultrathin plastic sheet infused with an isotope of hydrogen called deuterium.
Colorful light at the end of the tunnel for radiation detection
June 29, 2012 7:06 am | News | CommentsA team of nanomaterials researchers at Sandia National Laboratories has developed a new technique for radiation detection that could make radiation detection in cargo and baggage more effective and less costly for homeland security inspectors. Known as spectral shape discrimination, the method takes advantage of a new class of nanoporous materials known as metal-organic frameworks.
Graph500 adds new measurement of supercomputing performance
June 25, 2012 8:15 am | News | CommentsSupercomputing performance is getting a new measurement with the Graph500 executive committee's announcement of specifications for a more representative way to rate the large-scale data analytics at the heart of high-performance computing. An international team announced the single-source shortest-path specification to assess computing performance at the International Supercomputing Conference in Hamburg, Germany.
Small worlds come into focus with Sandia microscope
June 11, 2012 4:21 am | News | CommentsPaul Kotula recently told a colleague that Sandia National Laboratories' new aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope (AC-STEM) was like a Lamborghini with James Bond features. The AC-STEM delivers electron beams accelerated at voltages from 80 kV to 200 kV, allowing researchers to study properties of structures at the nanoscale—crucial for materials scientists working on everything from microelectronics to nuclear weapons.
Unique approach to materials allows temperature-stable circuits
May 31, 2012 4:16 am | News | CommentsSandia National Laboratories has developed a unique materials approach to multilayered, ceramic-based, 3D microelectronics circuits, such as those used in cell phones. The approach compensates for how changes due to temperature fluctuations affect something called the temperature coefficient of resonant frequency, a critical property of materials used in radio and microwave frequency applications.
Sandia technology used in Fukushima cleanup
May 29, 2012 4:34 am | News | CommentsA Sandia National Laboratories technology has been used to remove radioactive material from more than 43 million gallons of contaminated wastewater at Japan's damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Sandia researchers had worked around the clock following the March 2011 disaster to show the technology worked in seawater, which was pumped in to cool the plant's towers.
New model of geological strata may aid in oil extraction
May 23, 2012 6:41 am | News | CommentsA Sandia National Laboratories modeling study contradicts a long-held belief of geologists that pore sizes and chemical compositions are uniform throughout a given strata, which are horizontal slices of sedimentary rock. By understanding the variety of pore sizes and spatial patterns in strata, geologists can help achieve more production from underground oil reservoirs and water aquifers.
Navy pilot training enhanced by AEMASE smart machine
May 16, 2012 9:41 am | News | CommentsNavy pilots and other flight specialists soon will have a new "smart machine" installed in training simulators that learns from expert instructors to more efficiently train their students. Sandia National Laboratories' AEMASE is being provided to the Navy as a component of flight simulators.
Web tool helps determine best energy storage options
May 11, 2012 4:06 am | News | CommentsSandia National Laboratories and the U.S. Department of Energy have released a new tool to help utilities, developers, and regulators identify the energy storage options that best meet their needs. Partnering with DNV KEMA, Sandia is releasing Energy Storage Select, or ES-Select, software under a public license to the company.
Miniature Sandia sensors may advance climate studies
April 10, 2012 4:10 am | News | CommentsAn air sampler the size of an ear plug is expected to cheaply and easily collect atmospheric samples to improve computer climate models. The novel design of Sandia National Laboratories' phase-change micro-valve sensor employs a commonly used alloy to house an inexpensive microvalve situated above the sample chamber.
Sandia's Ion Beam Laboratory looks at advanced materials for reactors
March 27, 2012 7:23 am | News | CommentsSandia National Laboratories is using its Ion Beam Laboratory to study how to rapidly evaluate the tougher advanced materials needed to build the next generation of nuclear reactors and extend the lives of current reactors.
Avoiding electrolyte failure in nanoscale lithium batteries
March 21, 2012 4:54 am | News | CommentsIt turns out you can be too thin—especially if you're a nanoscale battery. A team of researchers built a series of nanowire batteries to demonstrate that the thickness of the electrolyte layer can dramatically affect the performance of the battery, effectively setting a lower limit to the size of the tiny power sources.
Nuclear fusion simulation shows high-gain energy output
March 20, 2012 8:24 am | News | CommentsHigh-gain nuclear fusion could be achieved in a preheated cylindrical container immersed in strong magnetic fields, according to a series of computer simulations performed at Sandia National Laboratories. The simulations show the release of output energy that was many times greater than the energy fed into the container's liner.
Polycrystalline diamond drill bits open up options for geothermal energy
March 19, 2012 5:40 am | News | CommentsNearly two-thirds of the oil we use comes from wells drilled using polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bits, originally developed nearly 30 years ago to lower the cost of geothermal drilling. Sandia National Laboratories and the U.S. Navy recently brought the technology fullcircle, showing how geothermal drillers might use the original PDC technology, incorporating decades of subsequent improvements by the oil and gas industry.
Experiments may force revision of astrophysical models of the universe
March 15, 2012 10:31 am | News | CommentsIn a challenge to current astrophysical models, researchers at Sandia National Laboratories and the University of Rostock in Germany have found that current calibrations of planetary interiors overstate water's compressibility by as much as 30%.
A new approach to predicting spacecraft re-entry
March 12, 2012 4:12 am | News | CommentsIn mid-December 2011, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory received a call from the Air Force Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC). At the time, laboratory scientists were working with JSpOC to upgrade their command and control software. But this call was about something very different.
Experimental smart outlet brings flexibility, resiliency to grid architecture
February 28, 2012 3:51 am | News | CommentsSandia National Laboratories has developed an experimental smart outlet that autonomously measures, monitors, and controls electrical loads with no connection to a centralized computer or system. The goal of the smart outlet and similar innovations is to make the power grid more distributed and intelligent, capable of reconfiguring itself as conditions change.
Sandia seeks better neural control of prosthetics for amputees
February 22, 2012 7:40 am | News | CommentsSandia National Laboratories researchers, using off-the-shelf equipment in a chemistry laboratory, have been working on ways to improve amputees' control over prosthetics with direct help from their own nervous systems.
Sandia researchers find energy storage solutions in MetILs
February 17, 2012 9:04 am | News | CommentsSandia National Laboratories researchers have developed a new family of liquid salt electrolytes, known as MetILs, that could lead to batteries able to cost-effectively store three times more energy than today's batteries. The research might lead to devices that can help economically and reliably incorporate large-scale intermittent renewable energy source into the nation's electric grid.
Anthrax-killing foam proves effective in meth lab cleanup
February 16, 2012 5:25 am | News | CommentsSandia National Laboratories' decontamination foam, developed more than a decade ago and used to decontaminate federal office buildings and mailrooms during the 2001 anthrax attacks, is now being used to decontaminate illegal methamphetamine laboratories. The foam renders all types of typical chemical and biological agents harmless.
Tool determines value of solar photovoltaic power systems
January 31, 2012 10:59 am | News | CommentsConsistent appraisals of homes and businesses outfitted with photovoltaic installations are a real challenge for the nation’s real estate industry, but a new tool developed by Sandia National Laboratories and Solar Power Electric and licensed by Sandia addresses that issue.
Self-guided bullet prototype can hit target a mile away
January 30, 2012 7:13 am | News | CommentsTake two Sandia National Laboratories engineers who are hunters, get them talking about the sport and it shouldn't be surprising when the conversation leads to a patented design for a self-guided bullet that could help war fighters. A Sandia team has invented a dart-like, self-guided bullet for small-caliber, smooth-bore firearms that could hit laser-designated targets at distances of about 2,000 m.
Metadynamics technique offers insight into mineral growth and dissolution
January 24, 2012 3:42 am | News | CommentsBy using a novel technique to better understand mineral growth and dissolution, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are improving predictions of mineral reactions and laying the groundwork for applications ranging from keeping oil pipes clear to sequestering radium.
Sandia develops power-over-fiber communications cable
January 18, 2012 3:56 am | News | CommentsSometimes total electrical isolation is a good thing—and that's the idea behind a power-over-fiber communications cable being developed by engineers at Sandia National Laboratories. The Sandia team is developing a hybrid cable design that uses fiber to send and regulate optical power to the communications electronics integral to the cable. A patent is pending on the design.
