Contact: Howard Kercheval (505) 844-7842/[email protected]
COMPUTERS, CT SCANS HELP RECREATE DINOSAUR SOUND Ever wonder what a dinosaur might have sounded like? A Sandia computer scientist and a New Mexico Museum of Natural History paleontologist collaborated, using CT scans and powerful computers, to recreate the low-frequency rumbling sound a Parasaurolophus might have made 75 million years ago. Their efforts began after the discovery in August 1995 of a rare skull fossil that included a bony tubular crest that extended back from the top of its head.
MICROTRANSMISSION BOOSTS POWER OF MICROENGINE How do you increase the power of a microengine the size of a grain of sand? -- with an even tinier transmission. Despite its tiny size, a microtransmission can increase the power of its microengine by a factor of 3 million, theoretically generating enough force to move a one-pound object. Its Sandia developers believe it creates "by far the most force ever generated by a polysilicon micromechanical device (and shows) that you can move significant loads."
SANDIA JOINS FIGHT AGAINST 'WORST FORM OF POLLUTION' -- LAND MINES Sandia has joined the effort to rid the planet of what some people have called its worst form of pollution -- land mines. Each year an estimated 100,000 mines worldwide are cleared, but another 2 million are laid: An average of 2,000 people each month are killed or maimed by land mines. Sandia's work in land-mine detection and de-mining ranges from chemical sensing and backscattered X-ray technologies, to laying down quick-hardening foam to clear a path for military vehicles.
LENS PROVIDES TIMING ADVANTAGE, QUICK CHANGE TO COMPANIES Sandia has teamed with 10 companies in a $3 million, two-year agreement in an attempt to commercialize a possibly pivotal manufacturing technology. Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS) uses computer-controlled lasers that, in hours, weld air-blown streams of metallic powders into custom parts and manufacturing molds. When perfected, LENS should provide participating companies a lead of several weeks in bringing to market new products ranging from toys to tools, as well as the capability to quickly vary the shapes and materials of products as market conditions shift.
Sandia's web home page is at http://www.sandia.gov; news releases, tips, and fact sheets are at http://www.sandia.gov/media/whatnew.htm; Lab News at http:// www.sandia.gov/LabNews/LabNews.html.
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