Sandia News Tips for March 27, 1997

Sandia News Tips for March 27, 1997

Sandia instrument package to collect cold, hard Arctic weather facts An integrated instrument package designed by and assembled at Sandia National Laboratories will spend the winter of 1997-98 on an icebreaker locked in the ice of the Beaufort Sea more than 400 miles north of Barrow, Alaska. The package, actually a modified cargo container, contains instrumentation that will record data on high-latitude climate conditions that is part of a larger effort to understand global climatic change. Sandia researcher Hugh Church says data collected will generate computer models of global climate change better than current models, which do not have adequate data to simulate the arctic climate.

High school gives Sandia A+ on security program achievements Expertise and technology developed at Sandia to protect nuclear weapons and other defense-related activities has been adapted to a high school security program that has reduced vandalism by more than 75 percent, vehicle theft by more than 80 percent, and truancy by 30 percent. Belen (N.M.) High School officials are nearly giddy with the results. The program includes must-carry student ID cards, tamper-resistant cameras, a hand-held metal detector, and specially formulated antigraffitti paint, among other things. Project leader Mary Green says it was a "right place at the right time" situation.

War games adaptation explores emerging industrial ecology field More than 90 representatives of industry, government, academia, and the national labs gathered in Albuquerque recently to play a two-day Prosperity Game that explored the emerging scientific field of industrial ecology. It was the latest Sandia-designed Prosperity Game, all of which are adaptations of move- countermove war games in which teams of military strategists play the roles of opposing forces in imaginary battle scenarios. Prosperity Games bring together teams to explore complex technical and policy issues with the goal of developing strategies and relationships that enhance US economic competitiveness.

Simulation offers 'virtually real' training in hostage retrieval Sandia-developed VRaptor may not be as slick as the starship Enterprise's Holodeck, but it's real virtual reality and a valuable tool as a simulator for assault planning, training, or rehearsal, giving law enforcement officers more realistic practice in rescuing hostages. Human trainers can vary roles, moves, and character placement for each session, making each unique and unpredictable for trainees. Participants don virtual reality glasses and grip "guns," as they try to determine which are hostage takers and which are their victims, any of whom can drop, attack, or run.