Carolyn Zerkle Named Lawrence Livermore's Deputy Director
Carolyn Zerkle has been selected as Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's deputy director and vice president of Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, Lab Director Kim Budil announced today. Her appointment is effective Sept. 12, 2022. As deputy director, Zerkle will participate in the day-to-day management of the Laboratory, including interfacing with the Livermore Field Office (LFO), acting as director in Budil's absence and serving as a key member of the Laboratory's senior management staff, providing executive-level guidance and direction.
Scientists are unravelling the mystery of the arrow of time
The flow of time from the past to the future is a central feature of how we experience the world. But precisely how this phenomenon, known as the arrow of time, arises from the microscopic interactions among particles and cells is a mystery--one that researchers at the CUNY Graduate Center Initiative for the Theoretical Sciences (ITS) are helping to unravel with the publication of a new paper in the journal Physical Review Letters.
Miriam E. John Awarded Livermore's 2022 John S. Foster Medal
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director Kim Budil has announced that the 2022 John S. Foster, Jr. Medal winner is Miriam "Mim" E. John, Vice President Emerita of Sandia National Laboratories.
Case Solved: Missing Carbon Monoxide was Hiding in the Ice
In planetary disks, carbon monoxide is lurking in large chunks of ice, solving the decade-old question, 'Where is the CO?'
American Physical Society Appoints Rachel Burley Chief Publications Officer
The American Physical Society (APS), publisher of the prestigious Physical Review journals, has appointed Rachel Burley as its first Chief Publications Officer (CPO). In this new role, Burley will manage more than a dozen leading peer-reviewed journals.
The surprising attractiveness of a hurdle to developing safe, clean and carbon-free energy
Close-up look at a counter-intuitive way to speed the arrival of carbon-free fusion energy.
How do you take a better image of atom clouds? Mirrors - lots of mirrors
To capture as much information as possible about clouds of atoms at the heart of the MAGIS-100 experiment, SLAC scientists devised a dome of mirrors that gathers more light from more angles.
Experts Go All In when CEBAF Is in Trouble
What happens when a unique research machine breaks? The question isn't academic. In April, sensors showed that a vacuum seal in Jefferson Lab's Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility had failed in a critical area of the injector - the chopper - where electrons are sorted by large copper cavities and directed for experiments. Without that vacuum seal, outside air we breathe will enter those cavities, contaminating the system and effectively crippling accelerator operations. An ad hoc team of experts from the accelerator and engineering divisions assembled to diagnose the situation and figure out how to fix it.
Plasma-produced gas helps protect plants against pathogens, researchers find
The flash of lightning and the dance of auroras contain a fourth state of matter known as plasma, which researchers have harnessed to produce a gas that may activate plant immunity against wide-spread diseases.
Scientists identify liquid-like atoms in densely packed solid glasses
Metallic glass is an important advanced alloy, holding promise for broad engineering applications.
A breakthrough in magnetic materials research could lead to novel ways to manipulate electron flow with much less energy loss
Newly discovered magnetic interactions in the Kagome layered topological magnet TbMn6Sn6 could be the key to customizing how electrons flow through these materials. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory conducted an in-depth investigation of TbMn6Sn6 to better understand the material and its magnetic characteristics.
Exploring Quantum Electron Highways with Laser Light
Hitting a topological insulator with powerful pulses of circularly polarized laser light reveals what its electrons are doing - and how its surface switches from being an electron highway to an electron roadblock.
Complex patterns: building a bridge from the large to the small
A new theory enables the simulation of complex pattern formation in biological systems across different spatial and temporal scales.
Particle Physicists Lay Out Future Goals at 'Snowmass' Meeting
With a picturesque backdrop of Mt. Rainier, particle physicists from across the United States gathered in Seattle (with more tuning in virtually) to assess the most important science opportunities in their field over the next decade. The Particle Physics Community Planning Exercise was held July 17-26, 2022, at the University of Washington.
Mars Model Provides Method for Landing Humans on Red Planet
A mathematical model developed by space medicine experts from The Australian National University (ANU) could be used to predict whether an astronaut can safely travel to Mars and fulfil their mission duties upon stepping foot on the Red Planet.
Geological Carbon Sequestration in Mantle Rocks Prevents Large Earthquakes in Parts of the San Andreas Fault
Now, researchers say ubiquitous evidence for ongoing geological carbon sequestration in mantle rocks in the creeping sections of the SAF is one underlying cause of aseismic creep along a roughly 150 kilometer-long SAF segment between San Juan Bautista and Parkfield, California, and along several other fault segments.
Air-stability of sodium-based layered-oxide cathode materials
This Review paper is published in Science China Chemistry by Dr. Hu-Rong Yao (Fujian Normal University), Dr. Lituo Zheng (Fujian Normal University), Prof. Sen Xin (Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences) and Prof. Yu-Guo Guo (Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences).
Wobbling droplets in space confirm late professor's theory
At a time when astronomers around the world are reveling in new views of the distant cosmos, an experiment on the International Space Station has given Cornell researchers fresh insight into something a little closer to home: water.
Department of Energy Announces $14.8 Million for Particle Accelerators for Science & Society
Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $14.8 million in funding for advanced research projects in particle accelerator science and technology. Particle accelerators provide unique sources of light and particles that support the research of thousands of scientists worldwide, play a direct role in the production of more than $500 billion of goods annually, and treat more than 5 million cancer patients each year.
Quantum annealing can beat classical computing in limited cases
Recent research proves that under certain conditions, quantum annealing computers can run algorithms--including the well-known Shor's algorithm--more quickly than classical computers. In most cases, however, quantum annealing does not provide a speed-up compared to classical computing when time is limited, according to a study in Nature Communications.
Harvesting Resources on Mars with Plasmas
Researchers have devised a plasma-based way to produce and separate oxygen within the Martian environment. It's a complementary approach to NASA's Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment and may deliver high rates of molecule production per kilogram of instrumentation sent to space. In the Journal of Applied Physics, the team presents the method for harnessing and processing local resources to generate products on Mars.
Do Wind Instruments Disperse COVID Aerosol Droplets?
Orchestral ensembles have faced many challenges when starting to perform again during the COVID pandemic, and contamination is a chief concern: specifically, whether wind instruments are vectors of contamination through aerosol dispersion. In Physics of Fluids, researchers worked with musicians to deepen our understanding of how much aerosol is produced and dispersed by wind instruments. They used visualization to characterize the flow, tracked fog particles in the air, and measured aerosol concentration from wind instruments with a particle counter. Then they combined these to develop an equation to describe aerosol dispersion.
A simple way of sculpting matter into complex shapes
A new method for shaping matter into complex shapes, with the use of 'twisted' light, has been demonstrated in research at the University of Strathclyde.
A step towards quantum gravity
In Einstein's theory of general relativity, gravity arises when a massive object distorts the fabric of spacetime the way a ball sinks into a piece of stretched cloth.
Matter at extreme conditions of very high temperature and pressure turns out to be remarkably simple and universal
Scientists at Queen Mary University of London have made two discoveries about the behaviour of 'supercritical matter' - matter at the critical point where the differences between liquids and gases seemingly disappear.