New Los Alamos National Laboratory publication showcases Lab's national defense science and technology

Contact: Judy Goldie, goldie@lanl.gov, (505) 665-0297 (02-121)

Recent News Los Alamos scientist named Asian American Engineer of the Year Los Alamos scientist featured in NASA science update Los Alamos muon detector could thwart nuclear smugglers Wojciech H. Zurek named Phi Beta Kappa visiting scholar Four Los Alamos physicists honored by American Physical Society Los Alamos National Laboratory organizations earn seven out of 13 NNSA Pollution Prevention awards Carter Hydrick returns to the Bradbury Science Museum Feb. 15 Laboratory supports summer science program New NASA IBEX mission to carry Los Alamos instrument Beason takes top threat reduction post at Los Alamos

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Oct. 24, 2002 -- Los Alamos Research Quarterly, a new publication of the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, is scheduled to be online and distributed to managers and an external audience of Laboratory funding agencies, Congress and partners this month.

Covering a full spectrum the Laboratory’s science and research, this quarterly, full-color publication, aims to communicate the Los Alamos’ goals and achievements and how they benefit its Lab's neighbors, the nation and the world.

Laboratory Director John Browne introduces the magazine in Mesa View, a column that outlines the purpose of the publication and the goals of the Laboratory.

The feature article, Code Validation Experiments – a key to predictive science, is at the core of Los Alamos' mission, that of stockpile stewardship. It describes experiments to study how vortices form and interact at the interfaces of different fluids moving through each other. This everyday event, like cream swirling into coffee, becomes critically important in nuclear weapons when the fluids are metals driven together under extremely high temperatures and pressures. These experiments help validate the computational models needed to assess both weapon reliability and safety. By using new visualization tools, such as Los Alamos’ PowerWalls, scientists can more easily grasp the huge volumes of information produced in a computer simulation.

Also of national concern is bioterrorism; another article, Tracking Biothreats, examines the Laboratory's work on biological nonproliferation and the resultant arsenal of tools and techniques that reveal the molecular signatures key to detecting, identifying and tracing sources of potential biothreat agents. Another article tells of the Nuclear Emergency Support Team, for which Laboratory employees volunteer. Los Alamos scientists, with counterparts from Lawrence Livermore and Sandia national laboratories are on call "24/7" for the Accident Response Group and the Joint Technical Operations Team. The ARG deals with accidentally damaged U.S. nuclear weapons while the JTOT responds to the threat of terrorist devices.

Sound Solutions recounts how researchers can discover what is in a closed container – when it can't be opened. Los Alamos researchers have developed sound-based tools for noninvasive fluid identification that offer solutions to practical problems, ranging from determining "What's in the drum" to "Is this food fit to eat."

Most feature articles are accompanied by a "sidebar" about the scientists working on the project.

Also in this first issue are brief news articles on the Laboratory’s participation in Mars Odyssey and "spiked" plutonium work as well as "spotlight" pieces on Laboratory successes such as the Presidential Award for Supercritical CO2 Resist Removal process; the R&D 100 Award for GENIE, or GENetic Imagery Exploitation, program; as well as the dedication of the Nicholas C. Metropolis Center for Modeling and Simulation.

The quarterly's production team is led by Scientific Editor James L. Smith of Los Alamos’ Materials Technology Group, Executive Editor Judyth Prono and Art Director Chris Brigman, both in the Communication Arts and Services Group.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the National Nuclear Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy and works in partnership with NNSA's Sandia and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories to support NNSA in its mission.

Los Alamos enhances global security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, developing technical solutions to reduce the threat of weapons of mass destruction and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health and national security concerns.

Image Available On-line: http://www.lanl.gov/orgs/pa/News/larq_cover.html