LANL News aggregator http://inthenews.lanl.gov/aggregator/categories/4 LANL News - aggregated feeds in category Science and Technology http://inthenews.lanl.gov/node/1192 LANL Seeks Private Funding (Albuquerque Journal) Los Alamos National Laboratory is looking for a private developer to pay for and build a new science complex, officials said Wednesday. Under the proposal, LANL would lease the 5-acre complex from the developer to consolidate about 1,600 employees - about a third of the lab's work force - now housed in aging buildings spread throughout the lab. Officials say construction can begin relatively soon because the proposal does not depend on congressional funding. http://www.abqjournal.com/north/305136north_news05-08-08.htm Subscription Required Thu, 8 May 2008 08:03:29 -0600 http://inthenews.lanl.gov/node/1191 Hungry fungus could unlock better biofuel production (Canadian Broadcasting Company) A fungus responsible for the rapid deterioration of military clothing and canvas tents during the Second World War could significantly improve the production of biofuels, say U.S. scientists. Once the bane of soldiers fighting in the South Pacific, Tricoderma reesei is a hungry fungus that quickly digests plant fibres into simple sugars. http://www.mytelus.com/ncp_news/article.en.do?pn=tech&articleID=2915738 Wed, 7 May 2008 08:40:47 -0600 http://inthenews.lanl.gov/node/1188 Travel itinerary of flu mapped (Australian Life Scientist) Outbreaks of the most common type of influenza virus, A (H3N2), are seeded by viruses that originate in East and Southeast Asia and migrate around the world, new research has found. This discovery may help to further improve flu vaccines and make the evolution of the virus more predictable. Antigenic cartography is a method developed by researchers at Erasmus Medical Center, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of Cambridge. Given measurements for multiple viruses, antigenic cartography can be used to create a map in which the distance between viruses in the map reflects their antigenic similarity and can be used to compare thousands of viruses at a time. From these antigenic maps it is then possible to trace the evolution of the viruses. http://www.biotechnews.com.au/index.php/id%3B1866029671%3Bfp%3B16%3Bfpid%3B1 Wed, 7 May 2008 08:26:00 -0600 http://inthenews.lanl.gov/node/1187 Fuel from fungus (KOAT-TV Albuquerque) High prices at the pump continue to frustrate many folks, but gas prices are also giving many people 'ideas' for how to ease that pain. as Action 7 News reporter Matt Grubs found out, a 'fungus' that was originally a wartime nuisance, may now hold the key to cheaper fuel prices - and maybe even cheaper food. Diego Martinez has designs on a very historic fungus. it's called trichoderma reesei - which you can go ahead and forget now - but know that it's been getting attention since World War II. See the video clip here: http://www.criticalmention.com/report/4701x19983.htm Tue, 6 May 2008 08:36:53 -0600 http://inthenews.lanl.gov/node/1185 Fungus may boost ethanol production (United Press International) U.S. researchers say a fungus responsible for deteriorating fabric in the South Pacific during World War II could boost ethanol production. The genome analysis of the biomass-degrading fungus Trichoderma reesei shows it has abundant source of enzymes that could be used to breakdown plant cell walls to produce biofuels, the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute and Los Alamos National Laboratory said in news release. http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Science/2008/05/06/fungus_may_boost_ethanol_production/5200/ Tue, 6 May 2008 08:24:43 -0600 http://inthenews.lanl.gov/node/1184 Fungus Could Be the Key to Greener Energy (Albuquerque Journal) There's a fungus among us, and it may hold the key for producing greener energy. Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have uncovered important clues about how the fungus Tricoderma reese - known to friends simply as T. reesei - converts plant fibers into sugars used to produce ethanol. Breaking down plant fibers has been part of the fungus' job description for decades. T. reesei earned notoriety during World War II when military leaders discovered it was responsible for the rapid deterioration of uniforms and canvas tents in the South Pacific. http://www.abqjournal.com/north/304657north_news05-05-08.htm Tue, 6 May 2008 08:21:58 -0600 http://inthenews.lanl.gov/node/1182 Lab makes another bid for new science complex (Los Alamos Monitor) Los Alamos National Laboratory will hold a bidder's conference Tuesday, looking for new kind of developer for an overdue project that is trying once again to get off the ground. "This is absolutely key to us," said Terry Wallace, the lab's senior science administrator, during a recent interview. He was talking about the lab's determination to find a better workplace for hundreds of scientists who are now scattered around the 40 square miles of campus in what is general acknowledged to be inadequate, overcrowded, and inefficient old buildings and transportable structures. http://www.lamonitor.com/cgi-bin/storyviewnew.cgi?075+News.200853-64-075-075007.Lead+News Tue, 6 May 2008 08:18:32 -0600 http://inthenews.lanl.gov/node/1180 LANL: Fungus could be key to cheaper ethanol production (Santa Fe New Mexican) Fungus has sort of grown on Diego Martinez over the years. Not literally, of course. But the more the Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist learns about fungus, the more fascinated he becomes with it, and with finding new uses for it, he said. While looking at the genetic code in one kind of fungus - the cryptically named Trichoderma reesei - Martinez recently found something that could help wean the nation off its dependence on foreign oil, he said. http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/LANL-Fungus-could-be-key-to-cheaper-ethanol-production Tue, 6 May 2008 08:15:49 -0600