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Fast Facts
Total employees: 11,300
Los Alamos National Security, LLC: 8,150
Centerra Group, LLC Los Alamos (Guard Force): 300
Compa, Staff and support contractors: 425
Students: 1,100
Unionized craft workers: 980
Post doctoral researchers: 375
Located 35 miles northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, on 40 square miles of DOE-owned property.
1,280 individual facilities, including 47 technical areas with 9 million square feet under roof.
Replacement value of $14.2 billion
63% Weapons programs
9% Nonproliferation programs
5% Safeguards and Security
7% Environmental Management
4% DOE Office of Science
2% Energy and other programs
10% Work for Others
40% of employees live in Los Alamos, the remainder commute from Santa Fe, Española, Taos and Albuquerque.
Average Age: 45
67% male, 33% female
46% minorities
66% university degrees
29% hold undergraduate degrees
17% hold master’s degrees
20% have earned a PhD
145 R&D100 awards
34 E.O. Lawrence Awards
8 Presidential Early Career Awards
3 Glenn Seaborg Medals
Edward Teller Medal
Nobel Prize in Physics, Frederick Reines
Albuquerque to Los Alamos, NM
98 miles; 1 hr, 51 min.
Driving directions
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Going with the gut
The work exploits the Laboratory’s extensive biological research efforts developed in support of our national security mission. - 4/17/18
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Preventing a cyber zombie apocalypse
Attacks like these are the reason Los Alamos National Laboratory has been working on cybersecurity techniques, processes and tools to prevent and detect cyberattacks. - 4/8/18
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SMART cables: A new undersea look at earthquakes
Using data from seismic stations around the world, scientists can learn more about the geology inside of the earth, including things like earthquake location and magnitude. - 3/11/18
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Computers learn to imagine the future
Researchers are simulating biological neural networks on supercomputers, enabling machines to learn about their surroundings, interpret data and make predictions much the way humans do. - 2/28/18
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Using poop to cure gut infections
Los Alamos National Laboratory aims to make fecal transplants a thing of the past. - 2/23/18
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Forecasting diseases one image at a time
Better tracking of infectious diseases can help us improve disease prediction and, consequently, more quickly stop their spread. - 2/21/18
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Augmented reality combines worlds to make the real world safer
The Lab is investigating technology applications and writing software in support of the Lab’s national security mission. - 2/12/18
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How a Small Nuclear Reactor Could Power a Colony on Mars or Beyond (Op-Ed)
When we imagine sending humans to live on Mars, the moon or other planetary bodies in the not-so-distant future, a primary question is: How will we power their colony? - 1/18/18
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Breathing new life into pulmonary research
A team of scientists and bioengineers have developed a tissue-engineered artificial lung called PuLMo that simulates the response of the human lung to drugs, toxins, particles and other agents. - 1/10/18
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Supercomputers tackle antibiotic resistance
One type of efflux pump, which until recently had only been studied piecemeal, was modeled in its entirety and simulated using supercomputers at Los Alamos National Laboratory. - 1/7/18
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Breathing new life into pulmonary research
A team of scientists and bioengineers at Los Alamos have developed a tissue-engineered artificial lung called PuLMo, for Pulmonary Lung Model. - 12/17/17
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Stellar explosion rocks the universe
Breaking news doesn’t happen that often in astronomy, and this was big. LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, had detected another gravitational-wave signal. - 11/12/17
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Computer learns how to imagine the future
Researchers are simulating biological neural networks on supercomputers, enabling machines to learn about their surroundings, interpret data and make predictions much the way humans do. - 10/27/17
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Chemical treatment improves quantum dot lasers
In new research, the nanometer-sized dots are being doctored, or “doped,” with additional electrons, a treatment that nudges the dots ever closer to producing the desired laser light with less stimulation and energy loss. - 10/23/17
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Fighting tuberculosis with faster, more accurate diagnostics
Los Alamos National Laboratory, in collaboration with several institutions, are working to develop an innovative tool set for early and accurate diagnosis of the disease. - 10/18/17
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Where there’s smoke, there’s science
To discover the finer points of smoke’s composition, Los Alamos National Laboratory has launched the Center for Aerosol Forensic Experiments — CAFE, for short. - 10/15/17
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Using tech to peer inside a tyrannosaur’s skull
The team’s study illuminates the Bisti Beast’s place in tyrannosaur ancestry and adds important new pieces to the puzzle. - 9/29/17
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Neutralizing biothreats through disease forecasting
Preventing disease outbreaks in the United States requires improving public health all around the world. - 9/11/17
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Unique imaging of a dinosaur’s skull tells evolutionary tale
Researchers have exposed the inner structures of the fossil skull of a 74-million-year-old tyrannosauroid dinosaur nicknamed the Bisti Beast. - 8/30/17
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Computer modeling helps us learn to live with wildland fires
The Lab is using a tool called FIRETEC to simulate the fire/atmosphere interaction that controls fire behavior. - 8/25/17
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Using machine-learning to scan the sky
As RAPTOR makes its rounds across the sky to check on known gamma ray sources and respond to the occasional interesting transient, it has free time every night to photograph blazars. - 8/15/17
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Muons in the cathedral
In 2013, a group of experts on the cathedral came to Los Alamos National Laboratory to consult about fixing the cracks in the dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy. - 8/13/17
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Forecasting Outbreaks—1 Image at a Time
To help prevent disease outbreaks in the U.S., we need to improve public health all around the world, not just within our own borders. - 8/10/17
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CubeSats have one major shortcoming, but not for long
Over the past decade and a half, satellites the size of a toaster have opened up new possibilities for using space. - 8/10/17
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Single-photon emitter has promise for quantum info-processing
The Laboratory has produced the first known material capable of single-photon emission at room temperature and at telecommunications wavelengths. - 8/1/17
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Neutrino research takes giant leap forward
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment will send particles 800 miles to a mile-deep detector in South Dakota. - 7/25/17
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Using machine-learning to scan the sky
How do you decipher the inner workings of a cosmic cataclysm 3 billion light years away and 3 billion years in the past? - 7/24/17
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If these (Martian) rocks could talk
It’s no coincidence that Death Valley and Mars have boron in common. Boron typically occurs in arid locations where water has evaporated. - 7/19/17
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Eye on the sky
Los Alamos provides grad-student role in unraveling the mind-bending physics around super-massive black holes. - 7/10/17
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Designing a safer explosive
At Los Alamos, we pay a lot of attention to things that blow up and we’re especially interested in how to make them safer. - 7/3/17
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Post-It note art installation
#LANLPride art installation supports mission focus on diversity. - 6/29/17
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Simplifying big data supercomputing
Charliecloud lets users easily run crazy new things on Los Alamos supercomputers. - 6/27/17
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Innovative rocket science gives boost to near-space missions
Los Alamos scientists have developed a unique segregated fuel oxidizer rocket fuel system for CubeSats. - 6/18/17
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Genomics for everyone
What if a nurse could swipe your saliva and run a quick genetic test for bacteria? - 5/23/17
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Unraveling the mysteries of lightning
Lightning is poorly understood. Los Alamos National Laboratory is working to change that. - 6/22/17
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Science on the Hill: Scientists strike back at the mysteries of lightning
When thunderstorm season rolls around and lightning streaks the sky, creating its dazzling display, we likely don’t ponder the mysteries it presents. - 5/7/17
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Unraveling the mysteries of lightning
Los Alamos scientists are using lightning to develop instruments for nuclear test-ban treaty monitoring and, in the process, have learned a lot about lightning itself. - 5/2/17
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What is the universe made of?
Physicists and astrophysicists at Los Alamos are using supercomputers to simulate Big Bang nucleosynthesis and the early universe to unprecedented precision. - 4/18/17
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Looking for clues for past life on Mars
By looking at the light emitted by the target, scientists can analyze the composition of rocks and soils on Mars. - 4/11/17
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Genomics is buried in too much data
What if a nurse could swipe your saliva and run a quick genetic test for bacteria? - 4/10/17
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If these (Martian) rocks could talk
Finding the element boron might not seem exciting, but if you find it on Mars and you’re interested in alien life, it’s a big deal. - 4/9/17
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Can our grid withstand a solar storm?
A recent peer-reviewed study found that an epic solar, or geomagnetic, storm could cost the United States more than $40 billion in damages and lost productivity. - 3/21/17
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Science on the Hill: Dark matter detective work
Fourteen thousand feet above sea level near a volcanic peak in Mexico sits a unique astronomical observatory. Instead of peering into space with a glass lens, it uses 300 huge barrels of water. - 3/13/17
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Confessions of a dark matter detective
Sifting through data from HAWC's mountain-top water barrels looking for the fingerprint of dark matter - 2/21/17
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Confessions of a dark matter detective
Sifting through data from HAWC's mountain-top water barrels looking for the fingerprint of dark matter - 2/15/17
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Science on the Hill: Protecting grid from cataclysmic solar storm
When the last really big solar storm hit Earth in 1921, the Sun ejected a burst of plasma and magnetic structures like Zeus hurling a thunderbolt from Mount Olympus. - 2/12/17
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How flounders (yes, the fish) can help national security
Over the last hundred-plus years, we humans have looked to nature to improve our ability to camouflage ourselves. - 2/2/17
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Science on the Hill: What cosmology tells us about quantum mechanics
In physics’ pursuit of ever-more-complete and detailed descriptions of our universe, we’re always on the lookout for new tools. - 1/8/17
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Forget jetpacks. Where are our hydrogen-powered cars?
For decades commercially viable fuel cells, particularly for cars, have remained just over the horizon. So why aren’t we there yet? - 12/13/16
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Bringing the power of genetic research to an office near you
The ability to quickly analyze genetic data stands to revolutionize research into everything from the mutations causing various cancers to the “Second You,” your microbiome, or the bacteria living inside you. - 4/10/16
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Using Wikipedia to forecast the flu
Lab researchers use mathematics, computer science, statistics and other information to determine how disease develops and spreads. - 11/15/16
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Outsmarting the art of camouflage
Over the last hundred-plus years, we humans have looked to nature to improve our ability to camouflage ourselves. - 11/2/16
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Feeling the burn: understanding how biomass burning changes climate
At least half of the black carbon in the atmosphere is a result of biomass burning. - 9/27/16
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Science on the Hill: Trinity ushers in new age of supercomputing
As the Lab begins testing the second half of its new supercomputer, Trinity, the occasion highlights how intertwined scientific breakthroughs and computer innovations have become — and what a seminal and central role Los Alamos has played in that synergy. - 9/12/16
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Making solar power more affordable
Although the goal of cheap, plentiful energy from the sun turns out to be a work in progress, not a settled achievement, recent research breakthroughs are helping to deliver on the promise of truly “cheap solar,” with several surprising side benefits. - 8/30/16
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Science on the Hill: Something new under the sun
Recent research breakthroughs at Los Alamos National Laboratory are helping to deliver on the promise of truly “cheap solar,” with several surprising side benefits. - 8/4/16
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Confessions of a Martian rock
When scientists analyzed the chemical make-up of a Martian rock, they expected to find lots of basalt, the building block of all planets. - 7/25/16
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Science on the Hill: On track for a clean, hydrogen-powered future
Los Alamos, within the ElectroCat consortium, is investigating less expensive, more abundant materials based on carbon compounds to reduce the cost of ownership of a fuel-cell powered car so this clean power can compete in the marketplace. - 10/13/16
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Science on the Hill: Burning questions in study of wildfire
Understanding what drives big fires and predicting their behavior helps the fire community prepare for the next blaze through appropriate land management, emergency plans and firefighting strategies. - 7/12/16
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Could we someday predict earthquakes?
New ways of looking at seismic information and innovative laboratory experiments are offering tantalizing clues to what triggers earthquakes—and when. - 6/27/16
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Science on the Hill: Fragile life underfoot has big impact on desert
The survival of desert biocrusts is being challenged by threats from climate change and man-made disturbance. - 6/13/16
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Using supercomputers to probe the early universe
Los Alamos researchers developed a computer code, called BURST, that can simulate a slice in the life of our young cosmos. - 6/5/16
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The space weather threat... and how we protect ourselves
The Sun continually ejects high-energy electrons, protons, and other nuclei that bombard the Earth, producing space-weather effects such as the beautiful northern lights but also others that can destroy satellites and disrupt our lives here on Earth. - 4/24/16
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Why Mars?
The allure (and challenge) of colonizing the red planet - 5/17/16
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A revolution in supercomputing is coming
Trinity is a 42-petaflop supercomputer (that’s one quadrillion floating point operations per second, in case you’re counting) that resides at Los Alamos National Laboratory and can perform complex 3D simulations of everything from ocean currents to asteroid impacts. - 9/20/16
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Science on the Hill: Gravitational waves open new window on universe
Viewing the very large and very small workings of what's out there. - 5/8/16
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Science on the Hill: Why space weather matters
Many people think of space as a silent, empty void and the sun as a distant source of light and heat. Not true. The sun and the Earth are connected in complex, intimate and sometimes dangerous ways. - 4/10/16
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Bringing MRI where it’s needed most
Los Alamos scientists developed a portable MRI, also called Battlefield MRI that uses ultra-low-field magnetic resonance imaging to create images of the brain that can be used in field hospitals for wounded soldiers or in remote villages in developing countries. - 3/20/16
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Science on the Hill: Can we someday predict earthquakes?
New ways of looking at seismic information and innovative laboratory experiments are offering tantalizing clues to what triggers earthquakes — and when. - 3/14/16
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Bracing for fire?
Understanding what drives big fires and predicting their behavior helps the fire community prepare for the next blaze through appropriate land management, emergency plans and firefighting strategies. - 7/20/16
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Why is Zika now a threat?
Population growth, rising temperatures, embryonic immune systems says Lab scientist - 2/25/16
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Keeping nuclear materials secure in an uncertain world
During the last year, the Iran nuclear deal has successfully rolled back Iran’s nuclear program. Los Alamos National Laboratory was integral to verification and training. - 10/24/16
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Decoding dark matter in genes
Possible future applications, for example, include making new cancer therapies based on how ribosomes differentiate in healthy versus cancerous tissue. - 2/19/16
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Science on the Hill: Turning windows into solar panels
Working with quantum dots, researchers achieve a breakthrough in solar-concentrating technology that can turn windows into electric generators. - 2/7/16
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Driving toward an algae-powered future
A project led by Los Alamos seeks to drive algal biofuels to marketability, decreasing our nation’s dependence on fossil fuels and putting the brakes on global warming. - 12/24/15
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Science on the Hill: The forecast calls for flu
Using mathematics, computer programs, statistics and information about how disease develops and spreads, a research team at Los Alamos National Laboratory found a way to forecast the flu season and even next week’s sickness trends. - 1/15/16
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Science on the Hill: Driving toward an algae-powered future
A new research project led by Los Alamos National Laboratory seeks to drive algal biofuels to marketability, decreasing our nation’s dependence on fossil fuels and putting the brakes on global warming. - 12/24/15
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Science on the Hill: Quenching New Mexico's thirst with brackish water
Whether today turns out damp or dry, drought is a fact of life in New Mexico. So where can we get more water? - 11/15/15
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Science on the Hill: Jumpstarting the carbon capture industry
Carbon capture, utilization, and storage can provide a crucial bridge between our current global energy economy and a cleaner, more diversified energy future. Researchers demonstrate that this approach is technically feasible and poised for full-scale roll-out. - 10/16/15
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Science on the Hill: For cybersecurity, in quantum encryption we trust
Los Alamos physicists developed a quantum random number generator and communication system that exploits quantum physics to improve cybersecurity. - 9/13/15
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Science on the Hill: Portable MRI might make the world a better place
Los Alamos' Battlefield MRI uses ultra-low-field magnetic resonance imaging to create images of the brain that can be used in field hospitals or in remote villages. - 8/9/15
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Science on the Hill: Fires set to clear African land are stoking climate change
Each year in the dry season, flames sweep across a large swath of the African countryside, engulfing every kind of grass and woody plant in their way. - 11/14/16
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Science on the Hill: Methane cloud hunting
Los Alamos researchers go hunting for methane gas over the Four Corners area of northwest New Mexico and find a strange daily pattern. - 7/12/15
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Science on the Hill: Rapid diagnosis a new weapon against re-emerging TB
Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed an innovative tool set for the early and accurate diagnosis of tuberculosis. - 6/7/15
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