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Sandia software makes bomb ’bots smarter

DOE/Sandia National Laboratories
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have unveiled a wheeled police robot that makes many of the "how to" decisions on its own, freeing up its operator to make the more critical "what to do next" decisions during potentially dangerous bomb-disablement or other law enforcement missions.

Funder: REMOTEC Inc.

New standard set for scientific visualizations — Data rendered into art in seconds

DOE/Sandia National Laboratories
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A 10-foot-high, 13-foot-wide screen that makes high-definition television look as grainy as an old TV in a cheap motel has been unveiled by Sandia National Laboratories. The facility’s digitized images, created of 20 million pixels, approach the visual acuity of the eye itself. The new screen is not only the clearest but also, says manager and program leader Philip Heermann, “to my knowledge the fastest in the world in rendering complex scientific data sets.”

Funder: DOE’s Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI)

XMM-Newton makes unusual discoveries in Andromeda Galaxy

DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory

In its first look at the Andromeda Galaxy, known as M31, the X-ray multi-mirror satellite observatory has revealed several unusual X-ray sources.

High-temperature superconducting tape licensed

DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos National Laboratory has licensed patents and applications related to its technology for manufacturing high-temperature superconducting tape to IGC-SuperPower of Latham, N.Y., a wholly owned subsidiary of Intermagnetics General Corp.

Radiation bystander effects

DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory

An important discovery about the effects of low-level radiation on cells is altering long-held beliefs about risk assessment in radiation exposure.

A new look at old fission mysteries

DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory

When theoretical physicist Peter Möller worked on his thesis at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1973, his calculation of the nuclear potential energy for 175 different nuclear shapes, or grid points, pushed the limits of existing computational power. Using one IBM computer punch card to define each grid point, Möller's total input data card deck for the calculation was about one inch thick.

Stable isotope research resource

DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory

The ability to apply research techniques to important problems in biology and medicine depends on the availability of isotopically labeled compounds.

Protein crystallography resource at neutron research center for imaging proteins

DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory

Thanks to a $4.8 million capital commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy, Los Alamos researchers have completed a state-of-the-art neutron diffraction station at Los Alamos' Neutron Scattering Center, part of the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, known as LANSCE. The new station went on line in December 2000.

Building a better catalyst for bioremediation

DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory

There are only a few ways to handle toxic waste. Dump it, put it in a landfill, move it someplace else or change the contaminant into something less hazardous. Dealing with toxic waste is a major problem that is beginning to be addressed in an innovative way: using bacterial enzymes, catalytic proteins produced by living cells, to transform the waste.

Using pathogen sequence data

DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory

As scientists delve into the vast quantity of biological data currently being produced, the problems of handling such a treasure trove of information are daunting. New tools and techniques for managing, storing, analyzing, mining and visualizing this information are the focus of much attention in the scientific community, especially when the data can have a bearing on public health and even emergency response.