llnl scientist earns glenn t. seaborg award report... · earns glenn t. seaborg award ......
TRANSCRIPT
AweeklycollectionofscientificandtechnologicalachievementsfromLawrenceLivermoreNational
Laboratory:March2‐March9,2009.
LLNLscientistearnsGlennT.Seaborgaward
KenMoody
Forthelast30‐plusyears,LabchemistKenMoodyalongwithRussiancollaboratorshashelpedprovideaglimpseofthe"IslandofStability"thatliesattheouterboundsoftheperiodictable,wheresuper‐heavyelementsliveformilliseconds,minutesorevenyearsamidaseaofoddlyshort‐livednuclei.Heandhiscollaboratorshavesingle‐handedlyproducedthefirstlong‐livedversionsofeachelementbetween113and118(withtheexceptionof117).
Hisworkhasn'tgoneunnoticed.TheAmericanChemicalSociety'sDivisionofNuclearChemistryandTechnologyhasawardedhimthe2009GlennT.Seaborgawardforhisworkinheavyelementsandnuclearforensics.HewillreceivehisawardatthenationalmeetingMarch22‐26,inSaltLakeCity,UT.
ChemicalandEngineeringNewsrecentlywroteaboutMoody'saccomplishments.Toreadthearticle,gotohttps://newsline.llnl.gov/_rev02/articles/2009/mar/CE_news.pdf
Protontherapyexploredforcancerresearch
ArecentarticleinPhysicsTodaydescribesthemovementtoshrinkthesizeofacceleratorssotheycanbeusedtohelptreatcancerpatients.
Smaller,cheaperacceleratorspromisetomakeprotonradiationtherapyavailabletomorecancerpatients.TheLabhasdevelopedalinactechnologytoaccelerateprotonsto100MeV.
OriginallydevelopedforX‐rayradiographytoimageexplosives,theso‐calleddielectricwallacceleratorgeneratesapulsedelectricfieldthatlastsafewnanoseconds.
Toreadmore,gotohttp://scitation.aip.org/journals/doc/PHTOAD‐ft/vol_62/iss_3/22_1.shtml
BBC's"Horizon"onNIF
BrianCox
BritishphysicistBrianCoxhoststhemostrecenteditionoftheBBC's"Horizon:CanWeBuildaStaronEarth?"whichdelvesintothepossibilityofcreatingenergy(fusion)likethatwhichformsinstarsonearth.
Coxexploresdifferentstrategiesnowbeingpursuedtomakenuclearfusionareality,includingtheLab'sNationalIgnitionFacility,thataimstocreateinertialfusion.NIFblaststinypelletsofdeuterium‐tritiumfuelwithasingle500‐trillion‐wattlaserbeam‐‐morethan500timestheU.S.peakgeneratingpower.
Thisgiantshort‐livedlaserpulsecausesthefuelpellettocollapseanddetonate,producingamini‐starforafractionofasecond.
ToreadmoreabouttheBBCprogram,gotohttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7891787.stm
NewinsightintonatureofEarth'score
Priortomeltingandundersufficientshear,ametalflowslikeaBinghamplasticsuchashottar(centersection).
Atonepoint,themetalsinEarth'sinteriormayhavehadtheconsistencyofrawpizzadoughbeforetheysolidifiedtobecomethecore.
Livermoreresearchersrecentlydiscoveredanovelgooeytantalumstructurethatoccursbeforeitmeltsunderstressathighpressures.Theresearchsuggeststhatthesamefindingcouldapplytoothermetalssuchasiron,whichisfoundinEarth'sinterior.
Unlikepreviousresearchthatassumedsolidmetalsimmediatelyturnintoaliquiduponexposuretohighpressuresandtemperatures,ChristineWuandcolleaguesfoundinsteadthatthemetaltantalumunderwentaviscousplasticflowtransitionunderheatingandshear(thedeformationofamaterialinwhichparallelinternalsurfacesslidepastoneanother)beforeitmeltedintoaliquid.
"Therewasn'ttruemelting,"Wusaid."Itwasaviscousplasticflowmuchlikehottar.Ithadliquid‐likebehaviortoacertainextent,butthematerialflowedasagroupinsteadofasindividualatomsasaliquidwould."
Theresearchappearsinthejournal,NatureMaterials.Toreadmore,gotohttp://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/v8/n3/full/nmat2375.html
LLNLscientistwritesarticleforJournalofUndergraduateResearch
DonCorrell
LLNLscientistDonCorrellwasaskedbytheDOE'sOfficeofWorkforceDevelopmentforTeachersandStudentstowritetheguesteditorialforthe2008JournalofUndergraduateResearch(JUR).InadditiontoCorrell'sguesteditorial"TheEducation‐ResearchContinuum,"the2008JURissuehasanintroductionbyformerDOEUndersecretaryforScienceRayOrbach.
Sinceitsinceptionin2001,theJURhasbeenpublishing'peerreviewed'papersbyundergraduatecollegestudentswhohavecompletedsummerinternshipsatthevariousDOEnationallabs.Toreadmoreaboutthejournal,gotohttp://www.scied.science.doe.gov/scied/JUR_v8/default.htm
LatestNewslineavailable
NewslineprovidesthelatestLabresearchandoperationsnews.Seethemostrecentissueathttps://newsline.llnl.gov/_rev02/index.php
Photooftheweek
Keepyoureyeonthebirdie:ANationalIgnitionFacilitytechnicianinspectsadamageinspectioninstrumentthatis
usedtoassesstheopticsinthetargetchamber.
LLNLismanagedbyLawrenceLivermoreNationalSecurity,LLC,fortheU.S.DepartmentofEnergy'sNationalNuclearSecurityAdministration.LLNLappliesandadvancesscienceandtechnologytohelpensurenationalsecurityandglobalstability.Throughmulti‐disciplinaryresearchanddevelopment,withparticularexpertiseinhigh‐energy‐densityphysics,laserscience,high‐performancecomputingandscience/engineeringatthenanometer/subpicosecondscale,LLNLinnovationsimprovesecurity,meetenergyandenvironmentalneedsandstrengthenU.S.economiccompetitiveness.TheLaboratoryalsopartnerswithotherresearchinstitutions,universitiesandindustrytobringthefullweightofthenation'sscienceandtechnologycommunitytobearonsolvingproblemsofnationalimportance.TosendinputtotheLivermoreLabReport,sende‐mailmailto:[email protected]:https://publicaffairs.llnl.gov/news/lab_report/2009index.html