Research
Highlights...
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| Number 115 |
September 16, 2002 |
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LandScan knows difference in night and day
Most population databases have one potentially fatal flaw: They don't
take into account the large difference between daytime and nighttime
populations in cities. The distinction is an important one to
emergency response planners. Researchers at DOE's Oak
Ridge National Laboratory have developed LandScan
USA, a computer model that uses an innovative approach with
geographic information system and remote sensing technologies.
LandScan USA develops a high-resolution population distribution
model that includes daytime and nighttime population distributions.
In addition to its application for emergency planning in case
of an attack or natural disaster, LandScan has potential uses
for socio-environmental studies, exposure and health risk assessment
and urban sprawl estimates.
[Ron Walli 865/576-0226,
wallira@ornl.gov]
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Laser ignition for
lean-burn engines
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| Laser
beam entering spark plug port |
Researchers at DOE's National Energy
Technology Laboratory (NETL) have successfully operated a
laser-spark
lean-burn natural gas reciprocating engine. Development of
lean-burn engines is driven by demand for higher efficiencies
and lower emissions, but delivering the high energy required to
ignite an ultra-lean mixture destroys even the hardiest spark
plugs. Plug durability is rapidly becoming a barrier issue. According
to team leader Mike McMillian, laser-spark ignition solves heat
loss problems and provides focused energy capable of ignition
even under ultra-lean conditions unignitable with conventional
systems. The research team collected run data for 10 hours and
will present its findings at the Gas
Technologies Conference in September, 2002.
[Damon Benedict, 304/285-4913,
damon.benedict@netl.doe.gov]
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Mozart: A genius at
assessing your Web site
Since Sept. 11 and the war on terrorism, government agencies and industry
have been feverishly combing through their websites in search
of sensitive information to remove. The task is time consuming
and potentially expensive. But thanks to an Internet assessment
tool under development at DOE's Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory, a thorough analysis soon will
be just mouse clicks away. Called Mozart, it quickly archives
and analyzes entire Web sites based on search terms provided by
the user and built-in search libraries containing hundreds of
key phrases designed to find sensitive information. The output
is a hyperlinked report, including a prioritized listing of Web
pages containing potentially strategic or sensitive information
both within the user's organization and at externally linked sites.
[Dawn White, 509/375-3688,
dawn.white@pnl.gov]
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May I see your ID?
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| New
drug-testing strips |
A new drug test developed by scientists at DOE's Idaho
National Engineering & Environmental Laboratory in collaboration
with Miragen, Inc. promises to crack down on drug test cheaters.
Unlike urine tests, theirs relies on a few drops of saliva, making
it possible to get samples without the privacy of a bathroom.
What's more, the drug-testing strips uncover illegal drugs while
decoding an individual's unique auto-antibody signature—a
barcode-like pattern of proteins that links a test's results to
its taker to further prevent sample-swapping. Now that they've
shown the test works, the team hopes to try it out on inmates
and compare it to more traditional methods.
[Kendall
Morgan, 208/526-3176,
morgkk@inel.gov]
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A Better Big Rig
We see it at rest stops and truckstops across the country. Big rigs
in formation with diesels
idling to generate electricity for the lights, cab and sleeper
while keeping the oil and the operator warm. Practical? Maybe.
Eight hours of all-night idling can consume 8 gallons of fuel.
At
$1.30/gallon, it won't break the budget. Efficient? Hardly.
Idling diesels
consume 1.2 billion gallons each year. Researchers at DOE's
National Energy Technology
Laboratory are developing a bolt-on diesel-fueled
solid oxide fuel cell concept that generates electricity and
provides heat to keep the rig ready to roll, all at about 50 percent
efficiency with no pollution.
[Damon
Benedict 304/285-4913,
damon.benedict@netl.doe.gov]
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Analyzing a building's
lifetime cost
Researchers at the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently released a new version of
the Energy-10 computer program containing seven upgrades. Energy-10
Version 1.5 includes a discounted cash-flow evaluation of
a building over its lifetime and a more powerful graphing package.
"Energy-10 allows the user to play 'what if' games while designing
a building or home," said author Doug Balcomb, research fellow
at NREL. "What if I change the windows, add in energy efficient
equipment or let the daylight in and turn down the lights?"
[Sarah
Holmes Barba, 303/275-3023,
sarah_barba@nrel.gov]
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Aiming for the stars: Hakeem Oluseyi
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Hakeem
Oluseyi
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Physicist Hakeem Oluseyi recently joined Berkeley
Lab as a member of the Supernova Cosmology Project, the
Nearby Supernova Factory, and SNAP, the proposed SuperNova
Acceleration Probe, coordinating application of the Berkeley
Lab CCD to the supernova search.
Oluseyi learned spaceborne instrumentation and astrophysics
from renowned African-American physicist Arthur Walker II
at Stanford. Among other discoveries, he predicted and found
a new component of the solar atmosphere by studying the sun
with multilayer optics and special filters.
Stanford Ph.D. in hand, Oluseyi switched fields to semiconductor
manufacture in 1999. At Applied Materials he developed innovative
methods for testing wafers, and for gate-etching in layered
materials; several patents, granted and pending, resulted.
Meanwhile he taught astronomy at nearby Foothill College,
pursuing a commitment to education that has never slackened
since his childhood.
"We moved every year—I grew up in ghettos all over
the South," Oluseyi says. "I spent a lot of time reading:
Alex Haley's Roots at nine, an entire encyclopedia
by age 10. At 11 I discovered Einstein, who became one of
my heroes." He credits dedicated mentors and the fellowship
of the National Conference of Black Physics Students, to which
he was introduced while attending Tougaloo College in Mississippi
on scholarship, for guiding him from hard times to scientific
success.
At Berkeley Lab he remains committed to educational outreach.
"There's a misperception that African-American students aren't
interested in science," he says, "but when they feel welcome
in the subject, they can earn top marks."
Having built spaceborne instruments and used them to make
basic discoveries—and having secured patents in the manufacture
of semiconductors—Oluseyi's a perfect fit for the nitty-gritty
applications of the new CCD. But that's not all. He's intent
on "figuring out the secrets of the universe," he says. "I
want to shoot for the stars."
Submitted by DOE's Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory
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