Scientists from DOE’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and from Notre Dame have proposed a new model to explain a large class of gamma ray bursts, one of the universe’s most unyielding mysteries. Gamma ray bursts are tremendous releases of energy viewed by satellites in Earth orbit as brilliant flashes of gamma ray light from the distant cosmos. The new model, set forth at an American Astronomical Society meeting, proposes that the bursts come from the compression and heating of two neutron stars circling one another in an inward-spiraling orbit just seconds before they collide.  
 

FAA Adopts Sandia’s ‘Accidents are  
Unacceptable’ Expertise  

The Federal Aviation Administration expects DOE’s Sandia National Laboratories’ role in helping design a systematic new approach to aircraft safety to help its team of some 3,500 airline inspectors more effectively track safety trends and spot problem areas in the nation’s fleet of aging commercial aircraft. Lending its expertise in systems engineering, system safety, and quality improvement derived from decades of nuclear weapons work, Sandia has worked with the FAA since 1996 to design a more systematic, data-driven approach to airline safety surveillance. “In both Sandia’s business and FAA’s business, accidents are unacceptable,” says Roger Hartman of the Labs’ Transportation Surety Center. For details see http://www.sandia.gov/media/faainsp.htm.  
 

An ambitious program to bring energy efficiency to several of the country’s most popular national parks will save taxpayers millions of dollars and highlight the benefits of low-energy, passive solar building designs. DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory is helping the National Park Service design and build energy efficient facilities in Zion, Yosemite and Grand Canyon national parks. Among the first will be the Visitor Transit Center at Zion National Park in Utah. The new center will be 70 percent more energy efficient than a conventional building and save $350,000 in energy costs. More information is available at http://www.nrel.gov/hot-stuff/press/21zionr.html. 
 

Hot Research May Make Geothermal Energy More Cost Competitive 

Research underway at DOE’s Sandia National Laboratories may improve the economic feasibility of using geothermal energy—water heated deep inside the earth’s crust—to produce electricity. “Right now less than three percent of electricity in the U.S. comes from geothermal because it costs twice as much to produce as electricity created from natural gas. Our work could help change that,” says Randy Normann, Sandia’s principal investigator. For details see http://www.sandia.gov/media/geother.htm. 
 

Kennedy Reed, physicist at DOE’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and a leader of research collaborations with Historically Black Colleges and Universities, is traveling to Africa for the American Physical Society these days. There, as a member of the Committee on International Scientific Affairs, he is working to develop closer ties between African physicists and their American counterparts. Reed recently visited Ghana, where he met with scientists, university chancellors and government officials to discuss scientific collaborations. There and elsewhere in Africa, he is organizing exchanges of scientists and students. Such interactions, he said, are an important step in forming productive scientific partnerships. 
 

New Solar Cells To Boost Satellite Power  

New solar cells that provide as much as 50 percent more power for satellites are orbiting Earth, helping flash back telephone and television signals. These cells are based on the two-junction, gallium indium phosphide on gallium arsenide designs developed at DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. TECSTAR Inc. is the first company to license two patents covering the technology from NREL. More power from solar cells means satellites can carry more communications links or other projects. With capacity as much as doubled, each satellite can be more economical and offer a greater return to satellite customers. Additional details are available at http://www.nrel.gov/hot-stuff/press/20tcstar.html.  
 

A Noisy Drop of Water  

Ultrasonic analysis can reveal the contents of sealed containers. Now, researchers at DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory  have shown that they can analyze samples of liquids as tiny as a single drop. The recently patented technique uses two closely spaced transducers—devices that convert electrical energy into sound and vice versa—or a single transducer and reflector. The droplet is subjected to a series of different ultrasonic frequencies The response of the droplet yields unique clues to its composition, with a sensitivity of one part in a million. Possible applications include detecting minuscule quantities of drugs or measuring the chemistry of droplets of blood, tears or substances such as bee or snake venom. 
 

Physics—Shortest Half-Life on the Block  

Physicists’ discovery of the shortest-lived proton emitter ever at DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory is just a preview of what’s to come from the recently revamped Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility. Researchers from ORNL, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education and collaborators have identified the 33rd isotope of thulium, a silvery rare-earth element used today as an X-ray source. The newly identified isotope, thulium-145, exists only a few millionths of a second in its normal state and then emits a proton to form erbium-144, another rare-earth element. Thulium-145 was produced by bombarding a molybdenum-92 target with a beam of stable nickel-58 ions. The measured half-life of 3.5 microseconds for the ground state of thulium-145 makes it the shortest-lived proton emitter known.  
 

Spinach Enzymes Neutralize Explosives 

Spinach may have given Popeye brute strength, but enzymes found inside the green leaves soon may be used to neutralize dangerous explosives. Researchers at DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have discovered that nitroreductase enzymes found in spinach and other natural compounds can eat, digest and transform explosives such as TNT. The biotechnology process reduces dangerous explosives to low toxicity byproducts that can be used by industry or reduced further to harmless products such as carbon dioxide and water. The digestion process addresses a need of the U.S. military to eliminate tons of explosives stockpiled around the country. For more information, see http://www.pnl.gov/news/1998/Bnw98_19.htm. 
 

That Blasted Boom Box!  

Researchers at DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory have teamed up with the New Mexico State Police and Foster-Miller Inc. to create an inexpensive, versatile, portable container that can capture shrapnel from a pipe bomb and redirect the blast away from personnel and property. The “Frag Bag” is a small, lightweight box that a person can carry into confined areas, much more versatile than the heavy blast-containment devices that often must be moved by vehicles. Since the bag captures all shrapnel, investigators can recover and analyze bomb fragments, which contain vital clues about the bomb maker or the origin of the materials. The Frag Bag is commercially available.  
 

SHAMU Comes to the Idaho Desert  

The Idaho desert is one of the last places you’d expect to find a famous killer whale, but a different kind of SHAMU arrived recently, and it’s doing fine. The DOE’s Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory has developed an innovative methodology to improve the way safety documents are created and managed. The Safety Hazard Assessment and Management Utility, or SHAMU, uses the existing intranet system and software to prepare, link, track and manage safety authorization information such as environmental compliance documents. SHAMU helps ensure the documents are more technically consistent, while significantly reducing the cost and time for preparation and approval.