Number 185

PNNL launches NASA micro-mission

Scientists at DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will begin development of an extraordinarily lightweight and compact system to produce rocket propellant in space, and regenerate breathable air for interplanetary travel. Designed for NASA under a new $13.7 million contract, the microtechnology system will use modular banks of identical microchannel components, providing redundancy while enhancing safety and reliability.  PNNL researchers say gravity independence and reduced size and weight make microtechnology an ideal approach. Eventually, researchers hope to use the same principles on a larger scale for a manned mission to Mars in the 2030 timeframe. The NASA contract is four times larger than any PNNL has previously had with NASA.

[Geoff Harvey, 509/372-6083,
geoffrey.harvey@pnl.gov]

X-rays illuminate work of ancient mathematician

Abigail Quandt, head of book and paper conservation at The Walters Art Museum, slides a framed page of the Archimedes parchment into a holder that moves in front of the x-ray beam like a book being read by a stationary eye. (Photo by Diana Rogers)

Researchers at DOE's Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory have used synchrotron X-rays to read the work of Archimedes.The writings, copied by a scribe in the 10^th century, hide beneath the text of a 13^th century prayer book. To conserve expensive parchment, the pages were scraped clean and reused. Scholars reconstructed many pages with UV light. But several pages are completely obscured by 20^th century forgeries of Byzantine religious illuminations. Researchers used X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to peer underneath the forgeries. Iron pigment in the ink fluoresces when hit with X-rays, allowing researchers to see the text for the first time.

[Neil Calder, 650/926-8707,
Neil.Calder@slac.Stanford.edu]

Fingerprint detection device developed

A researcher at DOE's Savannah River National Laboratory has developed an innovative, lightweight tool for fingerprint detection. The BritePrint™ device, designed to be low-cost, is a small, battery-powered, high intensity light source that uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to produce light that causes areas brushed with dye to be visibly fluorescent. Wearing light-filtering goggles makes markings in these areas easily detectible by the human eye.

The BritePrint device would typically be worn on a headset for hands-free operation. Its small design allows it to illuminate hard-to-reach places. It can also be used with a video camera for recording critical crime scene evidence.

[Angeline French, 803/725-2854,
Angeline.French@srs.gov]

First single-crystal niobium accelerating cavity

This single-crystal single-cell niobium cavity was made in the same shape as one proposed low-loss design for the International Linear Collider (ILC).

The Institute for Superconducting Radiofrequency Science & Technology at DOE's Jefferson Lab has fabricated and tested a single-cell accelerating cavity made from a single crystal of niobium. Like salt crystals, niobium crystals can be grown in a range of sizes. Usually, these crystals are crushed to a small, uniform size during the accelerator cavity fabrication process to make the metal easier to stamp into a desired shape. A JLab team instead used a process called deep drawing to coax a single, large crystal of niobium into the correct shape. This new fabrication process could reduce the cost and assembly time of world-class accelerator cavities.

[Kandice Carter, 757/269-7263,
kcarter@jlab.org]

Combustion Research Facility celebrates 25 years

The Combustion Research Facility at DOE's Sandia National Laboratories' California site is celebrating 25 years of partnering with the combustion research community. Sandia's first DOE user facility, the CRF was born out of the energy crisis of the early 1970s, a shift in national research priorities toward energy research, and the development of several tools for use in the nation's nuclear weapons program with potential applications in studying the complexities of combustion. The CRF was a pioneer in the use of laser-based diagnostics to study combustion processes, and continues its world-class collaborative work on important energy-related problems to this day. (Past issues of CRF News contain additional historical articles.)

[Julie Hall, 925/294-3210,
jchall@sandia.gov]

Wahl uses love of problem solving to address national security issues

PNNL's Karen Wahl

A college chemistry professor helped fan Karen Wahl's passion for science and problem solving leading her to a career in analytical chemistry. It's a path that both Karen and DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have found to be rewarding.

“I love the world of chemistry because the work is challenging and always different. It provides an opportunity to use math, physics, chemistry and biology to solve real-world problems. And the ability to conduct that work in a multi-disciplinary research laboratory is what drew me to PNNL,” says Karen, an analytical chemist at the laboratory.

Karen came to PNNL in 1991 from Michigan State University on a postdoctoral appointment to work under Richard D. Smith who was developing new mass spectrometry techniques. For the past eight years, Karen's focus has been on using mass spectrometry for microbiology studies in support of national security.

She had a key role in the development of MALDI-MS for pathogen identification. MALDI-MS is designed to quickly identify bacteria for safe detection and post analysis in the event of biological terrorism. MALDI-MS is an acronym for Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization—Mass Spectrometry.

Karen balances her time in the laboratory helping to solve national security issues with raising two small children and enjoying the outdoors in the Northwest. She and her family enjoy snowboarding, wind surfing and biking.

Karen shares that her eight-year-old daughter and six-year-old son frequently march into the kitchen to “do experiments,” seeing what dissolves and what happens when different things are mixed together. What do you expect when both your parents are analytical chemists at a national laboratory?

Karen's research has resulted in three U.S. patents and more than 30 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Submitted by DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

DOE Pulse highlights work being done at the Department of Energy's national laboratories. DOE's laboratories house world-class facilities where more than 30,000 scientists and engineers perform cutting-edge research spanning DOE's science, energy, national security and environmental quality missions. DOE Pulse is distributed every two weeks. For more information, please contact Jeff Sherwood (jeff.sherwood
@hq.doe.gov, 202-586-5806)