- Number 343 |
- August 8, 2011
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Sandia National Labs completes final scan of space shuttle program
Nine engineers from DOE’s Sandia National Laboratories helped ensure Atlantis’ safety from Mission Control at Johnson Space Center as the shuttle made its final flight, marking the end of NASA’s 30-year space shuttle program. For the past 22 missions — every one since NASA’s 2005 return to space — Sandia Labs’ engineers have worked tirelessly to protect the astronauts with ingenious, space-based inspections of the orbiter’s thermal protection system. -
$2 million upgrade to Lilly's APS beamline
Eli Lilly and Company and DOE's Argonne National Laboratory announced the completion of Lilly's $2 million upgrade to the company's research-guided beamline, located at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne's campus outside of Chicago. The APS is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility operated by Argonne.
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Counting all aerosols
Including the finer details of aerosols could improve the accuracy of global climate predictions, according to scientists at DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. In global climate models, aerosols or tiny particles that scatter or absorb sunlight are averaged out across a large grid, distorting the prediction of aerosol effects on the climate.
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Modeling plant metabolism to optimize oil production
Scientists at DOE’s Brookhaven Lab have developed a computational model for analyzing the metabolic processes in rapeseed plants — particularly those related to the production of oils in their seeds. Their goal is to find ways to optimize the production of plant oils that have widespread potential as renewable resources for fuel and industrial chemicals.
