LIVERMORE, Calif. — A weakness in one common open source software for genomic analysis left DNA-based medical diagnostics vulnerable to cyberattacks. Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories identified the weakness and notified the software developers, who issued a patch to fix the problem. The issue has also been fixed in the latest release of the software. […]
Category Archives: Science / Technology / Engineering
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Portable gas detection shrinks to new dimensions
June 27, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A sensor for detecting toxic gases is now smaller, faster and more reliable. Its performance sets it up for integration in a highly sensitive portable system for detecting chemical weapons. Better miniature sensors can also rapidly detect airborne toxins where they occur, providing key information to help emergency personnel respond safely and […]
Don’t set it and forget it — scan it and fix it with tech that detects wind blade damage
June 24, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Drones and crawling robots outfitted with special scanning technology could help wind blades stay in service longer, which may help lower the cost of wind energy at a time when blades are getting bigger, pricier and harder to transport, Sandia National Laboratories researchers say. As part of the Department of Energy’s Blade […]
Thwarting oil-pipeline corrosion by identifying a nanoscale villain
June 6, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Steel pipes rust and eventually fail. To preempt disasters, oil companies and others have created computer models to predict when replacement is needed. But if the models themselves go wrong, they can be modified only through experience, a costly problem if detection comes too late. Now, researchers at Sandia National Laboratories, the […]
Sandia launches a bus into space
May 23, 2019 – 8:23 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories recently launched a bus into space. Not the kind with wheels that go round and round, but the kind of device that links electronic devices (a USB cable, short for “universal serial bus,” is one common example). The bus was among 16 total experiments aboard two sounding rockets that […]
Terrorist, timed scenarios challenge bomb squads at Sandia’s Robot Rodeo
May 13, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Bomb squad teams from New Mexico and beyond are converging at Sandia National Laboratories for a five-day Robot Rodeo and Capability Exercise where emergency preparedness skills will be put to the test. Twelve challenges for 10 military and civilian teams have been set up for the 13th annual event that provides opportunities […]
National security, science collaboration bolstered by new agreement
May 9, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico are joining forces to bolster national security and advance science and engineering with an agreement signed this week. “Once we have that umbrella in place, it opens the knowledge cache of both institutions — our scientific researchers collaborating with UNM’s — so that […]
High-speed experiments improve hypersonic flight predictions
May 2, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — When traveling at five times the speed of sound or faster, the tiniest bit of turbulence is more than a bump in the road, said the Sandia National Laboratories aerospace engineer who for the first time characterized the vibrational effect of the pressure field beneath one of these tiny hypersonic turbulent spots. […]
Future hypersonics could be artificially intelligent
April 18, 2019 – 4:52 pm
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A test launch for a hypersonic weapon — a long-range missile that flies a mile per second and faster — takes weeks of planning. So, while the U.S. and other states are racing to deploy hypersonic technologies, it remains uncertain how useful the systems will be against urgent, mobile or evolving threats. […]
Nanomaterials researcher wins mid-career research award
April 17, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories materials scientist Hongyou Fan is the sole recipient of this year’s Mid-Career Researcher Award from the Materials Research Society, the largest materials society in the United States. The distinction is given midway in a researcher’s career for exceptional achievements in materials research and for notable leadership in the field. […]
New device in Z machine measures power for nuclear fusion
April 10, 2019 – 10:07 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — If you’re chasing the elusive goal of nuclear fusion and think you need a bigger reactor to do the job, you first might want to know precisely how much input energy emerging from the wall plug is making it to the heart of your machine. If somewhere during that journey you could […]
Mirage software automates design of optical metamaterials
March 27, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New software lets users design science-fiction-like materials with the same efficiency that architects draft building plans. Watch a preview of Mirage, software developed by Sandia to make optical engineering (relatively) easy. The cubes in the video are blueprints of meta-atoms, nanosized building blocks that give metamaterials their distinctive, unusual properties valued for […]
Sandia spiking tool improves artificially intelligent devices
February 27, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Whetstone, a software tool that sharpens the output of artificial neurons, has enabled neural computer networks to process information up to a hundred times more efficiently than the current industry standard, say the Sandia National Laboratories researchers who developed it. The aptly named software, which greatly reduces the amount of circuitry needed […]
700,000 submunitions demilitarized by Sandia-designed robotics system
February 21, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — More than 700,000 Multiple Launch Rocket System submunitions have been demilitarized since the Army started using an automated nine-robot system conceptualized, built and programmed by Sandia National Laboratories engineers. “This is by far the most complex, automated robotic demilitarization system that Sandia has built in the last 20 years,” said computer scientist […]
Three Sandia Labs researchers earn national honors in leadership and technology
February 11, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Three Sandia National Laboratories researchers were honored at the BEYA (Black Engineer of the Year) STEM Global Competitiveness Conference for their leadership and technological achievements. Warren Davis, Quincy Johnson and Olivia Underwood received their awards during the conference in Washington, D.C., Feb. 7-9. The annual meeting recognizes black scientists and engineers and […]