7 Things the Los Alamos National Lab Gave Us (Besides Bombs)

Past today, you probably only know Los Alamos, N.M., and its big national laboratory as the locate that created the matter fail, and which is as wel currently under threat from a large, aggressive wildfire. But in recent decades, the scope of the scientific work on the Los Alamos National Laboratory has broadened quite a trifle. With flames licking at the skirt of science lab prop and concerns focused on the security of the radioactive waste stored there, it seems equal a blast to take a step back, and a deep hint, and view few of the other things the scientists at the lab have come up with since the days of the Manhattan Project.

A potential vaccine for AIDS

Scientists at Los Alamos are part of a larger, international team working to develop an HIV vaccinum. A team of researchers at the science lab, light-emitting diode by Bette Korber in the conjectural division, played a major role in developing the genetic piece of work-up for the vaccine, which the consortium of scientists involved hopes will be ready for human trials in late 2020.

Flush i-sniffing bees

In one of the lab's quirkier but distillery applicable projects, researchers used Pavlovian techniques to capitalize of honeybees' strong sense of smell and develop a method to train them to sniff out explosives like those used in improvised explosive devices. No Wor on whether the expeditionary has assign the method to the test yet with an all-bee brigade.

Green energy

The Los Alamos lab is officially part of the Federal soldier Energy, so IT should be no surprise that myriad energy projects have been undertaken there, including quite a couple of renewable or other than "Green" efforts. So far, the lab has produced a hybrid garbage motortruck, technology to pull in hydrogen fuel cells much cheaper, and solar-collecting material that could one 24-hour interval produce windows that also create energy.

Better testing for cancer

Lab scientists Lianjie Huang, Kenneth M. Hanson and others have worked to develop a method of testing for breast cancer that is safer, more comfortable and accurate. The method uses sound waves to detect lilliputian tumors often missed by traditional mammograms.

Space lasers

Any lab American Samoa hi-tech as Los Alamos would seem sketchy without at least ane serious place laser project. Los Alamos scientists helped develop one such system that is now headed to Red Planet. The laser beam will be fitted on to the Mars rover and will zap pin-head size up pieces of dirt and rock, vaporizing them. The flash of light from the vaporized sample will then be analyzed.

Detection of threats from the toss

Lab scientists likewise helped uprise the ASPECT airplane, which lavatory help find natural threats from the flip, in possible instances of biological or bacteriological warfare. But that's not the plane's only use: ASPECT planes will be flying through the smoke plume above Los Alamos today, as the Environmental Protection Agency uses the technology to test for possible releases of radiation into the air from the wildfire.