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From the Editor
Dear Readers,
Whether it’s sniffing baseball fans at an Oakland A’s game for chemicals of interest,
protecting oil and gas infrastructure, understanding the physics of water in extremely
high temperature and pressure regimes, or searching for the explanation of the origins of
the mysterious Libyan Desert Glass, Sandia researchers are at it again. More...
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Winter 2006/2007 — Volume 8, No. 4
Expanding researcher access to microfluidic fittings
Necessity was the mother of invention for a recently licensed suite of microfluidic fittings, manifolds, and interconnects that allows researchers and engineers to configure their own analytical devices and potentially form integrated systems for myriad applications. The suite ... has become much used in the last three or four years.
Solving the riddle of the desert glass
Speeding across the vast expanse of Sahara desert sand in a four-wheel drive vehicle was not something Sandia’s Mark Boslough had thought to put on his calendar when he planned this year’s activities. He nevertheless found himself — with other scientists and a British film crew — examining an enigmatic silica glass that has survived for 29 million years.
SIDEBAR:
Applying high-performance computing to a scientific mystery
While most natural glasses are volcanic in origin, rare exceptions are tektites, formed by shock melting associated with hypervelocity impacts of comets or asteroids. The Libyan Desert Glass falls into neither of these categories and has baffled scientists since its 1932 discovery.
Understanding 'metallic water'
Thunderbird supercomputer simulations by two Sandia researchers have significantly altered the theoretical diagram universally used by scientists to understand the characteristics of water at extreme temperatures and pressures. The surprising results were not the intent of Sandia coinvestigators Thomas Mattsson and Mike Desjarlais.
Solar tower testing supports NASA plan
The skies south of Albuquerque offered a bright surprise in early September when NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center conducted experiments for its In-Space Propulsion Technology Project. Sandia and NASA tested materials under extreme temperatures for new advanced thermal protection systems for aerocapture flight maneuvers.
Sandia – Monsanto Company announce cooperative agreement
Sandia’s imaging equipment offers the possibility of better understanding ways to convert cellulose-containing biomass into transportation fuel. This first use of the cutting-edge hyperspectral imaging
and analysis technology by an agricultural company will support a joint goal — how to identify and develop grains with the highest potential of conversion to transportation fuels.
Detect-to-warn system offers lifesaving capability
Scientists from Sandia pondered whether their detection equipment could catch a whiff of a terrorist chemical attack in a morass of other smells. They found out by field testing the equipment at McAfee Coliseum while the Oakland A’s battled the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Angels. Despite the mélange of cigar smoke, aftershave, hairspray, and ambient odors from the surrounding industrial neighborhood and Interstate 880, the result was successful.
Keeping oil and gas control systems safe
“Without monitoring, it’s difficult to detect cyber adversaries, who might be attempting to compromise critical system components.” — Ben Cook, LOGIIC project leader
