ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have designed a new class of molten sodium batteries for grid-scale energy storage. The new battery design was shared in a paper published today in the scientific journal Cell Reports Physical Science. Molten sodium batteries have been used for many years to store energy from renewable sources, […]
Category Archives: Science / Technology / Engineering
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New weapons testing capability produces richer data, saves time, cost
July 20, 2021 – 5:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — A team of Sandia National Laboratories engineers developed a new testing capability in support of its nuclear weapons mission. The team completed their first combined-environments test on a full-scale weapons system at the Sandia Superfuge/Centrifuge complex in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In a successful test, weapons engineers simulated three environments — acceleration, vibration […]
The hidden culprit killing lithium-metal batteries from the inside
July 14, 2021 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — For decades, scientists have tried to make reliable lithium-metal batteries. These high-performance storage cells hold 50% more energy than their prolific, lithium-ion cousins, but higher failure rates and safety problems like fires and explosions have crippled commercialization efforts. Researchers have hypothesized why the devices fail, but direct evidence has been sparse. Now, […]
Setting gold and platinum standards where few have gone before
June 24, 2021 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Like two superheroes finally joining forces, Sandia National Laboratories’ Z machine — generator of the world’s most powerful electrical pulses — and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility — the planet’s most energetic laser source — in a series of 10 experiments have detailed the responses of gold and platinum at […]
Cleared for takeoff
June 15, 2021 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A 30-year program that made flying safer through continued innovations in airplane inspection, maintenance and airworthiness research has ended its tenure at Sandia National Laboratories. The Federal Aviation Administration Airworthiness Assurance Center, or AANC, operated by Sandia for the FAA, is moving to the National Institute of Aviation Research at Wichita State […]
Using a mineral ‘sponge’ to catch uranium
June 9, 2021 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A team of researchers from Sandia, Lawrence Berkeley and Pacific Northwest national laboratories tested a “sponge-like” mineral that can “soak up” uranium at a former uranium mill near Rifle, Colorado. The researchers found that the mineral, calcium apatite, soaks up and binds uranium from the groundwater, reducing it by more than ten-thousandfold. […]
World’s smallest, best acoustic amplifier emerges from 50-year-old hypothesis
June 2, 2021 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories have built the world’s smallest and best acoustic amplifier. And they did it using a concept that was all but abandoned for almost 50 years. According to a paper published May 13 in Nature Communications, the device is more than 10 times more effective than the earlier […]
Largest aerospace society names Sandia researcher ‘Engineer of the Year’
June 1, 2021 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, NM — Humberto “Tito” Silva III, a Sandia National Laboratories researcher, has been named Engineer of the Year by the world’s largest aerospace technical society, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Selected by a committee of his peers, Silva was cited for improving failure-rate predictions of aerospace flight systems as they reenter Earth’s […]
Experimental Impact Mechanics Lab at Sandia bars none
May 25, 2021 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — There’s a tiny hidden gem at Sandia National Laboratories that tests the strength and evaluates the impact properties of any solid natural or manmade material on the planet. From its humble beginnings as a small storage room, mechanical engineer Bo Song has built a singular Experimental Impact Mechanics Lab that packs a […]
After 40 years, Sandia’s Combustion Research Facility still driving toward the future
May 18, 2021 – 5:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — The weather on March 6, 1981, was nothing too remarkable for the San Francisco Bay Area — a little drizzle with temperatures in the 50s and fairly calm wind. The remarkable event that day was taking place on Sandia National Laboratories’ California campus, but even those who participated in the opening of […]
Simulating sneezes and coughs to show how COVID-19 spreads
May 11, 2021 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Two groups of researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have published papers on the droplets of liquid sprayed by coughs or sneezes and how far they can travel under different conditions. Both teams used Sandia’s decades of experience with advanced computer simulations studying how liquids and gases move for its nuclear stockpile stewardship […]
Reusable respirator could ease COVID-19 medical mask shortages
April 1, 2021 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Many medical professionals and other essential, front-line workers have struggled for the past year with persistent shortages of N95 masks. Soon, they might get relief from a Sandia National Laboratories invention — a comfortable, reusable, sterilizable respirator that could ease demand during current or future health crises. Sandia has filed for patent […]
Forbes magazine again tags Sandia Labs as top large employer
March 29, 2021 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories again has been recognized by Forbes as one of the 500 Best Large Employers 2021. Sandia also won the distinction in 2017 and again in 2019, shortly after garnering a separate award as one of the magazine’s top workplaces for diversity. Forbes and the market research firm Statista conducted […]
Rare open-access quantum computer now operational
March 15, 2021 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A new Department of Energy open-access quantum computing testbed is ready for the public. Scientists from Indiana University recently became the first team to begin using Sandia National Laboratories’ Quantum Scientific Computing Open User Testbed, or QSCOUT. Quantum computers are poised to become major technological drivers over the coming decades. But to […]
Catching energy-exploration caused earthquakes before they happen
March 10, 2021 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Geoscientists at Sandia National Laboratories used 3D-printed rocks and an advanced, large-scale computer model of past earthquakes to understand and prevent earthquakes triggered by energy exploration. Injecting water underground after unconventional oil and gas extraction, commonly known as fracking, geothermal energy stimulation and carbon dioxide sequestration all can trigger earthquakes. Of course, […]