LIVERMORE, Calif. — Using a simple concept and a patented Sandia sensor that detects radioactive materials, a team at Sandia National Laboratories has developed a patch to stop damage to healthy tissue during proton radiotherapy, one of the best tools to target certain cancerous tumors. “This is an important need, especially among pediatric patients,” said […]
Category Archives: Transportation
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Testing sensors in fog to make future transportation safer
November 17, 2021 – 10:03 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Self-flying drones and autonomous taxis that can safely operate in fog may sound futuristic, but new research at Sandia National Laboratories’ fog facility is bringing the future closer. Fog can make travel by water, air and land hazardous when it becomes hard for both people and sensors to detect objects. Researchers 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 […]
Successful crash test meets major milestone for nuclear deterrence program
October 8, 2020 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A full-scale crash test involving a semitruck impacting the side of the first prototype of a new weapons transporter successfully took place at Sandia National Laboratories this summer. Using the labs’ sled track, rockets propelled the semitractor-trailer at highway speeds into the prototype, an over-the-road Mobile Guardian Transporter conceptualized and built from […]
AI center to combine hardware, software for practical gains
October 31, 2019 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, and the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta are launching a research center that combines hardware design and software development to improve artificial intelligence technologies that will ultimately benefit the public. AI is an emerging field with eventual applications ranging from autonomous […]
Diesel innovation has humble beginnings
October 24, 2019 – 5:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — An engine innovation first conceived and tested by Sandia National Laboratories has attracted the attention of big business because of its potential to cost-effectively reduce emissions of soot and nitrogen oxides, encourage the use of renewable fuels, and maintain or improve engine performance. Ducted fuel injection, developed by Charles Mueller at Sandia’s […]
New look at old data leads to cleaner engines
June 10, 2019 – 5:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — New insights about how to understand and ultimately control the chemistry of ignition behavior and pollutant formation have been discovered in research led by Sandia National Laboratories. The discovery eventually will lead to cleaner, more efficient internal combustion engines. “Our findings will allow the design of new fuels and improved combustion strategies,” […]
Hear ye, hear ye: open call for algae
February 19, 2019 – 5:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — To make algae biofuels more competitive with petroleum, growers must increase productivity and keep their ponds from crashing. That’s why Sandia National Laboratories and partners are inviting participants to help in the search for the toughest algae strains and most innovative farming techniques. Though algae sometimes bloom uncontrollably in the wild, it […]
Some like it cryogenic
October 15, 2018 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories helped design the first generation of fueling stations for hydrogen-powered cars so that they’re as safe as conventional gas stations. Now, Sandia is working to do the same for the next generation of hydrogen stations. To keep up with growing demand for hydrogen fuel, retailers need to build many […]
Smarter, safer bridges with Sandia sensors
July 3, 2018 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Along with flying cars and instantaneous teleportation, smart bridges, roads and subway lines that can send out warnings when they’re damaged are staples of futuristic transportation systems in science fiction. Sandia National Laboratories has worked with Structural Monitoring Systems PLC, a U.K.-based manufacturer of structural health monitoring sensors, for over 15 years […]
Diesel doesn’t float this boat
July 2, 2018 – 5:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — Marine research could soon be possible without the risk of polluting either the air or the ocean. It’s thanks to a new ship design and feasibility study led by Sandia National Laboratories. Hydrogen fuel cells have existed for decades, and there are multiple advantages to using them instead of diesel engines to […]
New chemical mechanisms identified on road to cleaner, more efficient combustion
March 8, 2018 – 5:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — Sandia National Laboratories researchers have identified key chemical mechanisms for the first time that add to the fundamental knowledge of combustion chemistry and might lead to cleaner combustion in engines. Sandia researcher Nils Hansen and former postdoctoral appointee Kai Moshammer focused on low-temperature oxidation of hydrocarbons and other alternative fuels. They identified […]
New engine optics to fuel future research
November 3, 2017 – 5:00 am
Sandia team develops optical diagnostic that helps improve fuel economy while reducing emissions A new optical device at Sandia National Laboratories that helps researchers image pollutants in combusting fuel sprays might lead to clearer skies in the future. An optical setup developed by researchers at Sandia’s Combustion Research Facility and the Technical University of Denmark […]
Cool flames for better engines
October 12, 2017 – 5:00 am
Sandia researchers use Direct Numerical Simulations to enhance combustion efficiency and reduce pollution in diesel engines LIVERMORE, Calif. — A “cool flame” may sound contradictory, but it’s an important element of diesel combustion — one that, once properly understood, could enable better engine designs with higher efficiency and fewer emissions. Sandia National Laboratories mechanical engineer […]
Biofuels from bacteria
August 21, 2017 – 8:55 am
Sandia helps HelioBioSys understand new clean energy source LIVERMORE, Calif.—You might not cook with this sugar, but from a biofuels standpoint, it’s pretty sweet. A Bay Area company has patented a group of three single-celled, algae-like organisms that, when grown together, can produce high quantities of sugar just right for making biofuels. Sandia National Laboratories […]