LDRD

Results 1–25 of 27

Designing long-duration toxin sensors

April 23, 2025 • Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have spent the last three years developing an ultra-low-power chemical sensor to detect sarin and other chemical warfare agents or gaseous industrial toxins, aiming to protect the public and warfighters.

Categories: Chemistry, Homeland security, Science / Technology / Engineering

Topics: chemical detection, LDRD, low-power electronics, sarin

A woman in a blue lab coat grabs a tiny device with tweezers.

Study asks: Can cell phone signals help land a plane?

October 22, 2024 • Researchers from Sandia National Laboratories and The Ohio State University are taking experimental navigation technology to the skies, pioneering a backup system to keep an airplane on course when it cannot rely on global positioning system satellites.

Categories: Science / Technology / Engineering

Topics: air travel safety, Doppler effect, GPS, GPS-denied navigation, LDRD, navigation, weather balloon

Work toward a cleaner way to purify critical metals

August 27, 2024 • A team of researchers from Sandia National Laboratories has been pioneering an environmentally friendly method to separate rare-earth elements from watery mixtures. The team’s ultimate goal is to design sponges that selectively absorb one rare earth metal while excluding others.

Categories: Materials Science

Topics: LDRD, metal-organic framework, rare earth

Sandia studies subterranean storage of hydrogen

April 9, 2024 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Imagine a vast volume of porous sandstone reservoir, once full of oil and natural gas, now full of a different, carbon-free fuel — hydrogen. Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories are using computer simulations and laboratory experiments to see if depleted oil and natural gas reservoirs can be...

Categories: Climate Security, Energy / Environment / Water, Science / Technology / Engineering

Topics: computa, hydrogen, hydrogen infrastructure, hydrogen storage, LDRD

Matthew Paul, a Sandia National Laboratories geosciences engineer, works on a gas adsorption system in a fume hood as part of a project to see if depleted petroleum reservoirs can be used for storing carbon-free hydrogen fuel.

Bruised and bleeding: New materials show where they’re hurt

February 13, 2024 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Every over-the-counter medication bottle sports a protective seal, usually a plastic wrap or foam layer, or both. These seals offer signs of tampering attempts. In a parallel concern, the International Atomic Energy Agency relies on tamper-indicating devices to make sure it knows if containers of nuclear material...

Categories: Chemistry, Nonproliferation

Topics: LDRD, NNSA, nuclear safety

A man sits in front of a plexi-glass box, using thick gloves to hold a jar of mostly orange beads.

Creating the self-healing grid of the future

January 23, 2024 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Self-healing electrical grids: It may sound like a concept from science fiction, with tiny robots or some sentient tech crawling around fixing power lines, but in a reality not far from fiction a team of researchers is bringing this idea to life. What’s not hard to imagine...

Categories: Computing, Energy / Environment / Water

Topics: LDRD

Michael Ropp in Sandia’s Distributed Energy Technologies Laboratory with binary code displayed behind him.

Beyond Bennu: How OSIRIS-REx is helping scientists study the sonic signature of meteoroids

September 25, 2023 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In the high desert of Nevada, Elizabeth Silber watched NASA’s Sample Return Capsule from OSIRIS-REx descend into Earth’s atmosphere on Sunday, but unlike most scientists, she wasn’t there for the asteroid rocks. Silber, a physicist at Sandia National Laboratories, is working with researchers from Sandia and Los...

Categories: Science / Technology / Engineering

Topics: hypersonic, infrasound, LDRD, meteoroids, OSIRIS-REx, solar balloons

High-tech invisible ink spells trouble for counterfeiters

September 12, 2023, Media Advisory • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A high-tech invisible ink invented at Sandia National Laboratories could become the newest tool for stopping counterfeit goods. The research team is now seeking partnerships to help develop and ultimately commercialize the new technology. Beyond their negative economic impact, counterfeit goods can threaten public health. In 2022,...

Categories: Materials Science

Topics: anti-counterfeit, diversity, LDRD, metal-organic framework, optical tag, tamper detection

Testing new technology and research on orbit

August 28, 2023 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Industry can develop new computer chips and other potential satellite payload components more quickly than national labs can test and integrate them into satellites that must meet strict security and space-readiness standards. This can create a lag in using the latest technology for national security space systems....

Categories: Science / Technology / Engineering, Space / Astronomy, Technology transfer / Economic Impact

Topics: contested space, Global Burst Detector, LDRD, nuclear detonation sensing, satellite design, space resilience

Silicon nose: Small sensor ‘smells’ incipient seizures

June 20, 2023 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In people with epilepsy, seizure-alert dogs can smell small changes in body chemistry and warn of an impending seizure an hour or more before it occurs. Inspired by this feat of nature, a team of researchers has sniffed out a way to replicate the abilit…

Categories: Bioscience / Medical Research

Topics: CRADA, LDRD

Let’s get cracking: Sandia scientists detect gases from fractured rock

May 2, 2023 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Geoscientists have detected specific gases being released from fractured rocks in real time after a series of small chemical explosions set underground. This fundamental research, led by Sandia National Laboratories geoscientist Steve Bauer, could one day improve the prediction of earthquakes or detection of underground explosions. “In...

Categories: Science / Technology / Engineering

Topics: geosciences, LDRD, underground explosions

Man fastening something on a metal cylinder

Hackers could try to take over a military aircraft; can a cyber shuffle stop them?

February 27, 2023 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A cybersecurity technique that shuffles network addresses like a blackjack dealer shuffles playing cards could effectively befuddle hackers gambling for control of a military jet, commercial airliner or spacecraft, according to new research. However, th…

Categories: Cybersecurity

Topics: computing, Laboratory Directed Research and Development, LDRD, machine learning, military aircraft

A man poses in front of a whiteboard filled with sketches and notes

New superalloy could cut carbon emissions from power plants

February 16, 2023 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — As the world looks for ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions, researchers from Sandia National Laboratories have shown that a new 3D-printed superalloy could help power plants generate more electricity while producing less carbon.[caption id="attachment_…

Categories: Materials Science

Topics: 3D printing, additive manufacturing, advanced materials, energy, Laboratory Directed Research and Development, LDRD, materials science, power plants

Securing supply chains with quantum computing

February 14, 2023 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Russo-Ukrainian conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic have shown how vulnerable global supply chains can be. International events can disrupt manufacturing, delay shipping, induce panic buying and send energy costs soaring. New research in quantum computing at Sandia National Laboratories is moving science closer to being able...

Categories: Computing

Topics: Laboratory Directed Research and Development, LDRD, optimization, quantum algorithms, quantum computing, supply chain, Truman fellowship

Sandia nuclear physicist selected fellow of AAAS

January 13, 2021 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Susan Seestrom, associate laboratories director for advanced science and technology and chief research officer at Sandia National Laboratories, has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The physicist was cited “for her pathbreaking work in nuclear physics, especially using ultra cold...

Categories: Awards, Physics, Science / Technology / Engineering

Topics: AAAS Fellow, deuterium, LDRD, neutrons, ultracold

Materials developed at Sandia help extinguish solar panel fires before they ignite

November 19, 2020 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — As solar panels become popular and their voltages increase, there is a need to have built-in capabilities to extinguish fires caused by arc-faults, which are high-power discharges of electricity that can create explosions or flash events due to damaged …

Categories: Science / Technology / Engineering, Technology transfer / Economic Impact

Topics: arc-fault generator, arc-fault prevention, arc-faults, Guardian Sensors, in-line connectors, Laboratory Directed Research and Development, LDRD, New Mexico Small Business Assistance Program, NMSBA

How to multitask when nuclear nonproliferation is on the line

September 29, 2020 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New cognitive science research from Sandia National Laboratories shows that while maps can help someone identify landmarks while being escorted, using one also limits situational awareness and knowledge of surroundings not highlighted on the map. This finding is one of several coming from a three-year project that...

Categories: Nonproliferation, Science / Technology / Engineering

Topics: cognitive science, international nuclear safeguards, knowledge transfer, Labortory Directed Research and Development, LDRD, Nuclear energy, visual inspection, wayfinding

Armoring satellites to survive and operate through attacks

October 21, 2019 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Satellites do a lot of things — they help people navigate from one place to another, they deliver television programming, they search for new stars and exo-planets and they enable the U.S. nuclear deterrence strategy. But until recently, one thing they haven’t done — or needed to...

Categories: Military / Defense, Science / Technology / Engineering, Space / Astronomy

Topics: cognitive analytics, LDRD, mission campaign, satellites, Sensor protection, space, STARCS, threat-defended hardware

Containing a nuclear accident with ground-up minerals

September 30, 2019 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories are developing a promising new way to prevent the spread of radioactive contamination and contain the hot molten mass that develops within a nuclear reactor during a catastrophic accident. During a three-year Laboratory Directed Research and Development project, a team of scientists...

Categories: Energy / Environment / Water, Science / Technology / Engineering, Technology transfer / Economic Impact

Topics: accident, corium, Laboratory Directed Research and Development, LDRD, Nuclear energy, reactor

Lead oxide experiment for corium containment research

Seeing infrared: Sandia’s nanoantennas help detectors see more heat, less noise

September 16, 2019 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories researchers have developed tiny, gold antennas to help cameras and sensors that “see” heat deliver clearer pictures of thermal infrared radiation for everything from stars and galaxies to people, buildings and items requiring security. In a Laboratory Directed Research and Development project, a team...

Categories: Nanotechnology, Science / Technology / Engineering, Space / Astronomy

Topics: infrared, LDRD, nanoantenna, National Security Photonics Center

Michael Goldflam, Sandia National Laboratories

Sandia’s robotic work cell conducts high-throughput testing ‘in an instant’

June 11, 2018 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Today with 3D printing you can make almost anything in a matter of hours. However, making sure that part works reliably takes weeks or even months. Until now. Sandia National Laboratories has designed and built a six-sided work cell, similar to a circular desk, with a commercial...

Categories: Materials Science, Science / Technology / Engineering

Topics: 3-D printing, 3D printing, additive manufacturing, LDRD, materials, materials discovery, materials science, prototype testing, robotic work cell, robotics

Brad Boyce watches a yellow commercial robot scan a 3D-printed test part with blue light.

Sandia measurements expert named Asian American Engineer of the Year

April 10, 2018 • [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="250"] Sandia National Laboratories senior scientist Hy Tran has been named a 2018 Asian American Engineer of the Year. Tran, whose family came to the United States from Vietnam during the Vietnam War, said "the values of education, har…

Categories: Awards, Science / Technology / Engineering

Topics: aaeoy, asian american engineer, Asian American Engineer of the Year, awards, diversity, engineers, Hy Tran, LDRD, metrology, Primary Standards Laboratory, STEM

Three Sandia engineers recognized for contributions to advancing women in STEM

October 24, 2017 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Three Sandia National Laboratories engineers have been recognized by the Society of Women Engineers as part of its annual awards program for their support in the enrichment and advancement of women in engineering. Janet Williams won the Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes members who have made significant...

Categories: Awards, Science / Technology / Engineering

Topics: APS, ASME, diversity, fusion, inertial confinement fuison program, inertial confinement fusion, LDRD, MESA, microscale, Microsystems and Engineering Sciences Applications, nuclear weapons, Sandia, Society of Women Engineers, STEM, SWAN, SWE, women in STEM, z machine

New brain-inspired cybersecurity system detects ‘bad apples’ 100 times faster

March 21, 2017 • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Cybersecurity is critical — for national security, corporations and private individuals. Sophisticated cybersecurity systems excel at finding “bad apples” in computer networks, but they lack the computing power to identify the threats directly. Instead, they look for general indicators of an attack; call them “apples.” Or the...

Categories: Bioscience / Medical Research, Cybersecurity

Topics: cybersecurity, LDRD, neuromorphic computing, neuroscience, partnerships, R&D100

Roger Suppona, John Naegle, and David Follett hold Neuromorphic Cyber Microscope.

Results 1–25 of 27