LLNL physicist Matthias Frank measures the movement of DNATrax surrogate particles in a test chamber.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are leveraging their extensive experience studying the movement of airborne hazards to better understand the movement of virus-like particles through the air and to identify effective countermeasures.
DNATrax released in a conference room.
While the burden of airborne diseases is known to be large, its true scope is underappreciated. LLNL researchers recently published a review in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology that highlights well-established cases of airborne viruses, bacteria and fungal pathogens causing disease in plants, animals and humans over distance scales ranging from a few meters to continental.
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IMAGE: The Reactive Additive Manufacturing Machine or RAM, was recognized with a 2021 FLC Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer. The large thermoset 3D printer was co-developed by ORNL and Magnum. view more
Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
Three technologies developed by researchers at the Department of Energy s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have won National Technology Transfer Awards from the Federal Laboratory Consortium. The annual FLC Awards recognize significant accomplishments in transferring federal laboratory technologies to the marketplace.
ORNL is among 12 DOE national labs to be honored out of 33 winners from FLC s network of more than 300 federal laboratories, facilities, and research centers. Since the consortium s founding in 1986, ORNL has won a total of 68 awards.
Interns contributed to aerosol modeling research to better understand airborne virus
DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory
When Cathrine Hamilton and Alison Robey, fall interns at the U.S. Department of Energy s Brookhaven National Laboratory, first signed on to collaborate with their mentor Laura Fierce, an associate scientist in the Environmental and Climate Sciences Department, they didn t imagine they would be contributing to widespread research tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.
Instead of collaborating on climate models, the interns supported the development of simulations in order to study the probability of infection by tiny virus particles traveling in the air.
The research, which is among several COVID-19-focused efforts at Brookhaven Lab, aims to connect the tools of mathematical modeling with aerosol expertise and the expanding body of coronavirus literature. The goal is to provide more accurate insights on the effects of particle size, evolution, and behavior on the chan
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January 6, 2021
UPTON, NY With all the remarkable changes and challenges that took place in 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory had a banner year in science. Many Lab employees worked remotely to keep vital science programs running while minimizing the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. And throughout this unprecedented year, dedicated Lab staff collaborated on new ways of working to transform scientific meetings, educational outreach programs, tours, and more to new virtual formats that reached larger audiences than ever before. Among the top stories of 2020, as measured by importance, page views, engagement on social media or all three! are:
How Supercomputing and Advanced X-Rays Helped the Government Fight COVID-19 Timofeev Vladimir/Shutterstock.com
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Government-backed scientists spent countless hours in 2020 applying advanced research and sophisticated technological capabilities to help the United States better grasp and effectively fight COVID-19.
Much of their efforts built on prior work that started unfolding long before the pandemic even posed a threat, but modern, real-world impacts hastened by the global emergency are now beginning to come to light.
For instance, genetic mutations within and helping strengthen five potential vaccines including those developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna hinged upon more than a decade of research advanced by the Energy Department’s Advanced Photon Source, or APS.