Billions of Fuel Tanks May be Better than One

Anton Nikitin with a small sample of carbon nanotubes grown on a silicon plate. (Click on image for larger version.)

by Brad Plummer

Meeting the world's future energy demands will be an enormous challenge on many fronts. While hydrogen gas has piqued the interest of researchers as a clean, renewable energy resource, a number of major obstacles remain before an integrated system of producing, storing, and using hydrogen can supplant fossil fuel usage in a meaningful way. Perhaps the biggest of these problems is how to store this plentiful gas. Viable techniques for producing and using hydrogen, while still years away, have been proven, at least in principle. But a workable option for containing—and therefore, distributing—hydrogen gas remains elusive.

"The problem now is that at the most basic level, the technology simply doesn't exist," said Anton Nikitin, a PhD student conducting research at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL) under the guidance of Anders Nilsson. "And if you don't have all the pieces of the puzzle, you can't build the system." Read more...

Visualizing Dark Matter

by John Wise

In this still image, created by KIPAC's John Wise, dark matter (blue) has become separated from luminous matter (red) in the bullet cluster. Click on the image to view an animation of the event that separated the two types of matter.

Last Tuesday, KIPAC researcher Marusa Bradac asked if it would be possible to create an animation of the collision of two clusters of galaxies. This type of request isn't too unusual for those of us working in scientific visualization, but there was a catch: Bradac needed it within three days to accompany a press release on dark matter.

The animation needed to show the collision of both visible gas and invisible dark matter in each cluster. Fortunately, Bradac and her collaborators had detailed observational analysis of these components, and our research group had existing 3D visualization software and a cosmological hydrodynamic code in hand. The visualization software renders 3D data that allows real-time interactive exploration of the data over time.

By plugging into the code the physical parameters of the clusters, such as mass and impact velocities, and tweaking the input parameters, we were able to create the visualization in time for Bradac's press release. Studying the results in three dimensions not only made pretty pictures for the news media, but also led to some physical insights, including a better understanding of the clusters' initial conditions. We now believe that the clusters must have dense and relatively cool cores in order to match our observations.

See the visualization in KTVU's television report...

BaBar Physicist Excels in Gay Games Competition

by Krista Zala

Giampiero Mancinelli lands a personal best—and the gold—in triple jump at the Montreal Outgames. (Click on image for larger version.)

BaBar collaborator Giampiero Mancinelli will never forget when he entered the Ajax stadium in Amsterdam. "It's something you dream about since you were a kid," he says.

Mancinelli first played in the 1998 Gay Games for Los Angeles' soccer team. They won gold in Amsterdam.

After such success in soccer, Mancinelli switched to track and field for the 2002 games in Sydney. Started in 1982 in San Francisco, the Gay Games have been held every four years in countries near and far. More than 10,000 people compete in the Games, and track and field alone draws about 1,000 competitors across the age groups.

In the year leading up the 2006 Games, held July 15-22 in Chicago, Mancinelli trained with the San Francisco track team three to five times a week. Despite injuring his back before Christmas, Mancinelli felt his best in time for the opening ceremonies. He won five medals: gold in triple jump and in all relays but the 4 x 400 meter, in which he and his team won silver. The San Francisco track team excelled in the event "We dominated like the East German female swim team in the 1970s," Giampiero says. He admits he held a slight advantage this year: "I had just turned 40, so I was the baby in my [40 to 44 year] age group."

This year, differences among Gay Games organizers led to a split and a second international event, the Outgames, was held a week later in Montreal, where it drew almost as many competitors. There, Mancinelli won five more medals, including another gold in triple jump.

"I was ecstatic!" he says "It doesn't matter where people went to compete; I was going to win the triple jump."

The Games' main appeal, he says, "is the friendship. People there are very high quality. A lot of people couldn't come out while doing sports when they were younger. Others go through intense training and pain to get there." Overall, he says, "it's about being accepted and aiming for personal bests."

Events (see all | submit)

August 24: (12:30 p.m.) Experimental Seminar: Summary of ICHEP'06 Results
August 24: (4:00 p.m.) Accelerator Seminar: Post-linac collimation systems for the European XFEL and for FLASH facility

Access (see all)

Announcements
(see all | submit)

Lab Announcements

Community Bulletin Board

News (see all | submit)

First Direct Observations of 'Spinons' and 'Holons' seen After 40-year Hunt Stanford Report
Laser Light in the Deep Infrared PhysOrg.com
Scientists Cheer Signs of Dark Matter San Jose Mercury News

<% Response.AddHeader "Last-modified", getArticleDate() 'Response.AddHeader "Last-modified","Mon, 01 Sep 1997 01:03:33 GMT" 'Monday, December 06, 2010 %>

View online at http://today.slac.stanford.edu/.

Billions of Fuel Tanks May be Better than One Anton Nikitin with a small sample of carbon nanotubes grown on a silicon plate. (Click on image for larger version.) by Brad Plummer Meeting the world's future energy demands will be an enormous challenge on many fronts. While hydrogen gas has piqued the interest of researchers as a clean, renewable energy resource, a number of major obstacles remain before an integrated system of producing, storing, and using hydrogen can supplant fossil fuel usage in a meaningful way. Perhaps the biggest of these problems is how to store this plentiful gas. Viable techniques for producing and using hydrogen, while still years away, have been proven, at least in principle. But a workable option for containing—and therefore, distributing—hydrogen gas remains elusive. "The problem now is that at the most basic level, the technology simply doesn't exist," said Anton Nikitin, a PhD student conducting research at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL) under the guidance of Anders Nilsson. "And if you don't have all the pieces of the puzzle, you can't build the system." Read more...

Visualizing Dark Matter by John Wise In this still image, created by KIPAC's John Wise, dark matter (blue) has become separated from luminous matter (red) in the bullet cluster. Click on the image to view an animation of the event that separated the two types of matter. Last Tuesday, KIPAC researcher Marusa Bradac asked if it would be possible to create an animation of the collision of two clusters of galaxies. This type of request isn't too unusual for those of us working in scientific visualization, but there was a catch: Bradac needed it within three days to accompany a press release on dark matter. The animation needed to show the collision of both visible gas and invisible dark matter in each cluster. Fortunately, Bradac and her collaborators had detailed observational analysis of these components, and our research group had existing 3D visualization software and a cosmological hydrodynamic code in hand. The visualization software renders 3D data that allows real-time interactive exploration of the data over time. By plugging into the code the physical parameters of the clusters, such as mass and impact velocities, and tweaking the input parameters, we were able to create the visualization in time for Bradac's press release. Studying the results in three dimensions not only made pretty pictures for the news media, but also led to some physical insights, including a better understanding of the clusters' initial conditions. We now believe that the clusters must have dense and relatively cool cores in order to match our observations. See the visualization in KTVU's television report...	BaBar Physicist Excels in Gay Games Competition by Krista Zala Giampiero Mancinelli lands a personal best—and the gold—in triple jump at the Montreal Outgames. (Click on image for larger version.) BaBar collaborator Giampiero Mancinelli will never forget when he entered the Ajax stadium in Amsterdam. "It's something you dream about since you were a kid," he says. Mancinelli first played in the 1998 Gay Games for Los Angeles' soccer team. They won gold in Amsterdam. After such success in soccer, Mancinelli switched to track and field for the 2002 games in Sydney. Started in 1982 in San Francisco, the Gay Games have been held every four years in countries near and far. More than 10,000 people compete in the Games, and track and field alone draws about 1,000 competitors across the age groups. In the year leading up the 2006 Games, held July 15-22 in Chicago, Mancinelli trained with the San Francisco track team three to five times a week. Despite injuring his back before Christmas, Mancinelli felt his best in time for the opening ceremonies. He won five medals: gold in triple jump and in all relays but the 4 x 400 meter, in which he and his team won silver. The San Francisco track team excelled in the event "We dominated like the East German female swim team in the 1970s," Giampiero says. He admits he held a slight advantage this year: "I had just turned 40, so I was the baby in my [40 to 44 year] age group." This year, differences among Gay Games organizers led to a split and a second international event, the Outgames, was held a week later in Montreal, where it drew almost as many competitors. There, Mancinelli won five more medals, including another gold in triple jump. "I was ecstatic!" he says "It doesn't matter where people went to compete; I was going to win the triple jump." The Games' main appeal, he says, "is the friendship. People there are very high quality. A lot of people couldn't come out while doing sports when they were younger. Others go through intense training and pain to get there." Overall, he says, "it's about being accepted and aiming for personal bests."	Events (see all \| submit) August 24: (12:30 p.m.) Experimental Seminar: Summary of ICHEP'06 Results August 24: (4:00 p.m.) Accelerator Seminar: Post-linac collimation systems for the European XFEL and for FLASH facility Access (see all) LCLS Construction Surveyors A&E ADA Restroom Renovation Road Closure - Access to B062 (End Station B) Parking Announcements (see all \| submit) Lab Announcements Notice to SRAP Participants Benefits Review Meetings (updated) Supervisor and Manager Training: ES&H Self-Assessment Fiscal Year-End Procurement Deadlines Community Bulletin Board SLACerMAN T-shirt Orders Due August 24 Family Day 9/16 ~ Register Today San Francisco Jug Band Festival: Aug. 27 SF Opera in Golden Gate Park (Sun. Sept. 10th 1:30pm) Rusty Humphrey's Retirement Party News (see all \| submit) First Direct Observations of 'Spinons' and 'Holons' seen After 40-year Hunt Stanford Report Laser Light in the Deep Infrared PhysOrg.com Scientists Cheer Signs of Dark Matter San Jose Mercury News
		Flea Market Linear Café Menu Employee Milestones Search the Archives Subscribe non-SLAC e-mail Send Us Your Feedback

<% Response.AddHeader "Last-modified", getArticleDate() 'Response.AddHeader "Last-modified","Mon, 01 Sep 1997 01:03:33 GMT" 'Monday, December 06, 2010 %> View online at http://today.slac.stanford.edu/.


	Thursday - August 24, 2006