Sandia LabNews

Detecting quark nuggets, a candidate for extreme ball lightning and dark matter

Thirteen years ago, Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Science and Technology Pace VanDevender retired from Sandia to become an 18th-century style “gentleman physicist.” He wanted to understand two mysteries before he died: puzzling electromagnetic signals observed on the Los Alamos-Sandia FORTE satellite and extreme ball lightning.

From concept to commercialization: 40 years of concentrating solar power research- Researchers, industry gather for celebration

To mark the National Solar Thermal Test Facility’s 40th anniversary in July, present and past Sandia staff and managers, industry leaders and government representatives came together for a day of talks and tours focused on the history of the facility, its contributions to solar energy and other fields and the current research outlook.