Scott Sommerfeldt Elected ASA President

Particulate contamination requires dust mitigation techniques to provide low-scatter surfaces on sensitive instrumentation in space. We have shown that poly(olefin sulfone)s photodegrade under spacelike conditions: in vacuum and with UV light exposure. We now demonstrate that photodegradable polymers can reduce dust accumulation on optical surfaces for space applications. This investigation shows that the dissociative degradation of poly(olefin sulfone)s significantly decreased the number of dust particles on a dust-coated surface. These results suggest a powerful way to mitigate the collection of extraterrestrial dust on optical surfaces in space, enabling passive removal of particulate contamination without any direct human intervention.

Passive radiators are notoriously difficult to characterize because one cannot effectively assess their mechanical parameters with loudspeaker electrical impedance techniques and no motors. This paper discusses the details of passive radiator and dynamic loudspeaker driver parameter measurements through practical experiments conducted with a plane wave tube, the two-microphone transfer function technique, and the two-load method to remove the need for an ideal anechoic termination. A previous theoretical paper demonstrated how normal-incidence transmission losses through these devices in an anechoically terminated tube could yield their mechanical and electrical parameters [Leishman and Anderson, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 134(1), 223–236 (2013)]. The mechanical parameters follow from an open-circuit transmission loss condition, whereas a driver's electrical parameters follow from an additional closed-circuit condition. This paper presents several experimental results and compares extracted parameters to those derived from electrical impedance measurements and destructive methods. In addition to other parameters, the masses of diaphragm assemblies show favorable agreement. The presented techniques effectively assess passive radiator parameters without employing active driver configurations and then removing their motors, which changes the measured properties. PACS numbers: 43.38.Ja, 43.20.Ye, 43.20.Mv, 43.55.Rg

Protein function emerges from dynamic conformational changes, yet structure prediction methods provide only static snapshots. While AlphaFold3 (AF3) predicts protein structures, the potential for extracting dynamic information from its ensemble predictions has remained underexplored. Here, we demonstrate that AF3 structural ensembles contain substantial dynamic information that correlates remarkably well with molecular dynamics simulations (MD). We developed ChronoSort, a novel algorithm that organizes static structure predictions into temporally coherent trajectories by minimizing structural differences between neighboring frames. Through systematic analysis of four diverse protein targets, we show that root-mean-square fluctuations derived from AF3 ensembles can correlate strongly with those from MD (r = 0.53 to 0.84). Principal component analysis reveals that AF3 predictions capture the same collective motion patterns observed in molecular dynamics trajectories, with eigenvector similarities significantly exceeding random distributions. ChronoSort trajectories exhibit structural evolution profiles comparable to MD. These findings suggest that modern AI-based structure prediction tools encode conformational flexibility information that can be systematically extracted without expensive MD. We provide ChronoSort as open-source software to enable broad community adoption. This work offers a novel approach to extracting functional insights from structure prediction tools in minutes, with significant implications for synthetic biology, protein engineering, drug discovery, and structure–function studies.

With the rapid growth and development of potential commercial fusion power plants, the urgency of building a skilled workforce is increasing. Therefore, it is necessary to train and educate early-career scientists and engineers to be able to work for current and future employment in fusion-related fields. In the Inertial Fusion Science and Technology (RISE) Hub, efforts are underway to address this urgency. Specifically in the RISE Hub, we train the next generation of “fusioneers” by involving them in every level of Hub activities. Here, we describe several training, outreach, and educational activities that are led by early-career scientists and engineers, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers, under the supervision of Hub professionals. These activities educate and train students on key aspects of fusion systems, from the laser driver technologies to the target design, manufacturing, simulation, and validation. In addition, several of these initiatives are being supported by industry partners, national laboratories, and universities, facilitating the transition of knowledge between fusion experts and students. The goals of these outreach efforts led by the RISE Hub are not only to train and educate a skilled workforce but to grow young leaders and broaden their participation in developing commercial fusion power plants.

During the past few years, orbital rocket launches at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) have increased nearly ten-fold from twenty years ago. As such, there are renewed concerns about the effects of launch noise on threatened and endangered species with critical habitats within VSFB. This talk provides an overview of an interdisciplinary research program to measure and model launch and landing noise on Base and to study responses of two coastal birds, the western snowy plover and the California least tern. Short- and long-term effects are being studied, from changes in vocalization to nest success. This presentation discusses launch noise environments and findings to date.

SpaceX's Starship Super Heavy is the most powerful launch vehicle ever flown, intended to return humans to the moon and reach Mars. After measurements of three test flights (Flights 5, 6, and 9), this paper summarizes the measurements and briefly discusses launch noise and booster flyback boom characteristics. With a planned launch cadence to rival that of the Falcon 9, Starship's noise characterization is critical to determining its impacts and its place relative to other launch vehicles and noise sources. This paper accompanies an Acoustics 2025 plenary talk.