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HPC, Simulation, and Data Science

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers (from right) principal investigator Brian Giera, engineer Hamed Ziad Ammar and data scientist Michael Zelinski stand beside the direct ink writing 3D printer used to collect data for a camera-based inspection system that uses AI and machine learning to measure part quality during printing. Photo: Blaise Douros/LLNL.

AI-powered inspection system gives 3D printers ‘a brain behind the eyes’

Scientists and engineers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have developed a camera-based inspection system that can monitor complex 3D-printed structures layer by layer, using AI and machine learning (ML) to measure tiny variations and potentially identify problems before a part ever leaves the printer. The approach could reduce the time and labor required…

Interphases — the multicomponent interlayer structures that emerge between electrodes and electrolytes in batteries — critically determine the performance and durability of electrochemical cells. (Graphic: Sabrina Wan)

Machine learning uncovers how battery interphases can boost lithium-ion transport

Sandwiched between the electrolyte and electrodes in a lithium-ion battery is a remarkably thin layer of material that strongly dictates battery performance and durability: the interphase. Although typically only a few to tens of nanometers thick, interphases are among the least understood components of an operating battery cell. Their complex and constantly evolving…

Aditya Mohan

Meet LLNL: Signal and Imaging Engineer K. Aditya Mohan

LLNL signal and imaging engineer Aditya Mohan is driven by a simple but ambitious goal: to view the world through as many different wavelengths as possible. “I have a dream to bring together all the different ways of seeing an object, from X-rays to visible light to microwaves, to learn everything there is to know about its structure and properties,” he said. “A leaf is…

Participants in the Drone Design & Application Teacher Research Academy pose outside the drone pen after flight instruction from Claire Knight, Mechanical Team Lead for the Autonomous Sensors Program, far left. Photo Credit: Randy Wong, LLNL.

Teacher Research Academy connects educators to LLNL science

For nearly 30 years, LLNL has offered Teacher Research Academy (TRA) to middle school, high school and community college teachers looking for unique professional development experiences. At no cost to educators, TRA workshops offer classroom-focused applications of LLNL’s groundbreaking science and technology. Over two weeks this summer, four different TRAs were offered as…

LLNL researchers are scaling up technology that transforms waste carbon into valuable chemicals. (Photo: Garry McLeod/LLNL)

Big Ideas Lab podcast takes on the science of scale-up

Rechargeable lithium batteries trace back to 1972, but they wouldn’t reach consumer products until 1991. Solar photovoltaic cells existed in the 1950s, long before solar panels appeared on rooftops. And the MRI was demonstrated in the 1970s, years before the machines became hospital staples. In each case, the core scientific principles had been proven. The difficult part…

LLNL and NIST researchers have found a more robust method for entangling qubits by applying a ramped force (top). The approach controls trajectories in phase space (bottom) and allows for more precise entanglement control.

A more robust way to create entanglement in trapped ion qubits

While quantum computing could be the future, it is currently plagued by finicky hardware. To make the technology practical, researchers must demonstrate that it consistently and continuously works and performs at scale. In a new study, published in Physical Review Letters, researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the Ion Storage Group at the…

Attendees at the first Decision Superiority Summit hosted by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

First Decision Superiority Summit explores making better decisions faster

“The history of failure in war can almost be summed up in two words: too late.” General Douglas MacArthur’s warning underscored the urgency and importance of the first Decision Superiority Summit, hosted this summer by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), where Department of War (DOW) decision makers, scientists, engineers and analysts explored how computer…

Lawrence Livermore staff scientist and polymer chemist Johanna Schwartz leads the team for the SPOC (Studying-Polymers-On a-Chip) platform, one of six R&D 100 awards LLNL won this year. Image credit: Garry McLeod/LLNL.

Lab scientists and engineers win six R&D 100 awards

The FlowVAM system eliminates the need to manually exchange print volume in Tomographic Volumetric Additive Manufacturing and incorporates in situ metrology, yielding a 200-fold improvement in part production rates. Image credit: Hazel Rose Galvan/LLNL Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers have earned six R&D 100 Awards, which recognize…

A simulation from the study shows density (top) and temperature (bottom) just before the time when fusion reactions peak in an asymmetric implosion. The hottest point coincides with the densest point of fuel, illustrating the direct ignition of a dense jet of fuel driven by asymmetry. The image was recently selected for the cover of Physics of Plasmas.

Livermore research shows how fusion reactions can survive flaws — up to a point

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have found that implosions designed for inertial fusion energy (IFE) can tolerate significant imperfections before performance abruptly declines, a finding that could inform the design of fuel targets for future fusion power plants. The findings were detailed in a paper titled “Robustness of inertial fusion…

The Space Science Institute’s (SSI) 2026 summer student cohort with their mentors and program coordinators.

‘A science theme park’: Space science internship offers hands-on access to specialized tools

For the second summer, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) Space Science Institute (SSI) welcomed undergraduate and graduate students to a 10-week internship exploring astronomy, cosmochemistry and astrophysics. Throughout the summer, the 2026 student cohort worked alongside their LLNL mentors on projects reflecting the variety of capabilities available onsite…

LLNL interns contribute to mission-focused research while building technical skills and professional connections. (Photos: Garry McLeod/LLNL)

Meet LLNL interns: Building skills through innovation and collaboration

Each summer, students from across the country join Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to gain hands-on experience, work alongside researchers and contribute to projects supporting the Lab’s mission. Meet four interns whose work spans emergency preparedness, artificial intelligence, actinide chemistry and additive manufacturing, and learn how their experiences…

LLNL interns contribute to mission-focused research while building technical skills and professional connections. (Photos: Garry McLeod/LLNL)

Meet LLNL interns: advancing engineering, national security and artificial intelligence

Each summer, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) welcomes students from broad academic backgrounds who bring fresh perspectives and technical expertise to the Lab’s mission. This year, interns are contributing to engineering, national security, high-energy laser research and artificial intelligence. Meet four interns and learn how their LLNL experiences are…

A new episode of the Big Ideas Lab podcast takes listeners inside STARMOC at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Available now on Apple and Spotify.

Big Ideas Lab podcast explores STARMOC: LLNL’s mission operations center

From off-roading in rural Nevada to commuting during rush hour on the 405 in Los Angeles, the space domain has undergone a rapid transformation over the past five years. What began as a vast landscape with a few high-profile, large-scale missions is now a heavily trafficked orbital freeway, rife with accident debris and security risks. To navigate this new environment,…

Nearly 100 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory students, mentors and staff joined colleagues from across the Department of Energy complex on July 10 for a hands-on clinic focused on using agentic artificial intelligence tools in real scientific and technical work.

LLNL students, mentors put agentic AI tools to work at cross-laboratory clinic

Nearly 100 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) students, mentors and staff joined colleagues from across the Department of Energy (DOE) complex recently for a hands-on clinic focused on using agentic artificial intelligence tools in real scientific and technical work. Held in the Lab’s Research Library, the 2026 Cross-Laboratory AI Clinic combined shared…

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is increasingly looking to AI, robotics and automation to help speed the process of advanced manufacturing. Pictured are (l-r) Robotics and Automation scientists and engineers Tony Qin, Karly Knox, Abhik Sarkar, Aldair Gongora and Michael Troksa. Photo: Blaise Douros/LLNL.

How LLNL is using AI, robotics and automation to accelerate advanced manufacturing

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers, in conjunction with the Department of Energy (DOE) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), are increasingly looking to AI, robotics and automation to help accelerate advanced manufacturing, materials discovery and experimental science. The work is part of a broader push to move faster from…

Group photo

Signal and image sciences community celebrates record-breaking 30th annual CASIS workshop

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory called and the signal and image sciences community answered: The Center for Advanced Signal and Image Sciences (CASIS) hosted their 30th annual workshop at the University of California Livermore Collaboration Center (UCLCC) on June 24-25, setting new records for attendance and technical contributions in the workshop’s three-decade…

Genesis Mission graphic

LLNL selected to lead 10 projects under DOE’s Genesis Mission

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers have been selected to lead 10 Phase I projects under the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Genesis Mission, applying AI to challenges spanning high-performance computing (HPC), fusion energy, Earth systems science, materials discovery, biology, quantum technologies and fundamental physics. LLNL…

Attendees at the UC Science at Scale Summit in Santa Fe, New Mexico

“AI Science at Scale” summit showcases advances in AI-enabled research and innovation

Recently, the University of California (UC), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) convened researchers and leaders from across the UC system in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for the first annual AI Science at Scale summit. The summit was planned in recognition of AI’s growing role in scientific discovery and the Department of…

Battery diagram

With machine learning, LLNL researchers embrace the atomic-scale complexity of batteries

For grid-scale energy storage and national energy resilience, the U.S. needs better batteries. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are tackling that challenge in many ways, but one approach is making a significant impact: physics-informed machine learning. In two recent publications, LLNL researchers examined how integrating molecular dynamics…

LLNL researchers studied viruses in grassland soil before and after rapid rewetting. Most remained inactive, with only 22 percent of viruses replicating. (Graphic: Dan Herchek/LLNL)

Isotope probing shows soil is packed with dormant viruses lying in wait

A single gram of soil contains between 10 million and 1 billion viruses. Most of those viruses do not infect plants, animals or people — but they do target bacteria and other microbes. Because of their influence on microbial communities, viruses can affect nutrient cycling and soil health. Understanding how they behave is therefore crucial for supporting agriculture, food…