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Laboratory Directed Research and Development
Evaluating trust and safety of large language models
Amid the skyrocketing popularity of large language models (LLMs), researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are taking a closer look at how these artificial intelligence (AI) systems perform under measurable scrutiny. LLMs are generative AI tools trained on massive amounts of data in order to produce a text-based response to a query. This technology has the…
Unveiling the key factors that determine properties of porous polymer materials
Determining the relationship between microstructure features and their properties is crucial for improving material performance and advancing the design of next-generation structural and functional materials. However, this task is inherently challenging. To address the challenges, LLNL scientists developed an efficient and comprehensive computational framework to decipher…
Chemical production gets a cleaner boost
A new electrochemical method can make chemical production cleaner and more energy-efficient. Using thin film nickel anodes, a team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and collaborators have figured out how to clean up chemical production. When studying a new electrochemical reaction, using thin films is important because they give a consistent…
It’s getting hot in here: lasers deliver powerful shocking punch
Shock experiments are widely used to understand the mechanical and electronic properties of matter under extreme conditions, like planetary impacts by meteorites. However, after the shock occurs, a clear description of the post-shock thermal state and its impacts on material properties is still lacking. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists used ultra…
Magnesium oxide undergoes dynamic transition when it comes to super-Earth exoplanets
Researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Johns Hopkins University have unlocked new secrets about the interiors of super-Earth exoplanets, potentially revolutionizing our understanding of these distant worlds. The focus of this work, magnesium oxide (MgO), a crucial component of Earth’s lower mantle, is believed to play a similar role in the…
Unexpected source of nutrients fuels growth of toxic algae from Lake Erie
Climate change, such as warming and changes in precipitation patterns, affects the frequency and severity of harmful algal blooms (HABs) globally, including those of toxin-producing cyanobacteria that can contaminate drinking water. These nutrient-induced blooms cause worldwide public and ecosystem health concerns. Since the mid-1990s, Lake Erie, the shallowest and warmest…
LLNL researchers develop framework for databasing properties of crystal defects
Point defects (e.g. missing, extra or swapped atoms) in crystalline materials often determine the actual electronic and optical response of a given material. For example, controlled substitutions in semiconductors like silicon are the backbone of modern technology. Despite their importance, point defects are notoriously difficult to simulate and characterize, particularly…
Mystery of puffy exoplanet solved
A recent study of the atmosphere of the exoplanet WASP-107b suggests tidal heating is responsible for the exoplanet’s inflated nature and reveals a previously unseen combination of molecules in an exoplanet. A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientist and international collaborators have characterized the atmosphere of the exoplanet, WASP-107b, using a…
Manufacturing optimized designs for high explosives
When materials are subjected to extreme environments, they face the risk of mixing together. This mixing may result in hydrodynamic instabilities, yielding undesirable side effects. Such instabilities present a grand challenge across multiple disciplines, especially in astrophysics, combustion and shaped charges — a device used to focus the energy of a detonating explosive…
Accelerating material characterization: Machine learning meets X-ray absorption spectroscopy
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have developed a new approach that can rapidly predict the structure and chemical composition of heterogeneous materials. In a new study in ACS Chemistry of Materials, LLNL scientists Wonseok Jeong and Tuan Anh Pham developed a new approach that combines machine learning with X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XANES) to…
GUIDE team develops approach to redesign antibodies against viral pandemics
In a groundbreaking development for addressing future viral pandemics, a multi-institutional team involving Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers has successfully combined an artificial intelligence (AI)-backed platform with supercomputing to redesign and restore the effectiveness of antibodies whose ability to fight viruses has been compromised by…
Understanding soil carbon's sensitivity to increasing global temperatures
Particulate soil carbon may be more vulnerable to microbial decomposition under warmer temperatures associated with climate change. Soil organic matter contains more carbon than plants and the atmosphere combined. Soil is increasingly considered for its potential role in climate mitigation due to its ability to sequester more carbon, but it also is critical to understand…
LLNL wins three R&D 100 awards
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers have garnered three awards among the top 100 industrial inventions worldwide for 2016. The trade journal R&D Magazine announced the winners of its annual awards, sometimes called the "Oscars of invention," Thursday at the Gaylord Convention Center in Washington, D.C. With this year’s results, the Laboratory has now…
'Human-on-a-chip' could replace animal testing
Development of new prescription drugs and antidotes to toxins currently relies extensively on animal testing in the early stages of development, which is not only expensive and time consuming, it can give scientists inaccurate data about how humans will respond to such agents. But what if researchers could predict the impacts of potentially harmful chemicals, viruses or…
Team IDs gene involved with fracture healing
New identification of a gene involved in the fracture healing process could lead to the development of new therapeutic treatments for difficult-to-heal injuries.Fracture healing involves communication between bone, muscle, vasculature and the thin membrane covering the outer surface of bones (periosteum) during the fracture repair. The periosteum contains stem cells that…
New 3D printer unlocks 'mind-blowing' possibilities with electronics manufacturing
Installation of a highly advanced 3D printer for electronics at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has opened the door for creating miniature circuits on surfaces and substances that could never be used before.The Optomec Aerosol Jet 500 system, which became operational in January, is capable of printing circuits with a broad range of nanomaterials, allowing engineers…
Researchers 3D print ultralight supercapacitors
For the first time ever, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and UC Santa Cruz have successfully 3D-printed supercapacitors using an ultra-lightweight graphene aerogel, opening the door to novel, unconstrained designs of highly efficient energy storage systems for smartphones, wearables, implantable devices, electric cars and wireless sensors.Using a 3D…
Researchers 3D-print with reactive materials
Reactive composite materials are everywhere, from the life-saving air bags in your car to the dazzling pyrotechnics in Fourth of July fireworks. But one of the main drawbacks to using these materials has been the unpredictability of their reactions.Historically, the way to alter the performance in reactive materials (i.e. thermites) has been to either change the…
Researchers 3D print 'living' blood vessels
The cardiovascular system is a complex web of tens of thousands of miles of arteries, capillaries and veins, branching throughout the body like tributaries of a great river. And now, researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are recapitulating this intricate network using an emerging technology: 3D bioprinting."It’s going to change the way we do biology," said…
Protein curbs spread of prostate cancer to bone
Scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in collaboration with researchers from University of California campuses at Merced and Davis, have found that a specific secreted protein inhibits prostate cancer metastasis to bone.Their research appears in recent editions of the journals, PLOS ONE and Microarrays.Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed…
