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Nuclear and Chemical Sciences
White House visit underscores a national need for diversity in STEM
This week, President Biden signed into law the bipartisan bill known as the CHIPS and Science Act (CSC ACT). The bill aims to strengthen U.S. competition by encouraging U.S. companies to manufacture semiconductors and by revitalizing “America’s scientific research and technological leadership." Under Title V: Broadening Participation in Science of the bill, the White House…
Research reveals where carbon storage in soils has the most potential
Soil is the largest terrestrial reservoir of organic carbon and is central for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Mineral-organic associations play a critical role in soil carbon preservation, but the global capacity for storage in this form has never been quantified. New research from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and an international team of…
Oxygen effects on uranium tested
A team of researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the University of Michigan has found that the rate of cooling in reactions dramatically affects the type of uranium molecules that form. The team’s experimental work, conducted over about a year-and-a-half starting in October 2020, attempts to help understand what uranium compounds might form in…
Andean glaciers reacted in unison with polar ice in changing climate
For the first time, scientists have shown that glaciers in the tropical Andes mountains have been in sync with polar ice extent in Antarctica and the Arctic for nearly a million years. New research by an international team, including Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientist Christine Y. Chen, records glacier movement in the Southern Hemisphere that dates…
LUX-ZEPLIN Dark Matter Detector at Sanford Underground Research Facility delivers its first result
Deep below the Black Hills of South Dakota in the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), an innovative and uniquely sensitive dark matter detector — the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment, led by Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (Berkeley Lab) — has passed a check-out phase of startup operations and delivered its first results. In a paper posted online today on the experiment…
Two LLNL scientists earn E.O. Lawrence Award
Two Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are recipients of the prestigious 2021 E.O. Lawrence Award that recognizes mid-career U.S. scientists and engineers for exceptional scientific, technical and engineering achievements related to the broad missions of the Department of Energy (DOE) and its programs. Jennifer Pett-Ridge was recognized for her…
DOE honors three early-career Lab scientists
Three scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) are recipients of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science Early Career Research Program award. Mimi Yung, John Despotopulos and Timofey Frolov are among 83 awardees receiving the recognition. Under the program, typical awards for DOE national laboratory staff are $500,000 per year for five years…
With better algal forecasts comes safer water
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and collaborators have used a new technique to better forecast the level of algal toxins that accumulate in Lake Erie every year. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are global phenomena and, in freshwater lakes and reservoirs, are caused by cyanobacteria of the genus Microcystis that produce microcystins, a suite of amino…
Scientists study superheavy elements for extraction methods
Advancing superheavy-element chemistry—the study of elements with an atomic number greater than 103—is a challenging task because of their scarce production rates and relatively short half-lives (i.e., less than 1 minute for most), thus requiring studies to be performed at the atom-at-a-time scale. The properties of these elements are linked to the physics and chemistry at…
LLNL garners 'A' grade in OPCW environmental test
Even after taking highly stressful exams in college, grades can still be important. Just ask researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) Forensic Science Center (FSC). Every fall, chemists and other researchers from the FSC spend two weeks of long days undertaking the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) environmental proficiency…
A Watery Detective Story
As with most mysteries, this one starts with a puzzling scene: a waterlogged field situated near Lawrence Livermore and Sandia national laboratories in Livermore, California. The property belongs to Wente Vineyards, a winery in the region, whose establishment predates the Laboratory by nearly 100 years. How the water got there and why was unclear, but the most likely…
Science on Saturday lectures break down the CO<sub>2</sub> problem
Throughout the month of February, scientists from the Physical and Life Sciences (PLS) directorate virtually participated in three of the four 2022 Science on Saturday (SOS) lectures, presenting on the theme “Energy and the Environment.” The SOS lecture series is an annual collaboration between scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and staff members…
Dead or alive: microorganisms in soil shape the global carbon cycle
Whether dead or alive, soil microorganisms play a major role in the biogeochemical cycling of carbon in the terrestrial biosphere. But what is the specific role of death for the bacteria, fungi and microfauna that make up the soil microbiome? That is the topic of a new review by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and collaborators. The article,…
Where on Earth did the water come from?
Earth’s supply of water is incredibly important for its ability to sustain life, but where did that water come from? Was it present when Earth formed or was it delivered later by meteorites or comets from outer space? The source of Earth’s water has been a longstanding debate and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists think they have the answer — and they…
Harnessing a natural geochemical reaction to combat antibiotic resistance
Antibiotics have allowed for the widespread control of bacterial infections, which had been the leading cause of death historically. However, the overuse of traditional antibiotics in humans and animals resulted in the emergence of stronger, more potent bacterial strains that are no longer treatable with conventional antibiotics. Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National…
Capturing microbes in soil and plants
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have developed a custom microscope to image microbes in soil and plants at the micrometer scale. Live imaging of microbes in soil would help scientists understand how soil microbial processes occur on the scale of micrometers, where microbial cells interact with minerals, organic matter, plant roots and other…
New environmentally friendly method to extract and separate rare-earth elements
A new method improves the extraction and separation of rare-earth elements—a group of 17 chemical elements critical for technologies such as smart phones and electric car batteries—from unconventional sources. New research led by scientists at Pennsylvania State University and LLNL demonstrates how a protein isolated from bacteria can provide a more environmentally…
Fire may increase long-term carbon storage
Wildfires and prescribed burns, which can promote soil organic matter stability, may be an important nature-based climate solution to increase long-term carbon storage. That is the conclusion of an international team of researchers, including a scientist from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), who looked at the effect of wildfires and prescribed burns on the…
The Path to a Carbon Neutral California
A Livermore report outlines a strategy to reduce California’s carbon emissions to net zero by 2045.
Lost in space: Rocky planets formed from missing solar system material
By looking at the range of isotopic variations in terrestrial and meteoritic samples, a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientist and collaborators have figured out that Earth and Mars formed by collisions of planetary embryos originating from the inner solar system. Rocky planets may have formed by two fundamentally different processes, but it is unclear…
