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Physical and Life Sciences
Simulations, high-speed videos help researchers see crack formation in 3D-printed tungsten in real time
Boasting the highest melting and boiling points of all known elements, tungsten has become a popular choice for applications involving extreme temperatures, including lightbulb filaments, arc welding, radiation shielding and, more recently, as plasma-facing material in fusion reactors such as the ITER Tokamak. However, tungsten’s inherent brittleness, and the microcracking…
LLNL joins new research on atom-changing pressures
High energy density (HED) scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have helped launch a new National Science Foundation (NSF) effort to understand the physical and astrophysical properties of matter under pressures strong enough to change the structure of individual atoms. The Center for Matter at Atomic Pressures (CMAP) is hosted by the University of…
More than half the oceans impacted by climate change
More than 50 percent of the world’s oceans already could be impacted by climate change, with this figure rising to 80 percent over the coming decades, a research team including Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) oceanographer Paul Durack has found, using global ocean salinity, temperature observations and a large suite of global climate models. The findings…
Bomb-pulse Biology Research Featured in Netflix Series
Bomb-pulse biology research of User Resource scientist Bruce Buchholz and long-time collaborator Kirsty Spalding from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm was featured in episode 6 of the Netflix documentary series “Connected: The Hidden Science of Everything” hosted by Latif Nasser.
Lab steps on the gas to enhance chemical production
To optimize catalyst performance, a team of scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and collaborators has developed a detailed understanding of the effect of pretreatment-induced nanoscale structural and compositional changes on catalyst activity and long-term stability. The research could make the production of the important industrial feedstock…
Wheels keep turning on innovations for clean vehicles
The Co-Optima FY19 Year in Review report released by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) describes recent accomplishments to improve efficiency while reducing emissions and cost for the entire on-road fleet of combustion-powered vehicles under the Co-Optimization of Fuels & Engines program. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is playing a key role in this…
Laboratory team completes highest-ever resolution quake simulations using Sierra supercomputer
A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) team has published new supercomputer simulations of a magnitude 7.0 earthquake on the Hayward Fault. This work represents the highest-ever resolution ground motion simulations from such an event on this scale. The study used the SW4 code developed at LLNL. Simulations resolved rapidly varying shaking with broader band…
R&D 100 Winner: Portable Threat Assessment
Livermore physicist Sean Walston is a co-developer for the MC-15 portable neutron multiplicity detector.
R&D 100 Winner: Expanding Embolization Success
Scientists from Livermore and Texas A&M University, along with California-based startup Shape Memory Medical, Inc., have improved upon existing technologies with the IMPEDE® embolization plug, winner of a 2019 R&D 100 Award.
Tuning into Dark Matter
Lawrence Livermore researchers and collaborators are searching for the axion—a low-mass particle that could make up the majority of dark matter.
A Revelation in Nuclear Science
Livermore scientists, in collaboration with university partners, are studying ways to harvest rare isotopes, including a radioactive isotope of the element zirconium.
Scientists encouraged by Frustraum experiments at NIF
Initial NIF experiments using a full-scale version of the Frustraum hohlraum have produced nearly round inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosions and more laser-induced energy absorption by the fuel-filled capsule. National Ignition Facility (NIF) researchers are optimistic that results from the initial tests of the novel angular-shaped hohlraum could create more…
Neuronal cultures advance ‘brain-on-a-chip’ technology
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have increased the complexity of neuronal cultures grown on microelectrode arrays, a key step toward more accurately reproducing the cellular composition of the human brain outside the body. As described in a recently published paper in Scientific Reports, an LLNL team led by biomedical scientist Heather Enright…
Record EOS measurement pressures shed light on stellar evolution
Using the power of the National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world’s highest-energy laser system, researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and an international team of collaborators have developed an experimental capability for measuring the basic properties of matter, such as the equation of state (EOS), at the highest pressures thus far achieved in a…
Compressive shearing may start life on other planets
Massive compressive shearing forces generated by the tidal pull of Jupiter-like planets on their rocky ice-covered moons may form a natural reactor that drives simple amino acids to polymerize into larger compounds. These extreme mechanical forces strongly enhance molecule condensation reactions, opening a new arena of possibilities for the chemical origins of life on…
Doctoral fellow improves codes used to simulate interactions between particles moving at high velocities
Doctoral student Marco Echeverria is spending his second summer conducting research for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), but this year his summer experience is taking place at a distance — from his home in Connecticut. Echeverria is one of hundreds of LLNL summer students who needed to shift to a virtual internship or fellowship due to the pandemic. “The…
LLNL researchers achieve greater understanding of color origins in low-power electronic displays
Today’s low-power, electronic ink displays such as e-book readers produce text through a process called electrophoretic deposition (EPD). Each pixel of the display contains charged black and white particles suspended in a liquid solvent. These particles are moved by electrodes embedded in the devices, causing particles to stick to the electrodes to form words or images…
Lab assists in NASA launch of Mars rover
When an Atlas V-541 rocket lifted off Thursday morning (July 30) for Mars from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with the Perseverance rover in tow, two Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists had front row seats. The pair, Steve Homann and Jessica Osuna, researchers in the Lab’s National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center (NARAC), part of the Nuclear…
3D nanometer-thin membrane borrows from biology
Mimicking the structure of the kidney, a team of scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) have created a three-dimensional nanometer (nm)-thin membrane that breaks the permeance-selectivity trade-off of artificial membranes. Highly permeable and selective membranes are useful for a wide range of…
Carbon emissions, energy flow charts for all U.S. states
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has updated its energy flow charts to include state-by-state energy use for 2015-2018. It also has released carbon emissions charts that depict a breakdown of all 50 states’ carbon emissions from 2014-2017. See the charts. Each year, LLNL releases flow charts that illustrate the nation's consumption and use of energy. This…
