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Physical and Life Sciences
Pinpointing the effects of nanoconfinement on water
Researchers have spent decades studying the properties of water and how they change when there are disruptions to their normal behavior. Research on the topic has a wide range of applications, from biochemical systems to water desalination. A team of scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago…
Simulations explain detonation properties in TATB
Two Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have discovered a new mechanism for ignition of high explosives that explains the unusual detonation properties of 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB). The research will allow for systematic improvements to continuum mechanics models used to assess the performance and safety of the material accurately and…
AI identifies change in microstructure in aging materials
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have taken a step forward in the design of future materials with improved performance by analyzing its microstructure using AI. The work recently appeared online in the journal Computational Materials Science. Technological progress in materials science applications spanning electronic, biomedical, alternate energy,…
Membrane nanopore transport gets picky
Trying to determine how negatively charged ions squeeze through a carbon nanotube 20,000 times smaller than a human hair is no easy feat. Not only did Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists do that but they found that those ions are unexpectedly picky depending on the anion (a negatively charged ion). The research appears in ACS Nano. Inner pores of…
COVID-19 research goes public through new portal
To help accelerate discovery of therapeutic antibodies or antiviral drugs for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has launched a searchable data portal to share its COVID-19 research with scientists worldwide and the general public. The portal houses a wealth of data LLNL scientists have gathered from their ongoing…
LLNL team helps develop tularemia vaccine
Two Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers who have worked for more than eight years to develop a tularemia vaccine are part of a three-institution team that has been funded to bring their candidate to readiness for use. The two biomedical scientists, Nick Fischer and Amy Rasley, will collaborate with scientists from the University of New Mexico and the…
Deactivating coronavirus on N95 respirators for reuse
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers are studying ways to safely and rapidly remove viral threats from N95 respirators, without compromising the device’s fit and its ability to filter airborne particles, so they can be reused. As seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, a shortage of personal protective equipment, including surgical masks and respirators,…
Building scientific insight through machine learning
A team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) materials and computer scientists developed machine learning tools that extract and structure information from the text and figures of nanomaterials articles using state-of-the-art natural language processing, image analysis, computer vision and visualization techniques. They are applying this technique to COVID-19…
Lab devises plan to reduce defects in 3D metal printing
Combining high-fidelity computer simulations with ultra-high-speed X-ray imaging, researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have discovered a strategy for reducing or even eliminating defects in parts built through a common, laser-based metal 3D-printing process. In work published by the journal Science, a research team at LLNL, along with collaborators…
Angled Fill-Tubes Aid Quest to Raise NIF’s Implosion Performance
The tiny fill-tube used to inject NIF’s high-density carbon capsules with cryogenic fuel is also known to reduce the performance of implosions, and LLNL researchers are exploring several methods that could diminish these negative effects.
Second skin protects against chem, bio agents
Recent events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the use of chemical weapons in the Syria conflict have provided a stark reminder of the plethora of chemical and biological threats that soldiers, medical personnel and first responders face during routine and emergency operations. Personnel safety relies on protective equipment which, unfortunately, still leaves much to be…
Carter named spectroscopy fellow
Chance Carter (MSD) has been named a fellow for the Society of Applied Spectroscopy (SAS). Fellowship is intended to recognize outstanding members for their service to the society and exceptional contributions to spectroscopy. Chance will be recognized at a special ceremony during SAS’s national meeting in October in Nevada.
Special journal issue highlights the work of LLNL energetic materials researchers
A special issue of the journal Propellants, Explosives, Pyrotechnics was recently released that highlights multiscale modeling and experiments, an area of energetic materials science and technology in which LLNL researchers have played a leading role for some time. The issue features the work of MSD’s Keo Springer, Will Bassett, Sorin Bastea, Svjetlana Stekovic,…
New study aims to reduce osteoarthritis after injury
Gaby Loots and Aimy Sebastian (both BBTD) are embarking on a new five-year research project to identify ways to prevent post-traumatic osteoarthritis (OA) in knees and other joints as part of a $2.3 million grant awarded to UC Davis by the National Institutes of Health. Previous research shows that OA, or the breakdown of cartilage and other joint tissues, can be triggered…
Perron receives TMS Young Leaders Professional Development Award
Laboratory materials scientist Aurélien Perron (MSD) was selected to receive the 2020 Young Leaders Professional Development Award from the Functional Materials Division of The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society (TMS). This award was created to enhance the professional development of dynamic young people from the five technical divisions of TMS by helping them…
Solutions for lifetime laser damage to materials
Work by PLS scientists Jae-Hyuck Yoo and Andrew Lange (both MSD) and Engineering’s John Chesser, Steve Falabella, and Selim Elhadj was recently highlighted in Physica Status Solidi A: Applications and Materials Science as the November 2019 cover story. The research described in the article explores guidelines for designing materials with high laser damage lifetimes. To…
X-ray diffraction data informs metal additive manufacturing method
Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is a method of additive manufacturing characterized by the rapid scanning of a high-powered laser over a thin bed of metallic powder to create a single layer, which may then be built upon to form larger structures. Most melting, resolidification, and subsequent cooling take place at higher rates and with higher thermal gradients than in…
Controlling the structure and properties of 2D materials
Livermore’s Joel Berry (MSD) has coauthored a pair of papers describing promising methods for controlling the structure and properties of 2D materials. In one paper, Berry and his colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Chicago propose a new atomic-scale approach to form nano- to macro-patterned thin films with tailored properties (mechanical,…
Experiment improves predictions of uranium dispersion
The predictive models that describe the fate and transport of radioactive materials in the atmosphere following a nuclear incident (explosion or reactor accident) assume that uranium-bearing particulates would attain chemical equilibrium during vapor condensation. In a new study, funded by the Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development (DNN R&D…
LLNL’s new machine learning platform generates novel COVID-19 antibody sequences for experimental testing
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have identified an initial set of therapeutic antibody sequences, designed in a few weeks using machine learning and supercomputing, aimed at binding and neutralizing SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The research team is performing experimental testing on the chosen antibody designs. Currently, treating…
