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Physical and Life Sciences
STAR array tests materials’ response to strong X-ray shocks
At first glance it might be mistaken for a model of the Millennium Falcon of “Star Wars” fame. But it’s actually a new radiation-effects diagnostic that triples the number of material samples that can be exposed to X-rays in a single NIF shot. Designed by researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Sandia National Laboratories, the STAR (Sample Test…
PLS postdocs shine at Research Slam! competition
On October 29, 2019, twelve Lawrence Livermore postdocs took to the stage, each with three slides and three minutes to answer the question: “Why is your research important?” The presentations, part of a yearly competition known as the Research Slam!, were a culmination of months of development, training, and practice. The 2019 program kicked off with seminars about…
Three researchers co-author wind power papers
A trio of Livermore scientists have served as co-authors for three separate papers about projects they’ve worked on to upgrade wind power forecasting for the nation. The papers, published by the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS), one of the premier publications for meteorologists, focused on research conducted for two high-impact Department of Energy…
Scientists image deformation of copper at the nanoscale
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers, in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, have successfully obtained the first nanoscale video of copper deforming under extremely high strain rates, part of an Army-funded project aimed at designing next-generation armor. Combining a specially designed straining…
Mimicking the blood-brain barrier on chip-based device
Engineers and biologists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have made significant strides in modeling the human brain outside the body on a chip, but to truly recreate the effects of drugs or chemical agents on the central nervous system, researchers will need to accurately simulate the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Normally the BBB, the vasculature that…
Understanding the spread and mutation of Zika virus
A team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and University of California, Davis researchers has found that outbreaks of human disease, such as the 2015 Zika virus epidemic, may be due to genetic mutation, and viruses may undergo further changes as they expand their geographic range. The question of how Zika virus (ZIKV) changed from a seemingly mild virus to a…
Nuclear melt glass-derived colloid experiments explain why plutonium is migrating in groundwater
The migration of low levels of plutonium has been observed at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) and attributed to colloid-facilitated transport. (A colloid is a mixture in which one substance of microscopically dispersed particles is suspended throughout another substance.) To understand why plutonium is migrating, LLNL scientists performed experiments using mineral…
Meteorites lend clues to solar system's origin
The isotopic composition of meteorites and terrestrial planets holds important clues about the earliest history of the solar system and the processes of planet formation. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and a collaborator from the University of Münster reviewed recent work that shows how meteorites exhibit a fundamental isotopic dichotomy between…
Researchers uncover viral predators in soil
Viruses impact nearly all organisms on Earth, with waves of influence in agriculture, health and biogeochemical processes. However, very little is known about RNA viruses in the environment, and even less is known about their diversity and ecology in soil, one of the most complex microbial systems. But Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have helped…
Center Collaborates with UC San Diego to Deliver Plasma Diagnostics Course
LLNL’s HED Science Center is collaborating with the University of California (UC) San Diego, to offer a graduate-level course in diagnostics for HED plasmas. The 10-week online course will begin on March 31, 2020 and will be co-taught by two HED science experts from LLNL. HED plasma physics is a growing field, with many major laser and pulsed-power facilities around the…
LLNL researchers turn to microbe beads to increase U.S. supply of rare earth metals
To help increase the U.S. supply of rare earth elements, a Critical Materials Institute team led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is using microbe beads to recover rare earth elements from consumer electronic waste. The team developed a scalable biosorbent material – a microbe-embedded polymer – by combining material science with microbiology. The research…
Lawrence Livermore steps into grid modernization
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) will receive funding from the Department of Energy (DOE) over the next three years to strengthen, transform and improve the nation’s energy infrastructure. LLNL is the lead on three projects: Using sensors to identify faulty or aging components of the nation’s energy grid system In its first stage, this application will…
Researchers Set to Decode Biological Circuitry That Drives Peak Performance and Resilience
DARPA’s Measuring Biological Aptitude (MBA) program begins and ends with the men and women of the United States military. The program — first announced in January 2019 — centers on how service members can access the potential of their own biological systems to achieve peak results across a range of military specializations, and aims for a detailed understanding of how…
Accelerating new discoveries in nuclear physics
Three stories underground, in a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) building that dates back to the 1960s, three new accelerators are rapidly expanding research capabilities. These powerful diagnostic and imaging tools enable scientists to produce and detect isotopes, explore nuclear reactions, evaluate unknown material and peer inside heavily shielded objects. …
Livermore researchers contribute to major plutonium publication
This fall, the American Nuclear Society is publishing the second edition of the Plutonium Handbook, a 4000-page, 7-volume compendium that delivers a comprehensive review of plutonium chemistry. (The first edition was published 50 years ago.) Five years in the making, this publication includes contributions from 17 Lawrence Livermore researchers, two of whom are also on the…
New ultralight gold foam shimmers in the limelight
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have created the lightest gold foam to date. The new form of ultralight gold aerogel foam has applications in electronics, catalysis, sensors and energy conversion and storage. The research appears in the journal Nano Letters. It will be published in the November issue, and was selected for the…
Institute turns over a new LEAF in energy security
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has opened a center that will develop new materials for energy applications from inception to technology demonstration. The Laboratory of Energy Applications for the Future (LEAF) was formed to coordinate research efforts for energy- and environment-related technologies and capabilities. “LEAF will address crucial science and…
NIF Army veteran attends Medal of Honor ceremony
It’s been more than 10 years since John Ruiz, a mechanical designer in the National Ignition Facility’s (NIF) Facilities and Infrastructure Systems group, left the Army. But last summer, he found himself transported back to one of the most harrowing days of his Army career at the Medal of Honor ceremony for his former squad leader, Staff Sgt. David G. Bellavia. Ruiz was a…
Argon is not so noble in the Earth’s core
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Saskatchewan (UoS), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and The University of Chicago, have discovered that at thermodynamic conditions mimicking that of Earth’s core, argon can react with nickel, forming a stable Argon-Nickel (ArNi) compound. The LLNL…
Size matters in ion selectivity and energy storage
While ions adsorbed on carbon electrodes can vary in size and shape, when it comes to selectivity and energy storage, size really does matter. In an effort to boost energy storage and water desalination technologies, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists found that capacitive performance and ion selectivity of porous carbons is controlled by a complex…
