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Physical and Life Sciences
X-ray flashes shed light on sleeping sickness cure
Using ultra-bright X-ray flashes, a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientist and international collaborators tracked down a potential target for new drugs against sleeping sickness. The scientists decoded the detailed spatial structure of a vital enzyme of the parasite Trypanosoma brucei. The result provides a possible blueprint for a drug that specifically…
Focusing target gives powerful boost to NIF’s ARC
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have employed compound parabolic targets to achieve relativistic effects associated with significantly greater laser intensities. This innovation has substantially expanded the experimental capabilities of the National Ignition Facility’s (NIF) Advanced Radiographic Capability (ARC) laser. The targets, called…
Forensic scientist wins 'outstanding' early career award
A chemist who is the director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) Forensic Science Center is the recipient of the 2020 “Outstanding Early Career Achievement in Forensic Science Award.” The award, given to LLNL’s Audrey Williams, is presented annually by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) Past Presidents Council. This year’s award will be…
Nutrients limit carbon uptake to slow climate change
Nitrogen and phosphorus found in soils are limiting the amount of carbon uptake stored in plants and soils, but maps of where this occurs across the globe are lacking. A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientist and international collaborators have developed a framework for testing nutrient limitations and a benchmark of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P)…
Lab researchers develop 3D ‘brain-on-a-chip’ device capable of long-term recording of neural activity
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) engineers and biologists have developed a “brain-on-a-chip” device capable of recording the neural activity of living brain cell cultures in three dimensions, a significant advancement in the realistic modeling of the human brain outside of the body. In a paper published by the journal Lab on a Chip, LLNL researchers report on…
Open for business: NNSA, LLNL celebrate the dedication of new Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory
Officials from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) gathered with elected leaders and industry professionals recently to dedicate and tour the Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory, a new collaborative hub intended to spur public-private partnerships. The $10 million, 14,000-square-foot facility, located in the…
Lawrence Livermore researchers release 3D protein structure predictions for the novel coronavirus
As global concern continues to rise about a novel coronavirus spreading from China, a team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers has developed a preliminary set of predictive 3D protein structures of the virus to aid research efforts to combat the disease. The team’s predicted 3D models, developed over the past week using a previously peer-reviewed…
New Lab report outlines ways California could reach goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2045
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have identified a robust suite of technologies to help California clear the last hurdle and become carbon neutral – and ultimately carbon negative – by 2045. This groundbreaking study, “Getting to Neutral: Options for Negative Carbon Emissions in California,” was conducted as part of LLNL’s expansive energy programs…
3D-printed aerogel electrodes boost energy storage
A team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and collaborators from the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) and Sun Yat-Sen University have developed a new class of aerogel electrodes with a simultaneous boost in energy and power density. The research could be a boon for the energy storage industry. “This is the first example in which we were…
LLNL, Livermore Lab Foundation, ClimateWorks to unveil report on California’s road to carbon neutrality
WHO: Scientists and leaders from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in collaboration with the Livermore Lab Foundation and ClimateWorks WHAT: LLNL will host a briefing to unveil the new report, “Getting to Neutral: Options for Negative Carbon Emissions in California,” which identifies a robust suite of technologies to help California clear the last hurdle and become…
LLNL discovers new method to create nanocarbons
Nanocarbons have emerged as major nanomaterials due to their many practical applications, including their potential use in energy conversion/storage, bioimaging, drug delivery, sensors, diagnostics and composites. However, their synthesis remains poorly understood. A common high-pressure synthesis route is the detonation of carbon-rich high explosives, which yields…
Developing a machine learning framework for accelerated material discovery
Driven by the success of machine learning (ML) in commercial applications such as product recommendations and advertising, researchers are attempting to apply ML tools to scientific data analyzation. One such application area is materials science, where ML methods could accelerate the selection, development, and discovery of materials by learning structure–property…
Important plutonium property calculated for the first time
Lattice vibrations (phonons) are important for all equation-of-state modeling. A recent paper by PLS researchers Per Söderlind and Lin Yang (both PHYS) describes results from the first-ever calculation of α-plutonium phonon density of states. The first-principles model agrees very well with the results of x-ray scattering experiments. Further, the calculated specific heat…
Ancient stardust leads to clearer picture of solar system
Interstellar dust is an important component of our galaxy. Condensed in the outflow of dying stars, it is used to study stellar evolution, nucleosynthesis and the chemical development of the galaxy. Although dust only presents about 1 percent of the mass in the interstellar medium (ISM), it carries a large fraction of the elements heavier than helium, including the…
Lab teams recognized by Secretary of Energy awards
Former Secretary of Energy Rick Perry recognized Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) staff with six Secretary’s Honor Awards at a ceremony at Department of Energy (DOE) headquarters. The Secretary’s Honor Awards are bestowed on teams that have achieved a singular accomplishment that demonstrates a high level of performance and dedication to public service. As his…
Under pressure: Using NIF, researchers compress copper, creating the densest object on Earth
If copper was found in the core of Saturn it would have the same crystalline structure as the copper pipes found in many homes, according to new research from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Johns Hopkins University. In a paper published today by Physical Review Letters, the research team reveals that copper maintains its crystalline structure at…
Lab space program lifts off with launch of satellite
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL's) Space Science and Security Program had a banner month in December as the program sent the Lab’s first in-house designed and fabricated CubeSat into orbit. The Lab satellite was sent into orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Dec. 5 aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule atop a two…
Thanks to clouds, latest climate models predict more global warming than their predecessors
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Leeds and Imperial College London have found that the latest generation of global climate models predict more warming in response to increasing carbon dioxide than their predecessors. These refined models represent aspects of Earth’s climate better than…
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…
