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Physical and Life Sciences
Lab will play key role in neuro conference
Ten Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) employees will play key roles in this weekend’s 16th annual World Congress for the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics (SBMT) in Los Angeles. But for two of those employees, Innovation and Partnerships Office (IPO) Deputy Director Roger Werne and computer scientist Mike Piscotty, the conference stirs strong emotions…
Biosensor may provide better cancer diagnosis
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have developed a new biological sensor that could help clinicians better diagnose cancer and epilepsy. Biological sensors monitor small molecules, ions and protons and are vital as a medical diagnostic. Even the simplest signals, such as intracellular pH level, can provide important information for the medical…
Lab research helps uncover how beetle gut microbes serve as reactor for fuel production
When most people think of wood-eating insects, they imagine termites that can destroy a home or business. However, as part of a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) bioenergy study, project scientist Jennifer Pett-Ridge and collaborators have learned how the digestive system of a wood-eating beetle serves as a natural mini-reactor for biofuel production. Led by…
Lab geochemist's work on solar system's origins earns society's prestigious F.W. Clarke award
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) geochemist Thomas Kruijer has won the F.W. Clarke Award from the Geochemical Society. The award honors a single outstanding contribution to geochemistry or cosmochemistry, published by an early career scientist as a single paper or a series of papers on a single topic. Kruijer was honored for his work on the hafnium–tungsten…
Metal ion solvation in ionic liquids
Understanding the behavior of metal ions in room temperature ionic liquids is essential for predicting and optimizing performance for technologies like metal electrodeposition. A recent paper by Livermore researchers describes a first-principles molecular dynamics simulations approach to understanding and comparing the key structural properties metal ions (Cu+ and Ag+) in…
Better magnets from SmCo5 nanoparticles
A paper by Livermore researchers, in partnership with researchers at Brown University, has been designated a “hot paper” by the journal Angewandte Chemie. In this article, the authors describe a new technique to synthesize samarium-based nanomagnets and align them in a magnetic field to improve their performance. These show the highest saturation magnetization to date for…
3D-printed live cells convert glucose to ethanol, carbon dioxide to enhance catalytic efficiency
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have 3D printed live cells that convert glucose to ethanol and carbon dioxide gas (CO2), a substance that resembles beer, demonstrating a technology that can lead to high biocatalytic efficiency. Bioprinting living mammalian cells into complex 3D scaffolds has been widely studied and demonstrated for applications…
New biological detection system can provide faster, less expensive results for veterinarians
Veterinarians and agricultural inspectors who seek to detect and contain the spread of animal diseases can now turn to a newer, faster and less expensive biological detection system. Known as the Axiom™ Microbiome Array, or AMA, the new biological detection system is the most comprehensive microorganism detection platform built to date and the first high-throughput…
New multibeam metal 3D printer testbed to understand laser-material interactions
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers have created the first research-grade, open-architecture multibeam metal 3D printer and are developing advanced diagnostics to understand the mechanics behind the multibeam process under a project funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory. To address the need for larger builds and faster print times,…
Climate change science marks 40th anniversary of three key events that signified turning point
During the same decade that saw the Beatles breakup, the Watergate scandal, the first Earth Day and the opening of the movie Star Wars, efforts to identify human-caused climate change were in their infancy. Three key events in the 1970s heralded the end of that infancy. The year 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of those three events. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory …
A universal tool to improve global security
Elusive antineutrinos can help monitor nuclear power plants and other activity The United Kingdom is investing nearly £10 million (about $12.7 million) in a joint project with the United States to harness existing particle physics research techniques to remotely monitor nuclear reactors. Expected to be operational in 2024, the Advanced Instrumentation Testbed (AIT) project…
Death of the dinosaurs: Extreme volcanism played pivotal role in extinction, research shows
Not by meteorite alone did the dinosaurs die off. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) research scientist Kyle Samperton and colleagues present the most compelling evidence yet that massive volcanic eruptions in the Deccan Traps region of India contributed to the fall of the dinosaurs — also known as the end-Cretaceous mass extinction — approximately 66 million…
Laboratory's nanopore research hits a nerve
Since the discovery of biological ion channels and their role in physiology, scientists have attempted to create man-made structures that mimic their biological counterparts. New research by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and collaborators at the University of California, Irvine shows that synthetic solid-state nanopores can have finely tuned…
Sierra snowpack melt is steady, but not for long
Snowpack loss in the northern Sierra Nevada will likely accelerate in the coming decades. Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Oregon State University and the University of Washington found that natural swings in the sea surface temperature over the Pacific Ocean have resulted in atmospheric circulation changes that have muted the effect of climate…
Scientists predict reaction data for fusion research, insight into universe's origins
Using simulations and calculations, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) nuclear scientists for the first time have accurately predicted the properties of polarized thermonuclear fusion. Analogous calculations could be used to answer some of the most fundamental questions about the origins of the universe and the evolution of stars. For decades, nuclear scientists…
Zirconium isotope a master at neutron capture
The probability that a nucleus will absorb a neutron is important to many areas of nuclear science, including the production of elements in the cosmos, reactor performance, nuclear medicine and defense applications. New research from a team led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists reveals that the radioactive isotope zirconium-88 (⁸⁸Zr) is 100,000…
LLNL climate scientist awarded World Climate Research Program 2018 Data Prize
Research scientist Paul Durack from the Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison (PCMDI) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has been awarded the World Climate Research Programme 2018 Data Prize for his leadership of the input4MIPs project, which began in 2016. The prestigious WCRP prize is awarded annually, with Durack selected in late December…
LLNL’s HED Science Center Facilitates Collaborations with Researchers from Japan
LLNL’s High Energy Density (HED) Science Center continues to foster a broad range of collaborative efforts with researchers and students from Japan. For example, the HED Science Center co-organized a workshop regarding U.S.–Japan collaborations in HED science. The two-day event was held in January 2019 at the Japanese Embassy and the Carnegie Endowment for International…
Unlocking the secrets of hidden earthquakes
Growing up in Sonora, a small town in the Sierra Nevada foothills, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Physical and Life Sciences (PLS) Directorate researcher Kayla Kroll was fascinated with stars and the solar system. "In high school, I put up glow-in-the-dark constellations in my bedroom," she said, "along with a 3D display of the planets in exact formation. I…
Researchers discover unusual new type of phase transformation in a transition metal
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have discovered an unusual new type of phase transformation in the transition metal zirconium. The mechanism underlying this new type of phase transition is the first of its kind that has ever been observed, and only could be seen with the application of very high pressures. The research was recently published by…
