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Physical and Life Sciences
Lab team wins National Institutes of Health two-year grant to develop chlamydia vaccine
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), with UC Irvine and Synthetic Genomics, won a two-year $485,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to explore new ways to develop a chlamydia vaccine. The team’s project, "Synthetic Generation of a chlamydia Vaccine," uses bioengineering to formulate a major outer membrane protein (MOMP) vaccine. This protein…
Iron springs back to shape under pressure
A team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) physicists has performed a series of calculations shedding light on an unexpected way that iron transforms under dynamic compression. In a paper published in Physical Review Letters, the team describes first-principle calculations on two solid phases of iron, as well as on intermediate crystal structures along the…
LLNL-led team develops forensic method to identify people using human hair proteins
In an important breakthrough for the forensic science community, researchers have developed the first-ever biological identification method that exploits the information encoded in proteins of human hair. Scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and a Utah startup company have developed the groundbreaking technique, providing a second science-based,…
Ask LLNL's 'second skin' creators anything
Members of the LLNL team that created an environmentally reactive "second skin" for use in military uniforms of the future will be answering questions from the public during a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" online event beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday. In addition to addressing just about any question on the minds of the Reddit community, Lab scientists Francesco Fornasiero, Ngo…
Lab researchers receive awards from The Meteoritical Society
The Meteoritical Society honored two Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers during their annual meeting that occurred this month in Berlin, Germany. Carolyn Crow, a postdoctoral researcher in the Nuclear and Chemical Sciences Division who studies impact signatures recorded in lunar and terrestrial zircons, won the Gordon A. McKay Award for her…
Scientists identify enzymes that create a highly toxic form of mercury in Antarctic sea ice
Researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) assisted a team from the University of Melbourne in discovering how methylmercury enters the Antarctic sea and bioaccumulates in the marine food web. LLNL scientists Michael Thelen and Adam Zemla performed protein sequence analysis and structural modeling to predict key proteins involved in mercury methylation…
Lab team uses pulsed ion beams to probe radiation defect dynamics in nuclear materials
Materials scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have developed a novel experimental method to access the dynamic regime of radiation damage formation in nuclear and electronic materials. Their approach is based on using pulsed ion beams for measurements of defect lifetimes, interaction rates and diffusion lengths. The creation of stable radiation…
Feeling the force between sand grains
For the first time, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have measured how forces move through 3D granular materials, determining how this important class of materials might pack and behave in processes throughout nature and industry. Granular materials such as sand, soil and rice exist everywhere around us. However, scientists and engineers do not yet…
Going beyond 3D printing to add a new dimension for additive manufacturing
A team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers has demonstrated the 3D printing of shape-shifting structures that can fold or unfold to reshape themselves when exposed to heat or electricity. The micro-architected structures were fabricated from a conductive, environmentally responsive polymer ink developed at the Lab. In an article published recently by the…
Nuclear forensics program aims for critical mass
A sure sign of summer is the return of interns to the Lawrence Livermore campus. Students interact with premier researchers and access equipment and facilities not available anywhere else, while scientists lay groundwork for advancing their fields. Within the Physical and Life Sciences directorate, the Glenn T. Seaborg Institute runs an eight-week summer internship for…
Lab collaborates with small businesses in gas turbine manufacturing and geothermal projects
Two small businesses working with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) will receive more than $350,000 for expertise in advanced gas turbine manufacturing and geothermal engineering as part of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Small Business Voucher (SBV) pilot. With vouchers in hand, these businesses can better leverage the world-class capabilities of the…
New electron microscope expands materials characterization capabilities at Laboratory
A new Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) installed at the Lab earlier this year is giving LLNL researchers a clearer look at the atomic level of structures than they’ve had before. The Titan 80-300 TEM, manufactured by FEI Company, was installed in December and brings an expanded capability to the existing transmission electron microscope the Lab has had for about 20…
Scientists find de-icing agent remains stable at more than a million atmospheres of pressure
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists have combined X-ray diffraction and vibrational spectroscopy measurements together with first-principle calculations to examine the high-pressure structural behavior of magnesium chloride. Magnesium chloride (MgCl2) is well known to be an effective de-icing agent, for example, in the aviation industry. Magnesium compounds,…
Team tracks core of massive object in universe
International scientists have identified the dynamics of the core of one of the most massive objects in the known universe, bringing insight into the cosmology of clusters of galaxies. The Hitomi collaboration, in which Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientist Greg Brown is a member, found that the turbulent motion of the intracluster gas in the Perseus cluster is…
'Second skin' uniform protects soldiers from biological and chemical agents in the field
In work that aims to protect soldiers from biological and chemical threats, a team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists has created a material that is highly breathable yet protective from biological agents. This material is the first key component of futuristic smart uniforms that also will respond to and protect from environmental chemical hazards. The…
Pitt engineers will use Lab's electron microscope to study rapid metal solidification
University of Pittsburgh engineers will utilize a unique transmission electron microscope developed and housed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to better understand how microstructures form in metals and alloys as they solidify after laser beam melting. Under a three-year, $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, Jörg Wiezorek, a professor of…
Lawrence Livermore COLLECTS funding to improve solar power efficiency
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), in collaboration with Giant Leap Technologies, received $1.75 million Thursday from the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to improve solar power efficiency. The project is part of DOE’s SunShot Initiative, which is a collaborative national effort that aggressively drives innovation to make…
Lab team measures peripheral nervous system activity with microchip-based platform
For the first time, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have successfully incorporated adult human peripheral nervous system (PNS) cells on a microelectrode platform for long-term testing of chemical and toxic effects on cell health and function. The study, part of a project known as iCHIP (in-vitro Chip-Based Human Investigational Platform), was…
Scientists find evidence for climate change in satellite cloud record
Scientists have found that changes in cloud patterns during the last three decades match those predicted by climate model simulations. These cloud changes are likely to have had a warming effect on the planet. Records of cloudiness from satellites originally designed to monitor weather are plagued by erroneous variability related to changes in satellite orbit, instrument…
Lab's high performance computing will play major role in Cancer Moonshot initiative
Vice President Joe Biden and his wfie Jill Biden hosted the Cancer Moonshot Summit Wednesday to announce several efforts to expand cancer research in hopes of finding a cure. The Cancer Moonshot is a new national effort to double the rate of progress - to make a decade's worth of advances in cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care in five years - and to ultimately…
