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Physical and Life Sciences
Supercapacitors Yield Energetic Secrets
In the race for advanced energy storage systems, researchers are increasingly turning to the supercapacitor, a seemingly straightforward device made attractive by its many advantages over most batteries, including higher power density, faster charge–discharge cycling, enhanced safety, lower cost, and better endurance.
Former Lawrence Livermore astrophysicist appointed director of UC Observatories
Longtime Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory astrophysicist Claire Max has shifted her focus to a new frontier as the recently appointed director of the University of California Observatories (UCO).After serving at the post on an interim basis for the past year, Max’s appointment to the directorship began July 1. Over the next five years, she will work with faculty,…
Giant galaxy collision triggered 'radio phoenix'
Astronomers have found evidence for a faded electron cloud "coming back to life," much like the mythical phoenix, after two galaxy clusters collided.This "radio phoenix," so-called because the high-energy electrons radiate primarily at radio frequencies, is found in Abell 1033. The system is located about 1.6 billion light years from Earth.By combining data from NASA’s…
Research award named after late LLNL scientist
The first Dr. Ian Hutcheon Post-Doctoral Fellowship award, to support research in nuclear forensics as part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Domestic Nuclear Detection Office’s (DNDO) National Nuclear Forensics Expertise Development Program, has been established. The fellowship honors the late Hutcheon, who significantly advanced America’s nuclear forensics…
Nanocrystals don't add up for reactor materials
Lawrence Livermore researchers have found that nanocrystalline materials do not necessarily resist radiation effects in nuclear reactors better than currently used materials.As researchers hunt for materials with the ability to withstand prolonged radiation damage, the use of nanostructured materials, with high interfacial area to absorb radiation-induced defects, has been…
Lawrence Livermore scientists' discovery of new young planet provides insight into Jupiter
For the first time, Lawrence Livermore scientists, as part of an international team, have discovered the most Jupiter-like planet ever seen in a young star system, lending clues to understanding how planets formed around our sun.Using a new advanced adaptive optics device on the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) on the Gemini South Telescope in Chile, the team took an image of…
Researchers reveal new electron ring formations
Laser wakefield acceleration, a process where electron acceleration is driven by high-powered lasers, is well-known for being able to produce high-energy beams of electrons in tabletop-scale distances. However, in recent experiments, a team of scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) revealed new,…
Berni Alder: A pioneer of the times
Father of molecular dynamics to celebrate 90th birthday, 60th anniversary at the LaboratoryBerni Alder was born in Germany, but was a Swiss citizen. In 1932, his family moved to Zurich, just before Hitler came to power.In 1941, when he was 16 years old, he fled Switzerland right before the United States entered World War II and took a sealed train through occupied France…
New experimental research exposes the strength of beryllium at extreme conditions
Until recently, there were very little experimental data about the behavior of beryllium (Be) at very high pressures and strain rates, with existing material models predicting very different behaviors in these regimes. In a successful example of international research collaboration, a team of scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the Russian…
LLNL tops Physics of Plasma's most-cited list
Physics of Plasmas (PoP), a peer-reviewed journal publishing original experimental and theoretical contributions in plasma physics, recently released a list of the most-cited papers for January-June 2015.Out of the 30 most-cited papers on the list, the top five had lead authors from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. No. 8, 9 and 17 on the list were also led by LLNL,…
New experimental and theoretical research could help make more efficient windows
By tightly integrating experimental and theoretical techniques, a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory team has provided fundamentally new insights into the specific factors that determine the absorption characteristics of copper complexes. The results demonstrate that conventional interpretations based on "ligand field theory" -- a staple concept in inorganic chemistry …
Project aims to use probiotic bacteria to protect algal crops and increase ecosystem resilience
A Lawrence Livermore team has received an additional $1 million to protect algal crops by developing "probiotic" bacteria to combat pond infestation and increase ecosystem function and resilience.Algal biomass can be converted to advanced biofuels that offer promising alternatives to petroleum-based diesel and jet fuels. Additionally, algae can be used to make a range of…
Stumbling into physics and sticking with it
While growing up in Puerto Rico, Miguel Morales was interested in basketball and volleyball and not much else.But that all changed when he picked up a science book."The idea of being an intellectual was not a popular thing," he said. "I stumbled into physics and all of a sudden there was nothing else for me. I sort of became obsessed with it and I spent all my time reading…
Icy comets serve as storks for life on Earth
Early Earth was an inhospitable place where the planet was often bombarded by comets and other large astrophysical bodies.Some of those comets contained complex prebiotic materials, such as amino acids and peptides (chains of amino acids), which are some of the most basic building blocks of life on Earth."The survivability of these compounds under impact conditions is…
First stars in the universe left a unique signature
Determining the chemical abundance pattern left by the earliest stars in the universe is no easy feat. A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientist is helping to do just that.The first stars in the universe formed about 400 million years after the Big Bang (estimated at 13.8 billion years ago). Inside of these stellar furnaces, nuclear processes fused the…
Laboratory's role in underground explosives tests will help nation's detection capabilities
A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) team played a leading role in fielding the recent Source Physics Experiment (SPE-4 Prime) detonated at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). The SPE tests, including the most recent one on May 21, consist of a series of seven underground, high-explosive field tests in hard rock that are designed to improve the United…
Lab researchers land geothermal energy award
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory engineers Tom Edmunds and Pedro Sotorrio have been honored by the Geothermal Energy Association for their significant contributions during the past year to advancing technology, spurring economic development and protecting the environment.Edmunds and Sotorrio, of the computational engineering division at LLNL, received a special…
Fusion could be 'ZaPped' into reality
With funding from the Department of Energy, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the University of Washington (UW) will work to advance the sheared-flow stabilized Z-pinch concept and assess its potential for scaling to fusion conditions.Fusion is the same energy that powers the sun and the stars, and scientists have worked for years to create the same power…
Unraveling the origins of lunar swirls
As the closest object in the night sky, Earth’s moon and its craters have long been studied. These craters, visible with the naked eye, have been formed over billions of years by impacts from both asteroids and comets.A new study recently published in the journal Icarus, led by Megan Bruck Syal of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, examines how cometary impacts may…
Lawrence Livermore scientists move one step closer to mimicking gamma-ray bursts
Using ever more energetic lasers, Lawrence Livermore researchers have produced a record high number of electron-positron pairs, opening exciting opportunities to study extreme astrophysical processes, such as black holes and gamma-ray bursts.By performing experiments using three laser systems — Titan at Lawrence Livermore, Omega-EP at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics …
