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Physical and Life Sciences
Tom Slezak to advise Department of Defense on biodefense
Bioinformatics expert Tom Slezak is no stranger to the National Academy of Science (NAS), having served on two committees since 2009. Recently, he was asked to join a standing committee chartered by the Department of Defense (DoD) to advise the DoD on biodefense issues, a much broader scope than either of his previous committee mandates. The NAS in Washington, D.C., is the…
New insight into independent control of ionic and electronic conductivity of materials
Lab researchers have discovered a new method to control the conductivity of materials that could eventually apply to fuel cells, batteries and gas sensors. Postdoc Cedric Rocha-Le?o, working with Condensed Matter and Materials Division's Vince Lordi, has found a new method to independently control ionic and electronic conductivities in certain solids. The method, which…
Research provides new insights into actinide electronic structure
A team of DOE researchers from the Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley and Los Alamos national laboratories and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, studying the fundamental properties of the actinide elements, has significantly advanced the understanding of the electronic structure of elements that have electrons occupying f-orbitals. Using a state-of-the-art, synchrotron…
Ballet and fast cars take back seat to national security science
By day, Heather Whitley is a design physicist studying transport processes in dense plasmas, such as those relevant to LLNL's National Ignition Facility. During evenings and on weekends, she dances and volunteers with Livermore's nonprofit ballet company, the Valley Dance Theatre. And she likes to get there in a hurry while driving her 2011 Camaro SS. Whitley, who turns 32…
New desalination technique uses flow-through electrodes for faster desalination and lower cost
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers have developed a new capacitive desalination technique that could ultimately lower the cost and time of desalinating seawater. In capacitive desalination (CD), a voltage is applied between two porous electrodes to adsorb ions onto the electrode surface and thus remove them from the feed stream. Traditionally, due to the…
Lab hosts workshop with research universities to address energy challenges
To lay the foundation for stronger collaborations to address national energy problems, the Laboratory recently invited researchers from leading universities to exchange ideas and mathematical approaches for leveraging high performance computing, and to identify areas for cooperative research. "This exchange of ideas is a great opportunity to build on existing…
NIF team wins esteemed plasma physics award
A far-reaching discovery about laser-matter interaction with important implications for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) has led to the selection of a team of researchers named recipients of the 2012 John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research. The award, established by the American Physical Society, will be presented to LLNL researchers Debbie Callahan…
Lab to collaborate with NASA Ames Research Center
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and NASA's Ames Research Center (ARC) in Mountain View, Calif., have agreed to collaborate by sharing technology and resources on technical areas of national interest, including space missions, energy and advanced computing. LLNL director Parney Albright and ARC director Pete Worden signed the agreement Thursday in Livermore,…
Lawrence Livermore researchers delve into airborne particulates
For the first time, Lawrence Livermore researchers and international collaborators have peered into the makeup of complex airborne particulate matter so small that it can be transported into human lungs -- usually without a trace. The structure of micron-size particulate matter is important in a wide range of fields from toxicology to climate science (tobacco smoke and oil…
Lawrence Livermore wins six R&D Awards for science, technological innovation
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers have won six awards for their efforts in developing breakthrough technologies with commercial potential. See video . R&D Magazine announced the winners of its annual R&D 100 Awards, sometimes called the "Oscars of Invention" on Wednesday. The awards will be presented Nov. 1 during a black-tie dinner at the SeaWorld…
NuSTAR opens out of this world view thanks to Lab technology
For astrophysicist Bill Craig and his team, NASA's NuSTAR will open up a whole new world. In fact, NuSTAR will allow them to observe a new class of objects in space, called extreme objects, which have never been seen. The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (or NuSTAR), is the first focusing, high energy X-ray NASA satellite that will open the hard X-ray sky for…
Perez wins EPS Plasma Physics Ph.D. Research Award
LLNL postdoc Frederic Perez is one of three recipients of this year's Ph.D. Research Award from the Plasma Physics Division of the European Physical Society (EPS). Perez will receive his award during the 39th EPS plasma physics conference, held in Stockholm, Sweden, on July 2-6. Perez received the award for his work on his doctoral thesis, "Study of supra-thermal electron…
Research shows humans are primary cause of global ocean warming over past 50 years
LIVERMORE, Calif. -- The oceans have warmed in the past 50 years, but not by natural events alone. New research by a team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists and international collaborators shows that the observed ocean warming over the last 50 years is consistent with climate models only if the models include the impacts of observed increases in…
Livermore students speak live with astronauts in space
Students at Livermore's Junction Avenue School had an opportunity that was "out of this world." They got the chance on Wednesday to talk with three astronauts via an in-flight education downlink from the International Space Station (ISS). The entire school's student body -- from kindergarten to 8th grade -- assembled in two locations to watch the videoconference. "What a…
Lawrence Livermore research identifies precise measurement of radiation damage
LIVERMORE, Calif. -- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers have for the first time simulated and quantified the early stages of radiation damage that will occur in a given material. "A full understanding of the early stages of the radiation damage process provides knowledge and tools to manipulate them to our advantage," said Alfredo Correa, a Lawrence Fellow…
Media advisory: Lawrence Livermore, Livermore school district to host NASA space station downlink
WHO: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District are teaming up to give students the opportunity to talk with astronauts aboard the International Space Station. WHAT: After submitting an application to NASA's education program, Livermore's Junction Avenue School was selected to host an in-flight education downlink,…
LLNL study finds current lemurs retreated to riparian environs
The extinction of several species of lemurs has had a profound effect on the lemurs of today. In a new study appearing in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, researchers have found that the extinction of at least 17 species of lemurs during the last 2,000 years in Madagascar has helped determine where today's lemurs are living and breeding. The study may provide…
Livermorium and Flerovium join the periodic table of elements
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) today officially approved new names for elements 114 and 116, the latest heavy elements to be added to the periodic table. Scientists of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)-Dubna collaboration proposed the names as Flerovium for element 114, with the symbol Fl, and Livermorium for element 116, with…
Guilderson takes the guess work out of climate change
Climate change and the carbon cycle are tied so closely that geochemist Tom Guilderson can study an isotope of carbon and find out how the climate has varied in the past, how rapidly it changed and the external and internal factors that may have affected it. That was the subject of Guilderson's talk "Radiocarbon: Chronometer and Geochemical Tracer of the Carbon Cycle,"…
Optical Society of America names Seppala senior member
Lynn Seppala has been named a senior member of the Optical Society of America (OSA), an international society for optics and photonics scientists, engineers, educators and business leaders. Senior membership status recognizes members with more than 10 years of significant experience and professional accomplishments or service in their fields. Seppala, a senior optical…
