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Physical and Life Sciences
Separating signal and noise in climate warming
LIVERMORE, Calif. -- In order to separate human-caused global warming from the "noise" of purely natural climate fluctuations, temperature records must be at least 17 years long, according to climate scientists. To address criticism of the reliability of thermometer records of surface warming, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists analyzed satellite…
Americans using more fossil fuels
American energy use went back up in 2010 compared to 2009, when consumption was at a 12-year low. The United States used more fossil fuels in 2010 than in 2009, while renewable electricity remained approximately constant, with an increase in wind power offset by a modest decline in hydroelectricity. There also was a significant increase in biomass consumption, according to…
Lab-based PCR research most accessed article in August
A scientific paper written by a team of LLNL researchers and engineers was the most-accessed article for the month of August for the international journal Analyst . The paper, describing a device for the sub-three-minute amplification of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), was written by a team that includes lead author and chemical engineer…
Reinventing the soft X-ray spectroscopy of actinides
A Laboratory team has re-invented the soft X-ray spectroscopy of the highly radioactive actinides with a new, unique spectrometer. Using LLNL's new Fano/Resonant Inverse Photoelectron Spectroscopy (RIPES) spectrometer, Lab researchers Jim Tobin and Sung Woo Yu conducted a series of experiments on cerium oxide and uranium dioxide. The duo also looked at the X-ray absorption…
Lab team helps measure femtosecond pulses of X-ray free electron
An international team including three LLNL researchers have measured for the first time the spatial and temporal coherence of a single femtosecond X-ray pulse generated by the first hard X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL), the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The LLNL team, which includes Regina Soufli, Stefan Hau-Riege and…
Lab biophysicist invents improvement to Monte Carlo technique
Jerome P. Nilmeier, a biophysicist working in computational biology, is willing to bet his new research will provide a breakthrough in the use of the Monte Carlo probability code in biological simulations. Working with Gavin E. Crooks at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, David D. L. Minh at Argonne, and John D. Chodera, from the University of California, Berkeley, Nilmeier…
Lab researchers address quantum world in new paper
Lab researchers Walid Younes and Daniel Gogny have co-authored a paper, "Nuclear scission and quantum localization," recently published in Physics Review Letters . The publication details a major physics result in a project funded by a $695,000 grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).The world at a micro level is described by the field of quantum…
Lab receives $3 million for BioAMS instrument
LIVERMORE, Calif. -- Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory recently received $3 million from the National Institutes of Health to acquire a new biomedical accelerator mass spectrometry (bioAMS) instrument. The instrument will provide faster analysis for medical and other biological research. Historically, no matter what form a biological sample started out…
Advance by Lawrence Livermore scientists makes possible near-instantaneous DNA analysis
Picture this: You've brought your sick child to the doctor's office. After checking her pulse and blood pressure, he takes a nasal or throat swab and inserts it into a mysterious black box. Before the doctor finishes his examination, the black box beeps, indicating that the pathogen that's making your child sick has been identified. Sound far-fetched? Actually, this…
Students tackle Lab's climate simulation challenge
How are climate change and energy demands linked? What energy options are available to our nation and the world?These are only a few of the questions Tracy High School students explored during a recent school contest based on LLNL's climate simulation learning tool found on the Climate Simulation Website."The goal is to have students gain a better understanding of how…
LLNL helps open a new era of plasma nuclear science
In a unique experiment recently published in Physical Review Letters , researchers used the Omega Laser Facility at the University of Rochester to make precise measurements of a fundamental nuclear process -- the elastic scattering of neutrons off heavy forms of hydrogen. This is the first time a fundamental nuclear physics experiment has been achieved using a high-energy…
Fat turnover in obese slower than average
LIVERMORE, Calif. -- It may be more difficult for obese people to lose fat because the "turnover" rate is much slower for those overweight than average weight individuals. New research in the Sept. 25 online edition of the journal Nature shows that the turnover (storage and loss rate) of fat in the human body is about 1 1/2 years compared to fat cells, which turnover about…
Compression experiments lead to shocking results
LIVERMORE, Calif. -- Using acceleration 1 trillion times faster than a jet fighter in a maximum turn, researchers have gained new insight into dynamic compression of aluminum at ultrahigh strain rates. Controlled shock compression has been used for decades to examine the behavior of materials under extreme conditions of pressure and temperature. Using an ultrafast…
Lab bioscientist looks into origin of viruses
Monica Borucki, a scientist in the Lab's Biosciences and Biotechnology Division has won a 1-year contract from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. The $415,000 contract will fund a research project staffed by a team of six Lab scientists that will study how to better determine the origin of a virus. Knowing the origin of a virus is important in a public health emergency…
Bruce Remington awarded prestigious Edward Teller Medal
LIVERMORE, Calif. -- Bruce Remington, group leader for material dynamics in the National Ignition Facility Directorate's High Energy Density Experiments Program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), is the recipient of the 2011 Edward Teller Medal. The Fusion Energy Division of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) presented the award today (Sept. 14), during the…
LLNL researcher awarded $2.4 million from NIH
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researcher Pejman Naraghi-Arani has been awarded $2.4 million by the National Institutes of Health under the Partnerships for Biodefense Program, which aims to develop various tools that can be applied to detect, mitigate the effects of or protect against a biological terrorism attack. Naraghi-Arani and partners, including the…
Lab dominates technology transfer awards
LIVERMORE, Calif. -- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory once again is receiving honors for its efforts to move breakthrough ideas from the Lab into the marketplace. The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer is a national network of federal laboratories that develops strategies and opportunities for connecting the labs to the marketplace. Since it was…
Moon and Earth may be younger than originally thought
LIVERMORE, Calif. -- New research using a technique that measures the isotopes of lead and neodymium in lunar crustal rocks shows that the moon and Earth may be millions of years younger than originally thought. The common estimate of the moon's age is as old as 4.5 billion years old (roughly the same age as the solar system) as determined by mineralogy and chemical…
Lab and Spain sign agreement to collaborate on fusion
The Laboratory has signed a memorandum of understanding to engage in joint research and to promote the exchange of personnel with Spain's Instituto de Fusion Nuclear (IFN), a research institute of the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (UPM) to explore the highest level of nuclear fusion research. The Laboratory and IFN have had a long history of collaboration; the MOU…
Lindl, Rosen, Santer and Spencer named Distinguished Members Technical Staff
Four Laboratory employees have been named Distinguished Members of Technical Staff (DMTS) for their extraordinary scientific and technical contributions to the Laboratory and its missions as acknowledged by their professional peers and the larger community. John Lindl of the NIF and Photon Science Principal Directorate, Mordy Rosen of the Weapons Complex and Integration…
