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Science and Technology Review

An artist’s rendering of the cross section of a super-Earth with the National Ignition Facility (NIF) target chamber superimposed over the mantle.

Iron under Extremes

Lawrence Livermore scientists have performed a series of experiments through the National Ignition Facility’s (NIF’s) Discovery Science Program to replicate the extreme conditions within super-Earth cores and answered many questions posited by theoretical predictions and extrapolations from previously established relatively low pressure–temperature experimental data.

buildings and structures in a cityscape, partially blocked by a cloud

Sheltering Science Saves Lives

Lawrence Livermore researchers have worked for more than a decade to provide insights for a multifaceted emergency response, and in the process, they have advanced the science of sheltering and developed computer models to identify potentially life-saving strategies.

Beta-decay Paul Trap

Small Things Considered

Of the four forces, the weak nuclear force is the least understood and most difficult to detect. A Lawrence Livermore team headed by physicist Nick Scielzo partnered with scientists from Argonne National Laboratory, Louisiana State University, and other universities to better characterize the weak force’s foundations. Thanks to significant advances in experimental design…

Lou Gehrig announcing he would leave baseball after having been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

Joining the Fight to Cure Neurodegenerative Disease

The Laboratory’s cutting-edge capabilities and expertise offer new tools to study ALS disease mechanisms and fuel hope for a cure.

A large, glowing orange circle with fluid texture

Short Wavelengths Yield Big Dividends

Collaborative research and development focused on the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) end of the spectrum has resulted in state-of-the-art, multilayer reflective optics used for space exploration, manufacturing microchips, and more.

Optician Colby McNamee holds a piece of the R&D 100 Award–winning gadolinium–lutetium–oxide transparent ceramic scintillator

Additive Manufacturing Brings New Possibilities for Transparent Ceramics

Having developed several transparent ceramics for radiation detection applications for the Department of Homeland Security and the Stockpile Stewardship Program, Lawrence Livermore recently leveraged its unique additive manufacturing resources and capabilities to develop transparent ceramics with properties not previously available for use as laser materials.

Hundreds of tall cylinders arranged pair-wise in rows, photographed from an elevated vantage point

The ACES in Our Hand

The Adaptive Computing Environment and Simulations (ACES) project will advance fissile materials production models and reduce risk of nuclear proliferation.

magnifying glass looking at pipes

A Watery Detective Story

As with most mysteries, this one starts with a puzzling scene: a waterlogged field situated near Lawrence Livermore and Sandia national laboratories in Livermore, California. The property belongs to Wente Vineyards, a winery in the region, whose establishment predates the Laboratory by nearly 100 years. How the water got there and why was unclear, but the most likely…

abstract shapes and lines

GEOSX Simulates Carbon Dioxide Storage

Since the Industrial Revolution, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels have continued to rise. While oceans, plants, and soils can sequester some of this CO2 naturally, they cannot capture and remove it all, causing the excess to make its way into the atmosphere. Long-term storage solutions are needed to address the surplus—a contributor to climate change—and help the…

lines with circles

Mission Fulfillment with Exponential Impact

The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Early Career Research Program (ECRP) aims to bolster the nation’s scientific workforce by providing support to exceptional researchers at U.S. academic institutions and DOE’s national laboratories during their early career years. Annually, ECRP provides research funding to full-time staff in their first 10 years post-doctorate.

Getting to Neutral report cover

The Path to a Carbon Neutral California

A Livermore report outlines a strategy to reduce California’s carbon emissions to net zero by 2045.

A Laboratory-developed experimental platform at the National Ignition Facility

A Shot Like No Other

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers aligned energetic materials knowledge and high-energy-density science expertise with experimental capabilities at the world’s most energetic laser, the National Ignition Facility.

Grid

Polymer Production Enclave Puts Additive Manufacturing on the Fast Track

Since its establishment, Lawrence Livermore has played a critical role in designing components for the Nuclear Security Enterprise (NSE), and more recently, in developing additively manufactured polymer parts to replace aging weapons stockpile parts.

scientists with experimental apparatus

Eyes High in the Skies

In 2021, a small satellite bearing an imaging payload featuring two MonoTeles hitched a rideshare on a SpaceX Starlink launch at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Researchers in an experimental facility

Three Decades of Explosive Innovation

Since Lawrence Livermore’s inception in 1952, Laboratory researchers have been among the nation’s leaders in understanding, synthesizing, formulating, testing, assessing, and modeling the initiation systems and energetic materials (EM) that play an integral role in the U.S. nuclear deterrent, conventional munitions, and homeland security. The Laboratory’s Energetic…

Engineers and scientists complete the installation of the laser heterodyne radiometer (LHR) into the MiniCarb cube satellite.

Space Program Innovation, One Small Satellite at a Time

Lawrence Livermore’s first involvement with CubeSats was developing optical imaging payloads for the Space-Based Telescopes for the Actionable Refinement of Ephemeris (STARE) project to monitor space debris. Since then, the Laboratory has continued to advance CubeSat technology and strengthen the institution’s space program.

Researchers prepare a high-explosive target.

Detonation Science Blasts into a New Frontier

At Lawrence Livermore, a key aspect of stockpile stewardship includes fine-tuning and experimentally observing HE detonation processes and developing computer models to predict the behavior of different HEs. Over the last several decades, HE detonation science has progressed toward higher resolution experimental and modeling capabilities that explore initiation processes,…

Zachary Seeley holds a gadolinium–lutetium–oxide (GLO) transparent ceramic scintillator plate.

Novel Scintillator Improves X-Ray Imaging

A Livermore team has developed a first-of-its kind transparent ceramic scintillator that significantly improves throughput for CT-based 3D imaging for manufacturing and other applications.

Flame

Thermite Research Heats Up

Energetic materials—explosives, propellants, and pyrotechnics—are substances that store and release large amounts of chemical energy. They are made by either physically mixing solid oxidizers and fuels to produce a composite energetic material, such as gunpowder, or by creating a molecule that contains both oxidizing and fuel components, such as TNT.

Lab hosts U.S.-Brazil meeting to collaborate in science and technology

Representatives from government, industry, research institutions and academia in the United States and Brazil met at the Laboratory Tuesday and Wednesday to establish a "platform" for collaborative science and technology projects that have the potential to benefit public health and the environment, and stimulate economic development. The two-day forum, sponsored by the U.S…