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Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Pacific Fusion leaders and researchers gather around the SIRIUS pulsed-power prototype during a May 15 celebration marking the system’s 3,000-shot milestone at LLNL. (Photo by Garry McLeod)

LLNL, Pacific Fusion partnership advances next-generation pulsed-power technology

A pulsed-power prototype designed and built at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has surpassed 3,000 shots, a milestone researchers say demonstrates the maturity of a new accelerator architecture and marks an important step in evaluating how the technology could be scaled for future national and economic security applications, including fusion energy. The campaign was…

Battery diagram

With machine learning, LLNL researchers embrace the atomic-scale complexity of batteries

For grid-scale energy storage and national energy resilience, the U.S. needs better batteries. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are tackling that challenge in many ways, but one approach is making a significant impact: physics-informed machine learning. In two recent publications, LLNL researchers examined how integrating molecular dynamics…

LLNL researchers studied viruses in grassland soil before and after rapid rewetting. Most remained inactive, with only 22 percent of viruses replicating. (Graphic: Dan Herchek/LLNL)

Isotope probing shows soil is packed with dormant viruses lying in wait

A single gram of soil contains between 10 million and 1 billion viruses. Most of those viruses do not infect plants, animals or people — but they do target bacteria and other microbes. Because of their influence on microbial communities, viruses can affect nutrient cycling and soil health. Understanding how they behave is therefore crucial for supporting agriculture, food…

In an inertial confinement experiment on the National Ignition Facility, the lasers converge at tiny entrance holes at the top and bottom of the hohlraum. The intersection of the lasers enables crossed-beam energy transfer, an important factor in maintaining symmetry of implosions.

Research sheds new light on laser polarization effects in NIF experiments

Experiments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) require breathtaking precision. Each of the 192 lasers is focused to a width of a few millimeters to enter a 3-millimeter hole at the top or bottom of a 2-centimeter gold canister known as a hohlraum. As they enter, the beams intersect in plasma and transfer power, a process known as…

Director Kim Budil and UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz signed the agreement last week (Photos: UC Merced).

Agreement opens new opportunities for LLNL, UC Merced

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and UC Merced have long been partners in cutting-edge science and technology. University students and researchers take part in numerous lab activities such as the Data Science Challenge, which brings students to Livermore to for an intensive two-week summer experience where they collaborate on complex scientific and…

Neuromorphic ionic devices have the potential to mimic the energy efficient computing found in the human brain. (Image: J. Cataldo/LLNL)

Bridging the gap between neuromorphic ionic computing and more efficient AI

The human brain is the ultimate supercomputer. It uses a highly-branched and interconnected network of neurons and synapses to achieve massive computational power with extreme efficiency. In the age of AI, the brain, a paradigm of efficient neuromorphic computing, is providing inspiration for scientists. Ionic computing — which uses ions to compute instead of the electrons…

An international cohort gathered at the University of California Livermore Collaboration Center for a workshop focused on ideas at the boundary of fusion science. (Photos: Blaise Douros/LLNL)

LLNL, UC San Diego host workshop for innovative fusion concepts

More than 80 attendees recently gathered at the University of California (UC) Livermore Collaboration Center for the Innovative Concepts for Inertial Fusion Energy (IC-IFE) 2026 International Physics Workshop. Hosted by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and UC San Diego, the three-day conference was supported by the Japan-U.S. Collaboration Program in Fusion…

As hydrogen reacts with uranium, it creates blisters (a) that burst (b) and release uranium hydride powder. The interaction results in surface degradation (c) that can impact material safety and lifetime.

Roll the tape: LLNL captures inception of hydrogen-uranium reaction for the first time

When hydrogen gas interacts with uranium metal, the combination creates a chemically reactive powder and a runaway reaction that is difficult to stop. The result can impact the safety and lifespan of technology critical for fusion energy, hydrogen storage and nuclear fuels. In a recent study published in npj Materials Degradation, researchers from Lawrence Livermore…

FODI at work inspecting an optic between experiments at the National Ignition Facility. Image by Daniel Herchek/LLNL

Meet the machines that matter: the Optics Inspector

LLNL tackles the nation’s toughest security challenges through bold, multidisciplinary science powered by advanced facilities and instruments. In this new series, meet the machines that work behind the scenes at the Laboratory to drive discovery, push boundaries and enable excellence. From inspecting optics and trapping ions to cooling supercomputers and detecting…

2026 Lawrence Fellows Harry Fetsch, Taryn Imamura and Clarke Knight

Three Lawrence fellows selected for 2026 cohort

This year’s three Lawrence fellows will pursue research that spans fusion science, emerging concepts for sensing and response and earth system science. Their work reflects both the breadth of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) mission space and the program’s commitment to enabling early-career scientists to take bold, multidisciplinary approaches to…

Big Ideas Lab genesis mission graphic

Big Ideas Lab explores how the Genesis Mission aims to accelerate scientific discovery

Scientific discovery has always moved through a familiar cycle: question, hypothesis, experiment and a result. In the latest episode of the Big Ideas Lab podcast, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) explores how the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Genesis Mission aims to accelerate that process by uniting AI, high-performance computing (HPC), experiments and the…

On May 7, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Director Kim Budil, fourth from left, joined a public-private panel on AI for science, where she highlighted LLNL capabilities and AI focus areas, including the National Ignition Facility, El Capitan, high-fidelity modeling and simulation and advanced materials and manufacturing. (Photo: Jeremy Thomas)

LLNL showcases AI-enabled science, national security and energy innovation at AI+ Expo

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) leaders, scientists and engineers joined national voices at the Special Competitive Studies Project’s (SCSP) AI+ Expo May 7-9 in Washington, D.C., highlighting how AI is reshaping science, security and energy innovation. The public Expo brought together government, industry, academic and Department of Energy (DOE) national…

LLNL scientists Nicholas Watkins and Sankar Raju Narayanasamy run a high-throughput screening system to test hundreds of enzymes for their ability to break down cellulose. (Photos: Blaise Douros/LLNL)

Screening enzymes to break down plant waste and produce valuable biofuels

Locked away inside the walls of plant cells lies a valuable source of energy: sugar. But to access that sugar — which could provide a domestic source of bioenergy that strengthens U.S. energy security — researchers must first break down cellulose, the structural component of plant cell walls. A team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has designed two high…

LLNL's Dan Casey speaks with US IFE conference attendees

LLNL experts help advance inertial fusion energy at U.S. IFE conference

Researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) joined their counterparts from national laboratories, universities, industry and government in a conference last month to discuss the progress, challenges and priorities for moving toward an inertial fusion energy (IFE) future in the United States. The U.S. IFE conference brought together the growing IFE…

A diagram of a fuel-cell assembly

3D-printed interlocking electrodes demonstrate optimization potential for energy storage

Good electrochemical energy storage (EES) devices such as rechargeable batteries and supercapacitors can store a lot of energy and release it quickly, but these design goals are often at odds with each other. Using design optimization and 3D printing, a team led by engineers and scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have overcome this tradeoff and…

LLNL teams attended the Energy I-Corps Cohort 22 kick-off in Colorado March 16-20, 2026. Pictured from left to right: Ryan Muir, Leily Kiani, Candice Bila, Clint Frye, and Qinghui Shao.(Credit: Kira Voss)

Two LLNL teams attend DOE’s Energy I-Corps Cohort 22

Continuing a decade of entrepreneurial training and commercializing mission innovation, two teams of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers attended the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy I-Corps (EIC) Cohort 22 in Colorado this spring. The EIC is a key initiative of the DOE’s Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC). Candice Bila from the…

HPC4 Energy Innovation

DOE opens new HPC4EI call to connect US manufacturers with national-lab supercomputing

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has opened a new call for proposals under the High-Performance Computing for Energy Innovation (HPC4EI) program, a national initiative managed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) that connects U.S. manufacturers with the computing power and scientific expertise of DOE’s national laboratories. The program invites companies to…

The AVLIS program began at LLNL in 1973 and was suspended in 1999. Now, the technology is being revived to create a domestic process for enriching lithium and fuel an energy-resilient nation.

Revitalized laser technology captures commercialization grant

Small, modular nuclear fission reactors and fusion facilities could each be the future of resilient and secure energy in the U.S. and around the world. But these technologies rely on isotopes of lithium to cool fission reactors and create fusion fuel. Currently, there is no sustained, domestic production mechanism for lithium isotopes in the U.S. that meets projected…

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory leaders and researchers accept the 2026 Manufacturer of the Year award in the large manufacturer category from the Association of Manufacturers Bay Area (AMBayArea) on April 21, recognizing the Lab’s leadership in advanced manufacturing, engineering and national security innovation. Pictured (l-r) are LLNL Materials Engineering Division Leader Chris Spadaccini, robotics engineer Mason Sage, Government & Industry Relations Senior Advisor Yuvaraj Sivalingam and Director

LLNL named 2026 Manufacturer of the Year by AMBayArea

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has been named the 2026 Manufacturer of the Year in the large manufacturer category by the Association of Manufacturers Bay Area (AMBayArea), recognizing the Lab’s leadership in advanced manufacturing, engineering and national security innovation. The award was announced April 21 during the AMBayArea Summit at the Chabot Space …

LLNL researchers invented a high-throughput platform that screens proteins for their rare earth element binding preferences at unprecedented scale. (Photos: Blaise Douros/LLNL)

New protein-screening platform accelerates rare-earth separation for U.S. supply chain

To ensure a robust domestic supply chain in the U.S., Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are using bacterial proteins to separate the rare-earth elements that are ubiquitous in magnets, batteries and electronics. These proteins, called lanmodulin, evolved in bacteria that use rare-earth elements to power their metabolism. But to scale up and advance…