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Nearly 100 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory students, mentors and staff joined colleagues from across the Department of Energy complex on July 10 for a hands-on clinic focused on using agentic artificial intelligence tools in real scientific and technical work.

LLNL students, mentors put agentic AI tools to work at cross-laboratory clinic

Nearly 100 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) students, mentors and staff joined colleagues from across the Department of Energy (DOE) complex recently for a hands-on clinic focused on using agentic artificial intelligence tools in real scientific and technical work. Held in the Lab’s Research Library, the 2026 Cross-Laboratory AI Clinic combined shared…

The first images of major outer membrane proteins in a chlamydia bacterium (side, top and bottom views) show that it forms a tripod with a mushroom-like cap of antigens. That shape could be crucial for developing an effective vaccine. (Image: Guo et al.)

First high-resolution images of chlamydia protein pave the way for better vaccine designs

Chlamydia is the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection in the world, with 150 million people infected in 2023. Although the infection can be treated with antibiotics, it often leads to infertility and other health problems. A safe and effective chlamydia vaccine would help prevent asymptomatic but transmissible infections that often go undiagnosed. For 40…

The LLNL-designed tri-optics payload, featuring wide and narrow field-of-view telescopes, enables advanced navigation and high-resolution lunar imaging for the CAPSTONE 02 mission. (Artist rendering: Dan Herchek)

Advanced Space selects LLNL to provide optics system for CAPSTONE 02

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) will support the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment 02 (CAPSTONE 02), led by Advanced Space’s mission integration team. Building on the Laboratory’s optics expertise, the tri-optical imaging payload will enable advanced imaging for the mission’s rendezvous and proximity…

Researchers at LLNL and partners at Oxylus Energy are developing an electrochemical reactor that transforms waste carbon into valuable chemicals. (Photo: Garry McLeod/LLNL)

LLNL, Oxylus Energy capture commercialization grant with reactor that converts carbon waste to methanol

Many industrial processes produce large volumes of carbon as a waste product. New reactor technology from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has the potential to turn that waste into a valuable feedstock for useful chemicals and fuels. The result could bolster domestic manufacturing, diversify supply chains and ensure lasting energy security in the U.S. These …

Genesis Mission graphic

LLNL selected to lead 10 projects under DOE’s Genesis Mission

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers have been selected to lead 10 Phase I projects under the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Genesis Mission, applying AI to challenges spanning high-performance computing (HPC), fusion energy, Earth systems science, materials discovery, biology, quantum technologies and fundamental physics. LLNL…

The 220 LRUs delivered to the Nevada National Security Sites will support the Integrated Test Stand in North Las Vegas, where the ASD teams will operate the injector and two accelerator modules in a scaled version of Scorpius. Middleware hardware, shown in the third row from the bottom, provides communication between the hardware and the control systems. Together, these components help evaluate system performance before installation in the underground facility.

Milestone shipments power next phases of Scorpius accelerator project

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has completed delivery of the first 220 line-replaceable units (LRUs) to the Integrated Test Stand (ITS) at Nevada National Security Sites (NNSS), as well as the first 100 LRUs to be used at NNSS’s underground facility, the Principal Underground Laboratory for Subcritical Experimentation (PULSE). The two major hardware delivery…

NASA’s Psyche mission successfully tested a gamma-ray sensor developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory during a Mars gravity assist. The mission aims to study the asteroid Psyche, believed to be an exposed planetary core, with the spacecraft scheduled to arrive in 2029. (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU)

NASA’s Psyche mission tests LLNL-built gamma-ray sensor on Mars flyby

On a multi-billion-mile journey to the asteroid Psyche, a gamma-ray sensor developed by a team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) took its first measurements of a planetary surface after 2.6 years in deep space. NASA’s Psyche spacecraft flew behind Mars for a gravity assist, with the red planet’s gravitational field acting as a slingshot to change the flight…

Attendees at the UC Science at Scale Summit in Santa Fe, New Mexico

“AI Science at Scale” summit showcases advances in AI-enabled research and innovation

Recently, the University of California (UC), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) convened researchers and leaders from across the UC system in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for the first annual AI Science at Scale summit. The summit was planned in recognition of AI’s growing role in scientific discovery and the Department of…

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…

Officials with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the NNSA Livermore Field Office and project management teams cut the ribbon marking the completion of the Digital Infrastructure Capability Expansion facility on June 9. The event celebrated a major milestone in a decade-long effort to modernize one of the Lab’s most critical infrastructure systems. Photo: Glenn Silva/LLNL

NNSA, LLNL officials celebrate completion of critical Lab digital infrastructure upgrade

Officials with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) celebrated the completion of the Digital Infrastructure Capability Expansion (DICE) facility on June 9, marking a major milestone in a decade-long effort to modernize one of the Lab’s most critical infrastructure systems. The 13,000-square-foot facility,…

Aires Tide brings together expertise across design, manufacturing and flight testing in a single cross-enterprise effort

LLNL helps advance AI-driven design and simulation for NNSA Aires Tide collaboration

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is contributing AI-enabled payload optimization and advanced modeling and simulation expertise to Aires Tide, a collaborative National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) demonstration exploring new ways to design flight test vehicles. Developed in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National…

Target chamber at the OMEGA laser facility at the University of Rochester, New York (Credit: OMEGA Laser Facility)

Laser experiments push helium to record shock pressures

Deep inside gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn, hydrogen and helium coexist under pressures millions of times greater than Earth’s atmosphere. At those conditions, helium may separate from hydrogen and influence a planet’s internal heat flow, structure and magnetic field. Understanding these processes and how these materials behave under extreme conditions is essential to…

The Big Ideas Lab podcast takes listeners inside the National Lab Research SLAM competition. Listen to the new episode on Apple and Spotify. (Photo: Blaise Douros)

LLNL’s Big Ideas Lab podcast goes behind the scenes of the National Lab Research SLAM

Finalists representing each of the 17 U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories gathered at the Congressional Auditorium for the first National Lab Research SLAM in 2023. With one slide, three minutes and months of preparation behind them, each scientist stepped up to the microphone to explain their research through compelling storytelling to an audience outside of…

The MC-15 portable neutron detector, developed for rapid deployment in emergency scenarios, utilizes advanced neutron multiplicity counting to identify and assess nuclear materials, providing crucial data for investigating potential radiological threats. (Artist rendering: Dan Herchek)

Meet the machines that matter: the portable neutron detector

Nuclear materials are rarely quiet. Even when hidden inside a sealed container, they emit a kind of heartbeat through streams of particles and radiation that carry critical information about its contents. In a laboratory, scientists have the tools and expertise to read that heartbeat. But in an emergency, first responders need a way to interpret it quickly, without highly…

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…

LLNL Director Kim Budil and Livermore Mayor John Marchand celebrate Livermorium Day, commemorating element 116. Photo by Scott Wilson/LLNL.

Livermorium Day: celebrating big ideas, team science and partnerships

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the City of Livermore share an honor few places can claim — a spot on the periodic table of elements. Leaders from LLNL and the city came together with students, educators and the community to celebrate this at Livermorium Day. This unique event took place in a unique location: Livermorium Plaza in the city’s downtown. “The…

The Electron Beam Ion Trap works like a scalpel, isolating the emission from a single ion species or probing specific atomic processes with surgical precision. (Graphic: Dan Herchek)

Meet the machines that matter: the Electron Beam Ion Trap

Imagine listening to an orchestra: overlapping notes, blended timbres and complex harmonies coming together into a cohesive symphony. Now try to isolate a single instrument and the sounds it produces. Nearly impossible, right? The same is true for collections of ions, charged particles that have gained or lost electrons. Each ion — from hydrogen to lithium to lead and…

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…