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Laboratory Directed Research and Development
New research could lead to more efficient electrical energy storage
Lawrence Livermore researchers have identified electrical charge-induced changes in the structure and bonding of graphitic carbon electrodes that may one day affect the way energy is stored.The research could lead to an improvement in the capacity and efficiency of electrical energy storage systems, such as batteries and supercapacitors, needed to meet the burgeoning…
New energy record set for multilayer-coated mirrors
Multilayer-coated mirrors, if used as focusing optics in the soft gamma-ray photon energy range, can enable and advance a range of scientific and technological applications that would benefit from the large improvements in sensitivity and resolution that true imaging provides. In a paper published in a recent online edition of Optics Express, LLNL postdoc Nicolai Brejnholt…
Lawrence Livermore captures four R&D 100 awards for leading industrial inventions
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers are the recipients of four awards among the top 100 industrial inventions worldwide for 2013.The four technologies honored were developed by three teams of LLNL researchers who worked with industrial collaborators, and also by a multidisciplinary Lab team of scientists and engineers.The trade journal R&D Magazine…
Lawrence Livermore, MIT researchers develop new ultralight, ultrastiff 3D printed materials
LIVERMORE, Calif. - Imagine a material with the same weight and density as aerogel -- a material so light it's called 'frozen smoke' -- but with 10,000 times more stiffness. This material could have a profound impact on the aerospace and automotive industries as well as other applications where lightweight, high-stiffness and high-strength materials are needed.Lawrence…
Lawrence Livermore scientists use carbon nanotubes for tissue healing
Lawrence Livermore scientists have found that carbon nanotubes can help with tissue healing and repair.The team, which includes scientists from The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, UC Davis and UC Merced, found that there is long-term biocompatibility of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) when used for tissue engineering and articular cartilage.Carbon nanotubes…
LLNL partnership with Calysta works to convert natural gas to liquid fuel
In an effort to put to good use natural gas (methane) that might otherwise become pollution, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is collaborating with start-up company Calysta Energy on a new technology to convert natural gas to liquid fuel.The process involves taking natural gas from oil and gas operations, and converting it to methanol that can be used as a fuel or…
First results from LUX world's most sensitive dark matter detector
LEAD, S.D. - After its first run of more than three months, operating a mile underground in the Black Hills of South Dakota, a new experiment named LUX has proven itself the most sensitive dark matter detector in the world."LUX is blazing the path to illuminate the nature of dark matter," says Brown University physicist Rick Gaitskell, co-spokesperson for LUX with…
Lab researcher Harry Martz makes flying safer for Americans
Each time you step on a commercial flight, you can feel safer because of a researcher you've probably never heard of. His name is Harry Martz. He's a veteran scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) who wakes up every day thinking how his research can advance X-ray imaging technology to thwart the next terrorist attack. See the video .Plainspoken and…
Building a scientific and engineering base in Qatar
After working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for nearly his entire career, Thomas Zacharia decided last year that it was time for a change.The former ORNL deputy director for science and technology in Tennessee, Zacharia assumed the reins of a new job last August as the executive vice-president for R&D at the Qatar Foundation in the heart of the Middle East, some 7…
Lawrence Livermore scientists make new discoveries in the transmission of viruses between animals and humans
Outbreaks such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS) have afflicted people around the world, yet many people think these trends are on the decline.Quite the opposite is true.The efforts to combat this epidemic are being spearheaded by a team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists. Led by…
Lab researchers achieve record pressure for solid iron
Iron is the most abundant element in Earth's core and the sixth most abundant element in the universe. As a key component of terrestrial planets and exoplanets, iron has been one of the most studied materials under extreme conditions.In a series of campaigns led by the Lab's Yuan Ping using the OMEGA laser at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) at the University of…
William Goldstein selected as Lawrence Livermore deputy director for Science and Technology
LIVERMORE, Calif., -- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director Parney Albright has selected William Goldstein as deputy director of Science and Technology. Goldstein had served in this position in an acting capacity since September 2012. "Bill's proven scientific leadership abilities, his passion for developing and sustaining science, technology and engineering…
PLS names outstanding postdocs
What makes an outstanding postdoc? Ask members of the Physical and Life Sciences Directorate (PLS) who last month bequeathed the title on four individuals during an awards presentation by former Principal Associate Director Bill Goldstein.This award is given to postdocs with an exceptional level of accomplishment while working at LLNL. The 2012 PLS Outstanding Postdocs are…
Scientists create new atomic X-ray laser
Lab scientists and international collaborators have created the shortest, purest X-ray laser pulses ever achieved, fulfilling a 45-year-old prediction and ultimately opening the door to new medicines, devices and materials. The researchers, reporting today (Jan. 26) in Nature , aimed radiation from the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), located at the Stanford Linear…
Grad student Swanberg recognized by APS
Erik Swanberg, a graduate student working in the Lab's Experimental Nuclear Physics Group, received the Margaret Burbidge Award from the American Physical Society (APS) California Section at the organization's fall 2011 meeting. Swanberg, who will earn a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from UC Berkeley in May, has been conducting research at LLNL for three years. He was…
Seeing is believing: LLNL Postdoc reveals wonders of the protist world
No matter how sophisticated instruments have become, or how data intensive results may be, there is still something satisfying and frequently informative about seeing what a researcher is studying. Sometimes samples are so small, or so large, or so far away that it's almost impossible to get a visual perspective that makes any sense or reveals any insight. That's where the…
Livermore and Russian scientists propose new names for elements 114 and 116
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) today recommended new proposed 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 and Livermorium for element 116. In June 2011, the IUPAC…
Unclassified computing scales to new heights
Unclassified high performance computing at the Laboratory will scale new heights with the recent installation of Sierra, a Dell supercomputing system.Clocking in at a peak speed of 261 teraFLOP/s (trillion floating operation per second), Sierra will become the most powerful high performance computing (HPC) resource available for unclassified research at LLNL. The new…
Learning from climate's sedimental journey
By analyzing sediments up to 4,000 years old, Susan Zimmerman is hoping to provide a tool to help predict future climate change.Ancient records of what was happening with climate conditions can be used with regional climate models to tell a story of what happened in the past and to correlate it to the present and the future. Current models typically use data only for the…
Forensics helps NPS officer detect his niche
Major Bill Short's time at the Laboratory may turn out to be brief, but he believes it just might stand out as one of the most valuable experiences of his career.With 20 years of service in the U.S. Marine Corps, Short enrolled in the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey. There he learned about an LLNL research opportunity in the area of standoff detection of…
