LLNL's popular lecture series highlighting 'Ingenious Inventions' premieres in Oakland

LIVERMORE, California -- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's popular lecture series, "Science on Saturday," premieres Saturday, Nov. 4, at 2 p.m. at the Chabot Space and Science Center, located at 10,000 Skyline Blvd. in Oakland.

The series will offer two different lectures, one each on Saturday, Nov. 4 and Nov. 18, with the theme "Ingenious Inventions." Each lecture is targeted to middle and high school students and presented by leading Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers, who are joined by master high school science teachers. Admission is free of charge for the presentation; all other center admission will apply. Seating is on a first-come basis.

Kicking off the series on Nov. 4 is "3D Printing: From Imagination to Realization," by LLNL scientists Eric Duoss, Chris Spadaccini, Julie Jackson, William Smith and Melody Golobic, along with teacher Dean Reese of Tracy High School. In the lecture, the presenters will cover how revolutionary changes to materials and structures are now possible with 3D printing, bringing concepts that were previously only imagined into reality. Additive manufacturing (AM), commonly known as 3D printing, is a breakthrough technology that fabricates components by adding material layer by layer from the bottom up. This allows for the creation of highly complex and previously unrealizable structures that have radically improved performance and capability, such as high strength and low weight.

LLNL is working with existing AM technologies and materials, as well as inventing its own, and pushing the boundaries of size scale, material composition and geometric complexity.

On Nov. 18, LLNL scientists Matt Coleman, Amy Rasley and Wei He, along with teacher Erin McKay of Tracy High School, will present "Building Biologically Inspired Nano-Bots." This presentation will discuss the use of both synthetic and molecular biology approaches to produce small nano-machines, termed nano-bots, with defined and measurable functionalities. The main building blocks for these nano-bots are based on nano-lipo-protein particles (NLPs). These NLP particles are made up of a lipid raft surrounded by protein that naturally exists in the human body to transport cholesterol. LLNL researchers have developed a unique process to make engineered particles that represent the basic building blocks of nano-robots. These NLP-based nano-bots represent a unique solution for innovative approaches to vaccines, drug delivery and energy needs.

Students will receive a worksheet to record key information from the talk. The worksheet will be marked with the official Science on Saturday stamp at the end of the presentation. Many teachers use the worksheet to award extra credit. Students should check with their teacher in advance to determine if they will receive credit for attending.

Science on Saturday is sponsored by LLNL's Science Education Program. There is no pre-registration and seating is on a first-come basis.

For more information about Science on Saturday go to the web or contact albala1 [at] llnl.gov (Joanna Albala) at (925) 422-6803.