Lab Report: Aug. 21, 2026

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly ubiquitous, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is turning it into the ultimate lab assistant, with scientists utilizing the evolving technology to accelerate experimentation and speed the discovery of metal alloys, chemical compounds and cancer treatments.

The adoption of AI at the lab has made autonomous experimentation commonplace, allowing scientists to run experiments while they’re away and greatly expand the scope of scientific inquiry.

“We’re entering this exciting era, and we’re forging that era here at the (Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory) for the next generation of experimenters,” said Aldair Gongora, a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory staff scientist who is leading the implementation of AI. “Whether it’s in batteries, whether it’s in biology, whether it’s in alloys, (scientists) now have at their fingertips the ability to run dozens or hundreds, maybe thousands and — in my dream — millions of experiments.”

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have measured how diamond melts under extreme pressures, resolving a long-standing discrepancy between experiment and theory. In inertial confinement fusion experiments, where a diamond capsule is used to hold fuel, this refined understanding of diamond’s phase change has the potential to triple energy gain, provided that other degradation mechanisms can be controlled.

“We were able to take tiny diamond samples and shock compress them to temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun and to pressures higher than the center of Neptune and Uranus — and still measure atomic structure, temperature, density, and optical reflectivity,” said LLNL scientist Marius Millot.

The team conducted laser-driven dynamic compression experiments at the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE), where they compressed a tiny diamond sample and captured information such as X-ray diffraction data that illuminates atomic structure, all in a billionth of a second.

There was a spotlight on student fellows at the Livermore Lab Foundation 10th anniversary showcase. The ‘Decade of Impact Celebration’ this month also looked ahead to the nonprofit’s bold goals for the next 10 years and beyond.

This region’s commitment to scientific discovery and innovation is typified by the success of the Livermore Lab Foundation.

Established in 2016 as the primary philanthropic partner of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (a novel concept in the industry at the time), the foundation has raised more than $11 million and provided some 175 fellowship awards to undergraduate and graduate students — and its sights are set on even greater achievement in the next decade and beyond.

A little-known California fault line — already considered one of the most dangerous in the country — was rattled by another earthquake Thursday morning, shaking communities across the Bay Area and setting off a pair of aftershocks.

The 3.8-magnitude earthquake struck at 8:30 a.m. near the Oakland Zoo and Bishop O'Dowd High School, according to ABC7.

The epicenter was near the Oakland Zoo, which sits directly on the notorious Hayward Fault — a 74-mile seismic scar cutting through some of the Bay Area's most heavily populated communities, including Berkeley, Oakland and Fremont.

And scientists have long worried what could happen when the fault really lets loose.

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have modeled what that nightmare scenario could look like, running 50 simulations of a magnitude 7 rupture.

Sandia National Laboratories reported that it successfully completed the second and final full-scale crash test of the Mobile Guardian Transporter, designed to safely transport nuclear weapons and material for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). For the test, scientists used rockets to propel the truck, loaded with mock nuclear weapons, down a sled track and slam it into a barrier, all to see whether the truck’s trailer was sturdy enough to withstand a massive impact and protect its sensitive cargo.

According to Sandia, the purpose of the latest tests was to demonstrate that the truck wouldn’t pose a threat to the public and to assess how exactly an impact of this degree would affect both the trailer and its cargo. The mock nuclear hardware was sourced from the Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. The truck was equipped with nearly 500 data collection channels, as well as around three dozen cameras.