Research reveals how humidity affects atmospheric corrosion of aluminum metal
June 6, 2023-
Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) performed simulations using the Lab's supercomputer Ruby to uncover physical mechanisms that explain why humidity controls the rate of atmospheric corrosion of aluminum metal. Their research is featured in the ACS Journal of Applied Materials and Interfaces.
Accurate predictions of aluminum component lifetimes depend on...
Cover cropping can increase farming yields
June 1, 2023-
Cropland management practices that restore soil organic carbon (SOC) are often looked at as climate solutions that also enhance yields. But how often these benefits align at the farm level — the scale of farmers’ decision-making — remains unclear.
In a new study in Nature Sustainability, a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientist and collaborators examined concurrent SOC...
New report finds that carbon capture and storage in California can concurrently serve local communities, the environment and the economy
May 24, 2023-
A new report co-authored by George Peridas of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Benjamin Grove of the Clean Air Task Force examines the economic viability of carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in California and finds that several classes of projects are viable today.
These can help the state meet its climate goals and hold a sizable potential to benefit host...
Lab researchers assist for new Compact X-ray FEL
May 22, 2023-
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and University of California, Davis researchers are assisting Arizona State University with a new laser facility that will use ultrafast pulsed X-ray beams to study biological processes, materials and other research at the atomic level.
In March, the National Science Foundation announced that it was awarding $90.8 million to Tempe...
Clear human influence on atmospheric temperature changes
May 16, 2023-
New research shows that it is now virtually impossible for natural causes to explain satellite-measured changes in the thermal structure of Earth’s atmosphere.
The analysis conducted by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and colleagues for the first time demonstrates that extending “fingerprinting” techniques — used to identify the human effects on climate — to...
A rock hard technique to harvest atmospheric CO2
May 9, 2023-
Carbonate minerals are formed when carbon dioxide reacts with magnesium and calcium-rich rocks. But where does that CO2 come from?
If it comes from the atmosphere, this process at sufficient scale may be able to reliably draw down atmospheric greenhouse gas levels, according to new research by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists. The research appears in the journal Nuc...
Long-term coastal cliff loss due to climate change
May 2, 2023-
The dangers of coastal erosion are an all-too-familiar reality for the modern residents of California’s iconic mountainous coastal communities. With a new tool, researchers are now bringing historical perspective to the topic of how to manage these disappearing coastlines.
Using a model that incorporates measurements of the amount of time coastal cliffs and their remnant deposits were...
LLNL celebrates National Physics Day
April 24, 2023-
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is celebrating National Physics Day (April 24) by highlighting just a few of the thousands of physicists that work at the Lab. Physics is a scientific practice that seeks to understand the way the universe behaves by examining properties of matter and energy.
Representing a cross-section of the broad scope of focus areas and disciplines...
Fueling up hydrogen production
April 3, 2023-
Through machine learning, a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientist has a better grasp of understanding materials used to produce hydrogen fuel.
Water is everywhere in the environment and its interaction with metal oxide surfaces has a key role in processes that range from wetting, dissolution and corrosion to photocatalytic reactions. The relative stability of molecular vs...
LLNL scientists develop model for more efficient simulations of protein interactions linked to cancer
March 28, 2023-
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists have developed a theoretical model for more efficient molecular-level simulations of cell membranes and their lipid-protein interactions, part of a multi-institutional effort to better understand the behavior of cancer-causing membrane proteins.
Developed under an ongoing collaboration by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National...
LLNL’s William Evans to serve on Fannie and John Hertz Foundation board of directors
March 20, 2023-
Lab physicist William Evans has been selected to serve on the board of directors for the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the most promising innovators in science and technology.
Evans is the physics division leader in the Physical and Life Sciences Directorate at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), which works to enable U.S...
Prototype telescope designed by Lawrence Livermore researchers launched to the International Space Station
March 16, 2023-
A prototype telescope designed and built by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers has been launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., to the International Space Station (ISS).
Known as the Stellar Occultation Hypertemporal Imaging Payload (SOHIP), the telescope uses LLNL patented-monolithic optics technology on a gimbal to observe and measure atmospheric gravity waves and...
Breaking it down, carbon nanotube style
March 14, 2023-
When it comes to studying particles in motion, experimentalists have followed a 100-year-old theory that claims the microscopic motion of a particle is determined by random collisions with molecules of the surrounding medium, regardless of the macroscopic forces that drive that motion.
Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
Demonstrating energy-efficient conversion of nitrate pollutants into ammonia
March 13, 2023-
The nitrate runoff problem, a source of carcinogens and a cause of suffocating algal blooms in U.S. waterways, may not be a harbinger of doom.
A new study led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) demonstrates an approach for the integrated capture and conversion of nitrate-contaminated waters into valuable ammonia...
High-fidelity simulation offers insight into 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor
March 9, 2023-
On the morning of Feb. 15, 2013, a small asteroid exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, sending a loud shockwave and sonic boom across the region, damaging buildings and leaving around 1,200 people injured. The resulting meteor, with a diameter of approximate 20 meters (roughly the size of a six-story building), was one of the largest to be detected breaking up in the Earth’s atmosphere in more...
Novel experimental platform enables first measurements of ion-acoustic wave bursts during magnetic reconnection
March 8, 2023-
A series of experiments conducted at the Omega Laser, part of the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics, provide new insights into magnetic reconnection, a process that could help explain stellar flares and other astrophysical phenomena. The research confirmed that unstable ion-acoustic waves (IAWs) could be important to further understanding of the dissipation physics...
Illuminating the science of black holes and gamma-ray bursts using high-power lasers
Feb. 28, 2023-
High-power lasers now create record-high numbers of electron-positron pairs, opening exciting opportunities to study extreme astrophysical processes, such as black holes and gamma-ray bursts.
Positrons, or "anti-electrons," are anti-particles with the same mass as an electron but with opposite charge. The generation of energetic electron-positron pairs is common in extreme astrophysical...
LLNL chemists double down with breakthrough method to study radioactive materials
Feb. 27, 2023-
Studying radioactive materials is notoriously difficult due to their radiation-induced toxicity and risk of contamination when handling. The cost of the radioactive isotopes used in research also is a major barrier, with some costing more than $10,000 per microgram. Certain radioisotopes also cannot be produced in sufficient quantity so it is simply impossible for researchers to study them...
Collapsing bubbles show new ejecta production mechanism can occur under multiple-shock conditions
Feb. 22, 2023-
New research led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) provides a better understanding of ejecta production, which has been the subject of broad interest for more than 60 years throughout the scientific community.
Ejecta are particles of material forced out or ejected from an area. The phenomena are observed across many multi-disciplinary applications, including volcanic...
LLNL biomedical licensee collaborating with two drug companies to advance treatments for autoimmune diseases
Feb. 16, 2023-
People afflicted with autoimmune diseases may someday receive help through treatments now under development by a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) licensee and its’ collaborations with two major pharmaceutical companies.
In late 2017, LLNL licensed a biomedical technology called nanolipoprotein particles (NLPs), which can deliver vaccines and drugs inside the cells in...
