LLNL-led paper reveals spacecraft geometry effects on impact simulations for NASA’s DART Mission
Sept. 20, 2022 -
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft will crash into asteroid Dimorphos on Sept. 26, executing the first asteroid deflection test that has been years in the planning.
Dimorphos, at 150 meters across, is the “moonlet” of a binary asteroid system, orbiting the larger companion asteroid, Didymos (800 meters). The momentum of the ~600 kg spacecraft, traveling at ~6 km...
Steven Bohlen selected as senior director for LLNL’s Office of Government and External Affairs
Sept. 19, 2022 -
Steven Bohlen has been named as the senior director for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Office of Government and External Affairs (OGEA), Director Kimberly Budil announced today. His appointment is effective Sept. 18.
In this new role, Bohlen will partner with the Senior Management Team (SMT) to develop and manage strong and productive relationships between the Laboratory and...
Under pressure: solid matter takes on new behavior
Sept. 19, 2022 -
Investigating how solid matter behaves at enormous pressures, such as those found in the deep interiors of giant planets, is a great experimental challenge. To help address that challenge, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers and collaborators took a deep dive in understanding these extreme pressures.
The work was just published in Nature Physics with LLNL...
30 years later, Hunters Trophy participants recall LLNL’s final underground nuclear test
Sept. 19, 2022 -
The year was 1992. At 10 a.m. on a balmy September morning in the desolate Nevada desert, a countdown began. And for a few brief moments, the ground violently shook.
In a NASA-esque control room at the Nevada Test Site (NTS), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) engineer Jack Cutting watched as monitors and oscilloscopes began sending back data collected on the blast, the result...
Livermore astronaut mural encourages people to ‘Dream Big’
Sept. 16, 2022 -
At the age of 10, Larry Lagin already knew he wanted to become a scientist — his inspiration was NASA’s space program.
“It was the space program that really got me involved and excited to go into science,” said Lagin, former deputy project manager for the National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world’s largest and most energetic laser. “It was something that really inspired me.”
He even...
Johnny Foster at 100
Sept. 15, 2022 -
The Laboratory’s Johnny Foster: nuclear weapon designer and team leader, former Laboratory director, former director of Defense Research and Engineering at the Department of Defense and record-setting ski jumper, turns 100 years old this week. As he does so, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory celebrates a century of his extraordinary life and accomplishments.
“In my view, Johnny is...
Lab directors discuss LLNL’s past, present and future at ‘historic conversation’
Sept. 14, 2022 -
On a historic occasion in the Livermore wine country, the nine living Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) directors gathered on Sept. 8 to mark the Laboratory’s 70th anniversary, share stories and discuss their vision for the Lab in the coming years.
Hosted by the nonprofit Livermore Lab Foundation, the panel brought past directors John Foster Jr., John Nuckolls, Bruce Tarter...
National security community honors Miriam John as 2022 Foster Medal recipient
Sept. 13, 2022 -
Department of Energy (DOE) Under Secretary for Nuclear Security Jill Hruby joined fellow luminaries in the national nuclear security community at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) on Sept. 8 to honor Miriam “Mim” John, recipient of the 2022 John S. Foster, Jr. Medal.
John, vice president emerita of Sandia National Laboratories, became the first woman awarded the prestigious...
LLNL’s new diffraction gratings will enable the world’s most powerful laser
Sept. 12, 2022 -
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers and their collaborators have developed new high-energy pulse compression gratings that will be used in the world’s highest-power laser system, designed to deliver up to 10 petawatts (quadrillion watts) of peak power. A petawatt is about 1,000 times the capacity of the entire U.S. electric grid.
The high-energy, low-dispersion (HELD)...
Lab scientist wins outstanding doctoral thesis award from American Physical Society
Sept. 9, 2022 -
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientist Alison Ruth Christopherson has earned the American Physical Society’s (APS) Marshall N. Rosenbluth Outstanding Doctoral Thesis award.
The award recognizes exceptional early-career scientists who have performed original thesis work of outstanding scientific quality and achievement in the area of plasma physics.
Christopher...
Burning Plasma Team receives honor from American Physical Society
Sept. 9, 2022 -
The Burning Plasma Team has been awarded the 2022 John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research by the American Physical Society. The team consists of members from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and from other institutions.
The team was cited “for the first laboratory demonstration of a burning deuterium-tritium plasma where alpha heating dominates the...
A deep dive into the interior of red dwarfs
Sept. 8, 2022 -
Red dwarfs are the most abundant stars in the Milky Way, making up 70% of all stars.
But the physics of their interiors is not well understood. Heat is generated in the core and travels outward to the surface, but it is not clear whether that process occurs via radiation, convection or a combination of the two. The key factor determining whether red dwarfs are radiation- or convection...
LLNL hosts HBCU students, faculty in week-long outreach program
Sept. 7, 2022 -
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) hosted a group of students and faculty from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) for a week in June to promote internships, job opportunities and career paths at LLNL.
Judging from the group’s reaction and feedback, the inaugural week-long HBCU tour was a clear success and made a positive impression on the students — all of...
Livermore researchers collect three awards among the top 100 industrial inventions
Sept. 7, 2022 -
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers have garnered three awards among the top 100 industrial inventions worldwide.
The trade journal R&D World Magazine recently announced the winners of the awards, often called the “Oscars of invention,” recognizing new commercial products, technologies and materials that are available for sale or license for their...
Going big: Unlocking the study of some of the rarest and most toxic elements on Earth
Sept. 1, 2022 -
The synthesis and study of radioactive compounds are naturally difficult due to the extreme toxicity of the materials involved, but also because of the cost and scarcity of research isotopes.
Now, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and their collaborators at Oregon State University (OSU) have developed a new method to isolate and study in great detail some of the...
Manufacturing Day webinar to highlight HPC’s impact on climate change, energy efficiency
Aug. 29, 2022 -
The High Performance Computing for Energy Innovation (HPC4EI) initiative will hold a special webinar on Oct. 7 to celebrate Manufacturing Day and provide a forum for industry experts and Department of Energy (DOE) scientists to discuss how HPC can help combat climate change and improve energy efficiency.
The virtual event begins at 8 a.m. PDT and brings together panelists and speakers from...
Apprentice program graduates look forward to careers as Lab machinists
Aug. 25, 2022 -
After earning a bachelor’s degree in health education at San Francisco State University, Kwadwo Kumi-Amankwah wanted a more hands-on career, so he took machining classes at Laney College and then applied to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Machinist Apprentice Program.
That process began a four-year journey that concluded on Aug. 18, where he and three fellow apprenticeship program...
Carolyn Zerkle named Lawrence Livermore’s deputy director
Aug. 22, 2022 -
Carolyn Zerkle has been selected as Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s deputy director and vice president of Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, Lab Director Kim Budil announced today. Her appointment is effective Sept. 12, 2022.
As deputy director, Zerkle will participate in the day-to-day management of the Laboratory, including interfacing with the Livermore Field Office...
Miriam E. John Awarded Livermore’s 2022 John S. Foster Medal
Aug. 22, 2022 -
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director Kim Budil has announced that the 2022 John S. Foster, Jr. Medal winner is Miriam “Mim” E. John, vice president emerita of Sandia National Laboratories.
John served as vice president of Sandia's California Division and Homeland Security Strategic Management Unit from 1999 until 2006. She served in various capacities at Sandia beginning in...
Asteroid sample lands on LLNL
Aug. 22, 2022 -
No need to worry, it is just a very small piece for scientific study.
In December 2014, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency launched the spacecraft Hayabusa2 to the asteroid 162173 Ryugu. In December 2020, when the sample-return capsule successfully landed safely back on Earth with pristine pieces of Ryugu that it had collected, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)...
