News

Hannah Hart: future database administrator

Editor's Note: This is one in a series of articles highlighting the diverse group of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory summer students. ______________The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) student internship program is designed to allow students to engage in work-study employment opportunities in relevant science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and administrative...

Lawrence Livermore scientists' discovery of new young planet provides insight into Jupiter

For the first time, Lawrence Livermore scientists, as part of an international team, have discovered the most Jupiter-like planet ever seen in a young star system, lending clues to understanding how planets formed around our sun.Using a new advanced adaptive optics device on the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) on the Gemini South Telescope in Chile, the team took an image of the planet, which is...

Roberts takes reins of Laboratory think tank

With backing from national leadership and Lab management, the new director of the Center for Global Security Research (CGSR) hopes to expand the center’s influence and impact within and beyond the gates of LLNL.Brad Roberts, who started his job as the head of CGSR in late April, joined the Laboratory for two principal reasons."First, I am committed to helping to rebuild the bridge between the...

Students shine at summer poster symposium

Students from all over the world flock to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) each summer for the opportunity to engage in work-study employment opportunities in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and administrative fields as part of the summer internship program.LLNL was proud to welcome more than 600 students this year.At the end of the summer, the Laboratory’s...

Researchers reveal new electron ring formations

Laser wakefield acceleration, a process where electron acceleration is driven by high-powered lasers, is well-known for being able to produce high-energy beams of electrons in tabletop-scale distances. However, in recent experiments, a team of scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) revealed new, never-before-seen...

Meet Dayjon Gabbidon: future health physicist

Editor's Note: This is one in a series of articles highlighting the diverse group of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory summer students. ______________The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) student internship program is designed to allow students to engage in work-study employment opportunities in relevant science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and administrative...

Berni Alder: A pioneer of the times

Father of molecular dynamics to celebrate 90th birthday, 60th anniversary at the LaboratoryBerni Alder was born in Germany, but was a Swiss citizen. In 1932, his family moved to Zurich, just before Hitler came to power.In 1941, when he was 16 years old, he fled Switzerland right before the United States entered World War II and took a sealed train through occupied France and then onto Spain...

Tri-Valley panelists discuss rise of computing

Software development is rapidly transforming computing technology to the benefit of society, but the scarcity of "computing talent in the pipeline" impacts the pace of progress, a panel of computing experts concluded Thursday at Casa Real in Pleasanton.The lunchtime discussion, under the title "Software — Partnerships Key to an Innovative Ecology," was part of the 7th Annual Innovation Forum...

New experimental research exposes the strength of beryllium at extreme conditions

Until recently, there were very little experimental data about the behavior of beryllium (Be) at very high pressures and strain rates, with existing material models predicting very different behaviors in these regimes. In a successful example of international research collaboration, a team of scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the Russian Federal Nuclear Center...

Meet Brittney Murray: future microbiologist

Editor's Note: This is one in a series of articles highlighting the diverse group of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory summer students. ______________The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) student internship program is designed to allow students to engage in work-study employment opportunities in relevant science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and administrative...

LLNL tops Physics of Plasma's most-cited list

Physics of Plasmas (PoP), a peer-reviewed journal publishing original experimental and theoretical contributions in plasma physics, recently released a list of the most-cited papers for January-June 2015.Out of the 30 most-cited papers on the list, the top five had lead authors from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. No. 8, 9 and 17 on the list were also led by LLNL, for a total of eight...

Teacher ventures into the stratosphere

Dan Burns, a science teacher at Los Gatos High School, is one teacher who takes experiential learning to a whole new level. While most teachers spend their summer taking a break or going on vacation, Burns started his off with the SOFIA Airborne Astronomy Ambassador program aboard a Boeing 747 jumbo jet with NASA’s SOFIA (stratospheric observatory for infrared astronomy) infrared observatory...

New experimental and theoretical research could help make more efficient windows

By tightly integrating experimental and theoretical techniques, a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory team has provided fundamentally new insights into the specific factors that determine the absorption characteristics of copper complexes. The results demonstrate that conventional interpretations based on "ligand field theory" -- a staple concept in inorganic chemistry -- are insufficient...

Meet Juan Diaz Leon: future materials scientist

Editor's Note: This is one in a series of articles highlighting the diverse group of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory summer students. ______________The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) student internship program is designed to allow students to engage in work-study employment opportunities in relevant science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and administrative...

Project aims to use probiotic bacteria to protect algal crops and increase ecosystem resilience

A Lawrence Livermore team has received an additional $1 million to protect algal crops by developing "probiotic" bacteria to combat pond infestation and increase ecosystem function and resilience.Algal biomass can be converted to advanced biofuels that offer promising alternatives to petroleum-based diesel and jet fuels. Additionally, algae can be used to make a range of other valuable...

Stumbling into physics and sticking with it

While growing up in Puerto Rico, Miguel Morales was interested in basketball and volleyball and not much else.But that all changed when he picked up a science book."The idea of being an intellectual was not a popular thing," he said. "I stumbled into physics and all of a sudden there was nothing else for me. I sort of became obsessed with it and I spent all my time reading books. It made me...

Meet Kim Danny: future environmental scientist

Editor's Note: This is one in a series of articles highlighting the diverse group of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory summer students. ______________The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) student internship program is designed to allow students to engage in work-study employment opportunities in relevant science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and administrative...

Lab chemist publishes WWI passion project

Clark Souers, a chemist in the Laboratory’s Energetic Materials Center, has spent his whole life collecting postage stamps. In his youth, he came across stamps from so-called dead countries, which ignited a lifelong interest in the story of what happened to the world after World War I.Souers has spent many years researching and studying this history and had always intended to write a book on...

Teachers flock to summer research academies

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Teacher Research Academy (TRA) 2015 summer series kicked off in June with more than 50 science teachers committing their summer breaks to professional development and networking with other like-minded faculty.The TRA, a summer-long series of educational workshops for teachers, features content developed from LLNL research in areas such as biot...

Lawrence Livermore licenses tool to improve government computer network security

Government agencies, along with state and local governments, could receive a helping hand from a computer network security tool developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) computer scientists and engineers.The LLNL software-based technology, known as the Network Mapping System (NeMS), has been licensed to Cambridge Global Advisors, a Washington, D.C.-area strategic advisory...