News

Ultra-realistic radiation detection training without using radioactive materials

LIVERMORE, California – Training of first responders on the hazards of actual radiological and nuclear threats has been challenged by the difficulties of adequately representing those threats. Training against such threats would involve using hazardous, highly radioactive materials, experiencing actual radiation doses in training, or require the distribution of radioactive material over a...

Ten Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers named 2014 APS fellows

LIVERMORE, Calif. – Ten Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have been selected as 2014 fellows of the American Physical Society (APS).The new fellows represent a wide selection of physics expertise, ranging from laser science to hohlraum design to theoretical solid state physics. APS fellowships are awarded after extensive review and are considered a distinct honor...

Small volcanic eruptions explain warming hiatus

The "warming hiatus" that has occurred over the last 15 years has been caused in part by small volcanic eruptions. Scientists have long known that volcanoes cool the atmosphere because of the sulfur dioxide that is expelled during eruptions. Droplets of sulfuric acid that form when the gas combines with oxygen in the upper atmosphere can persist for many months, reflecting sunlight away...

Lawrence Livermore highlights from 2014

Newsline's month-by-month highlights from 2014 are available on the Web. As in the past, listings are in four categories: Science and Technology; People; Operations; and Recognition and Awards. The 2014 Year-in-Review will appear electronically; there will be no print edition. The Web-based format offers the advantage of providing links to the referenced Newsline articles, press releases or...

Technology quickly traces source of tainted food

LIVERMORE, California – Foodborne illnesses kill roughly 3,000 Americans each year and about 1 in 6 are sickened, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet most contaminated foods are never traced back to their source. That’s because existing methods to track tainted food following its supply chain from table to farm are highly inefficient, jeopardizing the health of...

Former Lab scientist honored for contributions to laser peening

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Industrial Partnerships Office recently honored former Lab scientist Luis Zapata for his contribution to a technology known as laser peening.Zapata received the Excellence in Technology Commercialization Award, which recognizes his outstanding technical contributions to the development of an LLNL laser system. Zapata was the prime contributor in...

Reed elected president-designate of global physics organization

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory physicist Kennedy Reed has been elected president-designate of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP).Reed, who was elected at the group’s general assembly meeting held in Singapore in November, is the first American elected to head this global physics organization since Nobel Laureate Burton Richter, who was president of IUPAP from...

Regina Soufli elected fellow of Optical Society

Physics Division researcher Regina Soufli has been elected a fellow of The Optical Society (OSA). Soufli was cited for her "significant contributions to the development and characterization of extreme ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma-ray optics."Soufli obtained her doctorate in electrical engineering at UC Berkeley and did her doctoral research at the Center for X-ray Optics at Lawrence Berkeley...

Top 10 science and technology stories of 2014

In 2014, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) built on a 62-year tradition of translating basic science into technologies that ensure national security, address pressing real world problems and expand the boundaries of fundamental science.The top stories of the year are a reflection of the Laboratory’s ability to apply its core national security competencies to a broad set of rapidly...

Cells build 'cupboards' to store metals

Lawrence Livermore researchers in conjunction with collaborators at University of California, Los Angeles have found that some cells build intracellular compartments that allow the cell to store metals and maintain equilibrium.Nearly 40 percent of all proteins require metal ions such as zinc, copper, manganese or iron for activity."We don't understand very well how cells maintain balance when...

Physics World names National Ignition Facility fuel gain top 10 breakthrough of the year

Physics World, an international monthly magazine published by the Institute of Physics, has named the National Ignition Facility’s (NIF) achievement of fuel gain one of its top 10 breakthroughs of the year. Ignition — the process of releasing fusion energy equal to or greater than the amount of energy used to confine the fuel — has long been considered the "holy grail" of inertial...

Colleges, labs develop STEM core curriculum

The success of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Engineering Technology Program to educate veterans for technical careers has inspired a statewide push to create an educational core curriculum to prepare junior college students for technical jobs at California’s national labs.The core curriculum being designed by a consortium of community colleges, national labs and nonprofit...

Lawrence Livermore campaign raises $3.4 million for charitable organizations

LIVERMORE, California -- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory employees, along with Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS), have raised $3.4 million to give to charities within their surrounding communities. Laboratory employees pledged $2.4 million through the Helping Others More Effectively (HOME) Campaign, an annual employee charitable giving campaign celebrating its 40th...

LLNL to host Sacramento public meeting to discuss groundwater monitoring

In support of the State Water Resources Control Board, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will host a public meeting in Sacramento on Dec. 11 to receive public comment on the development of model criteria for groundwater monitoring of oil and gas well stimulation (such as hydraulic fracturing) as it relates to Senate Bill 4 (SB4).SB4, which became law in 2013, requires the State Water...

Lab wins NNSA Sustainability Award

Green might be the color of a beautifully landscaped campus. But at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), gold is the color of success.Since embarking on an ambitious plan this year to conserve water across the board, the Lab saved more than 10 percent of the 240 million gallons of water it consumes annually. That includes letting turf return to California’s natural golden color...

X-ray laser acts as tool to track life's chemistry

An international research team that includes researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has captured the highest-resolution protein snapshots ever taken with an X-ray laser, revealing how a key protein in a photosynthetic bacterium changes shape when hit by light.Human biology is a massive collection of chemical reactions and all involve proteins, known as the molecules of life...

Webinar to present modeling and simulation capabilities critical for wind power industry

Learn more about Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s modeling and simulation capabilities critical for the wind power industry during the next monthly installment of the Industrial Partnerships Office (IPO) Technology & Market Discovery Webinar series, on Tuesday, Dec. 9.The presentation by Lab engineer and wind program leader Wayne Miller, titled "Toolkit for the Wind Power Industry,"...

Ruth Hawley finds fertile ground to help others

Editor's Note: This is one in a series of articles about Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory employees who volunteer for various non-profit agencies. This is just a sampling. Ruth Hawley began to volunteer for Fertile Groundworks "because growing organic food to feed hungry people in our local community is meaningful." Fertile Groundworks was founded in 2010 to plant unused acreage...

Lab researchers awarded time on top computers to advance science

As part of the Department of Energy’s Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) program, eight Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have been awarded nearly 800 million core hours on two of America’s fastest supercomputers dedicated to open science – Mira, an IBM Blue Gene/Q system located at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), and Titan...

Lawrence Livermore researchers develop efficient method to produce nanoporous metals

LIVERMORE, California — Nanoporous metals — foam-like materials that have some degree of air vacuum in their structure — have a wide range of applications because of their superior qualities.They posses a high surface area for better electron transfer, which can lead to the improved performance of an electrode in an electric double capacitor or battery. Nanoporous metals offer an increased...