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All 50 episodes of the Big Ideas Lab now available on LLNL podcast page
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) Big Ideas Lab podcast marks a new milestone with the release of its 50th episode. The latest episode, delving into high-performance computing for energy innovation, can be found alongside the entire series on the new LLNL podcast page. Since its debut in September 2024, the Big Ideas Lab has aimed to rethink how science…
Grad student Wyatt Larrinaga explores how proteins bind to radioactive elements for fellowship at LLNL
As a fifth-year graduate student at the Pennsylvania State University, Wyatt Larrinaga investigates how proteins can be used to separate lanthanides. These elements, plus two others, make up the rare earth elements that are critical for technology, defense and a robust domestic energy supply. But somewhere along the way, Larrinaga grew interested in branching out. Or,…
Cryogenic micro-calorimetry offers a novel material-dating method for nuclear forensics and safeguards
The moment nuclear material is produced, processed or purified, it sets off a hidden countdown, marked by the half-life of its radioactive atoms as they begin to decay. For scientists tracking the origins of these substances, decoding this natural clock is crucial for verifying material histories in support of global security efforts. In a new study published in the…
Big Ideas Lab podcast explores energetic materials and the science behind explosive performance
In less than a millionth of a second, a high explosive can release its energy, generating pressures and temperatures that push materials to their limits. At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), scientists in the Energetic Materials Center (EMC) study these extreme conditions using experiments, computation and specialized facilities. The latest episode of the Big…
Engineered yeast produce acids needed to refine rare-earth elements
From mining to magnet manufacturing, the process for refining rare-earth elements is complex and intensive. The supply chain for such critical materials is dominated by China — and so is the oxalic acid needed for the separation and purification stages. To move toward a U.S. supply chain for rare-earth element recovery, researchers from Lawrence Livermore National…
Allowing atoms to come and go opens the door to better materials modeling
Most materials, especially metals and ceramics, are crystals. Their atoms are arranged in three-dimensional lattices that repeat the same exact pattern, over and over again. But there’s a well-known saying in materials science: “Crystals are like people. It is the defects that tend to make them interesting.” In a new study, published in Physical Review Letters, researchers…
LLNL-led study uses machine learning, veterans’ health records to identify ALS drug-repurposing candidate
A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)-led team of scientists and computational engineers has identified several existing medications that may be associated with longer survival in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), using one of the largest electronic health record datasets ever assembled for ALS. Published in The Lancet Digital Health, the study…
LLNL, Meta co-develop groundbreaking polymer-chemistry dataset for training AI models
Polymers are fundamental to our daily lives, serving as the core components for a wide array of goods, including clothing, packaging, transportation infrastructure, construction materials and electronics. Advances in polymer science open pathways for recycling and upcycling waste materials into more valuable chemical feedstocks. They also can have an outsized environmental…
Pathogen-agnostic testing reveals hidden respiratory threats in negative samples
The COVID-19 pandemic brought the term “Polymerase Chain Reaction testing” into the mainstream. The PCR method is a type of nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) that detects a pathogen by finding and amplifying components of its genetic material, and it is widely used to detect SARS-CoV-2. But these types of tests have a weakness: you have to know exactly what pathogen…
Keeping the public safe at the big game: LLNL’s RAP team deploys to Santa Clara, California
As thousands of fans streamed toward Levi’s Stadium for the Super Bowl between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, vendors hawked memorabilia, the scent of garlic fries filled the air and security officers checked clear bags beneath white tents. Somewhere in that crowd, walking the same sidewalks and concourses, were a handful of team members carrying gear…
Advanced Radiographic Capability achievements featured in Physics of Plasmas
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) is the hottest place on earth for the briefest of moments during an experiment. Now, it can be one of the brightest places thanks to the Advanced Radiographic Capability (ARC), NIF’s laser-within-the-laser. How this is possible and how it’s measured is detailed in the cover paper of the December 2025…
Mission challenge ideas day turns bold concepts into space security capabilities
Exploring new frontiers of space requires innovative approaches to anticipate and identify paths for integrating space domain awareness capabilities. To deliver solutions for these emergent challenges, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) Global Security Directorate recently hosted a “Space LDRD Ideas Day.” Researchers from a broad range of disciplines attended…
Transistor-like membranes enhance ion separation
By applying voltage to electrically control a new “transistor” membrane, researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) achieved real-time tuning of ion separations — a capability previously thought impossible. The recent work, which could make precision separation processes like water treatment, drug delivery and rare earth element extraction more efficient,…
Advanced simulation and modeling pave a path forward for single-crystal battery materials
The performance of rechargeable batteries is governed by processes deep within their components. A fundamental understanding of electrochemistry, structure–property–performance relationships and the effects of processing and operating conditions is essential for accelerating the development of next-generation battery technologies capable of powering electric vehicles,…
Americium, curium and californium — oh my! Crystallizing the rarest elements at LLNL
Actinides are a group of heavy, radioactive elements that include uranium, plutonium, americium, curium, berkelium and californium. Understanding how these elements bond with other atoms (known as coordination chemistry), how they behave in water and how they can be separated from one another is crucial for safer nuclear waste management, new reactor technologies and…
Finding resonance: How LLNL expertise is amplifying collaboration in quantum computing
In November, the Department of Energy Office of Science renewed the Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center (SQMS), hosted by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, with $125 million over the next five years to accelerate breakthroughs in quantum information science. The investment continues to unite more than 300 experts from 43 partner institutions across…
NNSA Administrator Williams visits LLNL to discuss stockpile modernization, AI and future deterrence
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Brandon Williams visited Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Feb. 9 for briefings and tours focused on stockpile modernization, AI, supercomputing and the future of deterrence. During the visit, Williams met with LLNL…
Fentanyl or phony? Machine-learning algorithm learns to pick out opioid signatures
New forms of fentanyl are created every day. For law enforcement, that poses a challenge: how do you identify a chemical you’ve never seen before? Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) aim to answer that question with a machine-learning model that can distinguish opioids from other chemicals with an accuracy over 95% in a laboratory setting. The…
When lasers cross: LLNL finds a brighter way to measure plasma
Measuring conditions in volatile clouds of superheated gases known as plasmas are central to pursuing greater scientific understanding of how stars, nuclear detonations and fusion energy work. For decades, scientists have relied on a technique called Thomson scattering, which uses a single laser beam to scatter from plasma waves as a way to measure critical information…
Simulations and supercomputing calculate one million orbits in cislunar space
Satellites and spacecraft in the vast region between the earth and moon and just beyond — called cislunar space — are crucial for space exploration, scientific advancement and national security. But figuring out where exactly to put them into a stable orbit can be a huge, computationally expensive challenge. In an open-access database and with publicly available code,…
