As Big as It Gets: Massive Hunga Volcano Eruption Comparable to Krakatoa
The January 2022 eruption of the Hunga volcano in Tonga was the largest volcanic eruption in the 21st century, and the largest recorded since the…
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Thermonuclear Fusion in a Sheared-Flow Z-Pinch: Advancing Another Viable Pathway to Fusion Energy
In findings that could help advance another “viable pathway” to fusion energy, research led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) physicists has proven the existence…
Understanding Hot-Spot Conditions in National Ignition Facility Implosion Experiments
Research conducted at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) describes a validation exercise for simple models used to understand hot-spot conditions reached in an implosion, which…
How Scientists Achieved Burning Plasma State – After Decades of Fusion Research
Nature paper chronicles how researchers achieved burning plasma regime for the first time in a laboratory experiment. After decades of fusion research, a burning plasma…
Where on Earth Did the Water Come From?
Earth’s supply of water is incredibly important for its ability to sustain life, but where did that water come from? Was it present when Earth…
Ironing Out the Interiors of Super-Earth Exoplanets
The discovery of more than 4,500 extra-solar planets has created a need for modeling their interior structure and dynamics. As it turns out, iron plays…
Pandora Mission To Study Stars and Exoplanets Passes Crucial Step
The Pandora mission, co-led by a national laboratory and a NASA flight center, has passed a crucial step on its path to study stars and…
Lost in Space: Earth and Mars Were Formed From Missing Solar System Material
By looking at the range of isotopic variations in terrestrial and meteoritic samples, a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientist and collaborators have figured out…
Fire May Actually Increase Long-Term Carbon Storage – Important Nature-Based Climate Solution
Wildfires and prescribed burns, which can promote soil organic matter stability, may be an important nature-based climate solution to increase long-term carbon storage. That is…
Atomic Disorder in Surface Materials Is Key to Better Hydrogen Storage
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have found that atomic disorder in certain boron-based hydrogen storage systems can potentially improve the rate of hydrogen uptake….
Fusion Breakthrough: At the Brink of Fusion Ignition at National Ignition Facility
Experiments conducted in August achieved a record yield of more than 1.3 megajoules. After decades of inertial confinement fusion research, a record yield of more…
Marine Carbon Sequestration: New Research Delves Into Fate of Ocean Carbon
Marine-dissolved organic matter, which originates from phytoplankton, holds as much carbon as Earth’s atmosphere, yet the biological processes governing its fate are primarily studied under…
Planetary Defense: Nuclear Explosion Can Disrupt Hazardous Asteroid To Protect the Earth
If an asteroid is determined to be on an Earth-impacting trajectory, scientists typically want to stage a deflection, where the asteroid is gently nudged by…
UAE Mars Mission Captures Elusive Aurora on Red Planet
Lawrence Livermore Optics Used To Spot Elusive Aurora on Red Planet The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Mars mission that launched about a year ago has…
Just How Big Was the Devastating 2020 Beirut Explosion?
On August 4, 2020, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history pulverized a Beirut port and damaged more than half the city. The explosion…
New Method Developed for 3D Printing Living Microbes To Enhance Biomaterials
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have developed a new method for 3D printing living microbes in controlled patterns, expanding the potential for using engineered…
Hot Electron Production Using a Short-Pulse, High-Contrast Laser on Cone and Planar Targets
Scientists focus on cone targets to enhance temperature of electron beams. Intense short-pulse laser-driven production of bright high-energy sources, such as X-rays, neutrons and protons,…
Hot “Black Ice” – Come On In, the Water Is Superionic
The interiors of Uranus and Neptune each contain about 50,000 times the amount of water in Earth’s oceans, and a form of water known as…
