Science and Technology Highlights

General flowchart of the pipeline for building the Centrifuge reference database based on the BLAST nt database. The pipeline requires several weeks of processing on a high-performance computing server with high-memory-per-core ratio and a high-bandwidth, low-latency parallel filesystem.
// S&T Highlights

New nucleotide database could improve microbe identification for science and me…

LLNL researchers are working with the National Center for Biotechnology Information's (NCBI) Nucleotide (nt) database to create a vast repository of DNA sequences from across all known species. 

Researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in collaboration with other leading institutions, have successfully used an AI-driven platform to preemptively optimize an antibody to neutralize a broad diversity of SARS-CoV-2 variants.
// S&T Highlights

LLNL scientists use AI to optimize antibodies against mutations

LLNL researchers, in collaboration with other leading institutions, successfully use an AI-driven platform to preemptively optimize an antibody to neutralize a broad diversity of SARS-CoV-2 variants. 

In a leap forward for materials science, a team of researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania has developed a pioneering method of 3D printing cholesteric liquid crystal elastomers, enabling complex, color-changing responsive materials and paving the way for novel applications like smart textiles and advanced robotics.
// S&T Highlights

LLNL and collaborators unleash a colorful future of responsive materials

A multi-institutional team of researchers invent 3D-printed, multi-stable structures capable of changing colors in response to stress, with a goal of combining the unique materials and techniques to help redefine smart materials.

Rick Cross works on the Titan compressor system at the Jupiter Laser Facility. The gratings (rainbow reflection) allow the Titan laser to provide peak power while preserving the optical components of the system.
// S&T Highlights

A brighter future for the Jupiter Laser Facility

Since the 1970s, the Janus laser, now part of JLF, has served as an experimental proving ground to LLNL laser and fusion programs and the broader high-energy-density and laser science communities.

A study led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists is providing new insights into the complex interactions between proteins and cell membranes, combining detailed molecular simulations and large-scale models. The scientists compared their new dynamic density functional theory (DDFT) model to “ground truth” datasets (labeled “MD”). The DDFT model can be run in a single afternoon on a laptop, instead of the several weeks required to generate the MD data on a supercomputing cluster.
// S&T Highlights

LLNL scientists take new approach to understanding protein-membrane interactions

A recent study led by LLNL scientists is offering new insight into modeling complex protein interactions using a combination of detailed molecular simulations and large-scale models. 

LLNL’s rare-earth element biomining research team in their lab, left to right: Yongqin Jiao, Patrick Diep, Ziye Dong, Jeremy Seidel, Gauthier Deblonde, Dan Park and Christina Kang-Yun.
// S&T Highlights

Inspired by nature, proteins pick out mission-critical metals

A research collaboration between LLNL and Pennsylvania State University has generated a portfolio of intellectual property (IP), jointly owned by both organizations, that uses bacterial proteins to pick out critical metal ions.  

The latest Big Ideas Lab episode explores LLNL's technology transfer program. Overseen by the Innovation and Partnerships Office, the goal of technology transfer is to bring LLNL breakthroughs to market through research collaborations, technology commercialization and entrepreneurship.
// S&T Highlights

Big Ideas Lab podcast takes on tech spinoffs and partnerships

This episode of the Big Ideas Lab podcast takes a deep dive into how the Innovation and Partnerships Office facilitates tech transfer at LLNL and some of the most impactful success stories over the years. 

Researchers from LLNL and Verne, a San Francisco-based start-up, have demonstrated an efficient and novel pathway to hydrogen densification. The high-pressure cryogenic heat exchanger-based system used for this work is shown to the right of the picture. From left to right, Nick Killingsworth, a mechanical engineer at LLNL, and Telis Athanasopoulos Yogo, a Verne mechanical engineer, watch as Kara Zhang, a Verne process engineer, installs a vacuum pressure gauge on the system.
// S&T Highlights

LLNL and Verne demonstrate highly efficient hydrogen-densification pathway with…

LLNL and Verne have demonstrate a novel pathway for creating high-density hydrogen.

Machine learning and spectroscopy enable the exploration of the unique properties of ice surfaces.
// S&T Highlights

Order to disorder: a closer look at icy surfaces

A recent study from LLNL used a combination of spectroscopy, simulation and machine learning to examine the surface of ice. 

An illustration of the sensor used to constrain the spatial extent of a neutrino.
// S&T Highlights

Sizing up the ever-elusive neutrino

New research, published in Nature by a team including LLNL scientists, introduces an experimental technique to constrain the size of the neutrino’s wavepacket.