Science and Technology Highlights

Rendering of Firefly’s Elytra spacecraft in lunar orbit providing Ocula lunar imaging services.
// S&T Highlights

LLNL’s high-resolution telescope system to usher in a new era of lunar explorat…

LLNL's state-of-the-art telescope system will be deployed onboard Firefly’s Elytra orbital vehicle to enable Firefly’s new Ocula imaging service.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s flagship exascale machine El Capitan maintained its status as the fastest supercomputer on the planet — claiming the No. 1 spot on not just one, but three of the most prestigious high-performance computing rankings.
// S&T Highlights

El Capitan reigns supreme across three major supercomputing benchmarks

LLNL flagship exascale machine El Capitan maintained its status as the fastest supercomputer on the planet — claiming the No. 1 spot on three of the most prestigious high-performance computing (HPC) rankings.

A team of researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Stanford University and the University of California, Los Angeles are using AI and machine learning to find potential treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases in the form of drugs prescribed for other conditions.
// S&T Highlights

LLNL researchers use AI to look for potential ALS treatments

LLNL researchers and collaborators are using artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) to try to find amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) treatments.

Example of filamentous fungal growth in the presence of different antifungal doses added to four disks. The top left quadrant of the plate has the highest dose of antifungal, while the bottom right quadrant has none.
// S&T Highlights

Novel assay tests antifungals against emerging human pathogens

In a study published in the Journal of Microbiological Methods, LLNL researchers combined and refined two established techniques into a new method to screen chemicals for their ability to kill filamentous fungi.

LLNL scientists Nicholas Watkins, Chao Liu and Emma Laurence pictured with their fluorescence correlation spectroscopy equipment.
// S&T Highlights

One-pot protein screening accelerates bioscience, drug discovery

In a new study, published in Analytical Chemistry, LLNL researchers develop a fast and simple approach to screen proteins and their binding properties. 

Lab seismologist Gene Ichinose looks over an interrogator, an instrument that allows buried fiber-optic cable to be turned into thousands of virtual seismometers that can be used to measure the ground motion of the Earth and structures.
// S&T Highlights

Lawrence Livermore scientists and collaborators demonstrate major breakthrough …

A more than month-long field experiment by an LLNL seismologist demonstrates that a new technology could offer a major breakthrough in seismology.

Schematic illustrating how volcanic ash particles affect cirrus clouds.
// S&T Highlights

Volcanic eruptions trigger ice formation in clouds

In a study published in Science Advances, LLNL researchers analyzed 10 years of satellite data to determine that volcanic ash particles can trigger cloud formation.

Quantum mechanics simulations reveal the impact of temperature on energy conversion efficiency in electrochemical cells.
// S&T Highlights

A hot topic: How temperature fuels energy loss in fuel cells

In a new study, published in PRX Energy, LLNL scientists revealed how high operating temperatures could increase electrical leakage in a widely studied fuel cell material. 

An illustration of quantum dots as they are deposited on a textured surface.
// S&T Highlights

Depositing dots on corrugated chips improves photodetector capabilities

In a recent study, LLNL researchers presented a new method to deposit quantum-dot films on corrugated surfaces.

LLNL researchers are taking a new, streamlined approach to heavy element research that allows for the synthesis of several compounds containing rare and radioactive elements like americium and curium, yielding an accurate comparison of the elements at the edge of the periodic table.
// S&T Highlights

Nuclear chemistry research gets an efficiency boost

LLNL researchers are breaking through the barriers of heavy actinides with a streamlined and efficient “serial approach” for the synthesis and analysis of heavy actinide compounds.