Science and Technology Highlights

The cover of the Inorganic Chemistry journal for February 2026. The illustration shows that cerium, thorium and zirconium Keggin complexes form parallel arrangements (blue), whereas plutonium complexes organize themselves in a perpendicular fashion (pink).
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LLNL researchers discover new way to ‘cage’ plutonium

LLNL researchers and collaborators lay the foundation for understanding how POMs interact with some of the most chemically challenging actinide elements.

LLNL scientists Colin Ponce and Carolyn Fisher initiated and led a cross-disciplinary team that developed a machine-learning model to distinguish opioids from other chemicals.
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Fentanyl or phony? Machine-learning algorithm learns to pick out opioid signatu…

LLNL researchers aim to use a machine-learning model that can distinguish opioids from other chemicals with an accuracy over 95% in a laboratory setting. 

This artist’s conception shows the novel crossed-beam energy transfer (CBET) technique for measuring plasma conditions. The pump beam, shown with red wavelengths, is intersected by a weaker broadband probe beam, shown with multiple colors. Information about the plasma’s conditions is imprinted on to the spectrum of the probe beam via energy transferred from the pump beam via plasma waves.
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When lasers cross: LLNL finds a brighter way to measure plasma

A multidisciplinary team of LLNL researchers has successfully demonstrated a potentially simpler, more accurate way to measure plasma conditions with two laser beams that cross paths. 

One of one million cislunar orbits calculated by researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The moon’s orbit is shown in light gray. The spacecraft follows the colored path over the six-year simulation period.
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Simulations and supercomputing calculate one million orbits in cislunar space

In an open-access database and with publicly available code, LLNL researchers have simulated and published one million orbits in cislunar space. 

By adding a lid-like structure to a carbon nanotube, LLNL researchers mimicked how biological channels open and close to allow ion transport.
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Nanotubes with lids mimic real biology

In a recent study, LLNL researchers and collaborators engineered carbon nanotubes with openings that can reversibly open and close depending on pH. 

In a paper published in Science, a multi-institutional team of researchers describe a technique called crystallinity regulation in additive fabrication of thermoplastics (CRAFT) that enables microscopic control over how plastic molecules arrange themselves as an object is printed. The work opens new possibilities for advanced manufacturing, soft robotics, national defense, energy damping and information storage. (Images: Sandia National Laboratories)
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Light-based 3D printing lets scientists program plastic properties at the micro…

LLNL researchers have co-developed a new way to precisely control the internal structure of common plastics during 3D printing.

With computational models, researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory identified a pathway for a carbon monoxide and oxygen mixture to form a polymer that retains its stability even after it decompresses.
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From fleeting to stable: scientists uncover recipe for new carbon dioxide-based…

LLNL researchers identify a first-of-its-kind carbon dioxide-equivalent polymer that can be recovered from high-pressure conditions. 

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory combined tiny, atom-scale simulations (right) with hydrodynamics code that describes the macroscopic world (center). The result can be used to study fusion targets at the National Ignition Facility (left).
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New code connects microscopic insights to the macroscopic world

In a recent study, LLNL researchers and collaborators created a new framework that couples tiny, atom-scale simulations to code that describes the macroscopic world, all within the same simulation.

Artist rendering of LLNL's new additively manufactured high-entropy alloys. Researchers leverage local, rapid cooling during additive manufacturing to affect how the atoms settle as the metal solidifies and improve the material's mechanical properties.
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Next-generation materials for additive manufacturing

LLNL scientists and their collaborators demonstrate a method to overcome the challenges of the traditional additive manufacturing process. 

Multi-ignition fires like California's 2020 August Complex fire, shown here, have a disproportionately devastating impact compared to single-ignition fires.
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Models of multi-ignition wildfires could predict catastrophic events

In a new study, LLNL researchers and collaborators examine multi-ignition fires, calculating their impact and modeling the mechanisms behind them.