(AGENPARL) – ven 09 giugno 2023 A weekly compendium of media reports on science and technology achievements
at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Though the Laboratory reviews
items for overall accuracy, the reporting organizations are responsible for
the content in the links below.
….. LLNL Report, June 9, 2023
A sample of a clay containing rare earths. /Image courtesy of  Patrick
Mansel/ Penn State University//.**/
… Protein to the rescue
https://www.mining.com/protein-helps-separate-rare-earths-more-efficiently-than-new-tech/
Lawrence Livermore and Penn State University scientists have discovered a new
mechanism by which bacteria can select between different rare earth
elements, using the ability of a bacterial protein to bind to another unit
of itself when it is bound to certain rare earths, but prefer to remain a
single unit when bound to others.
By figuring out how this molecular handshake works at the atomic level, the
researchers have found a way to separate these similar metals from one
another quickly, efficiently, and under normal room temperature conditions.
In their view, this strategy could lead to more efficient, greener mining and
recycling practices for the entire tech sector.
Collaborators at Lawrence Livermore showed that the protein could be tethered
to small beads in a column and that it could separate the most important
components of permanent magnets, neodymium and dysprosium, in a single step,
at room temperature and without any organic solvents.
The team said that with further optimization of this phenomenon, the toughest
problem of all — efficient separation of rare earths that are right next
to each other on the periodic table — may be within reach.
Read More
https://www.mining.com/protein-helps-separate-rare-earths-more-efficiently-than-new-tech/
LLNL postdoc Nathan Woollett and LLNL staff scientist and ADMX co-spokesman
Gianpaolo Carosi work on the cryostat system in which LLNL places its test
microwave cavity. Photo by George Kitrinos/LLNL.
… Can you hear me now? https://www.azoquantum.com/News.aspx?newsID=9599
To hear an axion, you have to be listening very, very carefully.
These hypothetical elementary particles may be responsible for some or all
dark matter in the universe, so there is strong support in the physics
community to find one, but it’s not easy because their energy inputs are so
minuscule.
Researchers at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering are working with
scientists from the Axion Dark Matter Experiment (ADMX) team at Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory on a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) project to
develop particle detectors that are sensitive enough to find these particles.
The research, funded by a $350,000 grant, is part of a greater effort by the
DOE project to explore the development of superconducting quantum detectors.
ADMX uses microwave resonators to catch any photons emitted by axions by
listening for their signal, which should allow the team to detect these
particles and verify their existence./ /Scientists use specialized equipment
known as a haloscope to search for evidence of the particles. The ADMX team
is developiong prototype cavities for axion haloscope microwave detectors.
Read More https://www.azoquantum.com/News.aspx?newsID=9599
A new compound of curium (a radioactive, rare and costly element)
photographed at LLNL during crystallography experiments. The team from LLNL
and OSU used the so-called “polyoxometalate ligands” (POMs) to capture
rare isotopes and form crystals big enough to be characterized, even when
only 1-10 micrograms of the rare isotope are available. Crystals of this
curium compound are uncolored under ambient light but glow intensely pink-red
when exposed to ultraviolet light. Image by Gauthier Deblonde/LLNL.**
… Minuscule amount of material packs big punch
https://phys.org/news/2023-06-strategy-harvest-chemical-rare-isotopes.html
Studying radioactive materials is very difficult due to the potential health
risks they pose to scientists. Expense also is a major barrier, with some
radioisotopes costing more than $10,000 per microgram (or $10 billion per
gram).
Some radioisotopes cannot be produced in sufficient quantities, making them
difficult to study in detail with current techniques. Lawrence Livermore
scientists and collaborators have recently developed a new approach to
harvest detailed chemical information on radioactive and/or enriched stable
isotopes. The new approach is much more efficient, requiring 1,000 times less
material than previous state-of-the-art methods. It offers this efficiency
with no loss of data quality.
The new method leverages polyoxometalate ligands (POMs, i.e., molecular metal
oxide cages), a class of molecules that has so far been largely overlooked
for radiochemistry applications. The intrinsic properties of the POMs allow
scientists to easily form compounds where the POMs form chemical bonds with
the targeted radioisotopes, then crystallize these compounds. The scientists
can then study them with a wide variety of spectroscopic techniques while
just using a few micrograms of material, compared to multiple milligrams or
more for previous methods.
With the newly proposed method, scientists will be able to probe the chemical
properties of rare and radioactive elements like never before. The new
research is particularly important to study the chemistry of actinides. These
are the elements found at the bottom of the periodic table, such as actinium,
americium and curium. Learning more about them may benefit fields ranging
from cancer medicine to nuclear energy to the synthesis of new elements.
Read More
https://phys.org/news/2023-06-strategy-harvest-chemical-rare-isotopes.html
Layers of Earth’s atmosphere are shown in a view looking across Earth’s
surface from the International Space Station. Image courtesy of NASA.**
… Pointing a finger at climate change

Climate “Fingerprinting” Reveals Clear Human Influence on Atmospheric Temperature Changes

New research by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists reveals
that human activities are undeniably altering the thermal structure of
Earth’s atmosphere.
By expanding climate “fingerprinting” to the mid-to upper stratosphere
(25-50 kilometers above Earth’s surface), the team has improved the
detection of human effects on the climate by a factor of five. The distinct
patterns of CO2-driven temperature changes in these areas underscore the
impossibility of natural causes explaining these shifts.
The research shows that it is now virtually impossible for natural causes to
explain satellite-measured changes in the thermal structure of Earth’s
atmosphere.
Read More

Climate “Fingerprinting” Reveals Clear Human Influence on Atmospheric Temperature Changes

LLNL's Lori Diachin will take over as director of the Department of
Energy’s Exascale Computing Project on June 1.**
… Leading exascale toward final milestones

Lori Diachin to Lead the Exascale Computing Project as It Nears Final Milestones

The end goal is in sight for the multi-institutional Exascale Computing
Project (ECP), which launched in 2016 with a mandate from the Department of
Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration to achieve
exascale-readiness in the U.S. by the 2022 timeframe. The project couldn’t
fully prove its mettle until at least one exascale machine was deployed and
operational.
And that has happened with the formal acceptance of Frontier at Oak Ridge
National Laboratory. Frontier is now open for early science workloads,
including many of the 24 ECP target applications. These are real science
codes in their own right, but also serve to evaluate the success of the ECP,
which must hit certain Key Performance Parameters  before it can
successfully conclude.
Leading the ECP toward that finish line now is Lori Diachin, who has served
as ECP’s deputy director since 2018, in addition to being principal deputy
associate director for Lawrence Livermore National Lab’s Computing
Directorate. Diachin is the third person to lead the ECP in its nearly 8-year
span.**
Read More

Lori Diachin to Lead the Exascale Computing Project as It Nears Final Milestones

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