(AGENPARL) - Roma, 6 Ottobre 2023(AGENPARL) – ven 06 ottobre 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, Oct. 6, 2023
Lawrence Livermore recently achieved ignition for the second time in eight
months.
… Ignition repeat
https://www.science.org/content/article/laser-fusion-experiment-squeezes-out-even-more-energy
For the second time in eight months, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
scientists achieved ignition (energy gain) in an experiment at the National
Ignition Facility (NIF). The new results are helping researchers learn which
factors separate powerful blasts from duds — and, perhaps, a step toward
one day making fusion a reliable source for energy.
The first ignition shot occurred on Dec. 5, 2022. That shot released 3.15
megajoules (MJ) of fusion energy — the equivalent of about three sticks of
dynamite. The laser beams had poured 2.05 MJ into the target, so 54% more
energy came out of the target than went into it.
Eight months may seem like a long time to repeat that feat, but fusion
research is only a side gig for NIF. Mostly, it powers experiments designed
to ensure without test explosions the United States’s nuclear weapons are
reliable and safe. NIF performs about one shot per day and, since the
December success, only 10 of those shots were aimed at ignition. Of those,
six were devoted to testing new target sizes and shapes and were not expected
to achieve high gain.
Read More
https://www.science.org/content/article/laser-fusion-experiment-squeezes-out-even-more-energy
LLNL will co-lead the “Center for Coupled Chemo-Mechanics of Cementitious
Composites” (CM4) and will lead “Terraforming Soil,” both part of the
Department of Energy Office of Science Energy Earthshot program.
… Giving decarbonization its best shot
Enhanced Geothermal, Offshore Wind Energy Gain Earthshot™ Support at PNNL
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced $264 million in
funding for 29 projects to develop solutions for the scientific challenges
underlying DOE’s Energy Earthshots™ Initiative to advance clean energy
technologies within the decade.
The funding will support 11 new Energy Earthshot Research Centers led by DOE
national laboratories and 18 university research teams addressing one or more
of the Energy Earthshots™ that are focused on six different areas,
including industrial decarbonization, carbon storage and offshore wind. The
department launched the Energy Earthshots Initiative to spur decarbonization
efforts that will help the United States meet President Biden’s ambitious
climate and clean energy goals, including a 50% reduction in carbon emissions
by 2030 and a net-zero carbon economy by 2050.
Two Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists will lead and
co-lead projects in support of the Energy Earthshot program. Jennifer
Pett-Ridge, head of LLNL’s Carbon Initiative, will lead a $19 million
center called /“/Terraforming Soil,” which will support the Carbon
Negative Shot. Of the total award, LLNL will receive ~$17 million. LLNL
scientist Jiaqi Li will serve as the deputy director for the “Center for
Coupled Chemo-Mechanics of Cementitious Composites,” which will support the
Enhanced Geothermal Shot. Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) leads this
center, and LLNL will receive $1.9 million over four years for its role in
the project.
Read More
Enhanced Geothermal, Offshore Wind Energy Gain Earthshot™ Support at PNNL
A panorama of Napa Valley with wet grasslands. Image by Adobe Stock.
… Viruses are on active duty
https://phys.org/news/2023-10-soil-viruses-interact-bacteria.html
Viruses in soil may not be as destructive to bacteria as once thought and
could instead act like lawnmowers, culling older cells and giving space for
new growth, according to new research.
How viruses affect ecosystems, including bacteria, is challenging to untangle
because they are complex and change over time and space. But the first annual
rain on Mediterranean ecosystems, such as those in California, offers a kind
of reset, triggering activity that can be observed.
Scientists including Lawrence Livermore collaborators took soil from four
California grasslands, brought it back to their lab and simulated
precipitation by watering the dry samples, which grew microorganisms and
viruses. They tracked changes over 10 days.
The researchers found that the viral composition was diverse and changed so
much that only 15% of the virus types were the same at the end of the
experiment compared to the beginning. There was far less turnover when it
came to bacteria. And the viruses preyed on the dominant types of bacteria
but did not kill them off.
Viruses affect the makeup of bacterial communities, which can lead to
differences in how ecosystems function because bacteria influence carbon and
nutrient cycles in soil.
Read More https://phys.org/news/2023-10-soil-viruses-interact-bacteria.html
A team of LLNL researchers won an R&D 100 award for developing ZFP, an
open-source software that compresses numerical data exceptionally fast and
allows reductions in data movement. From left to right, are: Mark Miller,
Peter Lindstrom and Danielle Asher. Photo b: Blaise Douros/LLNL.
… And the winners are…
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists and engineers have netted
three awards among the top 100 inventions worldwide. The trade journal /R&D
World Magazine/ recently announced the award winners, the “Oscars of
innovation,” recognizing the technological significance of new commercial
products, technologies and materials that are available for sale or license.
With this year’s results, the Laboratory has now collected 179 R&D 100
awards since 1978. The awards will be showcased at the 61st R&D 100 black-tie
awards gala on Nov. 16 in San Diego.
This year’s LLNL R&D 100 awards include a software suite that helps apply
deep learning techniques to major science and data challenges in cancer
research; software that helps better understand the power, energy and
performance of supercomputers; and a number format that permits fast,
accurate data compression for modern supercomputer applications.
Read More
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Meta researchers demonstrated a
new kind of 3D-printed material that can “translate” text messages to
braille on-the-fly by filling the device with air at strategic points.
… Can you see the light?
LLNL and Meta engineers develop 3D Printed Material for Realistic Wearables
Engineers and chemists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and
Meta created a new type of 3D printed material for realistic wearables
applications. The new materials can mimic the properties of biological
tissue, which could have an impact on the future of “augmented humanity.”
LLNL and Meta researchers describe a framework for creating a “one-pot”
3D-printable resin in which light is used to pattern smooth gradients in
stiffness to approximate gradients found in biology, such as where bone meets
muscle. The framework addresses a key issue in developing more realistic
wearables: “mechanical mismatch.” Whereas natural tissues are soft,
electronic devices are typically made of rigid materials, making traditional
assembly difficult and time-consuming.
The technique modulates the deposited plastic material by varying the
intensity of light applied to a photopolymer resin during the Digital Light
Processing 3D printing process — a layer-by-layer technique that can
rapidly produce parts by projecting light into a liquid resin. A softer
material results from a lower light intensity, while a stiffer material
results from a higher light intensity.
Read More
LLNL and Meta engineers develop 3D Printed Material for Realistic Wearables
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challenges through innovative science, engineering and technology. Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory is managed by Lawrence Livermore National
Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security
Administration.
Read previous Lab Report articles online https://www.llnl.gov/news/lab-report
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