(AGENPARL) - Roma, 20 Febbraio 2026 - (AGENPARL) – Fri 20 February 2026 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, Feb. 20, 2026
Most Keggin complexes form parallel arrangements, but plutonium complexes
organize themselves in a perpendicular fashion. (Image: Jenna Bustos and
Gauthier Deblonde/LLNL)
Putting plutonium behind bars
https://interestingengineering.com/science/us-scientists-trap-plutonium-keggin-cages
A collaborative effort from researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory (LLNL), Sandia National Laboratories, and Oregon State University
has successfully ‘caged’ a plutonium atom inside a Keggin ion. This is
the first time researchers have been able to trap plutonium within a Keggin
ion.
It was only about 90 years ago that scientists discovered the element
Plutonium, but its use ranges from generating energy in nuclear reactors to
deep-space exploration. The silvery-gray metal is radioactive and has nearly
20 isotopes.
Each of these isotopes has a different radioactive decay rate and therefore a
different half-life. Researchers have synthesized multiple compounds with
this metal, and to further material science, they need to understand its
atomic structure in greater detail.
Read More
https://interestingengineering.com/science/us-scientists-trap-plutonium-keggin-cages
When Brian Bennion ran short of antibiotics for his cell cultures, the smelly
consequences were the final straw before he switched to computational
chemistry.
Too many smells from these cells
https://www.the-scientist.com/epic-fail-the-case-of-the-rancid-cell-cultures-74084
In the late 1990s, during my second year as a graduate student at the
University of Washington, I was preparing to take over an experimental and
computational protein mutation project from a senior student.
I planned to harvest the cells after a group meeting, but midway through the
meeting with my student mentor and faculty advisor, there was a knock at the
door. Two Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) staff announced, “Hey, you
guys are doing something really nasty. We need to find it. We think it’s your
cultures.”
It turned out that my cultures were indeed the culprit.
About six months later, I had to choose my next career step. I had already
considered moving away from benchwork, and the smelly-cultures episode became
the final nail in the coffin for me. More than two decades later, I’m still
happily doing computational chemistry [at Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory], with my only hands-on chemistry now confined to the kitchen.
Read More
https://www.the-scientist.com/epic-fail-the-case-of-the-rancid-cell-cultures-74084
Grayscale hand design and corresponding prints composed of four programmed
domains — skin, ligaments, tendons and bones. (Image: Commisso et al.)
Giving 3D printing a hand
Researchers develop 3D printing method to replicate structures as complex as human tissue
Researchers developed a new 3D printing method that can create an object with
components of varying hardness and flexibility, all from the same material,
according to a Jan. 29 paper published in the Science journal.
Crystallinity Regulation in Additive Fabrication of Thermoplastics uses
varying doses of light to control a plastic’s molecular structure,
determining properties such as hardness and transparency, said Zachariah
Page, co-author of the paper and associate professor of chemistry at the
McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering. The paper was authored by
researchers from UT, Sandia National Laboratories, Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory, Arizona State University and Oregon State University.
Page said by using existing knowledge about biological tissues, researchers
can program a 3D printed model to mimic different parts of the body, such as
bone or skin. By adjusting light exposure during printing, specific areas of
the structure can be designed to feel like different tissues, he said.
Read More
Researchers develop 3D printing method to replicate structures as complex as human tissue
LLNL contributes to the Axion Dark Matter eXperiment, which uses cavity
technology that also contributes to advancements in quantum computing.
(Photo: Pat McGiffert/UW)
Turn down that quantum noise
https://quantumzeitgeist.com/quantum-sensor-noise-mapped-atomic-defects/
Researchers are increasingly focused on understanding magnetic flux noise, a
critical limitation affecting the performance of sensitive quantum devices
such as magnetometers and dark matter detectors.
Keith G. Ray, Yaniv Rosen, Jonathan L Dubois, and Vincenzo Lordi, all from
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, have developed a novel simulation
that directly links materials-specific disorder to observed flux noise. Their
work represents a significant advance by modelling a spin lattice of
paramagnetic oxygen molecules on an aluminium oxide surface, a common source
of flux noise, and calculating exchange couplings using density functional
theory without relying on arbitrary parameters.
This first-principles approach accurately reproduces experimental trends and,
crucially, demonstrates the potential to mitigate flux noise through the
application of an external electric field, offering a pathway towards
improved quantum device stability and sensitivity.
Read More
https://quantumzeitgeist.com/quantum-sensor-noise-mapped-atomic-defects/
Over its lifetime, LLF has awarded about 140 fellowships with an estimated 40
more expected this year.
A decade of Livermore Lab Foundation
https://www.independentnews.com/news/livermore_news/livermore-lab-foundation-hits-10-year-mark/article_e815da3e-4aba-4a04-805e-103315e7819c.html
Livermore Lab Foundation (LLF), the philanthropic partner of Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), celebrates its 10th anniversary this
year, marking a decade of support for research in areas such as
neurodegenerative diseases, Earth and atmospheric science, and fusion energy.
More fundamentally, the foundation’s “bread and butter” since its
inception has been its support for students, said LLF Executive Director
Sally Allen.
“It gives you a lot of hope for the future when there continues to be this
steady pipeline of young people that want to do this important work,” Allen
said.
The foundation awards fellowships and research stipends to undergraduate and
graduate students interested in science, technology, engineering and math
(STEM), with a focus on first-generation college students and those with
financial needs.
Read More
https://www.independentnews.com/news/livermore_news/livermore-lab-foundation-hits-10-year-mark/article_e815da3e-4aba-4a04-805e-103315e7819c.html
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challenges through innovative science, engineering and technology. Lawrence
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Administration.
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