(AGENPARL) - Roma, 8 Marzo 2025(AGENPARL) – ven 07 marzo 2025 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, March 7, 2025
José Hernández tours the National Ignition Facility with another former
astronaut, Jeff Wisoff, who is the principal associate director of NIF &
Photon Science. (Photo: Carrie Martin/LLNL)
… Making an astronaut
https://www.radionwtn.com/2025/02/26/hernandez-finds-his-way-from-the-fields-to-the-stars/
Ever since he was a child, José Hernández wanted to become an astronaut,
and he is proud to talk about how he got from the fields of California farms
to the International Space Station.
While he was applying to become an astronaut, Hernández became an engineer
at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he and a colleague
developed the first full-field digital mammography imaging system, still used
for early detection of breast cancer.
“We demonstrated to the (Food and Drug Administration) that our device
provided much more information than traditional film-screen radiology,”
Hernández said. “More information means earlier detection. Earlier
detection saves lives.
“If people ask me what’s my proudest professional moment, it’s not
being a NASA astronaut; it’s actually this because this has been
demonstrated to save hundreds of thousands if not millions of lives by now.
So, I’m pretty proud of that. This has made a bigger impact on humanity
than I could ever do by going into space.”
Read More
https://www.radionwtn.com/2025/02/26/hernandez-finds-his-way-from-the-fields-to-the-stars/
An artist’s conception of the exoplanet K2-33b, a 10-Myr-old, Jupiter-sized
planet, transiting in front of its active host star. (Image:
NASA/JPL-CalTech)
… How do planets form?
Astronomers have long grappled with the question, “How do planets form?”
A new collaboration among Arizona State University, Michigan State University
and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will seek to answer this question
with the help of a powerful telescope and high-performance computers.
The team of researchers will use 154 hours on the James Webb Space Telescope
to probe the atmospheres of seven planets beyond our solar system—all of
which were formed less than 300 million years ago, around the time dinosaurs
roamed the Earth. In conjunction with JWST, this collaboration, called the
KRONOS program, will use computers from Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory to create atmospheric models that could lead to understanding how
planets form, evolve and possibly even harbor conditions favorable for life.
“Through our strategic partnership, we will push the limits of our models
and data, looking for new insights into both planetary atmospheres and their
host stars,” said KRONOS co-principal investigator Luis Welbanks.
Read More
Besides El Capitan, Lawrence Livermore also houses Tuolumne, the 10th fastest
computer in the world. It has the same architecture as El Capitan but is
dedicated entirely to open science research.
… Accelerating with AI
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory houses some of the world’s most
advanced supercomputers, and it is now officially home to the world’s
fastest, most powerful supercomputer, El Capitan.
El Capitan is 16 times more powerful than its predecessor, Sierra, which is
another supercomputer at LLNL that supports the National Nuclear Security
Administration’s stockpile stewardship mission.
Brian Spears, director of the AI Innovation Incubator at LLNL, and Judy Hill,
computational science leader and leader of the lab’s Grand Challenge, said
El Capitan has the promise of enabling unprecedented advancements in
artificial intelligence and modeling and simulation.
Scientists can now solve fundamental equations for science and engineering
needed for national security problems, and then they can accelerate it with
AI, Spears and Hill shared during Federal News Network’s AI and Data
Exchange.
Read More
Liquid crystal elastomers are made by incorporating liquid crystals into the
molecular structure of a stretchable material. (Image: Michael Ford)
… Stretching the limits
A new study on improved molecular alignment in 3D printed liquid crystal elastomers
U.S.-based researchers have developed a method to precisely control the
molecular alignment of liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) during 3D printing.
Ensuring more predictable shape-morphing and mechanical properties, the
discovery allows designing soft materials with highly controlled behavior,
which could be applied in fields such as soft robotics, prosthetics and
adaptive structures.
Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, this study
brings together experts from Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering
and Applied Sciences (SEAS), Princeton University, Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory (LLNL), and Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL).
“When this project began, we simply didn’t have a good understanding of
how to precisely control liquid crystal alignment during extrusion-based 3D
printing,” said first author Rodrigo Telles, a SEAS graduate student,
Academic Cooperation Program scholar and collaborator with LLNL. “Yet it is
their degree of alignment that gives rise to varying amounts of actuation and
contraction when heated.”
Read More
A new study on improved molecular alignment in 3D printed liquid crystal elastomers
Flames consume a home as the 2021 Dixie Fire tears through the Indian Falls
community in Plumas County.
… Livermore helps wildfire relief
https://www.independentnews.com/news/livermore_news/livermore-laboratory-raises-over-82k-for-southern-california-fire-relief/article_0d730542-f470-11ef-b22f-3bc1a8a607b4.html
This winter, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) employees and a
matching commitment from Lawrence Livermore National Security LLC (LLNS), the
company that manages the lab, raised $82,101.38 for Southern California
residents impacted by the series of catastrophic wildfires that occurred in
January 2025.
The voluntary giving campaign, which ran from Jan. 16 to Feb. 14, benefited
21 charities that actively responded to the immediate aftermath of the fires
in the Los Angeles area. Charities receiving funds from LLNL and LLNS’s
giving account established with Fidelity Charitable included the American Red
Cross, Habitat for Humanity-Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles Regional Food
Bank, and United Policyholders, a national nonprofit for that provides
information to insurance policyholders.
Nonprofits’ response to the disaster have involved a wide range of actions.
For example, American Red Cross distributed relief supplies such as personal
protective equipment, plus clean-up kits, snacks, and water to residents
whose homes were damaged.
Read More
https://www.independentnews.com/news/livermore_news/livermore-laboratory-raises-over-82k-for-southern-california-fire-relief/article_0d730542-f470-11ef-b22f-3bc1a8a607b4.html
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provides solutions to our nation’s most important national security
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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