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NASA’s Psyche mission successfully tested a gamma-ray sensor developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory during a Mars gravity assist. The mission aims to study the asteroid Psyche, believed to be an exposed planetary core, with the spacecraft scheduled to arrive in 2029. (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU)

NASA’s Psyche mission tests LLNL-built gamma-ray sensor on Mars flyby

On a multi-billion-mile journey to the asteroid Psyche, a gamma-ray sensor developed by a team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) took its first measurements of a planetary surface after 2.6 years in deep space. NASA’s Psyche spacecraft flew behind Mars for a gravity assist, with the red planet’s gravitational field acting as a slingshot to change the flight…

Attendees at the UC Science at Scale Summit in Santa Fe, New Mexico

“AI Science at Scale” summit showcases advances in AI-enabled research and innovation

Recently, the University of California (UC), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) convened researchers and leaders from across the UC system in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for the first annual AI Science at Scale summit. The summit was planned in recognition of AI’s growing role in scientific discovery and the Department of…

LLNL scientists Dylan Kline (front) and Justin McAlister evaluate finished, mock high-explosive materials produced using a modern pharmaceutical manufacturing process called extrusion-spheronization. (Photo credit: Garry McLeod/LLNL)

Modernizing high-explosives manufacturing

For decades, manufacturing plastic-bonded high explosives, or PBXs, has relied on legacy processes like slurry coating. In this method, explosive crystals are mixed with a binder, a polymer that helps hold the material together, to form small granules called prills. Those prills are then pressed into dense explosive parts. This process is difficult to control, inefficient…

Experiments at the National Ignition Facility used direct laser-driven compression of iron to pressure-temperature conditions relevant to Earth’s inner core, with x-ray radiography and VISAR diagnostics. Credit: Brain Chavez/LLNL and Universidad de Mendoza.

Measuring iron in motion at earth-core conditions

It was a journey to the center of the Earth, if only for the briefest of moments. But rather than tunneling thousands of miles from the Earth’s surface, researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and several universities used the National Ignition Facility (NIF) to recreate those extreme temperature and pressure conditions of the Earth’s inner core…

Participants and instructors work through a hands-on activity at the 2025 Real-World Quantum Computing workshop.

Registration open for Real-World Quantum Computing workshop at LLNL

Registration is now open for the 2026 Real-World Quantum Computing workshop, jointly hosted by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and San Jose State University (SJSU). The two-day workshop is designed for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students in engineering, physics or related fields. Interns are encouraged to apply. Applications will be accepted on a…

With specialized beamsplitters and precision freeform optics, scientists have generated a novel high-intensity laser that rotates like a spring. (Graphic: Brendan Thompson/LLNL)

Researchers create first-of-a-kind laser spring with LLNL’s highest-precision optics to date

When a high-intensity laser interacts with plasma, the charged particles typically oscillate back and forth like waves on the ocean. But what if the laser itself could twist like a whirlpool? Researchers have now demonstrated a rotating, spring-shaped laser pulse, opening up new possibilities for fusion energy, particle acceleration, astrophysics and beyond. In new…

Target chamber at the OMEGA laser facility at the University of Rochester, New York (Credit: OMEGA Laser Facility)

Laser experiments push helium to record shock pressures

Deep inside gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn, hydrogen and helium coexist under pressures millions of times greater than Earth’s atmosphere. At those conditions, helium may separate from hydrogen and influence a planet’s internal heat flow, structure and magnetic field. Understanding these processes and how these materials behave under extreme conditions is essential to…

Shaine Athey, a workforce development administrator in LLNL’s Engineering Directorate supports recruiting and workplace development programs. (Photo: Blaise Douros/LLNL)

Meet LLNL: Workforce Development Administrator Shaine Athey

Shaine Athey did not follow a linear path to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), but she helped create one for others. A workforce development administrator in the Engineering Directorate’s Associate Director’s Office, Athey works in recruiting and workplace development programming. Her job centers on bringing people together, from students arriving for summer…

Director Kim Budil and UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz signed the agreement last week (Photos: UC Merced).

Agreement opens new opportunities for LLNL, UC Merced

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and UC Merced have long been partners in cutting-edge science and technology. University students and researchers take part in numerous lab activities such as the Data Science Challenge, which brings students to Livermore to for an intensive two-week summer experience where they collaborate on complex scientific and…

The Big Ideas Lab podcast takes listeners inside the National Lab Research SLAM competition. Listen to the new episode on Apple and Spotify. (Photo: Blaise Douros)

LLNL’s Big Ideas Lab podcast goes behind the scenes of the National Lab Research SLAM

Finalists representing each of the 17 U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories gathered at the Congressional Auditorium for the first National Lab Research SLAM in 2023. With one slide, three minutes and months of preparation behind them, each scientist stepped up to the microphone to explain their research through compelling storytelling to an audience outside of…

Neuromorphic ionic devices have the potential to mimic the energy efficient computing found in the human brain. (Image: J. Cataldo/LLNL)

Bridging the gap between neuromorphic ionic computing and more efficient AI

The human brain is the ultimate supercomputer. It uses a highly-branched and interconnected network of neurons and synapses to achieve massive computational power with extreme efficiency. In the age of AI, the brain, a paradigm of efficient neuromorphic computing, is providing inspiration for scientists. Ionic computing — which uses ions to compute instead of the electrons…

An international cohort gathered at the University of California Livermore Collaboration Center for a workshop focused on ideas at the boundary of fusion science. (Photos: Blaise Douros/LLNL)

LLNL, UC San Diego host workshop for innovative fusion concepts

More than 80 attendees recently gathered at the University of California (UC) Livermore Collaboration Center for the Innovative Concepts for Inertial Fusion Energy (IC-IFE) 2026 International Physics Workshop. Hosted by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and UC San Diego, the three-day conference was supported by the Japan-U.S. Collaboration Program in Fusion…

2026 Lawrence Fellows Harry Fetsch, Taryn Imamura and Clarke Knight

Three Lawrence fellows selected for 2026 cohort

This year’s three Lawrence fellows will pursue research that spans fusion science, emerging concepts for sensing and response and earth system science. Their work reflects both the breadth of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) mission space and the program’s commitment to enabling early-career scientists to take bold, multidisciplinary approaches to…

Big Ideas Lab genesis mission graphic

Big Ideas Lab explores how the Genesis Mission aims to accelerate scientific discovery

Scientific discovery has always moved through a familiar cycle: question, hypothesis, experiment and a result. In the latest episode of the Big Ideas Lab podcast, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) explores how the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Genesis Mission aims to accelerate that process by uniting AI, high-performance computing (HPC), experiments and the…

On May 7, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Director Kim Budil, fourth from left, joined a public-private panel on AI for science, where she highlighted LLNL capabilities and AI focus areas, including the National Ignition Facility, El Capitan, high-fidelity modeling and simulation and advanced materials and manufacturing. (Photo: Jeremy Thomas)

LLNL showcases AI-enabled science, national security and energy innovation at AI+ Expo

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) leaders, scientists and engineers joined national voices at the Special Competitive Studies Project’s (SCSP) AI+ Expo May 7-9 in Washington, D.C., highlighting how AI is reshaping science, security and energy innovation. The public Expo brought together government, industry, academic and Department of Energy (DOE) national…

At LLNL’s STEM with Phones summer workshop, Daniel Kim participated in a demonstration on how a smartphone can be used for scientific research and data analysis. (Photo: Garry McLeod)

AI expands what research projects students can accomplish at LLNL’s STEM with Phones workshop

Forget spreadsheets. At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) STEM with Phones student workshop, students are using smartphones and artificial intelligence (AI) to conduct advanced scientific analysis. Led by LLNL’s David Rakestraw, participants in the program discover how to turn a tool already in their pocket — a smartphone — into an instrument for…

Sonny Ly, deputy group leader for the Laser Material Interaction Science Group in LLNL’s Materials Science Division, conducts hands-on work supporting laser physics and laser-material interactions research. (Photo: Garry McLeod/LLNL)

Meet LLNL: Laser Material Interaction Deputy Group Leader Sonny Ly

Sonny Ly has built a career at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) combining laser physics, materials science and mentorship. A deputy group leader in the Laser Material Interaction Science Group within the Materials Science Division under Physical and Life Sciences, Ly first came to the Lab in 2010 as a graduate student from the University of California, Davis…

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory leaders and researchers accept the 2026 Manufacturer of the Year award in the large manufacturer category from the Association of Manufacturers Bay Area (AMBayArea) on April 21, recognizing the Lab’s leadership in advanced manufacturing, engineering and national security innovation. Pictured (l-r) are LLNL Materials Engineering Division Leader Chris Spadaccini, robotics engineer Mason Sage, Government & Industry Relations Senior Advisor Yuvaraj Sivalingam and Director

LLNL named 2026 Manufacturer of the Year by AMBayArea

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has been named the 2026 Manufacturer of the Year in the large manufacturer category by the Association of Manufacturers Bay Area (AMBayArea), recognizing the Lab’s leadership in advanced manufacturing, engineering and national security innovation. The award was announced April 21 during the AMBayArea Summit at the Chabot Space …

LLNL researchers invented a high-throughput platform that screens proteins for their rare earth element binding preferences at unprecedented scale. (Photos: Blaise Douros/LLNL)

New protein-screening platform accelerates rare-earth separation for U.S. supply chain

To ensure a robust domestic supply chain in the U.S., Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are using bacterial proteins to separate the rare-earth elements that are ubiquitous in magnets, batteries and electronics. These proteins, called lanmodulin, evolved in bacteria that use rare-earth elements to power their metabolism. But to scale up and advance…

Adding an optimized void structure (top right) counteracts a shockwave-induced instability, reducing jetting (bottom right) that can interfere with inertial confinement fusion. Without this void, significant jetting occurs (bottom left). (Image: Strucka et al.)

Looking into the void to cancel out material instabilities

Picture two materials sandwiched together. The boundary between them may appear flat, but, in reality, it is full of tiny bumps and dents. Suddenly, the materials are hit with a shockwave. If that wave hits a bump in the material interface, it slows down. If it hits a dent, it accelerates forward. This imbalance creates fast, narrow jets of material — called the Richtmyer…