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Nuclear and Chemical Sciences

The LUX-ZEPLIN main detector in a surface lab before installation underground. (Credit: Matthew Kapust/Sanford Underground Research Facility)

LZ experiment sees surprising result in search for dark matter

For the better part of a century, people have been trying to understand dark matter. This invisible substance makes up roughly 85% of the mass in the universe but has never been directly detected. Determining exactly what it is remains one of the biggest questions about our world. Now, a new analysis from the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment has recorded a single particle…

LLNL and NIST researchers have found a more robust method for entangling qubits by applying a ramped force (top). The approach controls trajectories in phase space (bottom) and allows for more precise entanglement control.

A more robust way to create entanglement in trapped ion qubits

While quantum computing could be the future, it is currently plagued by finicky hardware. To make the technology practical, researchers must demonstrate that it consistently and continuously works and performs at scale. In a new study, published in Physical Review Letters, researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the Ion Storage Group at the…

The LLNL team precisely measured plutonium-241 beta decays to search for production of exotic heavy neutrinos, a warm dark matter candidate, to explain the missing mass of the universe. The photograph shows a dilution refrigerator used to cool the experiment to 0.01 Kelvin.

Using plutonium to probe the universe: Magneto‑ν experiment advances dark matter and neutrino research

Astronomers can’t see dark matter directly, but know it’s there: its gravity shapes galaxies and the large-scale structure of the cosmos. In an effort to uncover the composition of this hidden mass, a team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is pursuing evidence of these particles that exist beyond the standard model of physics. In a new experimental campaign…

Lawrence Livermore staff scientist and polymer chemist Johanna Schwartz leads the team for the SPOC (Studying-Polymers-On a-Chip) platform, one of six R&D 100 awards LLNL won this year. Image credit: Garry McLeod/LLNL.

Lab scientists and engineers win six R&D 100 awards

The FlowVAM system eliminates the need to manually exchange print volume in Tomographic Volumetric Additive Manufacturing and incorporates in situ metrology, yielding a 200-fold improvement in part production rates. Image credit: Hazel Rose Galvan/LLNL Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers have earned six R&D 100 Awards, which recognize…

The Space Science Institute’s (SSI) 2026 summer student cohort with their mentors and program coordinators.

‘A science theme park’: Space science internship offers hands-on access to specialized tools

For the second summer, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) Space Science Institute (SSI) welcomed undergraduate and graduate students to a 10-week internship exploring astronomy, cosmochemistry and astrophysics. Throughout the summer, the 2026 student cohort worked alongside their LLNL mentors on projects reflecting the variety of capabilities available onsite…

New results from an experiment at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams answer a fundamental question about the structure of atomic nuclei. (Image: FRIB)

Magnetic clues in atomic nuclei reveal the truth about mysterious gamma rays

It has been a long-standing mystery in nuclear physics: why do the nuclei of some atoms emit more low-energy gamma rays than they should? The answer can be found in a new study from an international scientific team led by the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) and including authors from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Published in Nature, the work sheds…

Collage of students

PLS interns shine at the annual poster showcase

The 2026 Physical and Life Sciences (PLS) Summer Student Showcase took place on July 29 in the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Library. The day-long event featured the research projects of nearly 130 student interns from across PLS’s divisions. This annual event is a great way for students to practice their science communication skills and gives them the…

The meteor (left) shot through the sky in the eastern U.S. One fragment punched through the roof of a house in New Jersey (center), leaving behind a primitive meteorite (right) that scientists were able to analyze.

Scientists measure chemistry of meteorite that struck New Jersey home

On July 16, 2024, a daytime meteor shook New York City with a sonic boom as it passed just south of the Statue of Liberty. A short time later, a more than two-pound meteorite crashed through the roof of a house in the town of Hillsborough, New Jersey. Now, an international team, including scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), has analyzed that…

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…

The MC-15 portable neutron detector, developed for rapid deployment in emergency scenarios, utilizes advanced neutron multiplicity counting to identify and assess nuclear materials, providing crucial data for investigating potential radiological threats. (Artist rendering: Dan Herchek)

Meet the machines that matter: the portable neutron detector

Nuclear materials are rarely quiet. Even when hidden inside a sealed container, they emit a kind of heartbeat through streams of particles and radiation that carry critical information about its contents. In a laboratory, scientists have the tools and expertise to read that heartbeat. But in an emergency, first responders need a way to interpret it quickly, without highly…

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Forensic Science Center created a novel technique to uncover traces of the Soman nerve agent, strengthening chemical forensics and OPCW investigations. FSC team left to right: Adele Panasci-Nott, Alexander Vu, Carlos Valdez, Mark Dreyer, David Cho, David Baliu-Rodriguez and Saphon Hok (Photography: Blaise Douros)

LLNL’s Forensic Science Center develops a new capability to detect chemical weapons

In the aftermath of suspected chemical attacks, investigators from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) step in to collect chemical, environmental and biomedical samples. Thorough forensic laboratory analysis of these samples is essential for proving what — if any — chemical agents were used and verifying their identities. Researchers at Lawrence…

In the latest episode of the Big Ideas Lab, discover how LLNL researchers prepared and analyzed samples retrieved from the asteroid Bennu. (Photo: Garry McLeod/LLNL)

Analyze an asteroid sample in the latest episode of the Big Ideas Lab

In the early 2000s, a team of planetary scientists at NASA began planning something audacious. They would build a spacecraft. Aim it at an asteroid. Launch it across more than a billion miles of space. Map the asteroid’s rugged terrain at an unprecedented, centimeter-level resolution. Hover over the surface to collect a sample. And then bring it all the way home. The…

As hydrogen reacts with uranium, it creates blisters (a) that burst (b) and release uranium hydride powder. The interaction results in surface degradation (c) that can impact material safety and lifetime.

Roll the tape: LLNL captures inception of hydrogen-uranium reaction for the first time

When hydrogen gas interacts with uranium metal, the combination creates a chemically reactive powder and a runaway reaction that is difficult to stop. The result can impact the safety and lifespan of technology critical for fusion energy, hydrogen storage and nuclear fuels. In a recent study published in npj Materials Degradation, researchers from Lawrence Livermore…

A diagram of the plasma flow reactor that can be used to examine particles as they move from a hot plasma (left) to a cooler condensed state (right). (Courtesy image)

LLNL scientists use controlled experiments to better understand nuclear fallout

In less than a millionth of a second after a nuclear detonation or a severe nuclear reactor accident, an enormous burst of energy heats the surrounding air and materials. Everything in the vicinity is vaporized into a hot, glowing cloud of gas and plasma. As that nuclear fireball expands, it mixes with air, begins to cool and condenses into tiny solid particles — creating…

The AVLIS program began at LLNL in 1973 and was suspended in 1999. Now, the technology is being revived to create a domestic process for enriching lithium and fuel an energy-resilient nation.

Revitalized laser technology captures commercialization grant

Small, modular nuclear fission reactors and fusion facilities could each be the future of resilient and secure energy in the U.S. and around the world. But these technologies rely on isotopes of lithium to cool fission reactors and create fusion fuel. Currently, there is no sustained, domestic production mechanism for lithium isotopes in the U.S. that meets projected…

Audience view of the stage, where a presenter shows a 4-panel cartoon about a stardust grain forming in a star, then traveling through space, final panel depicts scientist with a telescope.

‘Science on Saturday’ lecture brings students along a cosmic treasure hunt to find stardust in meteorites

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) educational outreach program Science on Saturday kicked off its 2026 program with an impactful lecture on meteorites and cosmochemistry. Held on Saturday mornings at the Mertes Center for the Arts in Las Positas College, the annual series offers local students and other community members a glimpse into the life and work of…

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has announced five research teams selected for awards through the Lab’s FY26 Academic Collaboration Team annual call for proposals.

Weapons Physics & Design ACT awards drive university partnerships and research

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has announced five research teams selected for awards through the Lab’s FY26 Academic Collaboration Team (ACT) annual call for proposals. Awards support university research partners for up to three years to perform research in collaboration with Lab scientists and offer an important way to build long-term connections with…

Wyatt Larrinaga studies how proteins bind to radioactive elements during a graduate student fellowship at LLNL. (Graphic: Dan Herchek and Jeremy Gardner / LLNL)

Grad student Wyatt Larrinaga explores how proteins bind to radioactive elements for fellowship at LLNL

As a fifth-year graduate student at the Pennsylvania State University, Wyatt Larrinaga investigates how proteins can be used to separate lanthanides. These elements, plus two others, make up the rare earth elements that are critical for technology, defense and a robust domestic energy supply. But somewhere along the way, Larrinaga grew interested in branching out. Or,…

Artist’s depiction of NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft exploring the icy, hydrocarbon-rich landscapes of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. (Courtesy image: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben)

LLNL delivers advanced gamma-ray spectrometer for NASA’s Dragonfly mission to explore Titan

Hundreds of millions of miles away from Earth, the landscape of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, bears a striking resemblance to our own planet — but with dunes of hydrocarbon sands rather than silica sands, and rain, rivers, lakes and seas of liquid methane and ethane rather than liquid water. The NASA Dragonfly mission is set to explore this world in unprecedented detail…

The magnetic microcalorimetry team operates a dilution refrigerator used for ultra-sensitive magnetic microcalorimetry. Their work enables the precise measurement of nuclear decay events at extremely low temperatures. From left to right: Inwook Kim, Chang Lee, Geon-Bo Kim (corresponding author), Ryan Wood (first author) and Nathan Hines.

Cryogenic micro-calorimetry offers a novel material-dating method for nuclear forensics and safeguards

The moment nuclear material is produced, processed or purified, it sets off a hidden countdown, marked by the half-life of its radioactive atoms as they begin to decay. For scientists tracking the origins of these substances, decoding this natural clock is crucial for verifying material histories in support of global security efforts. In a new study published in the…