In the News
2020
November 25, 2020
This Nuclear Fusion Reactor Is Damn Close to Burning Plasma
A major nuclear fusion reactor powered by lasers has set up a new series of milestones. The National Ignition Facility (NIF), at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California, says that after a decade of challenges, it’s finally homing in on the right range to reach productive nuclear fusion. (Popular Mechanics)
November 23, 2020
Laser fusion reactor approaches ‘burning plasma’ milestone
In October 2010, in a building the size of three U.S. football fields, researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory powered up 192 laser beams, focused their energy into a pulse with the punch of a speeding truck, and fired it at a pellet of nuclear fuel the size of a peppercorn. (Science)
November 17, 2020
Xeon powers new Ruby supercomputer
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) will leverage Intel Xeon Scalable processors in Ruby, its latest high performance computing cluster. (IT-Online)
November 12, 2020
Giant lasers help re-create supernovas’ explosive, mysterious physics
When one of Hye-Sook Park’s experiments goes well, everyone nearby knows. “We can hear Hye-Sook screaming,” she’s heard colleagues say. It’s no surprise that she can’t contain her excitement. She’s getting a closeup look at the physics of exploding stars, or supernovas, a phenomenon so immense that its power is difficult to put into words. (Science News)
October 27, 2020
Record neutron numbers at Sandia Labs’ Z machine fusion experiments
A relatively new method to control nuclear fusion that combines a massive jolt of electricity with strong magnetic fields and a powerful laser beam has achieved its own record output of neutrons — a key standard by which fusion efforts are judged — at Sandia National Laboratories’ Z pulsed power facility, the most powerful producer of X-rays on Earth. (Phys.org)
October 14, 2020
The World’s Greatest Science Megaprojects
Throughout the past century, our advancements in science have been enabled by buildings and infrastructure. From vast satellite dishes the size of valleys to polar bases at the very ends of the Earth and cutting-edge facilities that help take us beyond our own planet, the construction sector’s collaborations with the world of science have dramatically advanced our species. (The B1M)
October 13, 2020
CMOS imagers tackle applications in extreme environments
Modern CMOS image-sensor technology has provided a path for routine imaging in challenging environments, including consumer electronics, automotive, and industrial machine vision. (LaserFocusWorld)
October 8, 2020
Head of Nuclear Defense Agency Visits Lawrence Livermore and Sandia Labs
In early 2018, the U.S. Senate confirmed Lisa Gordon-Hagerty as Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, or NNSA, putting her in charge of a $16.5 billion agency that is responsible for the safety, security and effectiveness of U.S. nuclear weapons. (The Independent)
October 2020
‘Supernova Slice’ Simulates Blasts of Dying Stars. A door-sized experiment models massive star explosions
Previous supernova experiments have been performed at larger scales, says the study's principal investigator, Georgia Tech astrophysicist Devesh Ranjan. Sites such as Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory train dozens of lasers on material the size of a pencil eraser, evaporating it to trigger an impressive blast. (Scientific American)
October 2, 2020
Warhead replacement program passes first key milestone
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers passed their first program level key milestone in the W87-1 Modification Program (W87-1 Mod) on Sept. 24, keeping the program on schedule despite work stoppages due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Mirage News)
October 1, 2020
Compressibility measurements reach white dwarf pressures
Now, for the first time in a laboratory experiment, researchers working at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) have measured material compressibility at pressures exceeding 100 Mbar. (Physics Today)
September 30, 2020
Crucial electrical distribution system completed ahead of schedule, under budget
Construction crews recently wrapped up a long-anticipated electrical system upgrade that will supply Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and neighboring Sandia/California with reliable, redundant underground power, completing it months ahead of schedule and well under budget. (Mirage News)
September 13, 2020
Are remote internships worth it? These UM-Dearborn summer interns say ‘yes’
It’s totally understandable that the students we talked with were a little disappointed when they learned their summer internships were going remote. Some of them had some really exciting host venues to look forward to, like the renowned Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory just outside of San Francisco. (The Press & Guide)
September 3, 2020
Laser-focused: Four MIT students foster new insights into inertial confinement fusion
Working closely with the 30‑kilojoule OMEGA (60-beam) laser at the University of Rochester and the 2‑megajoule (192-beam) laser at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), PSFC researchers and collaborators develop special diagnostic instrumentation that makes it possible to study spatial and temporal variations in plasma properties and electromagnetic fields. (MIT News)
August 21, 2020
In a Lab on Earth, Scientists Just Replicated Pressures Found on White Dwarf Stars
For the first time, pressure over 100 times that found in Earth’s core has been generated in a lab, setting a new record. Using the highest-energy laser system in the world, physicists briefly subjected solid hydrocarbon samples to pressures up to 450 megabars, meaning 450 million times Earth’s atmospheric pressure at sea level. (ScienceAlert)
August 21, 2020
SpaceWatch: News of gas and asteroids
For the first time, scientists have found a way to describe conditions deep in the convection zone of “white dwarf” stars. Working at the National Ignition Facility in the US, researchers from the US, Germany and Canada simulated the crushing pressure created as stars cease to produce their own fuel, leaving only an extremely dense core. (Cosmos)
August 20, 2020
Compressibility measurements reach white dwarf pressures
Much of the baryonic matter in the universe—the interiors of planets, stars, and especially dense stellar remnants such as white dwarfs—exists in forms unlike anything we encounter on Earth’s surface. At pressures above 1 Mbar (a million times the pressure of Earth’s atmosphere, but less than a third of the pressure at the planet’s core), chemical bonds start to be ripped apart. (Physics Today)
August 19, 2020
Cerebras puts ‘world’s largest computer chip’s in Lassen supercomputer
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) said it has integrated Cerebras Systems‘ new product, which the company claims is the world’s largest computer chip, into its Lassen supercomputer for the National Nuclear Security Administration. (VentureBeat)
August 19, 2020
LLNL Pairs Computer Chip From Cerebras with ‘Lassen’ Supercomputer to Accelerate AI Research
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and artificial intelligence computer company Cerebras Systems have integrated the world’s largest computer chip into the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA’s) Lassen system, upgrading the top-tier supercomputer with cutting-edge AI technology. (HPC Wire)
August 19, 2020
LLNL beefs up its Lassen supercomputer with the world’s largest processor
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory said today it has integrated the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Lassen supercomputer with the world’s largest computer chip. (Silicon Angle)
August 19, 2020
Cerebras 1.2 Trillion Chip Integrated with LLNL’s Lassen System for AI Research
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory said today it has integrated the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Lassen supercomputer with the world’s largest computer chip. (Inside HPC)
August 19, 2020
LLNL joins new research on atom-changing pressures
High energy density (HED) scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have helped launch a new National Science Foundation (NSF) effort to understand the physical and astrophysical properties of matter under pressures strong enough to change the structure of individual atoms. (Mirage News)
August 18, 2020
LANL Astrophysicist Didier Saumon Chats With Los Alamos Reporter
Los Alamos National Laboratory astrophysicist Didier Saumon is one of a large group of international researchers who have developed an experimental technique to measure the basic properties of matter by using lasers to compress hydrocarbon samples to 100 to 450 million times the Earth’s atmospheric pressure — the highest pressures achieved to date in a controlled laboratory experiment. (Los Alamos Reporter)
August 18, 2020
Experiments replicate high densities in ‘white dwarf’ stars
For the first time, researchers have found a way to describe conditions deep in the convection zone of “white dwarf” stars,, which are home to some of the densest collections of matter in the Universe. (Space Daily)
August 17, 2020
Experiments replicate high densities in ‘white dwarf’ star remnants
Engineers have simulated the crushing pressure created as white dwarf stars cease to produce their own fuel, leaving only an extremely dense core. The results add to growing evidence about the evolution of astrophysical bodies — and possible approaches to creating novel materials in laboratories on Earth. (ScienceDaily)
August 16, 2020
Experiments replicate high densities in ‘white dwarf’ star remnants
In a project conducted at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the research team, including University of Rochester engineering professor Gilbert (Rip) Collins, simulated the crushing pressure created as stars cease to produce their own fuel, leaving only an extremely dense core. (University of Rochester Newscenter)
August 16, 2020
Rochester scientist David Turnbull receives fusion award
David Turnbull, a scientist at the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE), has been selected as a recipient of the 2020 Excellence in Fusion Engineering Award from Fusion Power Associates. (University of Rochester Newscenter)
August 16, 2020
1.1 Million Joules of UV Laser Energy: Shedding Light on Stellar Evolution and “Cosmic Clocks”
Using the power of the National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world’s highest-energy laser system, an international team developed a way to measure the basic properties of matter, such as the equation of state (EOS), at the highest pressures thus far achieved in a controlled laboratory experiment. (SciTechDaily)
August 16, 2020
Helium: Fuelling the Future?
Helium has a peculiar and very interesting fact attached to it: it is the only element discovered out of Earth before it was discovered on our planet. (Energy Industry Review)
August 14, 2020
ITER Assembly Officially Begins in France
Harnessing the power of the sun—that is the dream of nuclear fusion engineers, but how close is the technology to realization? (Engineering.com)
August 4, 2020
Lab-Created Shock Waves Mimic Supernova Particle Accelerators
New laser-driven experiments and numerical simulations reveal an electron acceleration mechanism relevant to young supernova shock waves. (DOE Science News Source)
August 4, 2020
Christopher Keane to serve as chair of the APLU Council on Research
WSU Vice President for Research Christopher Keane, former director of the NIF User Office, has been elected as chair of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) Council on Research. (WSU Insider)
July 28, 2020
Could We Achieve Interstellar Travel Using Only Known Physics?
With the right technology, we could vastly improve how efficient it is to get a large-payload mass, perhaps even one that carried humans on board, to unprecedented distances across the Universe. (Forbes)
July 18, 2020
A cheaper, faster way to nuclear fusion
Dense Plasma Focus technology could provide a simpler, safer and more cost-effective form of nuclear energy. (Asia Times)
July 16, 2020
Nuclear Tests Have Changed, but They Never Really Stopped
75 years after the first explosive nuclear tests, now outlawed, sophisticated virtual testing allows American physicists to understand these weapons better than ever. (Wired)
July 7, 2020
LLLNL Director William Goldstein Announces Retirement
Bill Goldstein announced his retirement as director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) on Tuesday. Goldstein, who also serves as president of Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, has held the lab’s top position since he became the lab’s 12th director in March 2014. (The Independent)
July 7, 2020
Livermore Lab Director Bill Goldstein announces retirement
After a little over six years at the helm, William H. “Bill” Goldstein announced Tuesday that he will be retiring as the director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and as president of Lawrence Livermore National Security (LLNS), effective once a successor is named. (Pleasanton Weekly)
June 24, 2020
Remaking a Planet One Atom at a Time
When is a planet not a planet? Where does helium rain? How can water be solid and liquid at the same time? For answers, scientists put common planetary materials under extreme pressure and watched what happened next. (Eos)
June 18, 2020
Deep Learning-Based Surrogate Models Outperform Simulators and Could Hasten Scientific Discoveries
Surrogate models supported by neural networks can perform as well, and in some ways better, than computationally expensive simulators and could lead to new insights in complicated physics problems such as inertial confinement fusion (ICF), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists reported. (HPC Wire)
June 17, 2020
How elements mix deep inside giant planets?
An international team that includes scientists from the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has devised a new way to quantify how chemical elements behave and mix deep inside icy giants. (Tech Explorist)
June 16, 2020
Congress boosts inertial-confinement fusion budget; review results expected by end of FY20
Plans will be charted by year’s end for a five-year program to increase NIF’s pulse energy and perform new experiments. (LaserFocusWorld)
June 13, 2020
Create incredible supernova shockwaves … right here on Earth
In a new report, researchers have created a miniature version of the supernova shock wave in a laboratory on Earth to solve a long-standing mystery universe. (Xã Luận.com)
June 12, 2020
Shock waves created at NIF mimic astrophysical particle accelerators powered by exploding stars
When stars explode as supernovae, they produce shock waves so powerful they can blast streams of particles called cosmic rays into the universe at nearly the speed of light. Yet the exact mechanisms behind these phenomena remained mysteries for decades. (Mirage News)
June 11, 2020
Supernova Shock Waves Are Possible on Earth; Here’s How
Scientists were able to create a miniature version of a supernova shock wave in a lab, and it seems that it will solve a problem we’ve been dealing with for quite a long time in the space. (Webby Feed)
June 10, 2020
Scientists use lasers to create miniature supernova shock waves on Earth
Researchers have created a miniature version of supernova shock waves in a lab here on Earth to solve a long-standing cosmic mystery. (Space.com)
June 10, 2020
Shock waves created in the lab mimic astrophysical particle accelerators powered by exploding stars
When stars explode as supernovas, they produce shock waves in the plasma surrounding them. So powerful are these shock waves, they can act as particle accelerators that blast streams of particles, called cosmic rays, out into the universe at nearly the speed of light. (ScienceBlog)
June 10, 2020
Igniting Shock Waves Using Some of the World’s Most Powerful Lasers to Mimic Supernovas
In experiments at the National Ignition Facility, a SLAC-led team found new details about how supernovas boost charged particles to nearly the speed of light. (SciTechDaily)
June 9, 2020
Shock waves created in the lab mimic supernova particle accelerators
When stars explode as supernovas, they produce shock waves in the plasma surrounding them. So powerful are these shock waves, they can act as particle accelerators that blast streams of particles, called cosmic rays, out into the universe at nearly the speed of light. (Nanowerk)
June 9, 2020
Researchers create shockwaves in the lab that mimic supernovas
When stars explode into supernovas, they produce shockwaves in the plasma surrounding them. Scientists say that the shockwaves are so powerful they can act as particle accelerators that blast streams of particles, called cosmic rays, into the universe at nearly the speed of light. (Slash Gear)
June 8, 2020
Miniature supernova shock waves
A laser–plasma experiment has recreated shock waves in collisionless, weakly magnetized conditions and evidenced electron acceleration to relativistic energies, offering unprecedented insight into a long-standing problem in astrophysics. (Nature Physics)
May 22, 2020
Celebrating 60 years of laser
This month marks the 60th anniversary of the invention of the laser. Here, we highlight a few of the many developments of a technology that has revolutionised our lives. To celebrate, our editors have chosen a collection of articles published in Communications Physics that showcase the breath of research and applications in this field. (Communications Physics)
May 19, 2020
Where AI Might Fit in the Supercomputers of 2030
One reason why we also pay attention to Brian Spears is because he’s directly at the point where all of this convergences. His main research revolves around the National Ignition Facility, which houses the largest laser in the world. Here, he weaves between using AI, traditional modeling and simulation, and ultra-fast, lower power compute at the edge. (The Next Platform)
May 15, 2020
“Light Under Flawless Tutelage Knows No Limits:” Sixty Years Of Lasers Finding New Problems To Solve
This Saturday, May 16, is the 60th anniversary of the first working laser, achieved by Theodore Maiman at Hughes Labs in 1960. At the time, one of Maiman’s colleagues, Irnee d’Haenens, famously dubbed the laser “a solution in search of a problem”—it wasn’t immediately obvious what a coherent source of light was really for. (Forbes)
May 14, 2020
How Do We Know the Nukes Still Work?
At Lawrence Livermore’s National Ignition Facility, the highest-energy laser ever built is stored in a sports stadium-sized building, where it focuses beams onto a target to set off fusion. (Gizmodo)
May 11, 2020
National Ignition Facility Experiments Have Resumed, DoE Says
Experiments resumed at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California in late April, following a COVID-19 shutdown, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration said late Friday. (Defense Daily)
May 1, 2020
The Laser at 60: Robert Byer
For its May 2020 print article “The Laser at 60,” OPN interviewed a range of OSA Fellows on laser research today. We’re presenting a selection of those interviews online. Below is an edited version of our interview with Robert Byer of Stanford University. (Optics & Photonics News)
May 2020
The Laser at 60
Six decades after the first working laser was demonstrated, OPN offers a few samples of the incredibly rich field the device has created. The business end of Maiman’s 1960 laser could be held in the palm of one’s hands. That’s a far cry from the enormous, football-field-scale terawatt and petawatt laser complexes of the U.S. National Ignition Facility and Europe’s Extreme Light Infrastructure, and the 100-PW Station of Extreme Light being built in China. (Optics & Photonics News)
April 24, 2020
One Supercomputer’s HPC And AI Battle Against The Coronavirus
To find out more about how the Corona system and others are being deployed in the fight against COVID-19, and how HPC and AI workloads are being intertwined in that fight, we talked to Jim Brase, deputy associate director for data science at Lawrence Livermore. (The Next Platform)
April 23, 2020
Hidden in Plain Sight Podcast: Using Data to Build a Secure Future
Nuclear safety, national defense and cool experiments with an amazingly complex laser array: Here’s how the Lawrence Livermore National Lab crunches data to shape the future. Hear from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director Bill Goldstein. (Mission.org)
March 31, 2020
How the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the world’s biggest physics experiments
The vast, sparsely populated Argentinian Pampas would seem ideal for social distancing. In the Mendoza region, the Pierre Auger Observatory near Malargue consists of more than 1,600 car-sized plastic tanks filled with water, scattered across some 3,000 square kilometres of land that is usually visited only by grazing cattle. (Nature)
March 24, 2020
Emerging Laser Applications—New Demands on Optics
Talking about optics assumes a well-prepared optical surface—and that was what Jessica DeGroote Nelson, Director of Technology & Strategy, Optimax Systems, talked about: How to make such a surface on an optical component, which is ready for use under challenging industrial conditions. (LaserFocusWorld)
March 19, 2020
Superfast, Superpowerful Lasers Are About to Revolutionize Physics
They’ll serve as the heart as “discovery factories” for planetary science, astrophysics, materials physics, fusion and more. (Scientific American)
March 13, 2020
Nuclear diagnostics help pave way to ignition on NIF inertial confinement fusion
At its peak, a NIF inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosion lasts about 100 trillionths of a second. The imploded fuel is a hundred millionths of a meter in diameter and as much as eight times denser than lead. The center of the imploded capsule is a few times hotter than the core of the sun. (Phys.org)
March 13, 2020
Focus: Magnetic Field Gets up to Speed
Simulations suggest that a relatively simple laser technique could produce femtosecond magnetic-field pulses, which currently are only available at a few major lab facilities. (Physics)
February 27, 2020
The Holy Grail Of Clean Energy Is Closer Than Ever
Nuclear fusion has been seen as the unattainable holy grail of clean energy for decades, but just in the last year it’s been seeming more and more within reach. (OilPrice.com)
February 25, 2020
Perseverance with Félicie Albert
In this installment of Senior Member Insights, OPN talks with Félicie Albert, currently a staff scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), USA, in the National Ignition Facility and Photon Science directorate and the Joint High Energy Density Sciences (JHEDS) organization. She is also the deputy director for LLNL’s center for High Energy Density Science. (Optics & Photonics News)
February 24, 2020
‘Yes, You Can’: UC Merced Students Learning, Growing at Livermore Lab
Leily Kiani (’16) was a graduate student who learned about LLNL early enough in her time on campus to build the foundation that would lead her to do her postdoctoral work at the lab. Now, as a laser physicist working on fiber technologies, Kiani has access to one of the best pieces of equipment in the world — the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at LLNL. (UC Merced)
February 23, 2020
We Won’t Have Fusion Generators in Five Years. But the Holy Grail of Clean Energy May Still Be On Its Way
Recent reports from scientists pursuing a new kind of nuclear fusion technology are encouraging, but we are still some distance away from the “holy grail of clean energy.”" (The Conversation)
February 21, 2020
CCCC Students Attend National Photonics Convention
Second-year students in the Laser and Photonics Technology program at Central Carolina Community College’s Harnett Main Campus recently attended the 2020 SPIE Photonics West Convention in San Francisco. The group also took time to tour the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (The Johnston County Report)
February 19, 2020
Special Targets Boost Intensity of Lasers
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory engineers devise compound parabolic concentrators (CPC) that increase a laser’s intensity so that laser can accelerate particles so that they experience the effects of relativity. (Machine Design)
February 12, 2020
Nuclear Fusion Power Without Regular Tokamaks Or Stellarators
When it comes to nuclear fusion, the most well-known reactor type today is no doubt the tokamak, due to its relatively straight-forward concept of plasma containment. That’s not to say that there aren’t other ways to accomplish nuclear fusion in a way that could conceivably be used in a commercial power plant in the near future. (Hackaday)
January 28, 2020
Machine Learning: Can machine learning improve computer models enough to ignite inertial-confinement fusion?
Machine learning applied to the University of Rochester’s OMEGA laser increased fusion yields; the same could happen at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), too. (LaserFocusWorld)
January 18, 2020
Conservation, Crystals, and the Corpus Callosum
On this episode: a marine biologist who helps turtle conservation (and shows us the miracle of life!), a physicist who accomplished what scientists said was impossible, and a neuroscientist who understands how your brain talks to itself. (Mission Unstoppable)
January 17, 2020
The Densest Object On Earth — Made By Lasers
There are places in space where truly extreme pressures exist. But normally you find them in unpleasant locations like the centers of planets where we do not usually visit. So, how do common materials look in those conditions? If we want to know then we need truly extreme devices. Such as the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). (Steemit)
January 10, 2020
National Lab Teams Create Densest Object on Earth
Scientists used the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Lab to squeeze a microscopic sample of copper samples under 30 million atmospheres in less than a billionth of a second. This tripled the sample’s density, creating the densest object on the planet for a brief moment in time. (Machine Design)
January 1, 2020
Back in the Power Game
The U.S. is building one of the most powerful lasers in the world that could eventually break the quantum vacuum and produce matter from nothing. (SPIE)
