Science and Technology Highlights

Schematic illustration of two hohlraums, standing up vertically
// S&T Highlights
The target and laser designs that achieved a burning plasma state on November 2020 and February 2021 at the National Ignition Facility are described in a Nature paper.
Several dozzen upright COVID test swabs showing plastic nodules
// S&T Highlights
The Laboratory's work on consumables for COVID-19 testing was highlighted in a recent special issue of the Materials Research Society (MRS) Bulletin.
Two scientists sit at table with lab machinery
// S&T Highlights
Livermore and three other institutions are seeking to develop a multi-pathogen vaccine that will protect against three bacterial biothreat pathogens.
Illustration of a planet with an open section and a solid spherical core inside
// S&T Highlights
Researchers have experimentally determined the high-pressure melting curve and structural properties of pure iron up to nearly 10,000,000 atmospheres.
Drawing of Pandora (right), planet (center), and host star (left)
// S&T Highlights
NASA has approved the Pandora mission, co-led by the Goddard Space Flight Center and Livermore.
Three simulations of hundreds of proteins in sheets superimposed on image of supercomputer
// S&T Highlights
A multi-institutional team has developed a multiscale model revealing the importance of lipids to the signaling dynamics of RAS, a family of proteins whose mutations are linked to many cancers.
Firefighter walking through burned landscape, with tree on left
// S&T Highlights
Wildfires and prescribed burns, which can promote soil organic matter stability, may be an important nature-based climate solution to increase long-term carbon storage.
Diagram of virtual representations of cancer patients
// S&T Highlights
A multi-institutional team has proposed a framework for digital twin models of cancer patients.
Carbon dioxide laser with technician in bunny suit on left
// S&T Highlights
NIF’s lasers delivered slightly more than the requested 1.9 megajoules (MJ) of laser energy at 440 terawatts of peak power for the shot that produced a historic 1.35 megajoules of fusion energy.
Diagram including cell drawing, algae image, and porous microplate cross-section
// S&T Highlights
A multi-institutional research team created a new co-culture device, dubbed a “porous microplate,” to study how metabolites in the water affect the growth of bacterial communities.