LLNL

LIVERMORE, Calif. – The radioactive carbon-14 produced by above-ground nuclear testing in the 1950s and ’60s has helped researchers determine that the number of fat cells in a human’s body, whether lean or obese, is established during the teenage years. Changes in fat mass in adulthood can be attributed mainly to changes in fat cell volume, not an increase in the actual number of fat cells.

These results could help researchers develop new pharmaceuticals to battle obesity as well as the accompanying diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes.    » read more »

LIVERMORE, Calif. – Using state-of-the-art supercomputers, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory climate scientists have performed a 400-year high-resolution global ocean-atmosphere simulation with results that are more similar to actual observations of surface winds and sea surface temperatures.

The research, led by LLNL atmospheric scientist Govindasamy Bala, appears in the April 1 edition of the Journal of Climate.    » read more »

LIVERMORE, Calif. – Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is working with Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies on a next-generation manufacturing technique for hydrogen storage vessels.

As part of a $5.6 million three-year contract with the U.S. Department of Energy, Livermore researchers will demonstrate a unique high-speed composite processing technique.
LLNL Teams With Quantum Fuel Systems To Accelerate Development Of Hydrogen Storage Technologies: Hydrogen tank Vern Switzer (left) and Tim Ross check the pressure on the inner vessel that holds hydrogen of any temperature.    » read more »

January 31, 2008 -- LIVERMORE, Calif. – The Rocky Mountains have warmed by 2 degrees Fahrenheit. The snowpack in the Sierras has dwindled by 20 percent and the temperatures there have heated up by 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit.

All could lead to dire consequences for the water supply in the Western United States, including California. Scientists have noted that water flow in the West has decreased for the last 20 to 30 years, but had never explained why it was happening.    » read more »

October 5, 2007 -- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has reached a $450,000 settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The agreement concerns violations of the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) select agent regulations and involves errors in two shipments of bacillus anthracis dating back to September 2005.    » read more »

LIVERMORE, Calif. – Power restoration is now underway at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory after a small transformer failure resulted in a loss of power to approximately 107 laboratory facilities. LLNL crews began restoring power at approximately 12 noon and full restoration is expected by the end of today. Because the power outage is lasting longer than three hours, an operational emergency not requiring further classification was officially declared, as per standard procedure. The partial power outage began at 7:30 a.m. this morning.    » read more »

LIVERMORE, Calif. – An operational emergency not requiring further classification has been declared at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) due to a partial power outage that occurred at 7:30 a.m. this morning. The outage was a result of a small transformer failure.    » read more »

August 8, 2007 -- LIVERMORE, Calif. – Most people think of Sir Isaac Newton as the father of gravity.

But for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory physicist Henry Chapman and his colleagues, Newton’s “dusty mirror” experiment served as a launching pad for them to keenly watch the X-ray induced explosion of microscopic objects.    » read more »

June 18, 2007 -- LIVERMORE, Calif. – Climate models are reliable tools that help researchers better understand the observed record of ocean warming and variability.

That’s the finding of a group of Livermore scientists, who in collaboration with colleagues at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, had earlier established that climate models can replicate the ocean warming observed during the latter half of the 20th century, and that most of this recent warming is caused by human activities.    » read more »

05/08/2007 -- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today issued the following statement after the University of California won the contract to continue operating the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy:    » read more »