Computer modeling is a powerful tool for scientific inquiry when experiments are too costly, too dangerous, or simply impossible. Computational physicist David Richard describes how to build a computer model of a human heart, starting from an individual cell and then using data from an actual person to create a realistic representation of a beating heart. Learn some of the tricks and techniques used to combine the power of Sequoia's 1.6 million CPUs providing examples of how doctors and...

Microbes are living organisms too small to be seen. While most are friendly to humans, some microbes, called pathogens, can cause disease. Although the medical field has created miraculous antimicrobial drugs to ward them off, menacing microbes often change their protein make-up in devious ways to evade being destroyed, resulting in antibiotic resistance and eventually "super-bugs." lead biologist on the LLNL Pathogen Bioinformatics team Beth Vitalis explains that proteins are diverse and...

Fusion energy is a possible long-term energy solution to provide the energy needed to drive economic growth and social development. Harnessing the energy of the Sun and stars here on Earth requires a detailed understanding of the behavior of matter at extreme temperature and density conditions. Massive simulations, using up to one million computer processors (equivalent to hundreds of thousands of laptops working simultaneously) play a critical role in this research. They allow us to test...

Computers are becoming an increasingly cheaper, more powerful tool that cannot be ignored by professionals. Computer simulation reproduces the behavior of natural and man-made systems to help us understand, predict, and communicate. Vic Castillo, a research engineer at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, shows how computer simulation is used by LLNL scientists on the world’s fastest computers. See how you can get started doing your own computer simulations with free, open-source tools...

NASA's NuSTAR spacecraft, launched in June of 2012, uses technology developed in part by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to take pictures of the sky in the most energetic X-rays ever to be focused. Bill Craig and Michael Pivovaroff talk about the innovative technology at the heart of NuSTAR and discuss some of the exciting science results from the first few months of NuSTAR's mission. Series: "Field Trip at the Lab: Science on Saturday" [Science] [Show ID: 25748]

When a killer infection spreads in the movies, the doctors triage and isolate the patients while a medical biologist races to diagnose the illness and find a cure. Inevitably a national emergency follows as the virus or bacteria wipe out an unsuspecting population. While this may be Hollywood's vision, Reg Beer, the Medical Diagnostics Initiative Leader at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, explains the Lab-on-Chip technologies he develops for time-critical Molecular Diagnostics...

The most ancient forms of life - bacteria - are exceptionally tiny organisms, yet they have contributed in big ways to our planet. Although long recognized for causing disease, microbes have had a tremendous impact on our survival, and now can help us solve some of our urgent energy problems. Unlike fossil fuels, the microbial production of biofuels represents a new source of energy that can be constantly renewed. Series: "Field Trip at the Lab: Science on Saturday" [Science] [Show ID: 26008]

We live in a time where miraculous medical discoveries are occurring all the time. Regrettably many of the miracle tools, because of their size and complexity, are confined to state of the art medical centers in large cities. Learn about efforts to build new medical tools in the hope of saving lives in remote and hard to reach places in the world. Hear about new efforts to build medical tools to determine life threatening traumatic injuries to the head and torso by using the Micropower...

After traveling through the inner solar system for seven years, NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft reached Mercury in March 2011 and became the first ever mission to orbit this mysterious planet. Since then MESSENGER has been making measurements with its suite of scientific instruments including gamma-ray, neutron and x-ray spectrometers, magnetometer, laser altimeter, cameras and other instruments. Join Morgan Burks, a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, to explore the mysteries...

The probability of a magnitude 6.7 or greater earthquake in the Greater Bay Area during the next 30 years is 63 percent, or about two out of three. Lawrence Livermore National Lab scientist Sean Ford and teacher Ken Wedel discuss what an earthquake of that size in the Bay Area would look like and explain its effects. Just like an earthquake, a nuclear test can cause seismic disturbances that are recorded at monitoring stations around the world. Learn how seismologists tell the difference...

Space junk - thousands of debris objects are hurtling around the earth with the potential of crashing into one another. As we launch more satellites, the risk of a satellite colliding with another satellite or a piece of space junk increases, threatening those satellite services we depend on. John Henderson, remote sensing scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory reviews the many ways we use satellites, how space collisions happen, how much of a danger space collisions are, and...

Paul Jackson, Division Leader of the Biosciences and Biotechnology Division at Lawrence Livermore National Lab, presents a brief history of antibiotic use and discusses the medical and public policy factors that are, in part, responsible for increased antibiotic resistance in pathogenic microbes. He and biology teacher Frankie Tate then introduce a new generation of antimicrobial compounds that are derived from the bacteria's own genes that may be clinically useful to treat infections caused...

Millions of people worldwide suffer from ocular diseases that degrade the retina, the light-processing component of the eye, causing blindness. A team from Lawrence Livermore National labs describes how the nervous system works and how neurons communicate then discuss the first long-term retinal prosthesis that can function for years inside the harsh biological environment of the eye. Series: "Field Trip at the Lab: Science on Saturday" [Science] [Show ID: 24516]

George Caporaso, LLNL scientist, explores the role radiation plays in the treatment of cancer, and in particular, how the use of energetic proton beams could improve cancer treatment. Unfortunately, this type of treatment has limited availability due to the large size and cost of current proton therapy systems. A new type of particle accelerator that holds promise of greatly miniaturizing proton treatment systems and making this treatment more widely available will be described. Series:...

Can we produce much of the energy we need from clean, renewable sources? Jeff Mirocha, atmospheric scientist and the technical leader of LLNL's wind energy research group, and Sonia Wharton, post-doctorate scholar in the Climate/Carbon Science Group, argue that wind energy can lead the way. Learn why the wind blows, where the winds blow the best, how energy can be generated from the wind, and how science and engineering can ensure a reliable and abundant supply of green, renewable energy to...

The periodic table is on the wall of most science classrooms, but it is changing. Ken Moody, Chief Scientist for Radiochemistry, explains that recent discoveries of new elements have extended the periodic table beyond what was thought was possible, and demonstrates the existence of a collection of Superheavy Elements with unusual nuclear properties at the limits of stability. Explore the relationship between atoms and elements, and between nuclei and isotopes. Discover how new elements are...

LLNL scientist Dean Williams explores the evolution of climate models with from the mid 1970's to the present. Methods for testing climate models against a variety of benchmarks such as historical climate changes or seasonal changes are explained. Several key issues arising from global climate change are highlighted followed by suggestions for actions that will help limit carbon dioxide emissions. Series: "Field Trip at the Lab: Science on Saturday" [Science] [Show ID: 22008]

400 years ago, our world-view changed when Galileo proved that the Earth was not the center of the universe but orbits around the Sun. 15 years ago the world shifted again when the first planets were discovered orbiting other stars. Last year, using adaptive optics and the 10 meter W.M. Keck telescope in Hawaii, a Lawrence Livermore National Lab team produced the first ever picture of another solar system. One day, these techniques may even lead to an image with a pale blue dot circling a...

Hydrocarbon fuels come almost exclusively from underground. We burn the coal or oil to obtain energy - and for hundreds of years, we have then allowed the resulting carbon dioxide to simply enter the atmosphere. Ken Wedel, Tracy High School Earth Science teacher,explores the role that underground storage of carbon dioxide can play in helping avoid damaging climate change, and the scientific challenges that face us in trying to keep the atmospheric load of carbon dioxide from continuing to...

Our future health, happiness and economic well-being depends on producing plentiful, inexpensive, carbon-free energy that is available 24 hours/day, worldwide. Coal, oil and gas supply over 80% of the world's energy but cause pollution and add to global warming. Renewable energy, such as wind and solar, may not be able to supply enough energy. Ed Moses and the National Ignition Facility have an idea that could change everything-fusion energy-unlocking the force inside the nucleus of hydrogen...

It is very likely that rising levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere resulting from human activity are increasing global temperatures and changing Earth's climate. Lawrence Livermore National Lab’s Karis MacFarlane explains about the carbon cycle, ways that forests and soils store carbon, and how carbon storage and loss from forests and soils might change with changes in climate and human activity. Series: "Field Trip at the Lab: Science on Saturday" [Science] [Show ID: 20232]

Those windmills spinning away in the hills and mountain passes provide clean and renewable energy to our power grids. Lawrence Livermore National Lab’s Julie Lundquist explains how wind turbines convert the forces of the atmosphere into electricity for our homes, businesses, and even cars. Explore how much power could be collected from the wind, how that amount compares to our demands, and how weather forecasts help wind turbines provide even more clean, renewable, and reliable energy....

Aerogels are a class of materials with fascinating properties but they are hardly materials at all as they can be composed of up to 99.8% empty space. Aerogels are among the most versatile materials available for technical applications due to their wide variety of exceptional properties. This material has chemists, physicists, astronomers, and materials scientists utilizing its properties in a myriad of applications. In this lecture Dr. Gash and Mr. Dean Reese will describe and demonstrate...

The solar system formed from a cloud of interstellar gas and dust cloud about 4.6 billion years ago. Life began on earth about 3.5 billion years ago following a period of intense bombardment by asteroid fragments and comets, intense volcanism and finally development of a stable crust and a hospitable atmosphere. Thanks to more powerful telescopes and other state-of-the-art observational methods, we can now see "stellar nurseries" and young stars at various stages of formation. In this talk...

Every couple of years, the earth is hit by a body with energy near that of the Hiroshima bomb. Deposited high in the atmosphere these events causes little or no damage. On longer timescales, impacts occur with the potential to destroy regions, or whole civilizations. Learn about the impact threat, followed by a systematic development of the requirements to divert such an object. Series: "Field Trip at the Lab: Science on Saturday" [Science] [Show ID: 17643]