Podcasts about Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

John Holdren is the Teresa and John Heinz Research Professor for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and co-director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program at the School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He is a former Professor of Environmental Science and Policy in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, and Affiliated Professor in the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science. He is also President Emeritus and Senior Advisor to the President at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, a pre-eminent, independent, environmental-research organization. From 2009 to 2017, Holdren was President Obama's Science Advisor and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, becoming the longest-serving Science Advisor to the President in the history of the position. Before joining Harvard, was a professor of energy resources at the University of California, Berkeley, where he founded and led the interdisciplinary graduate-degree program in energy and resources. Prior to that he was a theoretical physicist in the Theory Group of the Magnetic Fusion Energy Division at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and a Senior Research Fellow at Caltech. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the MacArthur Foundation and Chairman of the Committee on International Security and Arms Control at the National Academy of Sciences. During the Clinton Administration, he served for both terms on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, leading multiple studies on energy-technology innovation and nuclear arms control. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also a foreign member of the Royal Society of London and the Indian National Academy of Engineering and a former President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His many honors include one of the first MacArthur Prize Fellowships (1981) and the Moynihan Prize of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences. In 1995, he gave the acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, an international organization of scientists and public figures. He holds SB and SM degrees from MIT in aeronautics and astronautics and a Ph.D. from Stanford in aeronautics and astronautics and theoretical plasma physics.Jennifer Spence is the Director of the Arctic Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, with expertise related to sustainable development, international governance, institutional effectiveness, and public policy. Spence currently co-chairs the Arctic Research Cooperation and Diplomacy Research Priority Team for the Fourth International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP IV), participates as a member of the Climate Expert Group for the Arctic Council's Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, and sits as a member of the Yukon Arctic Security Advisory Council. Spence was the Executive Secretary of the Arctic Council's Sustainable Development Working Group from 2019-2023. Previously, she taught and conducted research at Carleton University and worked for a 2-year term at the United Nations Development Programme. She also worked for 18 years with the Government of Canada in senior positions related to resource management, conflict and change management, strategic planning, and leadership development. Spence holds a Ph.D. in public policy from Carleton University, a MA from Royal Roads University in conflict management and analysis, and a BA in political science from the University of British Columbia.Ralph Ranalli of the HKS Office of Communications and Public Affairs is the host, producer, and editor of HKS PolicyCast. A former journalist, public television producer, and entrepreneur, he holds an BA in political science from UCLA and a master's in journalism from Columbia University.Scheduling and logistical support for PolicyCast is provided by Lilian Wainaina.Design and graphics support is provided by Laura King and the OCPA Design Team. Web design and social media promotion support is provided by Catherine Santrock and Natalie Montaner. Editorial support is provided by Nora Delaney and Robert O'Neill. 

The success of the submarine-borne Polaris missile was a critical nuclear deterrent that helped President Kennedy stare down Khruschev during the 1961 Berlin Crisis. Ever since, this weapon has been a key strategic tool of the U.S. Tom Ramos's book "From Berkeley to Berlin," chronicles the scientific journey leading to the development of this and other nuclear weapons and the singular man whose "buoyant optimism spread to everyone around him and accounted for the attainment of many an 'impossible' objective."Founded in 1931 on the U.C. Berkeley campus by famed physicist Ernest Lawrence, (Nobel Prize-winning inventor of the cyclotron in 1938) "The Rad Lab" attracted some of the finest talent in America, including J. Robert Oppenheimer. In 1941, Lawrence challenged his team to deter Joseph Stalin's nuclear program in the USSR. Oppenheimer and Lawrence collaborated for more than a decade, their work together culminating on the Manhattan Project. Lawrence then founded the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, whose team further developed nuclear technology, including the Polaris missile.Heroes Behind HeadlinesExecutive Producer Ralph PezzulloProduced & Engineered by Mike DawsonMusic provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Veteran and entrepreneur Chad Grills of National Capital League discusses his experience with Big Tech and how building anything meaningful and lasting will likely not come out of Silicon Valley or places like California. He explains how Silicon Valley was seeded by DOD, the Intelligence Community, and DARPA. The culture of Silicon Valley and most major cities will not allow anything original or good for humanity to emerge. He argues we have neither communism nor capitalism, but a monopolistic system that keeps the little guy out. He stresses a need for better governance, creating good culture, maintaining personal integrity, and is optimistic about the ability of America to reinvent itself. Watch on BitChute / Brighteon / Rumble / Substack / YouTube Geopolitics & Empire · Chad Grills: Is a 'Golden Age' Possible for America? #537 *Support Geopolitics & Empire! Become a Member https://geopoliticsandempire.substack.com Donate https://geopoliticsandempire.com/donations Consult https://geopoliticsandempire.com/consultation **Visit Our Affiliates & Sponsors! Above Phone https://abovephone.com/?above=geopolitics easyDNS (15% off with GEOPOLITICS) https://easydns.com Escape Technocracy course (15% off with GEOPOLITICS) https://escapethetechnocracy.com/geopolitics PassVult https://passvult.com Sociatates Civis (CitizenHR, CitizenIT, CitizenPL) https://societates-civis.com Wise Wolf Gold https://www.wolfpack.gold/?ref=geopolitics Websites National Capital League https://www.nclhq.com X https://x.com/ChadJGrills Short Stories: Veterans after War https://www.amazon.com/Short-Stories-Veterans-after-War-ebook/dp/B0127DN39M Dustin Chambers: DOGE & America's Chance to Cut the Government Down to Size https://geopoliticsandempire.com/2025/01/02/dustin-chambers-doge-americas-chance-to-cut-the-government-down-to-size About Chad Grills Chad is the former founder and CEO of a company backed by Founders Fund and Sequoia. His previous clients include companies like: Salesforce (6x business units), Dell, Splunk, Twilio, and Government entities like Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He was selected “Best of Year” by Apple for two podcasts he hosted. He has spoken at places like the Defense Foreign Language Institute, Coast Guard Academy, Salesforce World Tour, and the Spartan Up Podcast. He's a U.S. Army veteran with deployments to Iraq, Egypt, and has provided security for the 56th Presidential Inauguration. He's the author of three books. His upcoming book is on the Texas Miracle and the economic destiny of Texas. He founded the National Capital League as a studios and labs to build media and technology products. *Podcast intro music is from the song "The Queens Jig" by "Musicke & Mirth" from their album "Music for Two Lyra Viols": http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)

In this episode of NucleCast, host Adam speaks with Lieutenant Colonel Gary Glover about the evolving landscape of the Air Force, particularly in relation to nuclear force design and modernization efforts. They discuss the importance of advanced education for military officers, the implications of hypersonic weapons on nuclear command and control, and the broader national security challenges facing the United States.Lieutenant Colonel Garrett Glover is the Chief of AFGSC Futures Division, Air Force Global Strike Command, an Assistant Professor of Political Science at USAFA, and a Senior Fellow with the Institute for National Security Studies.Colonel Glover was commissioned from the United States Air Force Academy in 2009. He has held key positions within the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile community, including Instructor, Evaluator, Flight Commander, and Assistant Director of Operations. As Executive Officer for the Office of Defense Programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration, he played a pivotal role in the successful execution of a $5 billion Stockpile Stewardship Program, supporting $25 billion in nuclear sustainment initiatives. He served as a Presidential Nuclear Strike Advisor and Assistant Deputy Director of Operations at the National Military Command Center, translating presidential intent into nuclear strike options and leading a joint inter-agency team focused on both nuclear and conventional global military operations. In this role he oversaw the execution of the National Military Command System on behalf of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Additionally, he served as Executive Assistant to the Deputy Director for Nuclear and Homeland Defense Operations (J-36) on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. He spent a year as a DoD Nuclear Technical Lab Fellow at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, CA. Prior to his current position, he served as the Chief Nuclear Strategist of Headquarters, Air Force Global Strike Command.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Global Strike Command and Force Design07:29 The Importance of Advanced Education for Officers15:23 Hypersonics and Nuclear Command Control25:50 Wishes for National Security and EducationSocials:Follow on Twitter at @NucleCastFollow on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nuclecastpodcastSubscribe RSS Feed: https://rss.com/podcasts/nuclecast-podcast/Rate: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nuclecast/id1644921278Email comments and topic/guest suggestions to NucleCast@anwadeter.org

It doesn't take much mass, just a fleck of paint, to punch a hole into a satellite or an intercontinental ballistic missile. This week's guest thinks the technology for an AI-controlled space-based kill vehicle, that is also small and lean enough to make room for the fuel needed for speed, is close at hand if the Department of Defense wishes to seize it. Laura Winter speaks with Arno Ledebuhr, a physicist, who worked on the Strategic Defense Initiative's space-based ballistic missile defense system Brilliant Pebbles, at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, under Lowell Wood and Edward Teller.

#213:  Soil scientist Jennifer Pett-Ridge joins Linley to talk about the opportunities organic agricultural presents to the planet's need to drawdown and sequester carbon, with the caveat that instead of just storing carbon, we are actively using it to grow healthy foods.Jennifer Pett-Ridge is a senior staff scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and an adjunct professor at UC Merced. She specializes in soil microbial communities, plant-soil interaction and carbon sequestration.To watch a video version of this podcast with access to the full transcript and links relevant to our conversation, please visit:https://realorganicproject.org/jennifer-pett-ridge-carbon-cycling-on-organic-farms-213The Real Organic Podcast is hosted by Dave Chapman and Linley Dixon, engineered by Brandon StCyr, and edited and produced by Jenny Prince.The Real Organic Project is a farmer-led movement working towards certifying 1,000 farms across the United States this year. Our add-on food label distinguishes soil-grown fruits and vegetables from hydroponically-raised produce, and pasture-raised meat, milk, and eggs from products harvested from animals in horrific confinement (CAFOs - confined animal feeding operations).To find a Real Organic farm near you, please visit:https://www.realorganicproject.org/directoryWe believe that the organic standards, with their focus on soil health, biodiversity, and animal welfare were written as they should be, but that the current lack of enforcement of those standards is jeopardizing the ability for small farms who adhere to the law to stay in business. The lack of enforcement is also jeopardizing the overall health of the customers who support the organic movement; customers who are not getting what they pay for at market but still paying a premium price. And the lack of enforcement is jeopardizing the very cycles (water, air, nutrients) that Earth relies upon to provide us all with a place to live, by pushing extractive, chemical agriculture to the forefront.If you like what you hear and are feeling inspired, we would love for you to join our movement by becoming one of our 1,000  Real Friends:https://www.realorganicproject.org/real-organic-friends/To read our weekly newsletter (which might just be the most forwarded newsletter on the internet!) and get firsthand news about what's happening with organic food, farming and policy, please subscribe here:https://www.realorganicproject.org/email/

Ethan Klein, an emerging technology policy adviser during the first Trump administration, has been nominated to be the White House's chief technology officer, the Office of Science and Technology Policy confirmed Tuesday. After serving in the first Trump White House, Klein completed a PhD in nuclear science and engineering at MIT, where he worked to develop nuclear tech for arms control and nonproliferation with funds from a fellowship through the National Nuclear Security Administration. Klein also spent time at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which is operated for the NNSA and focuses on weapons development, stewardship and national security. Klein has been pursuing an MBA at Stanford, while working as a summer associate for the Aerospace and Defense group within Lazard, a financial advisory and asset management firm. If confirmed as CTO, Klein would fill the same role that Michael Kratsios did during the first Trump administration, which went unfilled for the entirety of the Biden administration. The Department of Government Efficiency's increasingly vast power across the government likely makes it subject to U.S. records law, a federal judge said Monday in a ruling that ordered the Elon Musk-led group to begin processing requests on an expedited timeline. In a 37-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper concluded that DOGE — the rebranded U.S. Digital Service — “is likely exercising substantial independent authority much greater than” other components within the Executive Office of the President that are covered by the Freedom of Information Act, subjecting it to the same rules. Cooper noted as examples that the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Council on Environmental Quality are both covered by FOIA due to the substantial independent authority they wield when it comes to the evaluation of federal programs. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory houses some of the world's most advancedsupercomputers. Now it's home to the very fastest called El Capitan. El Capitan is 16 times more powerful than Sierra its predecessor. Both machines support the National Nuclear Security Administration's stockpile stewardship. Federal News Network's Anastasia Obis got more from the labs director of artificial intelligence innovation, Brian Spears, and from computational science leader, Judy Hill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Later today, the National Lab Research SLAM will bring 17 early career scientists from the Department of Energy's national laboratories to present their cutting-edge research in a fast-paced, engaging competition. The event is sponsored by the House Science & National Labs Caucus and the Senate National Labs Caucus, and gives federal science agencies to showcase their role in advancing innovation and developing the next generation of STEM leaders. To learn more about the event, Federal News Network's Eric White spoke with Christine Zachow, Manager of the Academic Engagement Office & Science Education Operations at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, as well as Meg Rodriguez, Director of the Career Pathways office at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, who you'll hear from first. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory houses some of the world's most advanced supercomputers. Now it's home to the very fastest called El Capitan. El Capitan is 16 times more powerful than Sierra its predecessor. Both machines support the National Nuclear Security Administration's stockpile stewardship. Federal News Network's Anastasia Obis got more from the labs director of artificial intelligence innovation, Brian Spears, and from computational science leader, Judy Hill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Later today, the National Lab Research SLAM will bring 17 early career scientists from the Department of Energy's national laboratories to present their cutting-edge research in a fast-paced, engaging competition. The event is sponsored by the House Science & National Labs Caucus and the Senate National Labs Caucus, and gives federal science agencies to showcase their role in advancing innovation and developing the next generation of STEM leaders. To learn more about the event, Federal News Network's Eric White spoke with Christine Zachow, Manager of the Academic Engagement Office & Science Education Operations at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, as well as Meg Rodriguez, Director of the Career Pathways office at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, who you'll hear from first. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Energy Department via the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is boosting research into fusion energy. It's signed a cooperative research and development agreement, a CRADA, with a company called Focused Energy. Here is the details, Focused Energy's Harris Walker. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Energy Department via the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is boosting research into fusion energy. It's signed a cooperative research and development agreement, a CRADA, with a company called Focused Energy. Here is the details, Focused Energy's Harris Walker. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of NucleCast, Adam and Dr. John Swegle discuss the implications of a recent missile attack in Ukraine, where an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was used in a conventional capacity. They delve into the specifics of the attack, the characteristics of the missile, and the potential messaging and escalation dynamics involved. The conversation also touches on the broader implications for NATO and the future of nuclear and conventional warfare.Dr. John Swegle works as an independent consultant through the National Strategic Research Institute at the University of Nebraska on issues related to the effects of nuclear weapons and proliferation on US national security. Immediately prior to that, he was a Senior Advisory Scientist at the Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken, South Carolina. He began his career at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he was a member of the plasma theory group, and then moved to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he conducted and managed analyses of foreign technology and nuclear programs in what was then Z Division; he also worked in a nuclear design division for several years where he was introduced to the basic concepts of nuclear design and nuclear-driven electromagnetic pulse. He is a graduate of Cornell University, where he obtained an MS and PhD in applied physics with a specialty in plasma physics, and the University of Washington in Seattle, where he earned BSEE and MSEE degrees.Chapters00:00 Introduction to the Attack on Ukraine03:02 Details of the Missile Attack14:25 Implications of Using ICBMs Conventionally15:13 Messaging and Escalation Dynamics24:54 Wishes for Future ConsiderationsSocials:Follow on Twitter at @NucleCastFollow on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nuclecastpodcastSubscribe RSS Feed: https://rss.com/podcasts/nuclecast-podcast/Rate: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nuclecast/id1644921278Email comments and topic/guest suggestions to NucleCast@anwadeter.org

The inauguration of Donald Trump caps off an extraordinary political comeback. Trump's brand of anti-establishment populism, once thought an anomaly, is now at the apex of U.S.—and indeed global—politics. As the “Make America Great Again” movement seeks to rewrite the political rulebook, Talking Policy host Lindsay Shingler speaks with five University of California experts to unpack what this political revolution means for the world. Tai Ming Cheung, IGCC director and UC San Diego professor, examines the implications of a hawkish approach to China for Washington's relationship with Beijing. Caroline Freund, dean of the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy, looks ahead to what a nationalist trade policy could mean for the U.S. and global economy. IGCC postdoctoral fellow on technology and international security Nicolas Wittstock analyzes what an “energy dominance” agenda could imply for U.S. clean technology development and broader climate objectives. Rupal Mehta, chair of research and postdoctoral fellows program and senior fellow at the Center of Global Security Research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, discusses what “America First” could mean for the global security architecture and managing threats from U.S. adversaries. Finally, IGCC research director for democracy and global governance and UC San Diego distinguished research professor Stephan Haggard unpacks how Trump will manage U.S. leadership of the liberal international order amid heightened competition between democracies and autocracies.These interviews were recorded over the course of January 7th to January 17th. The views expressed are those of the individuals and do not necessarily represent the views of their institutions or funders.

In this week's episode of THE MENTORS RADIO, Host Tom Loarie talks with Dr. Tammy Ma, a trailblazing physicist and Program Lead for Inertial Fusion Energy at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Berkeley, California. Her work is shaping the future of clean energy and science. She's part of the team driving one of the most exciting breakthroughs in clean energy: inertial confinement fusion. Tammy has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Department of Energy's Early Career Research Award and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor given by the U.S. government to early-career researchers. Discover her inspiring journey from a childhood love of science to leading breakthroughs in fusion energy—the clean, limitless power of the future. Whether you're a student dreaming of STEM or curious about the future of energy, this is a conversation you won't want to miss! Listen to THE MENTORS RADIO podcast anywhere, any time, on any platform, including Spotify and Apple, just click here! SHOW NOTES: TAMMY MA, PhD: BIO: BIO: Tammy Ma, PhD WEBSITE: https://st.llnl.gov/research/people/tammy-ma

Editor's note: In honor of all the frying oil we'll be using this Thanksgiving, we're re-running an episode on biowaste. There's also increasing investment in biofuels from oil majors, especially for sustainable aviation fuel. So we're revisiting an episode with Julio Friedmann, chief scientist at Carbon Direct, on the possibilities and perils of using biowaste for biofuels.  Biomass. It's the organic matter in forests, agriculture and trash. You can turn it into electricity, fuel, plastic and more. And you can engineer it to capture extra carbon dioxide and sequester it underground or at the bottom of the ocean.  The catch: The world has a finite capacity for biomass production, so every end use competes with another. If done improperly, these end uses could also compete with food production for arable land already in tight supply. So which decarbonization solutions will get a slice of the biomass pie? Which ones should? In this episode, Shayle talks to Julio Friedmann, chief scientist at Carbon Direct. They cover biomass sources from municipal solid waste to kelp. They also survey the potential end-uses, such as incineration to generate power, gasification to make hydrogen, and pyrolyzation to make biochar, as well as fuel production in a Fischer-Tropsch process.  In a report from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Julio and his co-authors propose a new term called biomass carbon removal and storage, or ‘BiCRS', as a way to describe capturing carbon in biomass and then sequestering it. Startups Charm Industrial and Running Tide are pursuing this approach. Julio and his co-authors think of BiCRS as an alternative pathway to bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS).  They then zoom in on a promising source of biomass: waste. Example projects include a ski hill built on an incinerator in Copenhagen and a planned waste-to-hydrogen plant in Lancaster, California.  Shayle and Julio also dig into questions like: How to procure and transport biomass, especially biowaste, at scale?  How to avoid eco-colonialism, i.e. when wealthy countries exploit the resources of poorer countries to grow biomass without meaningful consent? If everyone wants it, when is biowaste no longer waste? And when there's a shortage of waste—like corn stover, for example—what's the  risk of turning to raw feedstocks, like corn? How to pickle trees? (yes, you read that right)  Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. EnergyHub is working with more than 70 utilities across North America to help scale VPP programs to manage load growth, maximize the value of renewables, and deliver flexibility at every level of the grid. To learn more about their Edge DERMS platform and services, go to energyhub.com.

SC24 is off to a great start with over 17,000 attendees, 480 exhibitors from 29 countries, and new TOP500 list that features a new champion! "The new El Capitan system at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, U.S.A., has debuted as the most powerful system on the list with an HPL score of 1.742 EFlop/s." Join Shahin and Doug as they analyze and discuss the new list. As usual, they go over notable additions, performance efficiency, power efficiency in the Green500 list, the difficult HPCG benchmark that usually sets the lower bound of system performance. [audio mp3="https://orionx.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/093@HPCpodcast_TOP500-SC24_20241118.mp3"][/audio] The post @HPCpodcast-93: TOP500 at SC24 Conference appeared first on OrionX.net.

Dr. Colin Ponce is a computational mathematician at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and his research interests include energy systems, network cybersecurity, decentralized computing, machine learning, and AI. Additionally, he has led or contributed to efforts focused on large-scale vulnerability analysis of power systems, robust decentralized computing for industrial control systems, and multi-level methods for machine learning. Recently, he led a study analyzing the benefits and risks of AI within the energy sector in response to Executive Order 14110: Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence. In this episode, you'll hear about: Exploring AI's dual impact on energy infrastructure: benefits and challenges. Energy demands of AI data centers compared to California's peak usage. Importance of responsible AI development for power grid stability. AI's role in improving grid forecasting and power distribution efficiency. Regulatory challenges and funding for expanding energy infrastructure. Socio-economic disparities in access to AI and power resources. Follow and Review: We'd love for you to follow us if you haven't yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We'd love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a second and it helps spread the word about the podcast. Supporting Resources: Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-ponce-9abb5715b/ https://www.llnl.gov/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/10/30/executive-order-on-the-safe-secure-and-trustworthy-development-and-use-of-artificial-intelligence/ Alcorn Immigration Law: Subscribe to the monthly Alcorn newsletter Sophie Alcorn Podcast: Episode 16: E-2 Visa for Founders and Employees Episode 19: Australian Visas Including E-3 Episode 20: TN Visas and Status for Canadian and Mexican Citizens Immigration Options for Talent, Investors, and Founders Immigration Law for Tech Startups eBook Alcorn Academy course for best practices for securing the O-1A visa, EB-1A green card, or the EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) green card—the top options for startup founders. Use promotion code EAB20 for 20% off the enrollment fee.

On this episode of Table Talk we take you behind the scenes at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as we talk to the scientists who created Starfire; the first fusion reaction that produced more energy than was used to spark it. Its cutting edge science could change the world. 

CEO & co-founder of Fervo Energy Tim Latimer, CEO & co-founder of Form Energy Mateo Jaramillo and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory director Kimberly Budil join Washington Post Live to speak about the groundbreaking research and breakthroughs that could usher in a new energy era in North America and beyond. Then, founder and CEO of Africa Climate Ventures James I. Mwangi, Majik Water founder Beth Koigi and managing director of Africa and global partnerships at the World Resources Institute Wanjira Mathai discuss the entrepreneurs in Africa forging bold climate solutions from the ground up and the impact on local communities. Conversation recorded at the This is Climate Summit in New York, NY on Monday, September 23, 2024.

Roger Aines, the Energy Program Chief Scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, discusses the current state of carbon removal technology, the challenges facing its development and scaling, and why he's ultimately optimistic that we can overcome them.This episode was made possible by Deep Sky and the generosity of listeners like you.The Hub Dialogues features The Hub's editor-at-large, Sean Speer, in conversation with leading entrepreneurs, policymakers, scholars, and thinkers on the issues and challenges that will shape Canada's future at home and abroad.If you like what you are hearing on Hub Dialogues consider subscribing to The Hub's free weekly email newsletter featuring our insights and analysis on key public policy issues. Sign up here: https://thehub.ca/join/. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2022, physicist Tammy Ma and the team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieved a scientific breakthrough decades in the making: fusion ignition, or the combining of two atoms to generate more energy out of a reaction than was put in — recreating on Earth the same process that powers the Sun. She explains how they used a giant laser (way, way bigger than you're thinking) to catalyze this reaction and shares a vision for how this technology could change the world by creating limitless clean energy.

This episode is sponsored by SysAid.   Get 20% off SysAid Copilot using this link: https://www.sysaid.com/lp/sysaid-copilot-s?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=short-craig     In this episode of the Eye on AI podcast, join us as we delve into the cutting-edge world of AI and high-performance computing with Brian Spears, Director of the AI Innovation Incubator at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.   Brian shares his experience in driving AI into national security science and managing the nation's nuclear stockpile. With a PhD in mechanical engineering, his expertise spans nonlinear dynamical systems and high-dimensional topology, making him uniquely positioned to lead groundbreaking projects in fusion ignition and AI integration.   Discover how Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieved fusion ignition for the first time, harnessing the power of AI to elevate simulation models with precise experimental data. Brian explains how this approach is paving the way for commercially viable fusion energy and advancing stockpile stewardship.   Explore the relationship between high-performance computing and AI as Brian discusses the Department of Energy's FAST initiative. Brian also touches on the importance of public-private partnerships, ethical considerations in AI development, and the future potential of quantum computing.   Tune in to understand how the US is leading the global race in AI and computing technology, setting the stage for unprecedented advancements in science and security.   Don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell for more insights into the technologies driving the AI revolution.   Stay Updated: Craig Smith Twitter: https://twitter.com/craigss Eye on A.I. Twitter: https://twitter.com/EyeOn_AI (00:00) Preview (01:52) Introducing Brian Spears (03:14) Fusion Ignition and AI Integration (06:00) Predictive Models and Experimental Data (08:05) Challenges in Fusion Energy (12:03) Inertial Confinement Fusion Explained (14:12) Future of Fusion Energy (17:15) US Leadership in AI and Computing (19:22) Global AI Competition (22:33) High-Performance Computing Infrastructure (26:08) DOE's FAST Initiative (28:55) Transformational AI Applications (34:01) AI Ethics and Safety (36:24) Scientific Models and Large Language Models (39:30) 3D Molecular Modeling (42:47) National AI Research Resource (NAR) (45:18) Recruitment Challenges in AI (48:09) Comparison with China (52:30) DOE's Role and Future Vision (54:19) Quantum Computing

fWotD Episode 2612: Nihonium Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia’s finest articles.The featured article for Saturday, 29 June 2024 is Nihonium.Nihonium, originally named ununtrium, is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol Nh and atomic number 113. It is extremely radioactive: its most stable known isotope, nihonium-286, has a half-life of about 10 seconds. In the periodic table, nihonium is a transactinide element in the p-block. It is a member of period 7 and group 13.Nihonium was first reported to have been created in experiments being carried out between 14 July to August 10, 2003, by a Russian–American collaboration at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia working in collaboration with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, and in July 23, 2004, by a team of Japanese scientists at Riken in Wakō, Japan. The confirmation of their claims in the ensuing years involved independent teams of scientists working in the United States, Germany, Sweden, and China, as well as the original claimants in Russia and Japan. In 2015, the IUPAC/IUPAP Joint Working Party recognised the element and assigned the priority of the discovery and naming rights for the element to Riken. The Riken team suggested the name nihonium in 2016, which was approved in the same year. The name comes from the common Japanese name for Japan (日本, nihon).Very little is known about nihonium, as it has only been made in very small amounts that decay within seconds. The anomalously long lives of some superheavy nuclides, including some nihonium isotopes, are explained by the "island of stability" theory. Experiments support the theory, with the half-lives of the confirmed nihonium isotopes increasing from milliseconds to seconds as neutrons are added and the island is approached. Nihonium has been calculated to have similar properties to its homologues boron, aluminium, gallium, indium, and thallium. All but boron are post-transition metals, and nihonium is expected to be a post-transition metal as well. It should also show several major differences from them; for example, nihonium should be more stable in the +1 oxidation state than the +3 state, like thallium, but in the +1 state nihonium should behave more like silver and astatine than thallium. Preliminary experiments in 2017 showed that elemental nihonium is not very volatile; its chemistry remains largely unexplored.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:30 UTC on Saturday, 29 June 2024.For the full current version of the article, see Nihonium on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Kendra.

Get the book, New Era - New Urgency: The Case for Repurposing Education Visit the New Era - New Urgency Website About The Author F. Joseph Merlino is President of The 21st Century Partnership for STEM Education, a Philadelphia area non-profit research and action organization he co-founded in 2007. For the past 35 years, he has served as the principal investigator or director of many National Science Foundation, U.S Department of Education, and U.S. Agency for International Development projects impacting thousands of secondary math and science teachers and hundreds of schools. Currently, he directs a project in Egypt to design five new undergraduate STEM teacher preparation programs. The project involves over 100 US and Egyptian staff and five US and five Egyptian universities. He oversaw the development of 21 new model STEM high schools based on Egypt's 11 Grand Challenges. He has worked in Egypt for the past 12 years. He has a BA in Psychology from the University of Rochester and an MA in Education from Arcadia University. He did doctoral studies in cognitive developmental psychology at Catholic University.   Deborah Pomeroy is professor emeritus of science education at Arcadia University. She started her career in research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the University of Alaska's Institute of Arctic Biology. Shifting her career into science education, she taught high school science for 19 years in Fairbanks, AK, during which time she received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching. Following her high school teaching career, she completed doctoral studies at the Harvard Graduate School for Education. She then taught science education at Arcadia University for 14 years where she directed multiple education reform projects K-16. Later, in Egypt, she helped to lead a massive project to develop a new integrated STEM education curriculum funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Bruce Tarter is Director Emeritus of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and was the eighth director to lead the Laboratory since it was founded in 1952. This episode covers the history and influence of the lab's technology on policy and strategy, the development of nuclear weapons, and the era of stockpile stewardship. It also delves into the challenges and wishes for the future of nuclear arms control.A theoretical physicist by training and experience, Bruce began his career at the Laboratory in 1967. As Director from 1994 to 2002 he led the Laboratory in its mission to ensure national security and apply science and technology to the important problems of our time. In particular he oversaw the development of stockpile stewardship during his tenure. Tarter received a SB from MIT and a PhD from Cornell. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and received the National Nuclear Security Administration's Gold Medal and the Secretary of Energy's Gold Award. He recently published “The American Lab” (Johns Hopkins University Press 2018) , a history of his Laboratory.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Lawrence Livermore National Lab and Bruce Tarter02:00 Influence of Technology on Policy and Strategy05:09 Development and Impact of Nuclear Weapons Technology16:18 The Era of Stockpile StewardshipSocials:Follow on Twitter at @NucleCastFollow on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nuclecastpodcastSubscribe RSS Feed: https://rss.com/podcasts/nuclecast-podcast/Rate: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nuclecast/id1644921278Email comments and topic/guest suggestions to NucleCast@anwadeter.org

On this WPN Call #342, Dr. Jim Garlow is joined by Nancy Del Grande, an experienced physicist who worked for years at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the founder of Geo-Temp Corporation. She shares her story of inventing the technology that has assisted the military in locating tunnels that some groups have nefariously dug in Israel, and how the equipment has identified and confirmed the drainage inlet at the 2nd Temple's altar under the Southern Wall.     Dr. Jim Garlow has partnered with Pastor Mario Bramnick and Terry Barnes to bring you World Prayer Network (WPN), which seeks out Holy Spirit given strategies for how to be an effective and contagious Christ-follower in our present national situations. WPN hosts weekly prayer calls to seek out strategies for the transformation of nations, including our own. During these live calls, we share briefings from key leaders and then pray into what we see and hear from the Lord.     Follow us on social media:  facebook.com/wellversedworld twitter: @wellversedworld instagram: @wellversedworld www.wellversedworld.org

In this episode of NucleCast, Adam interviews Tom Ramos, a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Lab, about the relevance of the early years of the Cold War to today's national security challenges. They discuss the lessons learned from the past and how they can inform our approach to handling current threats from Russia and China. They emphasize the importance of capturing and memorializing the history of this period and the need for strong policy analysts and integrated collaboration between the military, think tanks, and scientists. They also highlight the need for a sense of urgency and recognition of the serious threats we face.For the past 40 years, Tom Ramos has been a physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he was a member of the nuclear team that developed the X-ray Laser for President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative. He later supported US/USSR arms control negotiations for START and over a span of seventeen years he created and ran a program for the Department of Defense called CAPS.Ramos, who graduated from West Point, commanded combat engineers before entering MIT to earn a degree in high energy physics.His most recent venture was writing a book titled “From Berkeley to Berlin: How the Rad Lab Helped Avert Nuclear War,” which focuses on how the United States had the ability to stand up to Nikita Khrushchev, former leader of the Soviet Union, and his attempts to expand Soviet influence around the globe. The book brings individuals alive, especially those at Livermore, who played important roles in making the country safe during the Cold War.Chapters00:00 Introduction and Background02:02 Relevance of the Early Cold War to Today's Challenges06:41 Lessons from the Kennedy Era08:09 Challenges of Nuclear Superiority and Modernization11:26 The Need for Collaboration and Integration21:30 Advice for Present Leadership23:15 The Importance of History and Lessons Learned28:13 Conclusion and Three WishesSocials:Follow on Twitter at @NucleCastFollow on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nuclecastpodcastSubscribe RSS Feed: https://rss.com/podcasts/nuclecast-podcast/Rate: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nuclecast/id1644921278Email comments and topic/guest suggestions to NucleCast@anwadeter.org

“Often we share problems…It can't stop there, and too often it does…We have to come to the table with ‘Here's an idea that might work.' The moment we start thinking about the future in terms of potential solutions…those conversations start adding up. That habit makes the collaboration work better, and it will get us to a point where we can make an impact.” This podcast episode features a conversation with Nolan Brown, the founder of ADL Ventures, about decarbonization and the challenges of implementing clean energy solutions in the construction industry. This episode is also happy to introduce Jason Blanker as the co-host! The conversation covers topics such as the role of drones in construction, the lack of adoption of innovation in the industry, and the future of technology in construction. Nolan is a seasoned entrepreneur and research leader with 15 years of C-Suite experience in energy, buildings, and transportation sectors. A 5-time founder, he brings a wealth of innovation and strategic insight to his roles. He has driven organizations to success as a board member of building materials manufacturer and offsite leader Sto Corporation, and Lead Contractor for High Performance Computing for Manufacturing at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He also co-founded and served as Managing Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy and showcased his success in implementing new technologies, notably through his $40M+ living laboratory project. His expertise spans industries including building materials, automotive, and renewable energy. As founder of ADL Ventures, he guides companies not only in upscaling and business development but also in applying for government grants that fuel innovation and growth. Watch Nolan's TedX Talk! Jason Blenker is a cowboy and a visionary who finds the edge of the frontier a fascinating place to navigate and explore. The son of a carpenter and a home builder, he learned firsthand about building homes, businesses, and relationships from his parents whom he worked with in building a world-class, vertically integrated, offsite construction solutions company in the Midwest. After selling the business, he now guides others looking for solutions and is on the hunt for great innovation that will help address the housing affordability crisis we face today. He's on a mission to “Build Something Great®”. The first half of his career he spent focused on building great buildings – homes, apartments, commercial buildings, and off-site manufacturing where he found his true passion – building great teams and pushing innovation and automation. By focusing on culture, engaged leadership, and the team, he successfully grew a family business from 7 “employees” to over 300 “Team Members” and learned over 1 million wrong ways of doing things. He enjoys sharing stories of his bumps, bruises, and scars to help people find creative and inventive solutions to problems. When he's not working with a team, he enjoys spending time with the love of his life, Jenny, teaching and raising 3 crazy kids on a hobby farm, snocross racing, or at a rodeo. Not being much of a procrastinator, he does not believe in a bucket list that you'll get around to one day, you should live each day to its fullest. He tries to give his free time and talent to various charities and has even been talked into riding a 2000# bull at a rodeo to help support the local food pantry (much to the dismay of his wife). Watch a clip of this virtual podcast! 

Dr. Zachary Davis, senior fellow at the Center for Global Security Research, a think tank associated with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, joins us on this episode to take us from zero to conversational on the topic of nuclear strategic thought and its resurgence in the current geopolitical environment. This episode is intended as a starting point from which we will further explore these topics in future episodes. Please note that the views expressed in this episode are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Defense, Department of the Army, the Center for Global Security Research, or the Army Foundry Platform.  For comments, suggestions or requests for future episodes covering a specific topic, please send us an email at: ⁠Hindsight.podcast.afp@gmail.com⁠ or ⁠Hindsight.podcast@army.mil⁠  Link to Episode: Transcript: (Forthcoming) Link to Lawrence Livermore Laboratory's website: https://cgsr.llnl.gov/research

Welcome back, this is part two of our discussion on nuclear strategic thought with Dr. Zachary Davis, senior fellow at the Center for Global Security Research, a think tank associated with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Part two explores the breakdown of deterrence theory and the uncharted territory we find ourselves as new and emerging entrants into the club of nuclear powers drastically complicates efforts at stability in the nuclear domain. Please note that the views expressed in this episode are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Defense, Department of the Army, the Center for Global Security Research, or the Army Foundry Platform.  For comments, suggestions or requests for future episodes covering a specific topic, please send us an email at: ⁠Hindsight.podcast.afp@gmail.com⁠ or ⁠Hindsight.podcast@army.mil⁠ Link to Episode Transcript: (Forthcoming) Link to Lawrence Livermore Laboratory's website: https://cgsr.llnl.gov/research

#236This week marks two major milestones in the world of fusion. In 2022 a fusion experiment at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory created more power than was required to sustain it – now, the same team has improved this record by 25 per cent, releasing almost twice the energy that was put in. Meanwhile, the UK's JET reactor set a new world record for total energy output from any fusion reaction, just before it shut down for good late last year. Why these two milestones inch us closer to practical, sustainable fusion energy – but still leave a significant distance to go.A historic drought has caused a shipping traffic jam in the Panama Canal, one of the world's most important shipping routes. Record low levels of water mean fewer ships can pass through the intricate system of locks that carry them across the narrow strip of land. As climate change increases the likelihood of extreme drought, how could this impact both the cost of shipping goods and Panama's economy?Microdosing LSD may not have psychedelic effects, but it still causes noticeable changes in the brain. Researchers gave people tiny amounts of the drug while measuring their brain activity and noticed their brain signals became far more complex, even though they didn't feel any hallucinatory effects. What this study tells us about the relationship between consciousness and neural complexity.Magma flowing into a giant crack formed by this year's volcanic eruption in Iceland was caught moving at a rate of 7400 cubic metres per second – the fastest ever recorded for this kind of event. The kilometres-long crack first began producing eruptions in December last year, and another began just this week. So what's next for the people living nearby? Plus: The asteroid Bennu may be a chunk of an ocean world; a new, lightning-dense thunderstorm spotted by satellites; rediscovering the bizarre-looking sharp-snouted Somali worm lizard after more than 90 years.Hosts Christie Taylor and Sophie Bushwick discuss with guests Matt Sparkes, James Dinneen, Grace Wade and Michael Le Page. To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Bruce Goodwin, a retired Senior Laboratory Fellow in the Center for Global Security Research of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, discusses his publication 'Nuclear Weapons Technology 101 for Policy Wonks' and the importance of understanding nuclear weapons design. He emphasizes the need for technical experts to communicate effectively with policy wonks and non-technical audiences, highlighting the importance of listening and avoiding jargon. Goodwin also discusses the challenges of sustaining a credible stockpile stewardship program and attracting the best and brightest to the nuclear field. He concludes by emphasizing the importance of nuclear deterrence in maintaining peace.From 2013 to 2016, Bruce was the Associate Director for National Security Policy Research in charge of the National Security Office (now the Office of Defense Coordination) and the Center for Global Security Research. From 2001 until 2013, he was the Principal Associate Director of the Nuclear Weapons Program at LLNL. Before that he was a nuclear weapons designer.Socials:Follow on Twitter at @NucleCastFollow on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nuclecastpodcastSubscribe RSS Feed: https://rss.com/podcasts/nuclecast-podcast/Rate: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nuclecast/id1644921278Email comments and topic/guest suggestions to NucleCast@anwadeter.org

What is nuclear fusion?Nuclear fusion produces energy by fusing atoms together. Atomic cores (nuclei) merge together to form a heavier—though unstable—nucleus, releasing mass to regain stability. This mass release corresponds to an energy release, given Einstein's equation E=mc2, which says in part that mass and energy can be converted into each other. The sun, along with all other stars, uses nuclear fusion to generate energy, which is released as heat and light. The 2022 Fusion Breakthrough In late 2022, scientists led by Dr. Annie Kritcher at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) briefly replicated the power of the sun. Replicating the sun's power requires replicating the extreme heat and density conditions within the sun's core. Atomic cores are positively charged, meaning they repel each other. To overcome this barrier, scientists need to apply massive amounts of heat and keep atomic cores extremely close together. For the first time, scientists produced more energy from fusion than the amount of energy it took to maintain these conditions. Fusion is a greenhouse-gas-free source of potentially unlimited electricity, powered by hydrogen we can take from water, and creating no long-lived radioactive waste. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, fusion generates four times more energy per kilogram than the fission used for powering nuclear plants, and nearly 4 million times more energy than burning fossil fuels for energy. What's Next?Commercial nuclear fusion is still a long way off. While the physics aspect of fusion is “solved,” fusion remains a complicated engineering problem. The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has the most powerful laser in the world to blast heat at atoms, but it is the size of three football stadiums, very old, slow, inefficient, and clunky. There are still unanswered questions, such as how to affordably capture fusion energy, and how to keep a fusion reaction going for a long period of time. And although the laser shots at the NIF were weaker than its fusion output, the amount of energy drawn from the grid to create those lasers is 120 times more than the fusion output generated at LLNL. About Dr. Annie KritcherDr. Annie Kritcher is a nuclear engineer and physicist at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Weapons and Complex Integration's Design Physics Division. She led the recent nuclear fusion breakthrough at LLNL. In 2022, Kritcher was elected fellow of the American Physical Society. She earned her PhD at UC Berkeley. Further ReadingA shot for the ages: Fusion ignition breakthrough hailed as ‘one of the most impressive scientific feats of the 21st century' | Lawrence Livermore National LaboratoryUK Power Grid Could Have First Commercial Fusion Reactor By 2030sWorld's largest nuclear fusion reactor promises clean energy, but the challenges are huge - ABC NewsAnnie Kritcher leads revolutionary nuclear fusion experimentIAEA, What is nuclear fusion?NOVA Now Universe Revealed Podcast, Can We Recreate the Power of Stars Down on Earth? (YouTube or NOVA Podcast website) For a transcript, please visit https://climatebreak.org/the-clean-energy-potential-of-nuclear-fusion-with-annie-kritcher/

Dr. Zachary S. Davis is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Security Research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and a Research Professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, where he teaches courses on counterproliferation. He has broad experience in intelligence and national security policy and has held senior positions in the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government. His regional focus is South Asia.Davis began his career at the Congressional Research Service at the Library of Congress and has served with the State Department, Congressional committees, and the National Security Council. Davis was group leader for proliferation networks in LLNL's Z Program and in 2007 he was Senior Advisor at the National Counter Proliferation Center, in the office of the Director of National Intelligence. He is the author of numerous government studies and reports on technical and regional proliferation issues. He leads a project on the national security implications of advanced technologies, focusing on special operations forces.EPISODE NOTES:Follow NucleCast on Twitter at @NucleCastEmail comments and story suggestions to NucleCast@anwadeter.orgSubscribe to NucleCast podcastRate the show

If this company perfectly combines lasers and atoms, the reaction could be worth trillions of dollars.Focused Energy's Thomas Forner, CEO, and Pravesh Patel, CTO, join us to talk about making lasers. Lots and lots of lasers. But for what aim? They are pointing hundreds of directed beams at a tiny target: a millimeter-sized plastic capsule of deuterium and tritium, about the size of a peppercorn. These experiments may reveal a commercial pathway to grid-scale fusion energy. In contrast to other pursuits for nearly limitless clean energy such as stellarators and tokamaks, our third installment of the Tough Tech Today fusion series spotlights Focused Energy's inertial approach to excite hydrogen isotopes. Uniquely straddling the Atlantic to tap into specialized talent pools in Austin, Texas, and Darmstadt, Germany, this team is leveraging discoveries from top fusion labs in the U.S. and Europe. The company has spun out of the Technical University of Darmstadt and combined with talent from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where the first net energy gain from nuclear fusion was demonstrated in 2022.In a planet hungry for energy, the company aims to generate significant revenues within a few years, fast-tracking commercialization of fusion energy while tapping into early revenues streams Focused Energy is deriving from testing other organizations' technologies, cleaning up nuclear waste, and providing other valuable services as the company matures its laser drivers, high-gain ignition facility, and, eventually, establishes a pilot power plant. It is a lot of progress for a venture that has raised $82 million to date, including closing an $11 million Series A in 2023. From maintaining a permanent presence among regulators in Washington, D.C., to working with other energy companies to ‘educate the market' about why fusion energy is now a venture-class investment opportunity, Forner, Patel, and the Focused Energy team exemplify a multinational collaboration of some of the world's top minds.P.S. Thank you to our tough tech champions. We really appreciate your support! If you'd like to level-up your support of our work, take a look at our pay-if-you-can membership options so you can help us bring Tough Tech Today to more folks!

How much CO2 is it possible to remove in the United States and at what cost? Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists and researchers from more than a dozen institutions have completed a first-of-its-kind national assessment of carbon dioxide removal options, ranging from the role of cropland soils, carbon capture, CO2 transport, and more. In today's episode, Climate Now interviewed several of the report's authors to provide an overview of the negative emissions pathways—ones that physically remove CO2 from the atmosphere—that can help the United States reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, or sooner.  You can read the new report and learn more at https://livermorelab.info/Roads2RemovalFollow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.Contact us at contact@climatenow.comVisit our website for all of our content and sources for each episode.

Dr. Howard Hall is the Director for the UT Institute for Nuclear Security. He holds a joint appointment with Consolidated Nuclear Security (Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, TN, and the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, TX), and serves as Professor in both the Department of Nuclear Engineering and the Bredesen Center For Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education. Professor Hall is also a Senior Fellow in Global Security Policy at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee.Professor Hall received his Ph.D. in Nuclear and Radiochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1989; and his BS in Chemistry from the College of Charleston in 1985. Prior to joining UT, Dr. Hall spent more than 20 years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Northern California, where he led major scientific and operational missions in nuclear and homeland security. During his tenure at LLNL, Dr. Hall led efforts supporting US Government programs in aviation safety and security, nuclear threat detection and nuclear emergency response.In 2005, Dr. Hall was part of the team awarded the Department of Homeland Security/Science and Technology Directorate Under Secretary's Award for Science. Professor Hall is a member of the American Nuclear Society, the American Physical Society, the American Chemical Society, the American Society for Engineering Education, the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, and holds the rank of Fellow in the American Institute of Chemists and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.EPISODE NOTES:Follow NucleCast on Twitter at @NucleCastEmail comments and story suggestions to NucleCast@anwadeter.orgSubscribe to NucleCast podcastRate the show

On this episode of Cut to the Chase: we give some of the exciting updates in the world of science. As we approach the Fall of 2023, this year continues to demonstrate that perhaps the scientists still don't know everything there is to know about our planet. Amongst the exciting updates, Dr. Adam Leibovich, our regular contributor on all things physics, has been named Dean of the Arts and Science at University of Pittsburgh.   So major congratulations are in order for that achievement.  Dr. Leibovich goes through three topics in this update. First, we go through the recent experiment with the muon, a subatomic particle, and what that means for the Standard Model. The experiment was run and confirmed the existence of other types of matter and energy that exist in the universe that scientists have not accounted for. So now the search for what these particles, matter, and energy are will keep physicists busy and excited for the future. Second, the James Webb Space Telescope has passed its one year anniversary. Dr. Leibovich goes through a few of the exciting things that the telescope has observed, including the most detailed infrared image of the universe ever created. And third, the ongoing dream of trying to make nuclear fusion a reality reached a recent milestone at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory which used 192 lasers to ignite a fusion reaction that produced more energy than was used to trigger it.   Although the old saying that we are “30 years away” from making nuclear fusion commercially viable might still be the case, the milestone was significant as it replicated the achievement of creating more energy than was used to create the reaction. As Dr. Leibovich notes, in the world of science, replication of the experiment is always significant. Now, the world just needs a significant amount of funding and effort to help make nuclear fusion commercially viable. Scaled up nuclear fusion could be a solution towards getting the world off fossil fuels without having to mine the planet for materials to making EVS, solar and wind powered apparatus. Listen to the previous episodes Adam has been on here: Leibovich's Biased Top 10 Unknowns In Physics Are You In Outer Space? Check Out Who Is and the Science Behind It James Webb Space Telescope: Will it Solve Unanswered Questions of the Planet? First Images from James Webb Telescope Revealed-What We Saw Learn more about Adam and his career https://www.as.pitt.edu/adam-leibovich-dean Follow Adam on LinkedIn  To learn more about mass tort law cases and lawyer best practices, subscribe to the Cut to the Chase: Podcast with Gregg Goldfarb

Dr. John Swegle works as an independent consultant through the National Strategic Research Institute at the University of Nebraska on issues related to the effects of nuclear weapons and proliferation on US national security. Immediately prior to that, he was a Senior Advisory Scientist at the Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken, South Carolina. He began his career at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he was a member of the plasma theory group, and then moved to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he conducted and managed analyses of foreign technology and nuclear programs in what was then Z Division; he also worked in a nuclear design division for several years where he was introduced to the basic concepts of nuclear design and nuclear-driven electromagnetic pulse.He is a graduate of Cornell University, where he obtained an MS and PhD in applied physics with a specialty in plasma physics, and the University of Washington in Seattle, where he earned BSEE and MSEE degrees.Dr. Swegle has also had a long career in the field of high-power microwaves. He is the co-author of High-Power Microwaves, which has been published in three editions. The book has become an international standard and has been translated into Chinese. He served as an Associate Editor of The Physics of Plasmas and co-edited a special issue of the IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science devoted to high-power microwaves.EPISODE NOTES:Follow NucleCast on Twitter at @NucleCastEmail comments and story suggestions to NucleCast@anwadeter.orgSubscribe to NucleCast podcastRate the show

The Space News Podcast. SpaceTime Series 26 Episode 100 *Webb reveals colours of Earendel, most distant star ever detected Astronomers have used the Webb Space Telescope to study Earendel, one of the most distant stars ever detected. *Sustained nuclear fusion achieved for a second time Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have successfully repeated their historic nuclear fusion experiment. *Russian and Indian missions race to the Moon The first Russian Moon mission in nearly fifty years has successfully entered lunar orbit and will deploy its lander later today. The spacecraft entered a 100 kilometre high lunar orbit as India's Chandrayaan-3 Vikram Lander successfully undocked from its propulsion module in lunar orbit and began its slow week long decent down towards the lunar south pole. *The Science Report Genetically modified pig kidneys transplanted into a brain dead human patient functioning normally Warnings that the increasing number of extreme bushfires could exacerbate climate change. Why you should never cry at a crocodile. Skeptics guide to vaccine fatigueThis show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/2458531/advertisement

In Berkeley Talks episode 177, a panel of scholars discusses theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and how his years at UC Berkeley shaped him, and how he shaped the university.Oppenheimer, the subject of Christopher Nolan's summer 2023 film Oppenheimer, came to Berkeley in 1929 as an assistant professor and over the next dozen years established one of the greatest schools of theoretical physics. He went on to direct the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II, during which the first nuclear weapons were developed. He's often referred to as “the father of the atomic bomb.”“Exceptional students and postdocs flocked here to Berkeley to work with him,” began Cathryn Carson, a Berkeley professor of history and a specialist in the history of 20th century physics, who moderated the July 28 discussion at Berkeley.“As we'll hear today,” she continued, “the style of work that Oppenheimer unfolded at Berkeley was collaborative, pointed, directed at hard problems, not always successful. His modus operandi, you could say, was, ‘Work hard, play hard.'“He landed in the Bay at a time when much else was in ferment. At the same time that he devoted himself to physics, he got engaged with contemporary left-wing politics. In the Bay Area in the 1930s, that included the fight against fascism in Nazi Germany and Spain and struggles for economic justice and labor in California. The Communist Party was part of that setting, and Oppenheimer immersed himself in the life of the Berkeley faculty, efforts to unionize it and intellectual currents across the university — this broad liberal arts institution that fed his roving mind.”Panelists include:Cathryn Carson, chair and professor of Berkeley's Department of History, whose research includes nuclear history and the history of 20th century physics. She co-edited a volume of papers about Oppenheimer, Reappraising Oppenheimer: Centennial Studies and Reflections.Mark Chadwick, chief scientist and chief operating officer for weapons physics at Los Alamos National Laboratory, who edited and published a suite of papers on the technical history of the Trinity test.Jon Else, professor emeritus of Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, who created the documentary The Day After Trinity: J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb.Yasunori Nomura, a Berkeley professor of physics and director of the Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics.Karl van Bibber, professor of nuclear engineering at Berkeley, who spent 25 years conducting nuclear energy research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.Listen to the episode and read the transcript on Berkeley News (news.berkeley.edu).Photo by Roy Kaltschmidt, courtesy of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.Music by Blue Dot Sessions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, Logan and Evan explore the world of fusion energy with groundbreaking news from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. For the second time, they've achieved net energy gain in a fusion reaction, pushing the boundaries of scientific discovery. We break down the significance of this achievement and its potential implications for the energy sector. Next up, we delve into the acquisition of Louisville-based accounting tech startup Sentient Solutions. Recently acquired by Ascend, this move showcases the influence of AI-driven solutions on traditional industries. We discuss the motivations behind the acquisition and explore the role of technology in transforming the way CPA firms operate. References Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieve net energy gain in a fusion reaction for a second time Louisville accounting tech startup acquired Neuralink raises $280m in funding led by Thiel's Founders Fund Visit us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠MiddleTech.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Follow Us ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Logan's Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Evan's Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Middle Tech is proud to be supported by: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KY Innovation⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bolt Marketing⁠⁠

Joining us today is Andrea “Annie” Lynn Kritcher, a nuclear engineer and physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Annie has been working in fusion for over 18 years, which eventually led to her developing Hybrid-E – a capsule that enables inertial confinement fusion. Much of Annie's postdoctoral research explored how to use X-rays to measure the properties of plasma, and how nuclei interact with it. In 2022, she was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society for her contributions to the creation of the first laboratory burning and igniting fusion plasma – a high honor for a member of her field… In this episode, you will discover: What fusion is. How researchers are creating extremely hot conditions in laboratories to create fusion. How magnetic fields can be used to squeeze plasma down.  What “inertial confinement” is.  Want to learn more about Annie and her work with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory? Click here now! Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/30PvU9C

Dr Jordan B Peterson and Dr. Steven Koonin discuss the IPCC reports – the globally sourced research on climate change – and how policymakers take summaries of summaries from this to justify their green agenda, despite what the reports actually suggest. They also discuss starvation, obesity, green economics, and nuclear futures. Steven Koonin, a University Professor at NYU, has served as the Department of Energy's Under Secretary for Science, as Chief Scientist for BP, and as professor and Provost at Caltech. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Governor of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a senior fellow of Stanford's Hoover Institution, and a Trustee of the Institute for Defense Analyses. Koonin holds a BS in physics from Caltech and a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from MIT. He wrote the recent bestseller “Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn't, and Why It Matters.”

With the recent breakthrough in fusion energy technology, the debate around the feasibility of nuclear fusion as a commercialized energy source may leave investors wondering, is it a holy grail or a pipe dream? Global Head of Sustainability Research and North American Clean Energy Research Stephen Byrd and Head of Thematic Research in Europe Ed Stanley discuss.----- Transcript -----Stephen Byrd: Welcome to Thoughts on the Market. I'm Stephen Byrd, Morgan Stanley's Global Head of Sustainability Research and North American Clean Energy Research. Ed Stanley: And I'm Ed Stanley, Morgan Stanley's Head of Thematic Research in Europe. Stephen Byrd: And on the special episode of Thoughts on the Market, we'll discuss the potential of nuclear fusion technology in light of a key recent breakthrough in the space. It's Tuesday, December 20th, at 10 a.m. in New York. Ed Stanley: And 2 p.m. in London. Stephen Byrd: Ed, you recently came to this podcast to discuss your team's work on "Earthshots", technologies that can accelerate the pace of decarbonization and mitigate some of the climate change that's occurring as a result of greenhouse gas emissions, trapping the sun's heat. In a sense, Earthshots can be defined as urgent solutions to an intensifying climate crisis and nuclear fusion as one of these potential radical decarbonization technologies. So, Ed, I wondered if you could just start by explaining how nuclear fusion fits into your excellent Earthshots framework. Ed Stanley: Absolutely. So in Earthshots we laid out six technologies we thought could be truly revolutionary and changed the course of decarbonization. Three of those were environmental and three were biological innovations. In order of investability, horizon carbon capture was first, smart grids were next, and then further out was nuclear fusion on the environmental side. In early December the U.S. Department of Energy announced the achievement of fusion ignition at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. So Steve, passing back to you, can you give us a sense of why this was considered such an important moment? Stephen Byrd: Yeah Ed, you know, as you mentioned, ignition was achieved at the government lab. And this is very exciting because this shows the potential for fusion to create net energy as a result of achieving fusion. So essentially what happened was two megajoules of energy went into the process of creating the ignition, and three megajoules of energy were produced as a result. So a very exciting development. But as we'll discuss, a lot of additional milestones yet to achieve. Ed Stanley: And there's been significant debates around nuclear fusion in recent days caused by this. And from the perspective of a seasoned utilities analyst, but also with your ESG hat on, is fusion the Holy Grail it's often touted to be, or do you think it's more of a pipe dream? And compared to nuclear fission, how much of a step change would it be? Stephen Byrd: You know, that's a fascinating question in terms of the long term potential of fusion. I do see immense long term potential for fusion, but I do want to emphasize long term. I think, again, we have many steps to achieve, but let's talk fundamentally about what is so exciting about fusion energy. The first and foremost is abundant energy. As I mentioned, you know, small amount of energy in produces a greater amount of energy out, and this can be scaled up. And so this could create plentiful energy that's exciting. It's no carbon dioxide, that's also very exciting. No long live radioactive waste, add that to the list of exciting things. A very limited risk of proliferation, because fusion does not employ fissile materials like uranium, for example. So tremendous potential, but a long way to go likely until this is actually put into the field. So in the meantime, we have to be looking to other technologies to help with the energy transition. So Ed, just building on what we're going to really need to achieve the energy transition and thinking through the development of fusion, what are some of the upcoming milestones and technology advancements that you're thinking about for the development and deployment of fusion energy? Ed Stanley: The technology milestones to watch for, I think, are generally known and ironically, actually relatively simple for this topic. We need more power out than in, and we need more controlled energy output, and certain technology breakthroughs can help with that. But we also need more time, more money, more computation, more facilities with which to try this technology out. But importantly, I think the next ten years is going to look very different from the last ten years in terms of these milestones and breakthroughs. I think that's going to be formed by four different things: the frequency, geographically, disciplinary and privately. And by those I mean on frequency it took about 25 years for JET in 2020 to break its own output record that it set in 1995. And then all of a sudden in 2021, 22, we saw four more notable records broken. Geographically, two of those records broken were in China, which is incredibly interesting because it shows that international competition is clearly on the rise. Third, we're seeing interdisciplinary breakthroughs to your point on integrating new types of technology. And finally, the emergence of increasingly well-funded private facilities. And this public private competition can and should accelerate the breakthroughs occurring in unexpected locations. But Stephen, I suppose if we cut to the chase on the when, how long do you think commercial scale fusion will take to come to fruition? Stephen Byrd: You know, it's a great question Ed. I think the Department of Energy officials that gave the press release on this technology development highlighted some of the challenges ahead. Let me talk through three big technology challenges that will need to be overcome. The first is what I think of as sort of true net energy production. So I mentioned before that it just took two mega jewels to ignite the fuel and then the output was three megajoules. That's very exciting. However, the total energy needed to power the lasers was 300 megajoules, so a massive amount. So we need to see tremendous efficiency improvements, that's the first challenge. The second challenge would be what we think of as repeatable ignition. That relates to creating a consistent, stable set of fusion, which to date has not been possible. Lastly, for Tokamak Technologies, Tokamaks are essentially magnetic bottles. The crucial element for commercialization is making these high temperature superconducting magnets stronger. That would enable everything else to be smaller and that would lead to cost improvements. So I think we have a long way to go. So Ed, just building on that idea of commercialization, you know, with the economics of fusion technologies looking more attractive now than previously given this breakthrough that we've seen at the U.S. DOE lab, what's happening on the policy and regulatory side. Do you see support for nuclear fusion? And if you do, in which countries do you see that support? Ed Stanley: I mean, it's a great question. And governments and electorates around the world, particularly in Europe, where I'm sitting, have what can only be described as a complicated relationship with nuclear energy. But on support for fusion broadly, yes, I think there is tentative support. It depends on the news flow and I think excitement last week shows exactly that. But personally, I think we are still too early to worry too much about policy and regulation. In simple terms, you can't actually regulate and promote and subsidize something where the technology isn't actually ready yet, which is part of the point you've made throughout. But that question also reminds me of a time about 15 years ago when I received national security clearance to visit the U.K.'s Atomic Energy Authority in Europe. And at that time, they were the clear global leader in fusion research. Obviously, that was hugely exciting as a young teenager. But something that the lead scientist said to me at that point struck me and it remains true today, that no R&D project on the planet receives as much funding relative to its frequency of breakthroughs as Fusion does. Which tells you just how committed that governments and now corporates around the world are in trying to unlock carbon free nuclear waste, free energy. But as you have said, quite rightly, that has taken and it will continue to take patience. Stephen Byrd: That's great. Ed, thanks for taking the time to talk. Ed Stanley: It's great speaking with you, Stephen. Stephen Byrd: As a reminder, if you enjoy Thoughts on the Market, please take a moment to rate and review us on the Apple Podcasts app. It helps more people to find the show.

Scientists Reach Breakthrough In Nuclear Fusion This week, researchers announced a big breakthrough in the field of nuclear fusion. Scientists have been slamming atoms into each other for decades in the hope that they will fuse together, and release more energy than was put in. And for the first time ever, scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory did just that in early December, using very powerful lasers. But just how quickly will the mission to develop scalable nuclear fusion become a reality? Ira talks with Casey Crownhart, climate reporter at MIT Technology Review, about that and other top science news of the week, including an uptick in methane, an investigation into telehealth data sharing practices, and the newly-identified snake clitoris.   A Promising New Treatment Emerges For Multiple Myeloma Multiple myeloma is an incurable blood cancer that affects cells inside a patient's bone marrow. Nearly all multiple myeloma patients will relapse at some point in their treatment, becoming resistant to first one, then another frontline intervention. But a new kind of therapy, a bispecific antibody called Talquetamab, has been showing promise in clinical trials—both in treating the cancer, and keeping patients in remission longer. A bispecific antibody works as a kind of bond between a T-cell that might otherwise not be doing its job and the myeloma cell itself, forcing the T-cell to attack the cancer. Ira talks to Dr. Ajai Chari, who is leading the clinical trials of Talquetamab, about the historic difficulty of treating multiple myeloma, and why this new therapeutic approach may lead to more patients living longer lives.   Growing Christmas Trees In A Warming World For those who celebrate Christmas, the decision over a Christmas tree can be hotly debated. For those who hold out for a real tree, there are dozens of species available for American consumers—catering to Douglas fir aficionados, Fraser fir fans, and Noble admirers. But climate change could soon affect the selection at a tree lot near you. Chal Landgren, a Christmas tree specialist at Oregon State University, manages a program that for decades has bred and developed seedlings raised to become Christmas trees. Oregon is responsible for growing 25% of all Christmas trees in the country, but heatwaves and drought have made this future tenuous. “My kind of anecdotal information is that between this summer and the heat dome, we probably lost 50% of the seedlings that were planted,” Landgren told Science Friday. Read more at sciencefriday.com.   Ready, Set, Play: 2022's Best Science Fiction Games There were many exciting science fiction and science gaming titles released this year. Whether you enjoy video games, board games, learning about mendelian genetics, getting immersed in hard tactical sci-fi, or just want to be a cat wandering around a gorgeous cyberpunk city, we have you covered. Joining us to discuss our favorite sci-fi and science-y games this year (and the slightly recent past) are Maddy Myers, Deputy Editor of Games at Polygon and co-host of the gaming podcast Triple Click, and Mandi Hutchinson and Suzanne Sheldon of Salt And Sass Games.   See the full list at sciencefriday.com. Transcripts for each segment will be available the week after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.  

On Dec. 5 at 1 o'clock in the morning local time, researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California used lasers to zap a tiny pellet of hydrogen fuel. The lasers hit their target with 2.05 megajoules of energy, and the pellet released roughly 3.15 megajoules. It's a major milestone, and one that the field of fusion science has struggled to reach for more than half a century: producing a fusion reaction that generates more energy than it consumes. While progress, the technology is still a ways off from its promise to produce energy without creating greenhouse gases. Today on the show, Regina G. Barber brings us two NPR stories that explain what this experiment showed and what else needs to happen to make fusion a practical energy source.

It was announced today that US government scientists have made a breakthrough in the pursuit of limitless, zero-carbon power by achieving a net energy gain in a fusion reaction for the first time. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory uses a process called "inertial confinement fusion" that involves bombarding a tiny pellet of hydrogen plasma with the world's biggest laser. Despite the immense hype surrounding the fusion proclamation, this doesn't mean we're anywhere close to actually achieving the “holy grail” of clean energy. Tonight on Ground Zero, Clyde Lewis talks with the host of Nuclear Hotseat, Libbe HaLevy about STAR BUILDERS - THE POWER OF THE SUN IN THE PALM OF MY HAND. #GroundZero #ClydeLewis #StarBuilders https://groundzeromedia.org/12-13-22-star-builders-the.../ Ground Zero with Clyde Lewis is live M-F from 7-10pm, pacific time, and streamed for free at groundzero.radio and talkstreamlive.com. There is a delayed broadcast on our local Portland affiliate station, KPAM 860, from 9pm-12am, pacific time. To leave a message, call our toll-free line at 866-536-7469. To listen by phone: 717-734-6922. To call the live show: 503-225-0860. For Android and iPhones, download the Paranormal Radio app. The transcript of each episode will be posted after the show at groundzeromedia.org. In order to access Ground Zero's exclusive digital library which includes webinars, archived shows/podcasts, research groups, videos, documents, and more, you must sign up at aftermath.media. Subscriptions start at $7/month. Check out the yearly specials!