Berkeley Lab Press
@berkeleylabpress.bsky.social
Official account of the news media team at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
"This is a major win in a larger effort to synthesize critical materials and battery materials using molten salts," says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Mike Whitaker.
Scientists in California pulled carbon from the air, then made graphite without mining
Scientists in California say they may have found a cleaner way to make one of modern life's most important materials: graphite.
thecooldown.com
"In science, measurements are noisy, and predictions carry significant uncertainty," says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Marcus Noack. "CAMERA is developing machine learning that accounts for uncertainty from the start—helping researchers make better decisions." #AI
IMDEA Materials & Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Work on Making 3D Printers Print in Unison - 3DPrint.com | Additive Manufacturing Business
Spain’s IMDEA Materials Institute has worked with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to detect and identify differences in different 3D printers. This could be important in eliminating run-to-run d...
3dprint.com
“Someday future progress might enable more compact and efficient neutron generators, which have all kinds of applications, like cargo screening, planetary science, and medical therapy and imaging," says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Arun Persaud. #fusion
“Speed makes people think differently,” says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Gerd Ceder. “When people get rapid answers, they stay engaged with things, and they tend to ask different questions."
Robots run the experiments. Grad students fix them from bed
Robots and AI are running experiments around the clock, from battery chemistry to cancer therapies. But can they be trusted to get it right?
scientificamerican.com
"NVIDIA AI's Ising Calibration AI Model, which we're using @berkeleylab.lbl.gov, is at the forefront of integrating quantum and AI," says Bert de Jong. "It allows us to accelerate the continuous calibration of our quantum computers & improve their performance."
Ising: Nvidia AI tackles quantum computing’s biggest bottlenecks
NVIDIA launches Ising AI models to improve quantum calibration and error correction, boosting speed and accuracy.
interestingengineering.com
“This could be the most interesting discovery in cosmology since that of dark energy itself," says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Nathalie Palanque-Delabrouille. @desisurvey.bsky.social
New 3D map of Universe could solve dark energy mystery
Latest data must still be analyzed but could help determine if dark energy is constant or varies over time.
arstechnica.com
"The @desisurvey.bsky.social is still the leading instrument like it in the world," says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's David Schlegel. It completed its initial 5-year survey and mapped 47 million galaxies and quasars. The experiment will continue observations into 2028.
Largest ever map of universe captures 47 million galaxies and quasars
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) has finished the most detailed survey of the universe to date, and the resulting map will help researchers understand an apparent weakening of dark ener...
newscientist.com
Why the Energy Department's science labs will spearhead the federal push into AI / Science
Why the Energy Department’s science labs will spearhead the federal push into AI
DOE’s national labs’ huge facilities, data flows, and computing resources are a natural fit for the Genesis Mission
science.org
“Next-generation batteries don’t have to rely on critical materials," says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Robert Kostecki. "Disordered rock salt (DRX) Li-ion cathodes are cobalt-free, offer higher energy density, improved stability & enhanced safety."
US Innovation in Advanced Battery Technologies Drives Growth
Indian experts explored US advancements in battery technologies through the International Visitor Leadership Program, enhancing economic growth and partnerships.
thenewsmill.com
“Dual-probe experiments at @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's BELLA Center have achieved unprecedented precision in inertial confinement fusion, which could help solve engineering challenges in developing fusion," says BELLA Research Scientist, Hai-En Tsai.
photonics.com
“FORUM-AI aims to be the first full-stack, agentic AI system for materials science research and discovery,” says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Anubhav Jain. “It will help scientists at every step of energy materials research.”
What DOE’s New Agentic AI Platform Means for Materials Research Workflows
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is leading FORUM-AI, an agentic AI materials discovery platform designed to automate research workflows.
labmanager.com
“Creation of a new element is an extremely rare feat. It’s exciting to be a part of the process and to have a promising path forward,” says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Jacklyn Gates.
BBC Audio | The Documentary Podcast | New elements
The search for element 120 begins at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
bbc.com
“Nature holds a wealth of untapped natural products, and new tools in synthesis and synthetic biology are unlocking their potential for medicine, food, and fuels," says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Nigel Mouncey.
The future of total synthesis
From structure confirmation to methodology improvements, making complex natural products has driven innovation in organic synthesis for decades. Nina Notman looks at its current state, with threats fr...
chemistryworld.com
"Newly tested desalination technologies are demonstrating great promise in meeting the challenges facing oil producing companies in Texas and New Mexico," says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Peter Fiske. via @wsj.com
America’s Biggest Oil Field Is Turning Into a Pressure Cooker
Drillers’ injection of wastewater is creating mayhem across the Permian Basin, raising concern about the future of fossil-fuel production there.
wsj.com
“Seeing these neutrino interactions is a pivotal milestone. It showcases LZ’s ability to detect signals of cosmic origin," says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Dan Kodroff, LZ analysis co-lead.
Historic search for 'huge missing piece' of the universe reveals new secrets of particle physics
Scientists hunted dark matter and solar neutrinos with one of the largest experiments yet. While the neutrinos likely appeared, dark matter results couldn't be confirmed.
livescience.com
"AI will increase the productivity of scientists," says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Jonathan Carter. "The only debate is, by how much: Is it by a factor of 10 or 1,000?”
Why the Bay Area is key to the new U.S. push to win the international AI race
The Genesis Mission is mobilizing Bay Area labs to accelerate AI research and chip development to blunt China’s rise in the sector.
mercurynews.com
“This unprecedented simulation is a critical step forward to accelerate the design and development of quantum hardware. More powerful quantum chips will unlock new capabilities and open up new avenues in science,” says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Bert de Jong.
NVIDIA GPUs enable large-scale quantum chip modeling on supercomputer
Researchers used 7,000+ NVIDIA GPUs on Perlmutter to create the most detailed simulation of a quantum microchip to date.
interestingengineering.com
"Building superconducting qubits with over a microsecond lifetime is a heroic effort and establishes the solid foundations for next-generation superconducting quantum computing technology," says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Bert de Jong.
New, more stable qubits could simplify dreamed-of quantum computers
Advance underscores the importance of materials science for quantum computing
science.org
“Industrial #biotech is not performing well either," says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Deepti Tanjore. "We have overemphasized innovation at the microbial level, neglecting innovation in scale-up and distributed domestic manufacturing.” @rowanwalrath.bsky.social
Biotech markets aren't picking up just yet
Despite some recent eye-catching deals, the financing environment is still sluggish
cen.acs.org
"With AI, synthetic biology can become computationally driven, rather than intuition driven, where algorithms design DNA, enzymes, & entire biosynthetic pathways before they’re ever built," says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Hector Garcia Martin.
How AI Is revolutionizing synthetic biology and biomanufacturing
Beyond Biotech podcast - Héctor García Martín on why biology is hard to engineer
liveforever.club
"Big models are not the only way forward, " says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Bert de Jong. "Learning smarter and piece by piece is the path forward."
The AI Industry’s Scaling Obsession Is Headed for a Cliff
Huge AI infrastructure deals assume that algorithms will keep improving with scale. They may not.
wired.com
"Every breakthrough in science invites both excitement and scrutiny," says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov 's Kristin Persson. "There is tremendous promise in applying data-driven AI and machine learning to the discovery, direction, and optimization of materials."
AI is dreaming up millions of new materials. Are they any good?
Critics slammed attempts by Google, Microsoft and Meta to speed up materials discovery. But behind the hype, there is progress.
nature.com
Thanks Yuval Boger, the Quantum Superposition Guy, for hosting me on your podcast discussing the future of quantum computing and the quantum research going on at the Quantum Systems Accelerator and @berkeleylab.lbl.gov podcast.yboger.com/2025/09/01/b...
Bert de Jong, Director of the Quantum Systems Accelerator (QSA) at Berkeley Lab
Bert de Jong, Director of the Quantum Systems Accelerator (QSA) at Berkeley Lab, is interviewed by Yuval Boger. Bert describes how the center develops superconducting, trapped-ion, and neutral-atom te...
podcast.yboger.com
“National labs bring together deep science, advanced engineering, and a culture of collaboration that’s essential at this stage of quantum’s development,” said @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Bert de Jong.
The New Quantum Era - innovation in quantum computing, science and technology | From Exascale to Quantum Advantage with Bert de Jong
In this episode, Sebastian Hassinger sits down with Bert de Jong, a leading computational chemist and Director of the Quantum Systems Accelerator at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. They expl...
podcast.newquantumera.com
“Our goal was to make the best high-resolution, high-efficiency gamma-ray detector we possibly could, so we can answer big questions about the nature of matter and fundamental forces,” said @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Paul Fallon.
GRETA: World's most powerful detector to decode nuclear 'fingerprints'
With its incredible sensitivity, it promises to decode the “fingerprints” of atomic nuclei and reveal their secrets.
interestingengineering.com
"From farms to cities, turning tough-to-treat water into a #CleanWater 🚰 supply could be life-changing. Proving it works in the real world is how we solve water scarcity for good," says Berkeley Lab's Peter Fiske. 💧🌱🌍🧪
Innovative Membrane Technology Promises Access to Clean Water
A widely used method to remove dissolved salts and other contaminants from water is reverse osmosis (RO), which uses ultra-thin membranes that enable water under pressure to pass through the membrane ...
techbriefs.com
"These new approaches to ocean desalination all utilize small, distributed, manufactured units, rather than a single large-scale custom-built facility, which cuts manufacturing costs and speed deployment of these systems," says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov 's Peter Fiske.
A Surprising Twist Puts Desalination Plants at the Bottom of the Ocean. Here’s Why
Companies are experimenting with deep-sea tech to produce cheaper fresh water
scientificamerican.com
"From high-performance magnets to advanced lasers & simulations, we're engaged with U.S. industry, like TAE, TypeOne Energy & Realta Fusion to develop technologies & insights to help unlock the potential of fusion energy" - @berkeleylab.lbl.gov’s Cameron Geddes.
A Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough May Be Closer Than You Think
Clean energy from nuclear fusion may soon be commercial. But leaders around the world have done little to prepare.
time.com
The new supercomputer, which uses NVIDIA chips tailored for A.I. calculations, could be the Energy Department's biggest resource for tasks like training A.I. models, says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Jonathan Carter. @energygov.bsky.social
Energy Dept. Unveils Supercomputer That Merges With A.I.
nytimes.com
“We’re talking about two orders of magnitude more compute than any kind of academic data set that’s ever been made,” says @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Sam Blau who worked with Meta on the project. “It’s going to dramatically change how people do computational chemistry.”
Meta releases new data set, AI model aimed at speeding up scientific research
The Open Molecules 2025 project required 6 billion compute hours in Meta data centers, and could make complex chemistry calculations 10,000 times faster.
semafor.com