Big Ideas Lab

A scientific breakthrough is only the beginning.

World-changing technologies can take decades to move from a successful experiment to something people can actually use. In this episode, Lawrence Livermore researchers explain the science of scale-up. From durability, cost, manufacturing, and unexpected changes in performance to the risks that can stall a promising idea, LLNL combines modeling, experimentation, risk assessment, and industry partnerships to help breakthroughs reach the real world faster and more reliably.

Guests featured (in order of appearance):

Sarah Baker - Group and Program Leader for Carbon Technologies, LLNL

Andrew Wong - Materials Scientist, LLNL

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Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series.

Executive Produced by Levi Hanusch.

Sound Design, Music Edit and Mix by Matthew Powell.

Script by Caroline Kidd.

Story Editing by Levi Hanusch.

Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell.

Narrated by Matthew Powell.

Video Production by Levi Hanusch.

Brought to you in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Inside the National Ignition Facility, scientists create bursts of fusion hotter than the center of the sun that vanish in 100 trillionths of a second. The only way to trust what happened is to measure it - and Lawrence Livermore has spent decades building the instruments that can see the unseeable, the same instruments that proved the world's first fusion ignition was real.

This is the story of NIF's diagnostics: how Lawrence Livermore learned to photograph a dying star, prove a nuclear stockpile still works without ever testing it, and turn an event too fast, too hot, and too dense to touch into knowledge.

Guests featured (in order of appearance):

Dave Schlossberg - Experimental Physicist, National Ignition Facility, LLNL

Cara Vennari - Experimental Physicist, LLNL

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Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series.

Executive Produced by Levi Hanusch.

Sound Design, Music Edit and Mix by Matthew Powell.

Script by Caroline Kidd

Story Editing by Levi Hanusch.

Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell.

Narrated by Matthew Powell.

Brought to you in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The number of objects in orbit is doubling every two years, and the systems built to keep watch still run on formats designed around 1960s punch cards. At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a mission operations center called STARMOC is proving that the future of space operations can be built fast, affordable and in-house - by testing new ways to fly satellites, train AI and stay ahead in a crowded, contested sky.

This is STARMOC at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Guests featured (in order of appearance):

Luc Peterson - Associate Program Leader for Data Science, Space Program, LLNL

Phillip Rittmuller - Principal Investigator for STARMOC

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Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series.

Executive Produced by Levi Hanusch.

Sound Design, Music Edit and Mix by Matthew Powell.

Script by Caroline Kidd

Story Editing by Levi Hanusch.

Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell.

Narrated by Matthew Powell.

Video Production by Levi Hanusch.

Brought to you in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What happens after a PhD, but before a scientist is fully established?

At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, that in-between stage is treated as a proving ground. LLNL postdocs are given rare facilities, hard problems, mentorship, career development time, and a community built around collaboration.

The result is more than professional development. It’s the moment a scientist starts becoming the person others look to for answers.

Guests featured (in order of appearance):

Tomi Akindele - Systems Modeling and Evaluation Group Leader, Physics Division, LLNL

Ted Baumann - Chemist and Postdoc Program Lead, LLNL

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Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series.

Executive Produced by Levi Hanusch.

Sound Design, Music Edit and Mix by Matthew Powell.

Script by Caroline Kidd

Story Editing by Levi Hanusch.

Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell.

Narrated by Matthew Powell.

Video Production by Levi Hanusch.

Brought to you in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

At the National Lab Research SLAM, scientists from all 17 Department of Energy national laboratories get three minutes and a single slide to explain years of complex research to people who aren't scientists. This is the story of how Lawrence Livermore built a program to teach its researchers a skill that turns out to be as essential as the science itself: making the work understandable.

Guests featured (in order of appearance):

Brandon Zimmerman - Staff Scientist, LLNL

Christine Zachow - Operations Manager, LLNL

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Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series.

Executive Produced by Levi Hanusch.

Sound Design, Music Edit and Mix by Matthew Powell.

Story Editing by Levi Hanusch.

Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell.

Narrated by Matthew Powell.

Video Production by Levi Hanusch.

Brought to you in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.