Big Ideas Lab

Latest Episodes:

El Capitan Nov 19, 2024

For decades, it was an ambitious dream: to create a supercomputer powerful enough to tackle humanity's most complex problems. Now, that dream is a reality. On November 18, 2024, El Capitan made history as the world’s fastest supercomputer, surpassing two exaflops of speed. Join us as we explore how this monumental achievement is set to redefine national security, revolutionize scientific research, and spark breakthroughs that could change the world as we know it.

DYNA3D Nov 12, 2024

What does designing hurricane-proof buildings have to do with heart surgery and light beer? Surprisingly, the answer lies in a groundbreaking computer code developed more than 50 years ago.

A code so powerful that automakers use it for car crash simulations, beer manufacturers rely on it to design cans, and surgeons turn to it to understand how fluid flows through the heart.

This is the untold story of DYNA3D—a revolutionary code that transformed industries by simulating real-world physics and reshaped innovation as we know it.

Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series.

Executive Produced and Written by Lacey Peace.

Sound Design, Music Edit and Mix by Daniel Brunelle.

Story Editing by Daniel Brunelle.

Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell.

Narrated by Matthew Powell.

Video Production by Levi Hanusch.

Guests featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

John Hallquist, Inventor of DYNA3D
Roger Werne, LLNL’s Senior Advisor for Innovation and Partnerships
Kim Budil, Director of LLNL

Brought to you in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Implantables Oct 29, 2024

Imagine an artificial retina that restores sight or micro-devices implanted to monitor health in real time. This isn’t science fiction—it’s our new reality.

In this episode, we journey into the groundbreaking world of implantable technology. Discover the science driving these innovations, explore the life-changing devices already in use, and glimpse the remarkable advancements still on the horizon. How will these tiny marvels shape our understanding of human potential and redefine what it means to be human?

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Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series.

Executive Produced and Written by Lacey Peace.

Sound Design, Music Edit and Mix by Daniel Brunelle.

Story Editing by Daniel Brunelle.

Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell.

Narrated by Matthew Powell.

Video Production by Levi Hanusch.

Guests featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

Alison Yorita, Staff Engineer for Lawrence Livermore’s Implantables Microsystem Group
Matthew Leonard, Associate Professor at the University of California, San Francisco in the Department of Neurosurgery
Razi Haque, Implantable Microsystems Group Lead at LLNL

Brought to you in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Beyond Ignition Oct 22, 2024

Over millennia, humanity has mastered fire, wind, steam and even the atom to fuel its progress. Now, we stand on the brink of the next monumental leap: fusion.

At the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a team of scientists and engineers has been working tirelessly to achieve Fusion Ignition, an achievement that could redefine energy as we know it. The road has been long and filled with challenges, but the promise of unlocking the energy that powers the stars is within reach.

As we revisit the groundbreaking efforts at NIF, the question remains: Can they overcome the final hurdles to create a fusion breakthrough, and what will that mean for the future of power on Earth?

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Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series.

Executive Produced and Written by Lacey Peace.

Sound Design, Music Edit and Mix by Daniel Brunelle.

Story Editing by Daniel Brunelle.

Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell.

Narrated by Matthew Powell.

Video Production by Levi Hanusch.

Guests featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

Kim Budil, Director of LLNL
Michael Stadermann, Program Manager for Target Fabrication at LLNL
Teresa Bailey, Associate Program Director for LLNL's Computational Physics in the Weapons Simulation and Computing Team
Tayyab Suratwala, Program Director for LLNL’s Optics and Materials Science and Technology Team
Richard Town, Associate Program Director for Inertial Confinement Fusion Science at LLNL
Jean-Michel Di Nicola, Program Co-Director for Laser Science and System Engineering at LLNL
Kelly Hahn, Experimental Physicist and Diagnostician at LLNL

Brought to you in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Fusion Ignition Oct 15, 2024

Step inside LLNL’s National Ignition Facility, home to the world’s largest and most powerful laser. It’s a building as vast as three football fields, with beams amplified a million times in strength, all focused on a tiny target no bigger than a centimeter. The scale is immense, but the goal is even bigger: to create the most extreme conditions in the universe and unlock a revolutionary energy source.

But what does it really take to reach fusion ignition?

Join us as we explore the science, the stakes, and the people behind this incredible pursuit. Tune in to discover how a fleeting moment of triumph could change the future of energy forever.

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Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series.

Executive Produced and Written by Lacey Peace.

Sound Design, Music Edit and Mix by Daniel Brunelle.

Story Editing by Daniel Brunelle.

Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell.

Narrated by Matthew Powell.

Video Production by Levi Hanusch.

Guests featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

Kim Budil, Director of LLNL
Jean-Michel Di Nicola, Program Co-Director for Laser Science and System Engineering at LLNL
Michael Stadermann, Program Manager for Target Fabrication at LLNL
Richard Town, Associate Program Director for Inertial Confinement Fusion Science at LLNL

Brought to you in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Day in a Life of Deterrence Oct 08, 2024

Strategic deterrence is the foundation of U.S. national defense, but it’s only as strong as the nuclear triad that supports it.

Think of the nuclear triad—land, sea and air—as a three-legged stool that holds up the entire strategy. For this "stool" to remain steady, the weapons, systems and devices within each leg must be credible.

But what does it take to ensure that credibility? And what role do the teams at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory play in keeping the U.S. secure? Tune in to find out.

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Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series.

Executive Produced and Written by Lacey Peace.

Sound Design, Music Edit and Mix by Daniel Brunelle.

Story Editing by Daniel Brunelle.

Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell.

Narrated by Matthew Powell.

Video Production by Levi Hanusch.

Guests featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

Michael Zika, Principal Associate Deputy Director for Strategic Deterrence at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Dr. Marvin Adams, Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration
Brad Wallin, Deputy Director for Strategic Deterrence at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Jong Oliver, Senior Advisor and Chief of Staff of LLNL’s Strategic Deterrence Directorate

Brought to you in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Strategic Deterrence Oct 01, 2024

In October 1962, a U-2 reconnaissance plane captured images of Soviet missile sites under construction in Cuba. What followed was a tense 13-day standoff between the US and the Soviet Union—an event that became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

This pivotal moment in the Cold War revealed the catastrophic potential of nuclear war and the urgent need for diplomacy. Today, we're diving deep into the national security principle of strategic deterrence—a policy designed to win wars not by preparing for their inevitability, but by preventing them outright.

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Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series.

Executive Produced and Written by Lacey Peace.

Sound Design, Music Edit and Mix by Daniel Brunelle.

Story Editing by Daniel Brunelle.

Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell.

Narrated by Matthew Powell.

Video Production by Levi Hanusch.

Guests featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

Dr. Marvin Adams, Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration
Michael Zika, Principal Associate Deputy Director for Strategic Deterrence at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Brad Wallin, Deputy Director for Strategic Deterrence at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Brought to you in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Supercomputing Sep 24, 2024

In the 1960s, a quiet revolution was taking shape behind the scenes—one that would eventually touch every corner of our modern world. As Cold War tensions rose and the future grew more uncertain, scientists embarked on a mission to harness a new kind of power: high performance computing. What began as an effort to solve complex nuclear challenges would soon transform the way we think, work, and live.

From early machines like the UNIVAC-1, nicknamed an "oversized toaster," to today’s supercomputers capable of simulating entire worlds, this episode explores how Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s relentless innovations have transformed technology—and continue to shape the future of our everyday lives.

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Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series.

Executive Produced and Written by Lacey Peace.

Sound Design, Music Edit and Mix by Daniel Brunelle.

Story Editing by Daniel Brunelle.

Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell.

Narrated by Matthew Powell.

Video Production by Levi Hanusch.

Guests featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

Michel Mccoy, Former Director of LLNL's Advanced Simulation and Computing Program
Rob Neely, Associate Director for Weapon Simulation and Computing at LLNL
Becky Springmeyer, Division Leader for Livermore Computing.

Brought to you in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

History of the Lab Sep 17, 2024

In the wake of the Soviet Union's first atomic bomb test, the looming threat of nuclear war sent shockwaves through the United States. Air raid sirens blared, bomb shelters were built, and schoolchildren were drilled in "Duck and Cover" tactics. But the U.S. government knew preparation wasn’t enough—they needed a breakthrough, something far more powerful to shift the balance of power.

Their answer was nuclear deterrence: the idea that the best protection against a nuclear attack is the fear of retaliation. This sparked a race to develop a weapon so powerful that the Soviets wouldn’t dare challenge it.

At the center of this effort was physicist Ernest Lawrence, whose visionary leadership not only pushed the boundaries of nuclear science but also laid the foundation for a lab that would revolutionize both national security and scientific discovery. This is the story of how Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory was born—and how it began to change the world.

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Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series.

Executive Produced and Written by Lacey Peace.

Sound Design, Music Edit and Mix by Daniel Brunelle.

Story Editing by Daniel Brunelle.

Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell.

Narrated by Matthew Powell.

Video Production by Levi Hanusch.

Guests featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

Tom Ramos, LLNL Physicist & Author of From Berkeley to Berlin
Bruce Tarter, Former LLNL Director & Author of The American Lab
Rob Neely, Associate Director for Weapon Simulation and Computing at LLNL

Brought to you in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Meet the Lab Sep 10, 2024

What if one square mile could change the world?

Welcome to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where groundbreaking scientific discoveries are transforming the way we understand, interact with and shape our reality.

Tucked just beyond the San Francisco Bay, this hub of innovation is home to some of the brightest minds tackling humanity's toughest challenges. In this episode, we pull back the curtain for a rare insider’s tour. You’ll hear stories of breakthrough innovations, the science that powers them, and the people brave enough to push the limits of what's known. Step inside a world where the future is being written—one discovery at a time.

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Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series.

Executive Produced and Written by Lacey Peace.

Sound Design, Music Edit and Mix by Daniel Brunelle.

Story Editing by Daniel Brunelle.

Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell.

Narrated by Matthew Powell.

Video Production by Levi Hanusch.

Guests featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

Kim Budil, LLNL Director
Pat Falcone, LLNL Deputy Director of Science and Technology
Brian Cracchiola, LLNL Explosive Operations Manager for the Strategic Deterrence Directorate
Razi Haque, LLNL Implantable Microsystems Group Lead
Carolyn Zerkle, LLNL Principal Deputy Director
Tom Ramos, LLNL Physicist & Author of From Berkeley to Berlin

Brought to you in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

About Big Ideas Lab Sep 03, 2024

Welcome to the Big Ideas Lab, a weekly podcast that takes you inside Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Hear untold stories, meet boundary-pushing pioneers and get unparalleled access to groundbreaking science and technology. From national security challenges to computing revolutions, discover the innovations that are shaping tomorrow, today.

New episodes release weekly. Subscribe now.

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Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series.

Executive Produced and Written by Lacey Peace.

Sound Design, Music Edit and Mix by Daniel Brunelle.

Story Editing by Daniel Brunelle.

Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell.

Narrated by Matthew Powell.

Video Production by Levi Hanusch.

Guests featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

Kim Budil, LLNL Director
Pat Falcone, LLNL Deputy Director of Science and Technology
Brian Cracchiola, LLNL Explosive Operations Manager for the Strategic Deterrence Directorate
Razi Haque, LLNL Implantable Microsystems Group Lead
Jeff Florando, LLNL Associate Program Director for Hydrodynamic and Subcritical Experiments in the Weapons Physics and Design Program
Tom Ramos, Former LLNL Physicist
Carolyn Zerkle, LLNL Principal Deputy Director
Michel Mccoy, Former Director of LLNL's Advanced Simulation and Computing Program
Teresa Bailey, LLNL Associate Program Director for Computational Physics in the Weapons Simulation and Computing Team
Michael Stadermann, LLNL Program Manager for Target Fabrication
Caitlin Silberman, LLNL Archivist

Brought to you in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

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