Kareem Kazkaz
Scientific editor of Science & Technology Review magazine
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is entrusted by the people of the United States to perform work that strengthens our nation. We are stewards of science, safety, and security, and our work must be rigorous, relevant, and responsible. This is our baseline obligation, but how we go about living up to that charge requires flexibility and judicious attention to both near- and long-term priorities. On one end of the spectrum, we must be forward-thinking enough to strive for groundbreaking advancement and willing to spend substantial resources on a program when the outcome or benefit may not be realized until long after the investments are made. On the other end of the spectrum, our work must also navigate the real-world landscape of infrastructure and performance, which requires a grounding in the practical, prosaic, and immediate. This issue of Science & Technology Review reflects this requisitely broad approach.
The feature article describes a multidecade effort to learn about processes and developments on the grandest of scales. The Laboratory’s contributions to the Vera C. Rubin Observatory —a joint project between the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy—are anchored in three realms of long-established expertise. One is our abiding interest in high-energy physics—the physics of the universe and our principal mission. Astrophysical research exercises mission-vital skills and contributes to our understanding of the universe. Next, from the project’s onset, both the importance of the observatory and its need for our expertise in optics engineering were clear. As an application of this second area of expertise, the Rubin Observatory optics designed by Livermore have led to the most challenging specifications and requirements in mirrors and lenses that have ever been met. The third area is project management, where the skill to manage people, schedules, and budgets relies on a macroscopic and microscopic view of both day-to-day and decade-to-decade activities. In the end, we see that our work on the Rubin Observatory reflects the broad spectrum of capabilities that is a hallmark of the Laboratory.
At a more local level, the first research highlight, presenting experiments that elucidate properties of superheavy elements, brings our focus to materials that must be synthesized locally. While these elements only exist in the laboratory, they are yet used to test and verify understanding of nuclear theories and structure—theories that can be highly impactful on other areas such as power production and medical treatments.
Such high-minded projects can only succeed with highly functional infrastructure and support, illustrated by the remaining articles in this issue. The second research highlight describes the Tri-Lab Operating System Stack (TOSS) software used to run the Laboratory’s supercomputers. TOSS is the sort of infrastructure that is invisible when it works well, and its developers are unsung heroes crucial to the success of many groundbreaking results.
The final research highlight focuses on the security-and-responsibility end of the spectrum, introducing readers to the work of the Security Planning and Analysis Group, which helps maintain the public’s trust in the Laboratory. If we are to be conscientious caretakers of the nation’s resources, we must ensure we can do so without injury or harm while keeping the personnel, materials, facilities, and knowledge of the Laboratory secure.
At first glance, the articles in this issue would not appear to have much in common. They range from galactic observations to literal locks and keys. Yet it is exactly this range that is foundational to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as a whole. At one end of the spectrum lies the projects that fulfill the Laboratory’s reasons to exist. At the other end of the spectrum lies the programs that fulfill requirements necessary for the Laboratory to function. By recognizing and supporting the full spectrum from purpose to obligation, Lawrence Livermore continues to serve as an institution the nation can depend on.
