Neutrinos are particles that defy expectations. They slip through matter effortlessly, changing identities and traveling vast cosmic distances. In this episode, we explore the surprising ways they connect the tiniest scales of physics to the grandest structures in the universe. From deep underground detectors to experiments designed to observe the unobservable, scientists at Lawrence Livermore are working to uncover secrets that could reshape our understanding of matter, energy, and the origins of everything around us.

Guests featured (in order of appearance):

• Mike Heffner, Staff Scientist, LLNL
• Nathaniel Bowden, Physicist, LLNL

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Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series.

Executive Produced by Levi Hanusch.

Script by Caroline Kidd.

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.

For decades, Earth’s atmosphere has blurred images of both stars and galaxies, greatly restricting our ability to see the universe clearly from the ground.

But that all changed with the invention of the laser guide star.

Think of it as building an artificial star in the sky—one that helps telescopes correct atmospheric distortion in real time. It’s a technology that revolutionized ground-based astronomy, enabling discoveries from distant black holes to the discovery of planets around nearby stars.

But how do you go from a concept that once filled a building with laser equipment to something compact, reliable, and safe enough for observatories around the world?

And what role did scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory play in making that technological leap possible?

Tune in to hear the story behind one of astronomy’s most transformative innovations and the team that helped bring it to light.

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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 Daniel Brunelle.

Story Editing by Daniel Brunelle.

Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell.

Written by Caroline Kidd.

Narrated by Matthew Powell.

Video Production by Levi Hanusch.

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

• Claire Max,  Emeritus Professor of Astronomy at UC Santa Cruz and Director of the University of California Observatories
• Deanna Pennington, Senior Scientist with the Global Security Directory, LLNL

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.