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The near-future of HR

 90% of HR Staff Gone by 2030 According to Stuart Varney’s guest on Fox Business, 90% of Human Resources (HR) and HR related jobs, could be eliminated by 2030 due to AI. Has LLNS been reducing its HR staff through attrition, so high HR layoff numbers will be less likely by 2030?

Time to release the reserves

  https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/iea-proposes-largest-ever-oil-release-strategic-reserves-wsj-reports-2026-03-11/ IEA proposes record release of strategic stocks in response to Iran war oil price surge

LANL may need to double plutonium pit production

LANL may be asked to double plutonium pit production, per federal memo. Up to 60 pits per year. The comment section in the news article devolves in the usual fight between the two anti-nuke groups "The Los Alamos Study Group" vs The nuclear watch group. These groups are like two age old enemies forever locked in the battle to the death. You almost get the feeling that Los Alamos is really just playing a minor role in what really motivates these guys which is their hatred for each other. If there is ever WW3 and the earth every last nuke is used and the only two people left alive are Greg Mello and Jay Coughlan, they would still be fighting. It will be like "Let this be your last battlefield from the old Start Trek show" in which each is half black and half white (though on opposite sides from each other), and committed to destroying the other. https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/lanl-may-be-asked-to-double-plutonium-pit-production-per-federal-memo/arti...

Questionable qualifications

 Anonymous said .... How in the hell, did HEAF in the early 90s, go from a PhD level Facility Manager leadership requirement, devolve into a Faculty Manager that early in his LLNL career, just qualify him for a security guard position? Is this a follow the Bechtel money situation?

trump against science

 Source: CNN Trump admin is pulling supercomputers out of key weather and climate research center.  The move is part of the trump administration's  effort to disassemble the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, one of the world’s top weather and climate research centers, which the admin views as a source of climate change alarmism. https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/13/weather/trump-colorado-lab-ncar-supercomputer-climate

Poland us considering nucs

  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15564563/Poland-nuclear-weapons-NATO-member-Ukraine-defend-Russia.html Poland is considering developing nuclear weapons, with President Karol Nawrocki arguing that the NATO member must strengthen its defences amid the war in Ukraine. Poland? This is a joke right?

More on fusion

 Anonymous contribution : (NIF Based) “Nuclear Startup Inertia Raises $450M Series A” https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj9KKzdklrE&pp=ygUZYmxvb21iZXJnIHN0YXJ0dXAgaW5lcnRpYQ%3D%3D (NIF Based) “Laser Fusion Startup Inertia Raises Additional $450M” https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Laser-Fusion-Startup-Inertia-Raises-Additional/a71954

New Mexico fines DOE

 Anonymous contribution: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/us/new-mexico-los-alamos-nuclear-waste-fines.html New Mexico Rebukes Federal Agency Over Nuclear Waste at Los Alamos State environmental regulators will also fine the Energy Department up to $16 million for exceeding safe groundwater standards near the nuclear lab.

Is GEN Z dumber than their predecessors?

  I never take it seriously when people say the young generation is worse or dumber than newer generations, since that is has been said for every generation, so it really cannot be true. I figured it is just some psychological thing that if some group does something different you think it is bad. However I do get the sense with younger tech people. I have just brushed it off thinking it is just me, but maybe not. If the report below is correct does it have implications for the future workforce at the labs? Maybe AI will compensate for all this so there is no real issue. The generation born between 1997 and 2010 is the very first generation who did worse in school than the generation before them, according to a top neuroscientist. And shockingly, they are proud of it. “They’re the first generation in modern history to score lower on standardized academic tests than the one before it,” Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath, 43, told The Post. “And to make matters worse, most of these young people...

US accuses China

  https://www.reuters.com/world/china/trump-has-been-clear-wanting-new-nuclear-arms-control-treaty-says-us-official-2026-02-06/ US accuses China of secret nuclear testing "I can reveal that the U.S. government is aware that China has conducted nuclear explosive tests, including preparing for tests with designated yields in the hundreds of tons," U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Thomas DiNanno told a Disarmament Conference in Geneva.

End of US-Russia nuclear pact

  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/05/russia-us-nuclear-new-start-treaty-expires-un-warning Grave moment’: end of US-Russia nuclear pact comes at worst possible time, UN chief warns. “For the first time in more than half a century, we face a world without any binding limits on the strategic nuclear arsenals of … the two states that possess the overwhelming majority of the global stockpile of nuclear weapons,” Guterres said in a statement on Wednesday. So does this mean LANL can go back to being Cowboys?

AI chatbots social media

 Have you heard about the new social media for AI chatbots? https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2026/01/ai-agents-now-have-their-own-reddit-style-social-network-and-its-getting-weird-fast/ This builds upon the recent trend of letting AI chatbots run 24/7 as personal assistants with access to personal information: https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/01/viral-ai-assistant-moltbot-rapidly-gains-popularity-but-poses-security-risks/