Magnetic Discovery Could Be Tip of the "Ice"Berg
A new material, called "rewritable magnetic charge ice," has an unprecedented degree of control over local magnetic fields. This material has write-read-erase capabilities at room temperature, which may have implications for new computing technologies.
Spinning the (X-ray) Light Fantastic
For the first time, X-ray scientists have access to wavelength-tunable circularly polarized free-electron laser pulses in the range between 280 and 1200 eV. Several types of experiments can benefit from the short and intense pulses.
Translating Basic Biological Research to Cancer Drug Discovery
New information on the details of a key protein, obtained using DOE user facilities, could help scientists design ways to inhibit tumor growth without activating other tumor-producing pathways.
Crystallization Method Offers New Option for Carbon Capture From Ambient Air
Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have found a simple, reliable process to capture carbon dioxide directly from ambient air, offering a new option for carbon capture and storage strategies to combat global warming.
Small, Efficient Solutions for a Big-Name Pollutant
Winter cold snaps often bring tragic stories of Americans killed by carbon monoxide from gas-powered generators. While we currently rely on carbon monoxide detectors, new research points the way to a new approach: direct elimination of the gas.
Nanoparticle Catalysts Outperform Single Metal Atoms
New research impacts an ongoing debate about how platinum catalysts create carbon dioxide. The debate influences a wide array of technologies, from automobile exhaust control systems to hydrogen fuel cells.
Re-Energizing the Lithium-Ion Battery
Researchers determined that lithium ions are more intimately connected with liquids used in batteries. The findings could eventually lead to a larger role for lithium-ion batteries.
PPPL Physicists Make First-Ever Direct Observation of Collisional Plasmoid Instability During Magnetic Reconnection in a Laboratory Setting
PPPL physicists have for the first time directly observed a phenomenon that had previously only been hypothesized to exist. The phenomenon, plasmoid instabilities that occur during collisional magnetic reconnection, had until this year only been observed indirectly using remote-sensing technology.
Confined Water at Fahrenheit -451
Scientists discovered a new kind of water molecule whose shape has been altered to conform to the symmetry of the environment in which it is trapped.
SLAC Study: Light Can Switch on Topological Materials
Theoretical physicists at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory used computer simulations to show how special light pulses could create robust channels where electricity flows without resistance in an atomically thin semiconductor.
Increasing Rainfall in a Warmer World Will Likely Intensify Typhoons in Western Pacific
An analysis of the strongest tropical storms over the last half-century reveals that higher global temperatures have intensified the storms via enhanced rainfall. Rain that falls on the ocean reduces salinity and allows typhoons to grow stronger.
Electrons "Puddle" Under High Magnetic Fields, Study Reveals
In a new study from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, researchers used extremely high magnetic fields - equivalent to those found in the center of neutron stars - to alter electronic behavior. By observing the change in the behavior of these electrons, scientists may be able to gain an enriched understanding of material behavior.
Story Tips from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, January 2017
Researchers identify patterns that could be valuable resource for superconductivity research; ORNL researchers developing approaches to preserve forests, wildlife; ORNL supercomputer helping scientists push boundaries; New measurement technique opens pathway to new graphene-based energy, electronic applications; ORNL cryogenic memory cell circuit could advance pathway to quantum computing;
Researchers Use World's Smallest Diamonds to Make Wires Three Atoms Wide
Scientists at Stanford University and the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have discovered a way to use diamondoids - the smallest possible bits of diamond - to assemble atoms into the thinnest possible electrical wires, just three atoms wide.
Feeding the Ravenous Black Hole at the Center of Our Galaxy
Feature describes improved method for simulating collisionless accretion disk around supermassive Sagittarius A* at center of Milky Way.
Nanoscale 'Conversations' Create Complex, Multi-Layered Structures
Scientists have developed a way to efficiently create scalable, multilayer, multi-patterned nanoscale structures with unprecedented complexity. The method introduces a significant leap in material intelligence, because each self-assembled layer guides the configuration of additional layers.
Ames Laboratory Develops Solvent-, Catalyst-Free Way to Produce Alkali Metal Hydrides
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory have found a way to create alkali metal hydrides without the use of solvents or catalysts. The process, using room temperature mechanical ball milling, provides a lower cost method to produce these alkali metals which are widely used in industrial processes as reducing and drying agents, precursors in synthesis of complex metal hydrides, hydrogen storage materials, and in nuclear engineering.
Scientists Bear Witness to Birth of an Ice Cloud
Scientists have witnessed the birth of atmospheric ice clouds, creating ice cloud crystals in the laboratory and then taking images of the process through a microscope, essentially documenting the very first steps of cloud formation.
Laser Pulses Help Scientists Tease Apart Complex Electron Interactions
Using a new laser-driven "stop-action" technique for studying complex electron interactions under dynamic conditions, scientists have identified an unusual form of energy loss in a material related to superconductors.
New Leaf Study Sheds Light on 'Shady' Past
A new study led by a Berkeley Lab research scientist highlights a literally shady practice in plant science that has in some cases underestimated plants' rate of growth and photosynthesis, among other traits.
Scientists Boost Catalytic Activity for Key Chemical Reaction in Fuel Cells
New catalysts containing platinum and lead could improve the efficiency of fuel cells--a promising technology for producing clean energy.
New Graphene-Based System Could Help Us 'See' Electrical Signaling in Heart and Nerve Cells
Scientists have enlisted the exotic properties of graphene to function like the film of an incredibly sensitive camera system in visually mapping tiny electric fields. They hope to enlist the new method to image electrical signaling networks in our hearts and brains.
Scientists Develop a Path Toward Improved High-Energy Accelerators
Article describes new theoretical framework for stabilizing high-energy accelerators.
Supercomputer Simulations Confirm Observations of 2015 India/Pakistan Heat Waves
A paper released December 15 during the American Geophysical Union fall meeting points to new evidence of human influence on extreme weather events. After examining observational and simulated temperature and heat indexes, the research team--which included three scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory--concluded that two separate deadly heat waves that occurred in India and Pakistan in the summer of 2015 "were exacerbated by anthropogenic climate change."
Study: Warming Could Slow Upslope Migration of Trees
Scientists expect trees will advance upslope as global temperatures increase, shifting the tree line--the mountain zone where trees become smaller and eventually stop growing--to higher elevations. Subalpine forests will follow their climate up the mountain, in other words. But new research published Dec. 15 in the journal Global Change Biology suggests this may not hold true for two subalpine tree species of western North America.