New Discovery Could Better Predict How Semiconductors Weather Abuse
Berkeley Lab scientists at DOE's Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis have found a way to better predict how thin-film semiconductors weather the harsh conditions in systems that convert sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into fuel.
Discovery Could Dramatically Boost Efficiency of Perovskite Solar Cells
Scientists from the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have discovered a possible secret to dramatically boosting the efficiency of perovskite solar cells hidden in the nanoscale peaks and valleys of the crystalline material.
Climate Study Finds Human Fingerprint in Northern Hemisphere Greening
A multinational team led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory Climate Change Science Institute has found the first positive correlation between human activity and enhanced vegetation growth.
Ovarian Cancer Study Provides Painstaking Look at Inner Workings of Tumors
Scientists have examined the collections of proteins in the tumors of 169 ovarian cancer patients to identify critical proteins present in their tumors. The achievement illustrates the power of combining genomic and proteomic data - an approach known as proteogenomics - to yield a more complete picture of the biology of ovarian cancer.
See and Sort: Developing Novel Techniques to Visualize Uncultured Microbial Cell Activity
Caltech and DOE Joint Genome Institute researchers used a recently refined technique to identify both individual active cells, and single clusters of active bacteria and archaea within microbial communities. The DOE is interested in learning how the planet's microbial dark matter can be harnessed for energy and environmental challenges.
Study Shows Trees with Altered Lignin Are Better for Biofuels
By engineering a novel enzyme involved in lignin synthesis, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and collaborators have altered the lignin in plant cell walls in a way that increases access to biofuel building blocks without inhibiting plant growth.
Data Centers Continue to Proliferate While Their Energy Use Plateaus
As the number of data centers continues to increase in the United States, the good news is that they are becoming much more energy efficient. A new report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has found that electricity consumption by data centers nationwide, after rising rapidly for more than a decade, started to plateau in 2010 and has remained steady since, at just under 2 percent of total U.S. electricity consumption.
New Electron Microscope Method Detects Atomic-Scale Magnetism
Scientists can now detect magnetic behavior at the atomic level with a new electron microscopy technique developed by a team from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Uppsala University, Sweden. The researchers took a counterintuitive approach by taking advantage of optical distortions that they typically try to eliminate.
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CMI Taps the Power of Supercomputing to Find Rare-Earth Refining Alternatives
A research project led by the Critical Materials Institute, a U.S. Department of Energy Innovation Hub, has identified agents for the separation of rare-earth metals that are potentially much less costly and better-performing than those currently used.
Titan Shines Light on High-Temperature Superconductor Pathway
A team led by Thomas Maier of the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) used the Titan supercomputer at ORNL to simulate cuprates on the path to superconductivity. Maier's team focused on a pivotal juncture on the cuprates' path called the pseudogap phase, an in-between phase before superconductivity in which cuprates exhibit both insulating and conducting properties.
Discovery of Gold Nanocluster "Double" Hints at Other Shape-Changing Particles
Researchers discovered an entirely unexpected atomic arrangement of Gold-144, a molecule-sized nanogold cluster whose structure had been theoretically predicted but never confirmed.
High Schoolers Study Ancient Pottery at Advanced Photon Source
The experimental facilities of a typical high school physics classroom don't usually include a synchrotron. But Natalie Ferguson and more than 60 of her schoolmates not only got to see the Advanced Photon Source: they used it to do research.
With Spiraling Light, SLAC X-ray Laser Offers New Glimpses of Molecules
A new device at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory allows researchers to explore the properties and dynamics of molecules with circularly polarized, or spiraling, light.
On the Path Toward Bionic Enzymes
Berkeley Lab chemists have successfully married chemistry and biology to create reactions never before possible. They did this by replacing the iron normally found in the muscle protein myoglobin with iridium, a noble metal not known to be used by living systems.
Weird, Water-Oozing Material Could Help Quench Thirst
Nanorods created by PNNL researchers have an unusual property - spontaneously emitting water. After further development, the nanorods could be used for water harvesting and purification, or sweat-gathering fabric.
New X-Ray Method Allows Scientists to Probe Molecular Explosions
A team led by researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory used the high-intensity, quick-burst X-rays provided by the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to look at how the atoms in a molecule change when the molecule is bombarded with X-rays.
X-Ray Experiments Show Hewlett Packard Team How Memristors Work
In experiments at two Department of Energy national labs - SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - scientists at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) have experimentally confirmed critical aspects of how a new type of microelectronic device, the memristor, works at an atomic scale.
Opening Neurotransmission's Gatekeepers
In 2015, Harel Weinstein's team used the Titan supercomputer at the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to produce the first end-to-end simulation of a sodium ion, the fuel that powers neurotransmitter sodium symporters, moving from the synapse into the cell via the dopamine transporter (DAT), the gatekeeper for the neurotransmitter dopamine that is associated with reward-motivated behavior.
Drying Arctic Soils Could Accelerate Greenhouse Gas Emissions
A new study published in Nature Climate Change indicates soil moisture levels will determine how much carbon is released to the atmosphere as rising temperatures thaw Arctic lands.
Neutrons Reveal Unexpected Magnetism in Rare-Earth Alloy
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and their collaborators used neutron scattering to uncover magnetic excitations in the metallic compound ytterbium-platinum-lead. Surprisingly, this three-dimensional material exhibits magnetic properties that one would conventionally expect if the connectivity between magnetic ions was only one-dimensional. A better understanding of those behaviors could lead to applications in quantum computing and improved storage device technologies.
Researchers Gear Up Galaxy-Seeking Robots for a Test Run
A prototype system that will test a planned array of 5,000 robots for a sky-mapping instrument is taking shape at Berkeley Lab. Dubbed ProtoDESI, the scaled-down, 10-robot system will run through a series of tests on a telescope in Arizona from August-September.
DNA Shaping Up to be Ideal Framework for Rationally Designed Nanostructures
Scientists developed two DNA-based nanostructure self-assembly approaches: one allows the same nanoparticles to be connected into a variety of 3D structures; the other facilitates the integration of different nanoparticles and DNA frames into interconnecting modules.
New Material Has Potential to Cut Costs and Make Nuclear Fuel Recycling Cleaner
Researchers are investigating a new material that might help in nuclear fuel recycling and waste reduction by capturing certain gases released during reprocessing more efficiently than today's technology. The metal-organic framework captures gases at ambient temperature, eliminating an energy-intensive step.
New Material Has Potential to Cut Costs and Make Nuclear Fuel Recycling Cleaner
Researchers are investigating a new material that might help in nuclear fuel recycling and waste reduction by capturing certain gases released during reprocessing. Conventional technologies to remove these radioactive gases operate at extremely low, energy-intensive temperatures. By working at ambient temperature, the new material has the potential to save energy, make reprocessing cleaner and less expensive. The reclaimed materials can also be reused commercially.
Butterfly Effects: X-Rays Reveal the Photonic Crystals in Butterfly Wings That Create Color
Scientists used X-rays to discover what creates one butterfly effect: how the microscopic structures on the insect's wings reflect light to appear as brilliant colors to the eye.