X-Ray Study Reveals New Details of How Burrowing Sea Creatures Shape Geology
Research at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory reveals new details about how tiny, burrowing sea organisms can influence the chemistry and structure of rocks where hydrocarbon deposits such as oil and gas are found.
One Direction: Researchers Grow Nanocircuitry with Semiconducting Graphene Nanoribbons
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin at Madison are the first to grow self-directed graphene nanoribbons on the surface of the semiconducting material germanium. This allows the semiconducting industry to tailor specific paths for nanocircuitry in their technologies. Confirmation of the findings was done at Argonne's Center for Nanoscale Materials.
Not Shaken, Not Stirred: New Molecular Modeling Techniques for Catalysis in Unmixed Systems
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory have developed molecular modeling simulations and new theoretical formulations to help understand and optimize catalytic reactions that take place in chemical environments where the reactant "ingredients" for catalysis are not well mixed.
Field Widens for Environments, Microbes That Produce Toxic Form of Mercury
Thawing permafrost and contaminated sediment in marine coastal areas pose some of the greatest risks for the production of highly toxic methylmercury.
Laser Spectroscopy of Ultrathin Semiconductor Reveals Rise of 'Trion' Quasiparticles
Quasiparticles are central to energy applications but can be difficult to detect. Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have seen evidence of quasiparticles called negative trions forming and fading in an ultrathin layer of semiconducting material.
SLAC Experiment Finds Key to Natural Detoxifier's Reactivity
Researchers working at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have discovered that a mere 9-trillionths-of-a-meter reduction in the length of a chemical bond dramatically boosts the reactivity of a family of molecules that helps keep humans and many other organisms healthy.
Newly Discovered 'Design Rule' Brings Nature-Inspired Nanostructures One Step Closer
Scientists aspire to build nanostructures that mimic the complexity and function of nature's proteins. These microscopic widgets could be customized into incredibly sensitive chemical detectors or long-lasting catalysts. But as with any craft that requires extreme precision, researchers must first learn how to finesse the materials they'll use to build these structures. A discovery by Berkeley Lab scientists is a big step in this direction. The scientists discovered a design rule that enables a recently created material to exist.
Story Tips from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, October 2015
High octane rating makes ethanol attractive; ORNL has potential solution to congestion, collisions; ORNL using advanced methods to discover new materials; ORNL hosting molten salt reactor workshop; Virginia Tech using ORNL computing resources for energy exploration
ORNL Researchers Find 'Greener' Way to Assemble Materials for Solar Applications
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have found a "greener" way to control the assembly of photovoltaic polymers in water using a surfactant--a detergent-like molecule--as a template.
Flipping Molecular Attachments Amps Up Activity of CO2 Catalyst
New research by chemists at Brookhaven Lab offers clues that could help scientists design more effective catalysts for transforming carbon dioxide (CO2) to useful products. The study reveals how a simple rearrangement of molecular attachments on an iridium hydride catalyst can greatly improve its ability to coax notoriously stable CO2 molecules to react.
A Simpler Way to Estimate the Feedback Between Permafrost Carbon and Climate
Researchers led by a scientist from Berkeley Lab have developed a simple model of permafrost carbon based on direct observations. Their approach could help climate scientists evaluate how well permafrost dynamics are represented in the Earth system models used to predict climate change.
Ames Laboratory Scientists Create an All-Organic UV on-Chip Spectrometer
The U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory has developed a near ultra-violet and all-organic light emitting diode (OLED) that can be used as an on-chip photosensor.
Quark Matter 2015: Scientists Present, Discuss Latest Data from Experiments Smashing Nuclei at the Speed of Light
Scientists intent on unraveling the mystery of the force that binds the building blocks of visible matter are gathered in Kobe, Japan, this week to present and discuss the latest results from "ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions." Known more colloquially as Quark Matter 2015, the conference convenes scientists studying smashups of nuclei traveling close to the speed of light at the world's premier particle colliders-the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC, https://www.bnl.gov/rhic/) at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN).
ORNL Microscopy Finds Evidence of High-Temperature Superconductivity in Single Layer
Electron microscopy is pointing researchers closer to the development of ultra-thin materials that transfer electrons with no resistance at relatively high temperatures.
Price of Solar Energy in the United States Has Fallen to 5 cents/kWh on Average
Solar energy pricing is at an all-time low, according to a new report released by Berkeley Lab. Driven by lower installed costs, improved project performance, and a race to build projects ahead of a reduction in a key federal incentive, utility-scale solar project developers have been negotiating power sales agreements with utilities at prices averaging just 5 cents/kWh.
A Different Type of 2D Semiconductor
Berkeley Lab researchers have produced the first atomically thin 2D sheets of organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites. These ionic materials exhibit optical properties not found in 2D covalent semiconductors such as graphene, making them promising alternatives to silicon for future electronic devices.
ORNL Demonstrates Road to Supercapacitors for Scrap Tires
Some of the 300 million tires discarded each year in the United States alone could be used in supercapacitors for vehicles and the electric grid using a technology developed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Drexel University.
ORNL Integrated Energy Demo Connects 3D-Printed Building, Vehicle
A research demonstration unveiled today at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory combines clean energy technologies into a 3D-printed building and vehicle to showcase a new approach to energy use, storage and consumption.
Dirty, Crusty Meals Fit for (Long-Dormant) Microbes
Deploying a set of tools called "exometabolomics," a Berkeley Lab team harnessed the analytical capabilities of mass spectrometry techniques to quantitatively measure how individual microbes and the biocrust community transform complex mixtures of metabolites from soil. The study published September 22, 2015 in Nature Communications.
Making 3D Objects Disappear
Berkeley researchers have devised an ultra-thin invisibility "skin" cloak that can conform to the shape of an object and conceal it from detection with visible light. Although this cloak is only microscopic in size, the principles behind the technology should enable it to be scaled-up to conceal macroscopic items as well.
Nano-Trapped Molecules Are Potential Path to Quantum Devices
Single atoms or molecules imprisoned by laser light in a doughnut-shaped metal cage could unlock the key to advanced storage devices, computers and high-resolution instruments.
Q&A: Biologist Describes Milestone in Watching Proteins Boogie
Using an X-ray laser at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, researchers have for the first time directly seen myoglobin move within quadrillionths of a second after a bond breaks and the protein releases a gas molecule. The Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray laser is a DOE Office of Science User Facility, and its short, bright pulses were essential for observing these ultrafast, atomic-scale motions.
Scientists Use Lasers to Simulate Shock Effects of Meteorite Impact on Silica
Scientists used high-power laser beams at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to simulate the shock effects of a meteorite impact in silica, one of the most abundant materials in the Earth's crust. They observed, for the first time, its shockingly fast transformation into the mineral stishovite - a rare, extremely hard and dense form of silica.
New ORNL Catalyst Addresses Engine Efficiency, Emissions Quandary
A catalyst being developed by researchers could overcome one of the key obstacles still preventing automobile engines from running more cleanly and efficiently.
Team Announces Breakthrough Observation of Mott Transition in a Superconductor
An international team of researchers announced today in Science the observation of a dynamic Mott transition in a superconductor. The discovery experimentally connects the worlds of classical and quantum mechanics and illuminates the mysterious nature of the Mott transition. It also could shed light on non-equilibrium physics, which is poorly understood but governs most of what occurs in our world. The finding may also represent a step towards more efficient electronics based on the Mott transition.