Using Microbial Communities to Assess Environmental Contamination
A study sponsored by ENIGMA, a DOE "Scientific Focus Area Program" based at the Berkeley Lab has found that statistical analysis of DNA from natural microbial communities can be used to accurately identify environmental contaminants and serve as quantitative geochemical biosensors.
ORNL Superhydrophobic Glass Coating Offers Clear Benefits
A moth's eye and lotus leaf were the inspirations for an antireflective water-repelling, or superhydrophobic, glass coating that holds significant potential for solar panels, lenses, detectors, windows, weapons systems and many other products.
'Chombo-Crunch' Sinks its Teeth into Fluid Dynamics
Berkeley Lab scientists are breaking new ground in the modeling of complex flows in energy and oil and gas applications, thanks to a computational fluid dynamics and transport code dubbed "Chombo-Crunch."
Out With Heavy Metal
PNNL's new joining process enables the production of all-aluminum auto parts without rivets and fasteners that increase cost and weight.
A Hot Start to the Origin of Life?
Researchers from Berkeley Lab and the University of Hawaii at Manoa have shown for the first time that cosmic hot spots, such as those near stars, could be excellent environments for the creation of molecular precursors to DNA.
Compact Light Source Improves CT Scans
A new study shows that the recently developed Compact Light Source (CLS) - a commercial X-ray source with roots in research and development efforts at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory - enables computer tomography scans that reveal more detail than routine scans performed at hospitals today. The new technology could soon be used in preclinical studies and help researchers better understand cancer and other diseases.
Story Tips from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, May 2015
1) 3-D face analysis. 2) Turbine-associated fish injuries. 3) Imaging atoms for better batteries.
New Tool Shrinks Big Data in Biology Studies at SLAC's X-ray Laser
A team led by Stanford scientists has created software that tackles the big data problem for X-ray laser experiments at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The program allows researchers to tease out more details while using far fewer samples and less data and time. It can also be used to breathe new life into old data by reanalyzing and improving results from past experiments at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray free-electron laser, a DOE Office of Science User Facility.
ORNL Researchers Probe Chemistry, Topography and Mechanics with One Instrument
ORNL scientists combined atomic force microscopy and mass spectrometry into one instrument that can probe a polymer sample in three dimensions and overlay information about the topography of its surface, the atomic-scale mechanical behavior of the bulk sample, and subsurface chemistry. Their results are published in ACS Nano.
Beetlejuice! Secrets of Beetle Sprays Unlocked at the Advanced Photon Source
Researchers using the Advanced Photon Source, a Department of Energy user facility at Argonne National Laboratory, have gotten the first-ever look inside the living beetle as it sprays. The results are published today in Science.
Researchers Study How Metal Contamination Makes Gasoline Production Inefficient
Scientists at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Utrecht University have identified key mechanisms of the aging process of catalyst particles that are used to refine crude oil into gasoline. This advance could lead to more efficient gasoline production.
Electron Chirp: Cyclotron Radiation From Single Electrons Measured Directly for First Time
A group of almost 30 scientists and engineers from six research institutions reported the direct detection of cyclotron radiation from individual electrons April 20 in Physical Review Letters. They used a specially developed spectroscopic method that allowed them to measure the energy of electrons, one single electron at a time. The method provides a new way to potentially measure the mass of the neutrino, a subatomic particle that weighs at most two-billionths of a proton.
Counting All Costs, Berkeley Lab Researchers Find that Saving Energy Is Still Cheap
Researchers at Berkeley Lab have conducted the most comprehensive study yet of the full cost of saving electricity by U.S. utility efficiency programs and now have an answer: 4.6 cents. That's the average total cost of saving a kilowatt-hour in 20 states from 2009 to 2013.
Argonne Leadership Computing Facility Supercomputer Helps Identify Materials to Improve Fuel Production
ALCF resources being used to demonstrate a predictive modeling capability that can help accelerate the discovery of new materials to improve biofuel and petroleum production
ORNL Scientists Generate Landmark DOE Hydropower Report
For the first time, industry and policymakers have a comprehensive report detailing the U.S. hydropower fleet's 2,198 plants that provide about 7 percent of the nation's electricity.
Artificial Spin Ice: A New Playground to Better Understand Magnetism
For the first time, nanomagnet islands or arrays were arranged into an exotic structure (called "shakti") that does not directly relate to any known natural material. The "shakti" artificial spin ice configuration was fabricated and reproduced experimentally. The arrays are theoretical predictions of multiple ground states that are characteristic of frustrated magnetic materials. The results open the door to experiments on other artificial spin-ice lattices, predicted to host interesting phenomena.
New Magnetic Phase Confirms Theoretical Predictions Related to Unconventional Superconductivity
The emergence of a new magnetic phase with a square lattice before the onset of superconductivity is revealed in some iron arsenide compounds, confirming theoretical predictions of the effects of doping on magnetic interactions between the iron atoms and their relationship to high temperature superconductivity. Understanding the origin of thermodynamic phases is vital in developing a unified theory for the elusive microscopic mechanism underlying high-temperature superconductivity.
Intertwining of Superconductivity and Magnetism
Experiments on a copper-oxide superconductor reveal nearly static, spatially modulated magnetism. Because static magnetism and superconductivity do not like to coexist in the same material, the superconducting wave function is also likely modulated in space and phase-shifted to minimize overlap, consistent with recent theory. This insight will aid in writing a predictive theory for high-temperature superconductivity.
Ames Laboratory Scientists Create Cheaper Magnetic Material for Cars, Wind Turbines
Cerium is a widely available and inexpensive rare-earth metal. Ames Laboratory scientists have used it to create a high-performance magnet that's similar in performance to traditional dysprosium-containing magnets and could make wind turbines less expensive to manufacture.
An Improvement to the Global Software Standard for Analyzing Fusion Plasmas
News release for PPPL paper on update to TRANSP code to better simulate the interaction between energetic particles and instabilities in fusion plasmas.
ORNL Reports Method That Takes Quantum Sensing to New Level
Thermal imaging, microscopy and ultra-trace sensing could take a quantum leap with a technique developed by researchers at ORNL.
X-Ray Study May Aid in Designing Better Blood Pressure Drugs
An experiment at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has revealed in atomic detail how a hypertension drug binds to a cellular receptor that plays a key role in regulating blood pressure. The results could help scientists design new drugs that better control blood pressure while limiting side effects.
Scientists Use Nanoscale Building Blocks and DNA 'Glue' to Shape 3D Superlattices
Taking child's play with building blocks to a whole new level-the nanometer scale-scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have constructed 3D "superlattice" multicomponent nanoparticle arrays where the arrangement of particles is driven by the shape of the tiny building blocks. The method uses linker molecules made of complementary strands of DNA to overcome the blocks' tendency to pack together in a way that would separate differently shaped components.
Metamaterials Shine Bright as New Terahertz Source
Metamaterials allow design and use of light-matter interactions at a fundamental level. An efficient terahertz emission from two-dimensional arrays of gold split-ring resonator metamaterials was discovered as a result of excitation by a near-infrared pulsed laser.
Electrons Move Like Light in Three-Dimensional Solid
A stable bulk material shows the same physics found in graphene, which illuminated the interactions of electron's orbital motion and its intrinsic magnetic orientation. The new material will be a test ground for theories on how electron interactions in solids shape exotic electron behavior.