Year in review: Argonne highlights from 2023
Some of the work happening today at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory can already be felt in the form of new vaccines, accessible climate models and big steps toward quantum computing.
Electronic pathways may enhance collective atomic vibrations' magnetism
Materials with enhanced thermal conductivity are critical for the development of advanced devices to support applications in communications, clean energy and aerospace. But in order to engineer materials with this property, scientists need to understand how phonons, or quantum units of the vibration of atoms, behave in a particular substance.
Rembrandt broke new ground with lead-based impregnation of canvas for The Night Watch
New research has revealed that Rembrandt impregnated the canvas for his famous 1642 militia painting 'The Night Watch' with a lead-containing substance even before applying the first ground layer.
Five researchers named Argonne Distinguished Fellows for 2023
Researcher's honor is awarded to less than 3% of Laboratory's scientific staff.
Newly developed material gulps down hydrogen, spits it out, protects fusion reactor walls
University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers have used a spray coating technology to produce a new workhorse material that can withstand the harsh conditions inside a fusion reactor.
Bridging Theory and Fusion Experiments through Physics-Informed Deep Learning
The extreme conditions in fusion experiments limit the ability of diagnostic tools to collect data on plasmas. This makes it difficult to compare models against measurements from experimental fusion devices.
NASA's Webb Identifies Tiniest Free-Floating Brown Dwarf
Brown dwarfs are sometimes called failed stars, since they form like stars through gravitational collapse, but never gain enough mass to ignite nuclear fusion.
Argonne and Prairie View A&M University hosted International Atomic Energy Agency workshops for African educators
Nuclear science and technology (NST) impact our daily lives in a myriad of ways. From nuclear power to radiation cancer treatments and agriculture protection, NST is critical to improving the standard of living in countries with growing energy requirements.
Advisory panel issues field-defining recommendations for investments in particle physics research
Yesterday marked the release of a highly anticipated report from the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5), unveiling an exciting new roadmap for unlocking the secrets of the cosmos through particle physics.The report was released by the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel to the High Energy Physics program of the Office of Science of the U.
Advisory Panel Issues Field-Defining Recommendations for U.S. Government Investments in Particle Physics Research
The High Energy Physics Advisory Panel (HEPAP) to the High Energy Physics program of the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation's Division of Physics has released a new Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) report, which outlines particle physicists' recommendations for research priorities in the field.
HKIAS Forum on Advanced Electron Microscopy and Instrumentation
The electron microscope is one of the most widely used research tools in modern science, playing a pivotal role in virtually all areas of natural science, as well as across a broad range of technologies from basic research to industry.
HKIAS congratulates Professor Qi-Kun Xue for winning the Oliver E. Buckley Prize
Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) of City University of Hong Kong congratulates our Senior Fellow Professor Qi-Kun Xue on winning the Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Physics Prize 2024, an accolade that recognizes outstanding theoretical or experimental contributions to condensed matter physics.
Physicists 'entangle' individual molecules for the first time, hastening possibilities for quantum information processing
For the first time, a team of Princeton physicists have been able to link together individual molecules into special states that are quantum mechanically "entangled."
Ancient Stars Made Extraordinarily Heavy Elements
How heavy can an element be? An international team of researchers has found that ancient stars were capable of producing elements with atomic masses greater than 260, heavier than any element on the periodic table found naturally on Earth. The finding deepens our understanding of element formation in stars.
Soham Saha is developing the next generation of X-ray tools
Soham Saha, a Maria Goeppert Mayer Fellow at Argonne National Laboratory, discusses his work to develop small, adjustable X-ray sources.
Nobel Laureate Serge Haroche sheds light on research at CityU
A sharing session on 3 October, featuring Professor Serge Haroche, Chairman of Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) and Nobel Laureate in Physics (2012), sheds light on the inter-relationship between teaching and research.
Professor Hong Ding unveiled groundbreaking discoveries in establishing Iron-Majorana Platform
Professor Hong Ding, Chair professor of Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University delivered the HKIAS Distinguished Lecture entitled "Iron-based superconductors as a new Majorana playground" on 18 October 2023.
When in a Plasma of Quarks and Gluons, Not All Jets Radiate Equally
Colliding nuclei at high speeds melts their constituent quarks and gluons into a Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). Quarks and gluons from the colliding nuclei also sometimes ricochet off one another very early on in the collision and form sprays of energetic particles known as jets. These jets lose their energy as they exit the plasma, with wide jets losing more energy than narrow jets. Researchers have confirmed that the plasma treats each prong of a jet independently only when the prongs are separated by a sufficiently large angle.
International science organizations sign agreement to provide hardware for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment
Ten international funding agencies will contribute to the construction of the gigantic particle detectors a mile underground for the Fermilab-hosted Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment.
Diamonds and rust help unveil 'impossible' quasi-particles
Researchers have discovered magnetic monopoles - isolated magnetic charges - in a material closely related to rust, a result that could be used to power greener and faster computing technologies.
Picking Up Good Vibrations: The Surprising Physics of the Didjeridu #Acoustics23
Joe Wolfe and John Smith from the University of New South Wales conducted acoustic experiments to study the didjeridu's unusual and complicated performance techniques.
Argonne physicist recognized for "Top Cited Paper" by Institute of Physics
A paper co-authored by Argonne Physicist Filip Kondev has earned a "Top Cited Paper Award" from IOP Publishing. The paper provides fundamental nuclear physics properties for all known nuclei and ranks in the top 1% in IOP's Physics category since 2020.
Harvesting Water from Air with Solar Power
Researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University have developed a promising new solar-powered atmospheric water harvesting technology that could help provide enough drinking water for people to survive in difficult, dryland areas: They synthesized a super hygroscopic gel capable of absorbing and retaining an unparalleled amount of water. .
Wearable Ultrasound Monitor Can Aid Rehabilitation from Injury #Acoustics23
Parag Chitnis of George Mason University led a team that developed a wearable ultrasound system that can produce clinically relevant information about muscle function during dynamic physical activity. The system uses a patented approach that uses long-duration chirps and ultrasound sensing, and it allowed the team to design a simpler, cheaper system that could be miniaturized and powered by batteries. The result is an ultrasound monitor with a small, portable form factor that can be attached to a patient.
Collisions Change How Fast Ions Surf on Plasma Waves in Fusion Experiments and Beyond
Fast ions that heat plasma in a fusion device can resonate with waves in the plasma, potentially causing waves to grow and kick the fast ions out of the device. This research used mathematical calculations and computer simulations to examine these resonant interactions to reveal how different types of collisions compete to determine the way energy transfers between the resonant particles and the plasma waves. The results will aid in models of how to keep plasmas hot enough to sustain fusion reactions.