2017 | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

Ecological Roots

How the Department of Energy’s national laboratories helped found the study of ecology.

How a Single Chemical Bond Balances Cells Between Life and Death

With SLAC’s X-ray laser and synchrotron, scientists measured exactly how much energy goes into keeping this crucial bond from triggering a death spiral.

Our Expanding Universe: Delving into Dark Energy

Space is expanding ever more rapidly and scientists are researching dark energy to understand why.

Oxygen: The Jekyll and Hyde of Biofuels

Scientists are devising ways to protect plants, biofuels and, ultimately, the atmosphere itself from damage caused by an element that sustains life on earth.

Defrosting the World’s Freezer: Thawing Permafrost

To enhance Earth system models, researchers are examining how and why permafrost thaws and melts.

Chemical “Dance” of Cobalt Catalysis Could Pave Way to Solar Fuels

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and Harvard University have been able to see for the first time an especially important chemical step in the process of splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen – the basic reaction at the heart of creating entirely renewable fuels from solar energy.

Heavy Particles Get Caught Up in the Flow

First results from new precision particle detector designed to reveal detailed properties of subatomic "soup" that mimics the early universe.

Neutrons Provide the First Nanoscale Look at a Living Cell Membrane

A research team from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has performed the first-ever direct nanoscale examination of a living cell membrane.

Meet the Director: Hans Christen

For Hans Christen, director of the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences user facility, science is his way of life.

Scientists Help Thin-Film Ferroelectrics Go Extreme

Berkeley Lab researchers create polarization gradient, boost temperature span of ubiquitous material.

X-ray Imaging and Computer Modeling Help Map Electric Properties of Nanomaterials

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have developed a new approach for studying piezoelectric materials by using ultrafast 3-D X-ray imaging and computer modeling.

Students from Massachusetts and California win DOE’s 27th National Science Bowl®

Students from Lexington High School in Lexington, Massachusetts and Joaquin Miller Middle School in San Jose, California won the 2017 U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl® Monday in Washington, D.C.