2017’s Top Stories from the Office of Science
From ancient astrophysical signals to the newest x-ray imaging technology, the news stories we published in 2017 spanned the breadth and depth of discovery research supported by the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science.
Our stories fall into four categories, each focusing on a different aspect of our work: original features, laboratory articles, university articles, and research highlights. We've compiled the five most popular articles of each type over the course of the year.
In 2017, we also published 40 Years of Research Milestones, a collection of 40 major papers from DOE's history, as well as a roundup of the Office of Science's 27 R&D 100 Award Finalists.
Original Feature Articles
The Office of Science's Communications and Public Affairs team's original feature articles provide perspectives on our work that readers will find nowhere else. Longform feature articles provide big picture views of major research topics, from quark-gluon plasma to permafrost. Profiles of user facility directors and National Science Bowl alumni put a personal spin on some of our nation's greatest resources.
Top five original feature articles:
- Our Expanding Universe: Delving into Dark Energy
- Defrosting the World's Freezer: Thawing Permafrost
- How Did the Proton Get Its Spin?
- Launching a Supercomputer: How to Set Up Some of the World's Fastest Computers
- Ecological Roots
National Laboratory Articles
The Office of Science's 10 national laboratories report on their latest research news with timely press releases and features. They also profile scientists to highlight the passion and commitment behind the research.
Top five national laboratory articles:
- New Studies of Ancient Concrete Could Teach Us to Do As the Romans Did (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
- New Evidence for a Water-Rich History on Mars (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
- World's Smallest Neutrino Detector Finds Big Physics Fingerprint (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
- Research Led by PPPL Provides Reassurance that Heat Flux Will Be Manageable in ITER (Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory)
- Chemical "Dance" of Cobalt Catalysis Could Pave Way to Solar Fuels (Argonne National Laboratory)
University Articles
The Office of Science supports scientists, engineers, and students at nearly 300 academic institutions across the United States. These universities tell the stories of the discoveries that emerge from this research.
Top five university articles:
- Fast-Moving Magnetic Particles Could Enable New Form of Data Storage (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
- Rice U. Solubility Study Could Impact Energy, Biology, Environment (Rice University)
- UCLA Physicists Propose New Theories of Black Holes from the Very Early Universe (UCLA)
- Newly Discovered Semiconductor Dynamics May Help Improve Energy Efficiency (University of Illinois at Chicago)
- Making Better Material for Fuel Cells (University of Delaware)
Research Highlights
Research highlights summarize published journal articles at national laboratories and universities based on work supported by the Office of Science. These articles feature findings that the Office of Science programs themselves choose to amplify.
Top five research highlights:
- Carbon in Floodplain Unlikely to Cycle into the Atmosphere
- The Challenge of Estimating Alaska's Soil Carbon Stocks
- Magnetic Discovery Could Be Tip of the "Ice"Berg
- Underestimating Clouds
- On Track Towards a Zika Virus Vaccine
The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic energy research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information please visit https://science.energy.gov.
