2015 | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) Construction Begins

On April 14th a group gathered in northern Chile to participate in a traditional stone-laying ceremony. The ceremony marks the beginning of construction for a telescope that will use the world’s largest digital camera to take the most thorough survey ever of the Southern sky.

Electrolyte Genome Could Be Battery Game-Changer

Berkeley Lab project for computational screening of molecules could accelerate electrolyte discovery.

Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider Smashes Record for Polarized Proton Luminosity at 200 GeV Collision Energy

Electron lenses and other accelerator improvements keep beams focused and compact to maximize collision rates and scientific productivity.

X-ray Ptychography, Fluorescence Microscopy Combo Sheds New Light on Trace Elements

Scientists using the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility at Argonne National Laboratory have developed a new approach that combines ptychographic X-ray imaging and fluorescence microscopy to study the important role trace elements play in biological functions on hydrated cells.

On the Road to Spin-orbitronics

Berkeley Lab researchers find new way to manipulate magnetic domain walls; results that could one day revolutionize the electronics industry.

Long-Sought Magnetic Mechanism Observed in Exotic Hybrid Materials

The elusive quantum phenomenon—called van Vleck magnetism—may allow scientists to manipulate topological insulators and engineer new electronics.

Mapping the Cosmos: Dark Energy Survey Creates Detailed Guide to Spotting Dark Matter

Scientists on the Dark Energy Survey have released the first in a series of dark matter maps of the cosmos that will help scientists understand the role that dark matter plays in galaxy formation.

Bacteria Tracked Feeding Nitrogen to Nutrient-Starved Plants

An international team of researchers, including three from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, measured accelerated growth in plants colonized by bacteria that pull nitrogen from the air and release it into soil.

Atmospheric Rivers, Finely Modeled

PNNL scientists are helping global climate models more accurately predict the movement of atmospheric rivers, which carry as much as 90 percent of the world’s moisture from the tropics to the poles.

For Ultra-Cold Neutrino Experiment, a Successful Demonstration

An international team of scientists has released early results from the Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) experiment, with implications for why there’s more matter than antimatter in the universe.

Mixing Up a Batch of Stronger Metals

A team of researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee Knoxville has found that a class of high entropy alloys – which contain five or more metals – retain enhanced mechanical properties even when the mixing of metals is uneven or disordered, which opens up new possibilities for future alloy design.

Erupting Electrodes: How Recharging Leaves Behind Microscopic Debris Inside Batteries

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Joint Center for Energy Research have gained new insight into the chemistry that clogs rechargeable lithium batteries.