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

Sugar and Splice

Oak Ridge National Lab researchers identify genes best suited for producing biofuel from poplar trees planted in different environments.

Scientists Get First Glimpse of a Chemical Bond Being Born

Scientists have used an X-ray laser at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to get the first glimpse of the transition state where two atoms begin to form a weak bond on the way to becoming a molecule.

Scientists Take First X-ray Portraits of Living Bacteria at the LCLS

Researchers working at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have captured the first X-ray portraits of living bacteria. This technique could allow the study of viral infections, cell division, and photosynthesis in new detail.

Smashing Polarized Protons to Uncover Spin and Other Secrets

Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider starts 15th year of nuclear physics operations.

Flipping the Switch

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are collaborating with industry to develop a high-performance material that nearly doubles the performance of traditional insulators without a high cost premium.

New Design Tool for Metamaterials

Scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley have shown, using a recent theory for nonlinear light scattering when light passes through nanostructures, that it is possible to predict the nonlinear optical properties of metamaterials.

Office of Science FY 2016 Budget Request: High Energy Physics (HEP), Nuclear Physics (NP), and Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)

The High Energy Physics (HEP) program strives to advance our understanding of how the universe works at its most fundamental level. The mission of the Nuclear Physics (NP) program is to discover, explore, and understand all forms of nuclear matter. The Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) program advances the fundamental understanding of matter at very high temperatures and densities and builds the scientific foundations needed to develop a fusion energy source.

Direct Measurement of Key Molecule Will Increase Accuracy of Combustion Models

Sandia National Laboratories researchers are the first to directly measure hydroperoxyalkyl radicals — a class of reactive molecules denoted as “QOOH” — that are key in the chain of reactions that controls the early stages of combustion.

Office of Science FY 2016 Budget Request: Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

The Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program advances world-class biological and environmental research programs and scientific user facilities to support DOE’s energy, environment, and basic research missions.

Record Keeping Helps Bacteria’s Immune System Fight Invaders

Two experiments undertaken at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory provide new insight at the heart of bacterial adaptive defenses in a system called CRISPR, short for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat.

Office of Science FY 2016 Budget Request: Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Basic Energy Sciences (BES) supports fundamental research to understand, predict, and ultimately control matter and energy at the electronic, atomic and molecular levels in order to provide the foundations for new energy technologies and to support DOE missions in energy, environment, and national security.

Rediscovering Spontaneous Light Emission

Berkeley Lab researchers have developed a nano-sized optical antenna that can greatly enhance the spontaneous emission of light from atoms, molecules and semiconductor quantum dots.