2016 | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

Unlocking the Secrets of Gene Expression

Using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) scientist Eva Nogales and her team have made a significant breakthrough in our understanding of how our molecular machinery finds the right DNA to copy, showing with unprecedented detail the role of a powerhouse transcription factor known as TFIID.

Moving Microswimmers With Tiny Swirling Flows

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have discovered a way to use a microscopic swirling flow to rapidly clear a circle of tiny bacteria or swimming robots.

Physicist Tyler Abrams Models Lithium Erosion in Tokamaks

Abrams conducted the research as a doctoral student in the Princeton Program in Plasma Physics substantially based at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL).

New Carbon Capture Membrane Boasts CO2 Highways

A new, highly permeable carbon capture membrane developed by scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) could lead to more efficient ways of separating carbon dioxide from power plant exhaust, preventing the greenhouse gas from entering the atmosphere and contributing to climate change.

Replacement for Silicon Devices Looms Big with ORNL Discovery

Two-dimensional electronic devices could inch closer to their ultimate promise of low power, high efficiency and mechanical flexibility with a processing technique developed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Meet Intern Cecilia Osorio: Merging Multiscale Images at NSLS-II

Cecilia Osorio, a 20-year-old sophomore from California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB), and current intern with the Office of Educational Programs at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, is tackling a significant software challenge at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II).

‘Disruptive Device’ Brings Xenon-NMR to Fragile Materials

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a device that enables NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy, coupled with a powerful molecular sensor, to analyze molecular interactions in viscous solutions and fragile materials such as liquid crystals.

Solving the Mystery of the Tully Monster

With the help of Argonne scientists and the immense power of the Advanced Photon Source, a team of Yale University researchers have solved the mystery of the Tully Monster, an oddly configured sea creature with teeth at the end of a narrow, trunk-like extension of its head and eyes that perch on either side of a long rigid bar.

Dusting for the Fingerprint of Inflation with BICEP3

The BICEP3 project and the Keck Array assembly has just begun collecting data, covering a wider spectrum of light and measuring the properties of light left over from the first 380,000 years of history after the big bang.

Compressing Turbulence to Improve Inertial Confinement Fusion Experiments

Findings by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Princeton University’s Department of Astrophysical Sciences indicate that fluid turbulence could have a surprisingly positive impact on inertial confinement fusion experiments.

Advanced Energy Storage Material Gets Unprecedented Nanoscale Analysis

Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have combined advanced in-situ microscopy and theoretical calculations to uncover important clues to the properties of a promising next-generation energy storage material for supercapacitors and batteries.

New Microwave Imaging Approach Opens a Nanoscale View on Processes in Liquids

U.S. government nanotechnology researchers have demonstrated a new window to view what are now mostly clandestine operations occurring in soggy, inhospitable realms of the nanoworld—technologically and medically important processes that occur at boundaries between liquids and solids, such as in batteries or along cell membranes.