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

SLAC X-ray Laser Turns Crystal Imperfections into Better Images of Important Biomolecules

A new study of imperfect crystals at SLAC’s LCLS X-ray laser has shown that the imperfections can be exploited to obtain much higher-resolution images than with conventional methods.

Scientists Take Nanoparticle Snapshots

An international team of researchers led by X-ray scientist Christoph Bostedt of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Argonne National Laboratory and Tais Gorkhover of DOE's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory used two special lasers to observe the dynamics of a small sample of xenon as it was heated to a plasma.

AWARE Project Launched to Gain New Insights on Climate of Antarctica

Late last year, scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, working with a group led by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, embarked on a new project that will lead to a better understanding of how much of the sun’s light and the atmosphere’s heat radiation reach the Antarctic surface—variables that affect temperature patterns and ice melt throughout the region.

NREL Explains the Higher Cellulolytic Activity of a Vital Microorganism

Researchers at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) say better understanding of a bacterium could lead to cheaper production of cellulosic ethanol and other advanced biofuels.

MAGIC Continues to Inspire Insights

Researchers from multiple institutions are using the data obtain through MAGIC – the sea voyages in 2012 and 2013 that took continuous measurements of clouds and precipitation, aerosols, and atmospheric radiation from radiosondes launched by weather balloons every 6 hours over 200 days at sea – and improving our understanding of marine clouds.

Graphene is Strong, But Is It Tough?

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed the first known statistical theory for the toughness of polycrystalline graphene, which is made with chemical vapor deposition, and found that it is indeed strong (albeit not quite as strong as pristine monocrystalline graphene), but more importantly, its toughness—or resistance to fracture—is quite low.

Chiral Magnetic Effect Generates Quantum Current

Scientists at the U.S Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and Stony Brook University have discovered a new way to generate very low-resistance electric current in a new class of materials.

Revealing Complex 3-D Graphite Structures in Cast Iron

Scientists used the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Photon Source (APS) to create 3-D images of cast iron, revealing striking details of graphite particle distribution, size, and morphology inaccessible to 2-D imaging.

10 Science Highlights Celebrating 10 Years of Argonne Leadership Computing Facility

ALCF is home to Mira, the world’s fifth-fastest supercomputer, along with teams of experts that help researchers from all over the world perform complex simulations and calculations in almost every branch of science.

PPPL and Princeton University Physicists Join German Chancellor Angela Merkel at Wendelstein 7-X Celebration

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) physicists collaborating on the Wendelstein 7-X (W 7-X) stellarator fusion energy device in Greifswald, Germany, were on hand for the Feb. 3 celebration when German Chancellor Angela Merkel pushed a button to produce a hydrogen-fueled superhot gas called a plasma.

Scientists Take Key Step Toward Custom-Made Nanoscale Chemical Factories

Scientists at Berkeley National Laboratory have for the first time reengineered a building block of a geometric nanocompartment that occurs naturally in bacteria.

The Dark Side of Cold Clouds

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory found that highly irregular and chemically complex soot particles transform into compacted shapes under different atmospheric conditions, affecting their ability to absorb and scatter sunlight.

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