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

Berkeley Lab Scientist Invents New Technique to Understand Cloud Behavior

With two off-the-shelf digital cameras situated about 1 kilometer apart facing Miami’s Biscayne Bay, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientists David Romps and Rusen Oktem are collecting three-dimensional data on cloud behavior that have never been possible to collect before.

Nomination Deadlines for the Fermi and Lawrence Awards Extended Until June 30, 2015

The Office of Science is accepting nominations for the 2015 Enrico Fermi and E.O. Lawrence Awards through June 30, 2015.

On-Demand X-Rays at Synchrotron Light Sources

Scientists who use synchrotron light sources are welcoming an era of “on-demand” X-rays, in which they have access to the light beams they want thanks to a technique developed at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).

Engineering Phase Changes in Nanoparticle Arrays

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have just taken a big step toward the goal of engineering dynamic nanomaterials whose structure and associated properties can be switched on demand.

Visualizing How Radiation Bombardment Boosts Superconductivity

Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven and Argonne national laboratories describe atomic-level flyovers that show how impact sites of high-energy ions pin potentially disruptive vortices to keep high-current superconductivity flowing.

Scientists Mix Matter and Anti-Matter to Resolve Decade-Old Proton Puzzle

According to Jefferson Lab researchers, the differences in the measurements of the proton’s electric form factor, which provides information on how quarks are distributed inside the proton, can be accounted for by the two-photon effect.

Slip Sliding Away: Graphene and Diamonds Prove a Slippery Combination

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have found a way to use tiny diamonds and graphene to give friction the slip, creating a new material combination that demonstrates the rare phenomenon of “superlubricity.”

A Little Drop Will Do It: Tiny Grains of Lithium Can Dramatically Improve the Performance of Fusion Plasmas

Scientists from General Atomics and the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have discovered a phenomenon that helps them to improve fusion plasmas, a finding that may quicken the development of fusion energy.

Land Management Practices to Become Important as Biofuels Use Grows

The handling of agricultural crop residues appears to have a large impact on soil's ability to retain carbon, making land management practices increasingly important, especially under a scenario where cellulosic materials become more heavily used as a feedstock for ethanol production, according to a recently published study led by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory.

Energy Secretary Moniz Announces 2014 Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award Winners

U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz today announced nine exceptional U.S. scientists and engineers as recipients of the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award for their contributions in research and development that supports the Energy Department’s science, energy and national security missions.

Defects Can “Hulk-Up” Materials

In a study at Berkeley Lab, exposure to alpha-particle radiation has been shown to transform certain thermoelectric materials into far more powerful versions of themselves.

Shape-Shifting Plastic

A new plastic developed by ORNL and Washington State University can transform from its original shape through a series of temporary shapes and returns to its initial form. The shape-shifting process is controlled through changes in temperature.