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

The types of information in the NUBASE Nuclear Data library and the library’s other applications.

Database Supplies Recommended Key Properties for All Known Nuclei

Scientists in nuclear physics, astrophysics, energy, national security, and medicine use a source of recommended nuclear data to advance their research.

Water-soluble and oil-soluble organic molecules effectively separate different elements in the lanthanide series of the Periodic Table.

“Tug of War” Tactic Enhances Chemical Separations for Critical Materials

Opposing teams of water-loving and oil-loving molecules separate metals called lanthanides that are important in developing clean energy technologies.

This image shows Bisophere 2 (a), which houses a tropical rainforest (b) where researchers performed an ecosystem-scale drought experiment. Researchers labeled the soil (c) to track the release of carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds.

During Droughts, Soil Microbes Produce Volatile Carbon Metabolites

In a warmer world, microbes in drought-stricken soils convert less carbon to carbon dioxide and more to volatile intermediates.

This image shows the variation in permeability in a network of fractures due to quartz dissolving in the fractures. Each plane represents an individual fracture in the network.

Filling in the Cracks: Scientists Improve Predictions for the Dissolution of Minerals in Rock Fractures

A new correction factor for predicting dissolution rates uses measurable geological properties in fractured media.

Technical illustration of a high-performance quantum processor architecture based on fluxonium qubits.

Artificial Atoms Power a Novel Quantum Processor Architecture

Fluxonium qubits can build cutting-edge quantum devices that will harness the potential of quantum computing.

Data on Lambda particle formation came from experiments in Experimental Hall B, shown here, part of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility.

Teasing Strange Matter from Ordinary

New insights reveal details of how strange matter forms.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory chemist Isaac Arnquist examines the ‘coupons’ of ultra-low radiation copper cables specially created for sensitive physics detection experiments.

Creating Quiet Cables for Rare Physics Events

Researchers design ultra-low radiation cables to reduce background noise for highly sensitive nuclear decay and dark matter detectors.

Image of the emission of 4 neutrons (blue spheres) from the exotic nucleus oxygen-28, which consists of 8 protons (red spheres) and 20 neutrons.

Not-Quite “Magic” Oxygen-28 Observed for the First Time

An almost-bound isotope of oxygen undergoes four-neutron decay that challenges theory.

The interior of the SPRUCE experimental chamber showing instruments to monitor climate changes.

In Peatland Soil, a Warmer Climate and Elevated Carbon Dioxide Rapidly Alter Soil Organic Matter

Experiments find increased temperatures and carbon dioxide rapidly altered peatland carbon stocks, highlighting peatlands’ vulnerability to climate change.