University Research | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

UMBC Physicist Sebastian Deffner Lays Groundwork to Better Understand Birth of the Universe

Sebastian Deffner and co-author Anthony Bartolotta are extending thermodynamics, a fundamental pillar of physics, into uncharted territory by developing a way to describe microscopic systems with extremely high energy—just like the universe at the start of the Big Bang—for the first time.

UC San Diego Chemists Boost Future of New Energy

University of California San Diego scientists used ultrafast lasers and supercomputers to develop a new method to probe electron charge transfer at the interface between organic semiconductors and metal surfaces.

Mysteries of Nickel Oxide – a Promising Spintronic Material – Are Revealed

Researchers at UC Riverside used an unconventional approach to determine the strength of the electron spin interactions with the optical phonons in antiferromagnetic nickel oxide (NiO) crystals.

Unexpected Natural Source of Methane Discovered

Researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine have discovered some nitrogen-fixing microorganisms contain an enzyme for the simultaneous production of ammonia and methane.

Ocean Waters Prevent Release of Ancient Methane

Rochester researchers conducted fieldwork just offshore of the North Slope of Alaska, near Prudhoe Bay, calling the spot “ground zero” for oceanic methane emissions resulting from ocean warming.

Bio-Renewable Process Could Help “Green” Plastic

UW–Madison researchers have developed an economical way of producing a critical plastic precursor called FDCA (shown above) that could improve the economics of making plastic from biomass.

Using Data Mining to Make Sense of Climate Change

Researchers at Georgia Tech have developed a new way of mining data from climate data sets that is more self-contained than traditional tools. The methodology brings out commonalities of data sets without as much expertise from the user, allowing scientists to trust the data and get more robust — and transparent — results.

Chemists Create Tinted Windows that also Generate Electricity

A new discovery by Berkeley researchers may soon bring us windows that automatically tint on a sunny day to block the heat while also generating electricity.

Turning Heat into Electricity

MIT researchers, looking for ways to turn heat into electricity, find efficient possibilities in certain topological materials.

Chasing Dark Matter with the Oldest Stars in the Milky Way

An international team of astrophysicists has identified a link between dark matter and the oldest stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way.

Curcumin Improves Memory and Mood, New UCLA Study Says

Lovers of Indian food, give yourselves a second helping: Daily consumption of a certain form of curcumin — the substance that gives Indian curry its bright color — improved memory and mood in people with mild, age-related memory loss, according to the results of a study conducted by UCLA researchers.

Prediction of Titanic Nitride Proved Unsinkable

A team of experimental and computational scientists led by Carnegie’s Tim Strobel and Venkata Bhadram have synthesized a long sought-after form of titanium nitride, Ti3N4, which has promising mechanical and optoelectronic properties.