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

New Finding May Explain Heat Loss in Fusion Reactors

Researchers at MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, working with the University of California - San Diego, General Atomics, and the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, say that they have found the key to the mismatch between theory and experimental results – the interactions between turbulence at the tiniest scale, that of electrons, and turbulence at a scale 60 times larger, that of ions.

New Nanoparticle Catalysts Could Reduce Need for Precious Metals

Researchers at MIT have found a less-expensive way to get the same amount of catalytic activity, using a lesser amount of platinum or palladium as an atomically-thin coating over a tiny ceramic particle.

UCR Researchers Discover New Method to Dissipate Heat in Electronic Devices

For the first time, an international team of scientists led by a researcher at the University of California, Riverside has modified the energy spectrum of acoustic phonons— elemental excitations, also referred to as quasi-particles, that spread heat through crystalline materials like a wave—by confining them to nanometer-scale semiconductor structures.

UB's Wackeroth Named One of Fermilab’s Inaugural Distinguished Scholars

Doreen Wackeroth, University at Buffalo professor of physics, has been named a Fermilab Distinguished Scholar, making her one of the first four researchers to be selected for the honor.

Managing Photosynthesis' Traffic Jams

The Ducat lab at Michigan State University has coaxed a lab-grown cyanobacteria to efficiently make and export sugar, a technique which could someday lead to greater biofuel production at lower cost.

Johns Hopkins Researcher Advance Treatment of Tuberculosis By Targeting New Enzyme

Researchers at Johns Hopkins report they have laid the foundation to develop novel antibiotics that work against incurable, antibiotic-resistant bacteria like tuberculosis by targeting an enzyme essential to the production and integrity of bacterial cell walls.

Scientists Probe Underground Depths of Earth's Carbon Cycle

Researchers at the University of Chicago found that carbon in the fluid of the Earth’s mantle is not in the form of carbon dioxide but rather in carbonate and bicarbonate ions.

Grant to Aid Study of Microbes' Role in Soil Carbon Cycle

A project led by Cornell researchers to better understand soil microbes and their role in the carbon cycle has received a three-year, $3.59 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Atomic Imperfections

Using cutting-edge first-principles calculations, researchers at the UC Santa Barbara have demonstrated the mechanism by which transition metal impurities — iron in particular — can act as nonradiative recombination centers in nitride semiconductors.

Realistic Solar Corona Loops Simulated in Lab

Caltech applied physicists have experimentally simulated the sun's magnetic fields to create a realistic coronal loop in a lab.

Nano-Scale Electronics Score Laboratory Victory

Researchers at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering have pioneered a technique to grow monolayer tungsten disulfide for next-generation transistors, wearable electronics, and biomedical devices.

2-D Material a Brittle Surprise

Scientists at Rice University have discovered that an atom-thick material being eyed for flexible electronics and next-generation optical devices is more brittle than they expected.