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

Polar Vortices Observed in Ferroelectric

A team of scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley have recorded the first ever observations of rotating topologies of electrical polarization that are similar to the discrete swirls of magnetism known as “skyrmions.”

Hydrogen Uptake Causes Molecular “Avalanches” in Palladium

Unlike any other element, palladium, a precious metal closely related to platinum, takes up hydrogen at room temperature and pressure. In a recent study, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have gained new insight into how this uptake of hydrogen occurs, realized how it impacts the atomic structure of the palladium, and identified key properties of how this form of hydrogen storage could work in the future.

Uncovering Hidden Microbial Lineages from Hot Springs

A team led by researchers at the DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI), a DOE Office of Science User Facility, utilized the largest collection of metagenomic datasets to uncover a completely novel bacterial phylum that they have dubbed “Kryptonia.”

Bringing New Light to a Transformative Protein

By understanding the underlying physics of the fluorescent behavior of GFP, scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and colleagues at Louisiana State University will be able to further exploit it as an essential tool for unraveling molecular-level details of processes in molecular biology and genetics.

Research Serves Up Stream Heat to Strengthen Water-Energy-Land Dialogue

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory used a new modeling tool to analyze stream temperature and reservoir operations finding that stream temperature is cooled down in the summer low-flow season by altering the timing of streamflow that boosts summer water flows.

Mira Supercomputer Simulations Give a New “Edge” to Fusion Research

Using Mira, physicists from Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory uncovered a new understanding about electron behavior in edge plasma. Based on this discovery, improvements were made to a well-known analytical formula that could enhance predictions of and, ultimately, increase fusion power efficiency.

Explore Galaxies Far, Far Away at Internet Speeds

Scientists have released an “expansion pack” for a virtual tour of the universe that you can enjoy from the comfort of your own computer. The latest version of the publicly accessible images of the sky, which can be viewed using an interactive Sky Viewer tool, roughly doubles the size of the searchable universe from the project’s original release in May.

National Lab Facility Staff and DOE Computer Scientists Collaborate on Projects to Speed Up Experimental Data Analysis

In early December, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory hosted the first in a series of week-long “hackathons,” a code brainstorming session attended by nearly 40 computer scientists and software developers from several DOE Office of Science User Facilities, including those at Argonne, Berkeley, Oak Ridge and SLAC national laboratories.

Microbes Take Their Vitamins – For the Good of Science

Scientists at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have made a "vitamin mimic" — a molecule that looks and acts just like the natural vitamin to bacteria, but can be tracked and measured by scientists in live cells.

ORNL Researchers Use Neutrons to Gain Insight Into Battery Inefficiency

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are improving the lifetimes of rechargeable batteries that run on lithium, a small atom that can pack tightly into graphite anode materials.

A Respiratory Virus Provides Clues to Possible Treatments

Purdue University researchers, working at the Argonne Advanced Photon Source, have revealed the structure and function of an enterovirus - by itself and when bound to an anti-viral drug.

Seeing the Big Picture in Photosynthetic Light Harvesting

Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California (UC) Berkeley have created the first computational model that simulates the light-harvesting activity of the thousands of antenna proteins that would be interacting in the chloroplast of an actual leaf.