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

Surprising Material Could Play Role in Saving Energy

Researchers at Northwestern University discover tin selenide is best at converting waste heat to electricity.

'Exotic' Material is Like a Switch When Super Thin

Researchers from Cornell and Brookhaven National Laboratory have shown how to switch a particular transition metal oxide, a lanthanum nickelate (LaNiO3), from a metal to an insulator by making the material less than a nanometer thick.

Jefferson Lab's CEBAF Accelerator Achieves 12 GeV Commissioning Milestone

Following an upgrade of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility, the CEBAF accelerator delivered the highest-energy electron beams it has ever produced into a target in an experimental hall, recording the first data of the 12 GeV era.

Brookhaven and SLAC Scientists Capture Ultrafast Snapshots of Light-Driven Superconductivity

X-rays reveal how rapidly vanishing 'charge stripes' may be behind laser-induced high-temperature superconductivity.

Energy Secretary Moniz Announces 2013 Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award Winners

U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz today announced six 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.

Stanford Scientists Discover a Novel Way to Make Ethanol Without Corn or Other Plants

Stanford scientists have created a copper-based catalyst that produces large quantities of ethanol from carbon monoxide gas at room temperature.

Dark Matter Hunt: LUX Experiment Reaches Critical Phase

An experiment located in the bottom of a gold mine in South Dakota, US, could offer the best chance yet of detecting dark matter.

Organic Solar Cells More Efficient With Molecules Face-to-Face

New research from North Carolina State University and UNC-Chapel Hill reveals that energy is transferred more efficiently inside of complex, three-dimensional organic solar cells when the donor molecules align face-on, rather than edge-on, relative to the acceptor.

Arid Areas Absorb Unexpected Amounts of Carbon

Researchers led by a Washington State University biologist have found that arid areas, among the biggest ecosystems on the planet, take up an unexpectedly large amount of carbon as levels of carbon dioxide increase in the atmosphere.

Groundbreaking Optical Device Could Enhance Optical Information Processing and Computers

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have built an optical device that may lead to new and more powerful computers that run faster and cooler.

Self-Assembled Silver Superlattices Create Molecular Machines with Hydrogen-Bond “Hinges” and Moving “Gears”

Researchers from Georgia Tech and the University of Toledo did a combined computational and experimental study of self-assembled silver-based structures known as superlattices has revealed an unusual and unexpected behavior: arrays of gear-like molecular-scale machines that rotate in unison when pressure is applied to them.

Researchers Design Trees That Make it Easier to Produce Pulp

Researchers have genetically engineered trees that will be easier to break down to produce paper and biofuel, a breakthrough that will mean using fewer chemicals, less energy and creating fewer environmental pollutants.