News Archive | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

Ames Laboratory Scientists Are Able to "See" Light-to-Energy Transfer in New Solar Cell Materials

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory are now able to capture the moment less than one trillionth of a second a particle of light hits a solar cell and becomes energy, and describe the physics of the charge carrier and atom movement for the first time.

Newly Identified Microbial Process Could Reduce Toxic Methylmercury Levels

A team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory has identified a novel microbial process that can break down toxic methylmercury in the environment, a discovery that could potentially reduce mercury toxicity levels and support health and risk assessments.

Brookhaven Lab's NSLS-II Reaches Critical Accelerator Milestone – 300 Milliamp Current

Brookhaven National Laboratory’s National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), one of the world’s most advanced synchrotron light sources, recently achieved an important milestone in its accelerator development: the bunches of electrons circling the facility’s storage ring at nearly light speed are now doing so at a current of 300 milliamps (mA).

Clearing Up the Gray Zone for Convection

PNNL researchers showed that modeling at 4-kilometer grid spacing or using scale-aware representations produces skillful precipitation simulations.

Heavy Particles Get Caught Up in the Flow

First results from new precision particle detector designed to reveal detailed properties of subatomic "soup" that mimics the early universe.

Fungal Enzymes Team Up to More Efficiently Break Down Cellulose

A team led by researchers at the University of California (UC), Santa Barbara has found for the first time that early lineages of fungi can form complexes of enzymes capable of degrading plant biomass.

Argonne Scientists Make Vanadium Into a Useful Catalyst for Hydrogenation

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have transformed a common metal into a useful catalyst for a wide class of reactions, a role formerly reserved for expensive precious metals.

U.S. Department of Energy Announces $72 Million for Innovative Research and Development by Small Businesses

U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry announced that the Department of Energy will award 73 grants totaling $72 million to 68 small businesses in 24 states.

How X-rays Helped to Solve Mystery of Floating Rocks

X-ray studies at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have helped scientists to solve this mystery by scanning inside samples of lightweight, glassy, and porous volcanic rocks known as pumice stones.

A Seat at the Table: Colleen Iversen

Iversen, a senior scientist in the Environmental Sciences Division, has seen her research progress from the temperate forests of East Tennessee to the boreal forests of Minnesota, the Alaskan tundra, and to tropical rainforests in Puerto Rico and Brazil.

Special X-ray Technique Allows Scientists to See 3-D Deformations

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have developed a new X-ray technique to see inside continuously packed nanoparticles, also known as grains, to examine deformations and dislocations that affect their properties.

NXS Grads Seek Atomistic Insights Into Ferroelectric Materials

Researchers Abhijit Pramanick of the City University of Hong Kong and Mads Ry Jørgensen of Aarhus University are studying ferroelectric properties on TOPAZ, SNS beam line 12, to better understand how ferroelectric materials behave under high temperatures and the application of electric fields.