![pnnl-calendar-010515-headliner.jpg Ecologist Dan Nelson hauling in a gill net as part of the fish population survey of the Clinch River Study.](/-/media/_/images/banner-images/2017/blog-ecology-062817-thumb.jpg?h=75&w=135&la=en&hash=B9C61DB0EAF1E81832B5BBBB3D558879116955D0DEF46C45078AD3981E50E9CE)
Ecological Roots
How the Department of Energy’s national laboratories helped found the study of ecology.
Read more about Ecological Roots![pnnl-calendar-010515-headliner.jpg An optical laser (green) excites the iron-containing active site of the protein cytochrome c, and then an X-ray laser (white) probes the iron a few femtoseconds to picoseconds later.](/-/media/_/images/banner-images/2017/slac-chemical-bond-062617-thumb.jpg?h=75&w=135&la=en&hash=581D0530B795468FF635D3CCC8A380D60CE7C45BBEB87E2878C64082D76BE102)
How a Single Chemical Bond Balances Cells Between Life and Death
With SLAC’s X-ray laser and synchrotron, scientists measured exactly how much energy goes into keeping this crucial bond from triggering a death spiral.
Read more about How a Single Chemical Bond Balances Cells Between Life and Death![pnnl-calendar-010515-headliner.jpg This diagram shows the timeline of the universe, from its beginnings in the Big Bang to today.](/-/media/_/images/banner-images/2017/blog-dark-energy-062117-thumb.jpg?h=75&w=135&la=en&hash=43E84FF57E027B2F9DFD94D7C58130E2D3658E9632EB72A9F607AAEBCE307A69)
Our Expanding Universe: Delving into Dark Energy
Space is expanding ever more rapidly and scientists are researching dark energy to understand why.
Read more about Our Expanding Universe: Delving into Dark Energy![pnnl-calendar-010515-headliner.jpg Funded by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, scientists are devising ways to blunt reactive oxygen atoms’ impact on producing biofuels.](/-/media/_/images/banner-images/2017/blog-oxygen-061917-thumb.jpg?h=75&w=135&la=en&hash=0FE2975C3C7112B8FC172A9A1E30C5F9AC8DCD6CA659E249C69412D14C0EE830)
Oxygen: The Jekyll and Hyde of Biofuels
Scientists are devising ways to protect plants, biofuels and, ultimately, the atmosphere itself from damage caused by an element that sustains life on earth.
Read more about Oxygen: The Jekyll and Hyde of Biofuels![pnnl-calendar-010515-headliner.jpg Alex Kholodov (University of Alaska, Fairbanks) uses an electric auger to prepare holes for water wells at NGEE Arctic Sites in Barrow, Alaska.](/-/media/_/images/banner-images/2017/blog-permafrost-061317-thumb.jpg?h=75&w=135&la=en&hash=DBD8D69BF55C5D2B2D790FCEF02B23C8A7319C3EE21AEF180C575D9E52BDF303)
Defrosting the World’s Freezer: Thawing Permafrost
To enhance Earth system models, researchers are examining how and why permafrost thaws and melts.
Read more about Defrosting the World’s Freezer: Thawing Permafrost![pnnl-calendar-010515-headliner.jpg Argonne chemists Dugan Hayes, Lin Chen, and Ryan Hadt have identified a rapid electronic process that could aid the water-splitting reaction in cobalt-containing catalysts.](/-/media/_/images/banner-images/2017/anl-cobalt-catalysis-060517-thumb.jpg?h=75&w=135&la=en&hash=222805E57FE76D3786EED21BD4E7277EEECEBDF107324E17F1D2B8148AD760FD)
Chemical “Dance” of Cobalt Catalysis Could Pave Way to Solar Fuels
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and Harvard University have been able to see for the first time an especially important chemical step in the process of splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen – the basic reaction at the heart of creating entirely renewable fuels from solar energy.
Read more about Chemical “Dance” of Cobalt Catalysis Could Pave Way to Solar Fuels![pnnl-calendar-010515-headliner.jpg Berkeley Lab's Heavy Flavor Tracker team included (from left) Mario Cepeda, Kenneth Wilson, Leo Greiner, Howard Wieman, Thomas Johnson and Giacomo Contin.](/-/media/_/images/banner-images/2017/bnl-particle-tracker-053017-thumb.jpg?h=75&w=135&la=en&hash=5D5D64F835C55F5B5B07D8BA17A5182310CFFDABC5870CE4E20446D281C23292)
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.
Read more about Heavy Particles Get Caught Up in the Flow![pnnl-calendar-010515-headliner.jpg Neutron scattering is a valuable technique for studying cell membranes, but signals from the cell’s other components such as proteins, RNA, DNA and carbohydrates can get in the way.](/-/media/_/images/banner-images/2017/ornl-cell-membrane-052417-thumb.jpg?h=75&w=135&la=en&hash=EB2C77381FE52BEB6E5237427A787011CDDC49B990E5050B00D322264BBB76F9)
Neutrons Provide the First Nanoscale Look at a Living Cell Membrane
A research team from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has performed the first-ever direct nanoscale examination of a living cell membrane.
Read more about Neutrons Provide the First Nanoscale Look at a Living Cell Membrane![pnnl-calendar-010515-headliner.jpg Hans Christen directs nanoscale material science research at the Center for Nanophase Material Sciences in east Tennessee.](/-/media/_/images/banner-images/2017/blog-user-facility-christen-051617-thumb.jpg?h=75&w=135&la=en&hash=3B08A1F20B4617803EFD68351ABF59EC2C76756219352F250C9C65A4451EEFE3)
Meet the Director: Hans Christen
For Hans Christen, director of the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences user facility, science is his way of life.
Read more about Meet the Director: Hans Christen![pnnl-calendar-010515-headliner.jpg A new ferroelectric material developed at Berkeley Lab could lead to wireless communications in extreme environments, such as space.](/-/media/_/images/banner-images/2017/lbnl-ferroelectrics-051117-thumb.jpg?h=75&w=135&la=en&hash=8F63EC4DD20B97D0675F86ABE71A3A8EA70A50B1645FE8AACA126AE5CF289BAB)
Scientists Help Thin-Film Ferroelectrics Go Extreme
Berkeley Lab researchers create polarization gradient, boost temperature span of ubiquitous material.
Read more about Scientists Help Thin-Film Ferroelectrics Go Extreme![pnnl-calendar-010515-headliner.jpg A simulation of the behavior of a zinc oxide nanocrystal when it's excited by ultrafast lasers.](/-/media/_/images/banner-images/2017/anl-piezoelectrics-050817-thumb.jpg?h=75&w=135&la=en&hash=8BFBA1216EE02D4FADACDCAACD1132C2F9239756AD3BADE711F2A6A0504D67E7)
X-ray Imaging and Computer Modeling Help Map Electric Properties of Nanomaterials
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have developed a new approach for studying piezoelectric materials by using ultrafast 3-D X-ray imaging and computer modeling.
Read more about X-ray Imaging and Computer Modeling Help Map Electric Properties of Nanomaterials![pnnl-calendar-010515-headliner.jpg Students from Massachusetts and California win DOE’s 27th National Science Bowl®.](/-/media/_/images/banner-images/2017/nsb-winners-050217-thumb.jpg?h=75&w=135&la=en&hash=446CB2F814C5D58D09A806920317CC0B26534EB44BCD13575F5121AF95FC68F8)
Students from Massachusetts and California win DOE’s 27th National Science Bowl®
Students from Lexington High School in Lexington, Massachusetts and Joaquin Miller Middle School in San Jose, California won the 2017 U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl® Monday in Washington, D.C.
Read more about Students from Massachusetts and California win DOE’s 27th National Science Bowl®