2016 | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

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.

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.

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.

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.

Dark Energy Survey Releases Early Data

Catalogs of galaxies and stars derived from the data collected during that Science Verification season (November 2012 to February 2013) have been released to the public.

Livermore Scientists Find Global Ocean Warming has Doubled in Recent Decades

Lawrence Livermore scientists, working with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and university colleagues, have found that half of the global ocean heat content increase since 1865 has occurred over the past two decades.

Instrument Expands X-Ray Laser’s Capability and Flexibility for Biological Experiments

For the first time in three years, LCLS has added a new instrument to its set of experimental stations. Staff from Stanford and SLAC gathered on Jan. 12 in the X-ray laser’s Far Experimental Hall to celebrate the arrival of the first X-rays in the brand new MFX hutch.

Creating an Electrical Conduit Using Two Insulators

Created by scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Minnesota, a specially designed junction between two insulators surprisingly yields a densely packed sheet of electrons.

BESC Study Seeks Nature’s Best Biocatalysts for Biofuel Production

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s BioEnergy Science Center are looking beyond the usual suspects in the search for microbes that can efficiently break down inedible plant matter for conversion to biofuels.