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

A Dual-phase DUNE

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment is advancing technology commonly used in dark matter experiments—and scaling it up to record-breaking sizes.

Catching the Dance of Antibiotics and Ribosomes at Room Temperature

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have developed a new imaging technique to better understand the mechanisms that lead to hearing loss when aminoglycosides are introduced to the body.

Plant Roots Police Toxic Pollutants

Working in collaboration with scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, researchers at the University of Arizona have identified details of how certain plants scavenge and accumulate pollutants in contaminated soil. Their work revealed that plant roots effectively “lock up” toxic arsenic found loose in mine tailings—piles of crushed rock, fluid, and soil left behind after the extraction of minerals and metals.

Accelerator Excellence

Fermilab’s Lia Merminga talks to Symmetry about her early experiences in STEM and her drive to solve science’s unanswered questions.

High-Caliber Research Launches NSLS-II Beamline into Operations

A new experimental station (beamline) has begun operations at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II)—a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility at DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory. Called the Beamline for Materials Measurement (BMM), it offers scientists state-of-the-art technology for using a classic synchrotron technique: x-ray absorption spectroscopy.

One Cool Camera: LSST's Cryostat Assembly Completed

Work on the camera for the future Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) has reached a major milestone with the completion and delivery of the camera’s fully integrated cryostat. With 3.2 gigapixels, the LSST camera will be the largest digital camera ever built for ground-based astronomy. It’s being assembled at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

In a First, Scientists Precisely Measure How Synthetic Diamonds Grow

A SLAC-Stanford study reveals exactly what it takes for diamond to crystallize around a “seed” cluster of atoms.

Particle Physicists Team Up with AI to Solve Toughest Science Problems

Researchers from SLAC and around the world increasingly use machine learning to handle Big Data produced in modern experiments and to study some of the most fundamental properties of the universe.

New Magnetic Materials Overcome Key Barrier to Spintronic Devices

A team of scientists just developed an unprecedented material that cracks open this hermetic magnetism, confirming a decades-old theory and creating new engineering possibilities. The team, led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee, designed AFM materials with spin—the quantum mechanism behind all magnetism—that can be easily controlled with minimal energy.

Putting the Head on an Additive-manufactured Alloy

Under a partnership between the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Photon Source (APS), NIST researchers have examined the AM alloy Inconel 625 (IN625) in an effort to better understand the effects of heat treatment on AM alloy microstructure and phase evolution.

Department of Energy Announces $36.4 Million for Fusion Energy Sciences Research

The U.S. Department of Energy announced $36.4 million in funding for 37 research awards at universities, national laboratories, and private industry on a range of topics in fusion energy sciences. The research is designed to help lay the groundwork for the development of nuclear fusion as a future practical energy source.

The Quest for Longer-Lasting Solar Cells

Maria Chan, nanoscientist at Argonne’s Center for Nanoscale Materials, and Ji-Sang Park, a CNM facility user from the Imperial College London, are studying the causes of silicon solar cell degradation in an effort to make solar power more affordable.