2015 | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

How to Look for a Few Good Catalysts

New research at MIT shows non-wetting surfaces promote chemical reaction rates.

New Insight on How Crystals Form May Advance Materials, Health, and Basic Science Research

An international group of researchers, including scientists from Virginia Tech and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, have shown how nature uses a variety of pathways to grow crystals that go beyond the classical, one-atom-at-a-time route.

Nonmagnetic Duo Form Unique Magnet

Scientists at Rice University did so and discovered what is a first of its kind: an itinerant antiferromagnetic metal — TiAu — made from nonmagnetic constituent elements.

Better Together: Graphene-Nanotube Hybrid Switches

Scientists at Michigan Tech have figured out to fuse graphene sheets with boron nitride nanotubes, creating a workable digital switch.

New Molecular Butterflies Help Advance Energy Research

Scientists at Florida State University have designed and produced new molecules resembling butterflies that have a wide range of potential applications, from molecular sensors to light-controlling devices.

Plant Defense Hormones Help Sculpt Root Microbiome

According to new research from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the defense hormone salicylic acid helps select which bacteria live both inside and on the surface of a plant’s roots, keeping some families out and actively recruiting others.

Columbia Engineers Develop New Approach to Modeling Amazon Seasonal Cycles

Columbia engineers have developed a new approach to modeling which will improve understanding of the impact of deforestation and climate change on the Amazon basin.

Trapped Light Orbits Within an Intriguing Material

Light becomes trapped as it orbits within tiny granules of a crystalline material that has increasingly intrigued physicists, a team led by University of California, San Diego, physics professor Michael Fogler has found.

Evidence Suggests Subatomic Particles Could Defy the Standard Model

Physicists from the University of Maryland working on a team at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider finds hints of leptons decaying at rates not predicted by standard physics.

MSU Marks Special Cyclotron Beam Anniversary

It was 50 years ago that the cyclotron at Michigan State University accelerated its first beam and the university and the scientific world haven’t been the same since.

Artificial Leaf Harnesses Sunlight for Efficient Fuel Production

Scientists at the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis – a DOE Energy Innovation Hub established at Caltech – have developed the first complete, efficient, safe, integrated solar-driven system for splitting water to create hydrogen fuels.

New Model of Cosmic Stickiness Favors “Big Rip” Demise of Universe

Researchers at Vanderbilt University have developed a new mathematical formulation of viscosity, which may lead to new insights into dark energy and possibly the fate of the universe.