2017 | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

Triboelectric Nanogenerators Boost Mass Spectrometry Performance

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have shown that replacing conventional power supplies with TENG devices for charging the molecules being analyzed can boost the sensitivity of mass spectrometers to unprecedented levels.

Experiments Call Origin of Earth’s Iron into Question

New research from The University of Texas at Austin reveals that the Earth’s unique iron composition isn’t linked to the formation of the planet’s core, calling into question a prevailing theory about the events that shaped our planet during its earliest years.

Light-Driven Reaction Converts Carbon Dioxide Into Fuel

Duke University researchers have developed tiny nanoparticles that help convert carbon dioxide into methane using only ultraviolet light as an energy source.

Stanford Researchers Create a High-Performance, Low-Energy Artificial Synapse for Neural Network Computing

Researchers at Stanford University and Sandia National Laboratories have made an advance that could help computers mimic one piece of the brain’s efficient design – an artificial version of the space over which neurons communicate, called a synapse.

Physics Grad Student Headed to Los Alamos National Lab

Chad Brisbois, a physics PhD candidate at Michigan Technological University, is one of 53 graduate students in the US to earn a place in the Department of Energy's Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Program.

Spontaneous System Follows Rules of Equilibrium

An international team including researchers at Northwestern University has discovered evidence for a non-equilibrium system that quantitatively behaves like an equilibrium system. The finding could lead to a set of rules that makes it possible to predict the properties of non-equilibrium systems, which experience constant changes in energy and are required for all forms of life.

Entering the Fast Lane — MXene Electrodes Push Charging Rate Limits in Energy Storage

Drexel researchers have developed electrode designs using MXene that allow for much faster charging because they open up paths for ions to quickly travel within the material.

A New Chloroplast 'App' for Making Biofuels

In addition to doing photosynthesis, the chloroplast is the source of up to 10% of seed oil production in plants. Scientists at Michigan State University are experimenting with harvesting that oil to make biofuels.

New Class of Insulating Crystals Hosts Quantized Electric Multipole Moments

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Princeton University have theoretically predicted a new class of insulating phases of matter in crystalline materials, pinpointed where they might be found in nature, and in the process generalized the fundamental quantum theory of Berry phases in solid state systems.

The Ref and the Fighter: Two Sides of Plant Defense

In a new study, published in the journal New Phytologist, researchers at Michigan State University have discovered that the genes involved with plant growth and defense are more tangled than previously thought.

1 Billion Suns: World’s Brightest Laser Sparks New Behavior in Light

By focusing laser light to a brightness 1 billion times greater than the surface of the sun — the brightest light ever produced on Earth — physicists from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have observed changes in a vision-enabling interaction between light and matter.

Recreating Interstellar Ions with Lasers

Using lasers, Michigan State University scientists have essentially duplicated the mechanism that’s found from the center of the galaxy to Earth’s own ionosphere.