2018 | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

First Two-dimensional Material that Performs as Both Topological Insulator and Superconductor

A transistor based on the 2-D material tungsten ditelluride (WTe2) sandwiched between boron nitride can switch between two different electronic states — one that conducts current only along its edges, making it a topological insulator, and one that conducts current with no resistance, making it a superconductor — researchers at MIT and colleagues from four other institutions have demonstrated.

From Lotion to Ocean Liner

Researchers at RiKarbon, a University of Delaware start-up company, are combining plant scraps and natural oils, through chemistry, to engineer a bio-based oil that can be used as a renewable alternative to typical petroleum-based resources used in everything from popular skin lotions and sunscreens to lubricants for shipping, agriculture, food processing and hydropower production, among other things.

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$6.8M Initiative to Enable American Laser Renaissance

In an effort to improve American competitiveness in high-intensity laser research, the Department of Energy has established LaserNetUS, a $6.8 million initiative that involves the University of Michigan—one of the field’s pioneers.

Cornell Joins Battery Research Partnership

Chemist Geoffrey Coates will be part of the $120 million, five-year second phase of the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR), an interdisciplinary project aimed at realizing next-generation batteries.

Reducing Vulnerability Of Cities To Extreme Weather

Researchers from Northwestern University, the University of Illinois, and Argonne National Laboratory are working together to mitigate the effects of extreme weather events on cities across the globe.

Red-hued Yeasts Hold Clues to Producing Better Biofuels

A team based at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center describe the genetic machinery that yeasts use to make pulcherrimin, which binds iron, an essential nutrient. The work is a key step toward harnessing the synthesis pathway for large-scale production of isobutanol as a biofuel.

Researchers Find Value in Unusual Type of Plant Material

UW-Madison scientists have shown that a recently-discovered variety of lignin, catechyl lignin (C-lignin), has attributes that could make it well-suited as the starting point for a range of bioproducts.

What Causes Nuclear Waste Glass to Dissolve?

Researchers from the University of Houston, the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Pittsburgh are working to discover what causes nuclear waste glass to deteriorate, and how to slow or stop the process.

Grants for Quantum Information Science

The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced $218 million in new grants for “Quantum Information Science” and researchers with the Center for Quantum Mathematics and Physics (QMAP) at UC Davis are among the recipients.

Luminous Blue Variable Star

Researchers at UC Santa Barbara’s Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP) have developed new, three-dimensional simulations that reveal the inner workings of one of the universe’s most mysterious stars.

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Department of Energy Supports Research on Microplasmas

A new grant from the Department of Energy is enabling Dr. Stephen Remillard of the Hope College physics faculty to explore how microplasmas function — understanding that is meant to improve their value in applications ranging from the design of small radio components, to plasma display panels, to surgery.

Columbia Receives $10.7 Million for Department of Energy Frontier Research Center

Columbia University and collaborators have been awarded $10.7 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to establish a new Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC). The center, named “Programmable Quantum Materials (Pro-QM),” will focus on exploring the behavior of quantum materials with desired properties when under the influence of extremes of light, pressure, temperature, magnetic proximity, nanomechanical manipulation, electrical field, and other conditions.