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

Two Physics and Astronomy Faculty Receive Prestigious DOE Early Career Awards

Dr. Zachary Meisel and Dr. Hee-Jong Seo, both assistant professors at OHIO University, are among 85 scientists from 55 U.S. universities to receive significant funding for research. The awards are for untenured assistant and associate professors within 10 years after earning a Ph.D.

PNW Forests Will be Less Vulnerable to Drought, Fire than Rocky Mountain, Sierra Forests

Forests in the Pacific Northwest will be less vulnerable to drought and fire over the next three decades than those in the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada, computer modeling by researchers in Oregon State University’s College of Forestry shows.

Molecular Virologists Fight Influenza at the Molecular Level

In research to improve influenza therapies against H7N9 and other influenza strains, molecular virologist Chad Petit, Ph.D., and his University of Alabama at Birmingham colleagues have detailed the binding site and mechanism of inhibition for two small-molecule experimental inhibitors of influenza viruses.

Turning Trash into Fuel

Scientists at the University of South Florida are taking the lab to the landfill, refining a groundbreaking process that uses trash to make liquid fuel.

Researchers Create Tiny Droplets of Early Universe Matter

Researchers at CU Boulder and colleagues at Vanderbilt University have created tiny droplets of the ultra-hot matter that once filled the early universe, forming three distinct shapes and sizes: circles, ellipses and triangles.

MSU Professor Awarded Grant to Harvest Medical Isotopes at FRIB

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science’s Office of Nuclear Physics awarded nearly $357,000 to a Michigan State University chemist to look into new methods of gathering rare isotopes.

"Folded" Optical Devices Manipulate Light in a New Way

The next generation of electronic devices, ranging from personal health monitors and augmented reality headsets to sensitive scientific instruments that would only be found in a laboratory, will likely incorporate components that use metasurface optics, according to Andrei Faraon, professor of applied physics in Caltech's Division of Engineering and Applied Science.

Atomic Path from Insulator to Metal Messier than Thought

Researchers have peeked behind the curtain of the ultrafast phase transition of vanadium dioxide and found its atomic theatrics are much more complicated than they thought. It’s a material that has fascinated scientists for decades for its ability to shift from being an electrical insulator to a conductor.

Synthetic Microorganisms Allow Scientists to Study Ancient Evolutionary Mysteries in the Laboratory

Scientists at Scripps Research and their collaborators have created microorganisms that may recapitulate key features of organisms thought to have lived billions of years ago, allowing them to explore questions about how life evolved from inanimate molecules to single-celled organisms to the complex, multicellular lifeforms we see today.

Overspending on Defense Arsenal Bankrupts a Plant's Economy

Defend or grow? Can plants do both at the same time? Michigan State University scientists might be inching closer to answering these questions. The answers matter. They could someday help us understand natural ecosystems or help farmers increase yields, without increasing dependence on chemicals to resist pests.

Visualizing “Unfurling” Microtubule Growth

Microtubule fibers are hollow rods made of much smaller tubulin subunits that spontaneously assemble at one end of the rod, but exactly how they do this inside the crowded environment of living cells has been a mystery. Now researchers at UC Davis have uncovered the mechanism that puts these blocks in place, illustrated in a new animation.

Naturally Occurring “Batteries” Fueled Organic Carbon Synthesis on Mars

A natural “battery” of briny liquids and volcanic minerals may have produced Mars’ organic carbon, according to new analysis of three Martian meteorites by a team including researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.