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

Solving a 75-Year-Old Mystery Might Provide a New Source of Farm Fertilizer

Thanks to a specialized X-ray source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have confirmed the existence of a long-hypothesized interaction between nitrogen and titanium dioxide (TiO2) – a common photoactive material also known as titania – in the presence of light.

Faster-Charging, Safer Batteries

A team at the University of Delaware has patented an idea to improve battery performance by introducing tapers into the polymer membrane electrolytes that allow the lithium ions inside the battery to travel back and forth faster.

Major Natural Carbon Sink May Soon Become a Carbon Source

Peatlands in the Peruvian Amazon could soon start emitting carbon rather than soaking it up, according to a new study.

Switch-in-a-cell Electrifies Life

Rice synthetic biologists and their colleagues have developed protein switches that can be used to control the flow of electrons within cells. The synthetic proteins are one of the few remaining components needed to mimic entire electronic devices within cells.

First Particle Tracks at Prototype for DUNE Underground Neutrino Experiment

The largest liquid-argon neutrino detector in the world has just recorded its first particle tracks, signaling the start of a new chapter in the story of the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). A number of UC Davis scientists are affiliated with the project.

Materials Science and Chemical Engineering Faculty Receive U.S. Department of Energy EFRC Awards

The College of Engineering and Applied Sciences is proud to announce that two of its faculty have received notification for funding to expand or develop Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Georgetown Professor Receives Two Grants for Quantum Information Science as Part of the Department of Energy’s Recent $218 Million Initiative

Prof. Freericks and his NC State colleague Prof. Lex Kemper, are working on developing algorithms to use quantum computers to solve some of the most difficult and challenging problems in quantum mechanics of interest to solid state physicists with quantum computers that are available now and in the near future.

$2.5M Grant Funds Real-Time Monitoring of Underground Carbon Sequestration

Researchers from Penn State, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the University of Texas at Austin are partnering on a new $2.5-million project to illuminate what happens to carbon dioxide during underground sequestration.

Getting a Better Look at Living Cells

Scientists at University of Illinois at Chicago, Florida State University, Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory developed a sample holder device with 25 transparent windows that works with most transmission electron microscopes to significantly reduce the exposure of live samples to the electron beam used in transmission electron microscopy.

Through Thick and Thin: Researchers Solve Decades-old Fluid Question

A team of nanoscientists and physicists from Argonne National Laboratory has unraveled this 30-year mystery by studying a shear-thickening fluid with X-rays. The study could lead to applications in 3-D printing, the chemical industry and the biomedical field.

Discovery of New Material is Key Step Toward More Powerful Computing

Researchers in OSU’s College of Science have developed an inorganic compound that adopts a crystal structure capable of sustaining a new state of matter known as quantum spin liquid, an important advance toward quantum computing.

Scientists Project a Drier Amazon and Wetter Indonesia in the Future

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine and other institutions have found that large-scale changes in rainfall can, in part, be attributed to the way tropical forests respond to the overabundance of carbon dioxide humans are emitting into the atmosphere, particularly over dense forests in the Amazon and across Asia.”