University Research | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

Loss of Arctic Sea Ice Impacting Atlantic Ocean Water Circulation System

Scientists at Yale University and the University of Southampton say the ongoing Arctic ice loss can play an active role in altering one of the planet’s largest water circulation systems: the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC).

Seeking a Breakthrough on Catalysts

A new approach to developing catalysts spearheaded by Harvard researchers promises to revolutionize the speed, efficacy, and environmental impact of catalysis.

Purdue Researchers Explore New Chapter of Physics

Purdue University professor Alexandra Boltasseva works with optical metamaterials to create tiny objects: nanotweezers, metasurfaces, and other nanostructures, and studies light interaction in both natural materials and new metamaterials, such as transparent conducting oxides and transition metal nitrides.

Next-Generation Dark Matter Detector in a Race to Finish Line

The race is on to build the most sensitive U.S.-based experiment designed to directly detect particles of dark matter. Department of Energy (DOE) officials formally approved a key construction milestone that will propel the project named LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) toward its goal for completion by April 2020.

Scientists Make “Squarest” Ice Crystals Ever

An international team of scientists has set a new record for creating ice crystals that have a near-perfect cubic arrangement of water molecules—a form of ice that may exist in the coldest high-altitude clouds but is extremely hard to make on Earth.

Research Proposes New Theories About Nature of Earth’s Iron

New research challenges the prevailing theory that the unique nature of Earth’s iron was the result of how its core was formed billions of years ago.

Recreating Conditions Inside Stars With Compact Lasers

A multi-institution experiment conducted at Colorado State University used smaller, compact lasers to create ultra-short laser pulses and validate numerical models measuring the irradiation intensities and the extreme pressures generated.

A New Window into Electron Behavior

Scientists at MIT have found a way to visualize electron behavior beneath a material’s surface. The team’s technique is based on quantum mechanical tunneling, a process by which electrons can traverse energetic barriers by simply appearing on the other side.

High-Altitude Observatory Sheds Light on Origin of Excess Anti-Matter

A mountaintop observatory in Mexico, built and operated by an international team of scientists led by the University of Maryland, has captured the first wide-angle view of gamma rays emanating from two rapidly spinning stars.

LIGO Mirror Coatings Get an Upgrade with New Stanford-led National Collaboration

Stanford scientists will lead a new national cooperative effort, the LIGO Scientific Collaboration Center for Coatings Research, to improve detection of gravitational waves at the twin LIGO facilities.

Supercomputer Simulates Dynamic Magnetic Fields of Jupiter, Earth, Sun

As the Juno space probe approached Jupiter in June last year, researchers with the Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics’ Dynamo Working Group which is headquartered at UC Davis, were starting to run simulations of the giant planet’s magnetic field on one of the world’s fastest computers. While the timing was coincidental, the supercomputer modeling should help scientists interpret the data from Juno, and vice versa.

Research is Making Plant Waste a Viable Option in Ethanol Production

UC Riverside researchers have developed a streamlined process that could finally make the ethanol production cost from abundant “second generation” plant wastes competitive with “first generation” ethanol made from sugars.