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

Two Simple Building Blocks Produce Complex 3-D Material

Northwestern University scientists have built a structurally complex material from two simple building blocks that is the lowest-density metal-organic framework ever made.

Yearlong Survey Tracks the Microbiome of a Newly Opened Hospital

A 12-month study mapping bacterial diversity within a hospital — with a focus on the flow of microbes between patients, staff and surfaces — should help hospitals worldwide better understand how to encourage beneficial microbial interactions and decrease potentially harmful contact.

$3.9 Million Supports Research to Turn Bacteria into Biofuel Producers

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have received a $3.9 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop bacteria that manufacture renewable biofuels — energy sources made from plants or microbes.

NAU Researchers Join Department of Energy Project to Study the Soil Microbiome and its Effect on Carbon Persistence

Northern Arizona University Regents’ Professor Bruce Hungate, director of the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (Ecoss), recently joined a new initiative lead by LLNL to study how the soil microbiome controls the mechanisms that regulate the stabilization of the organic matter in soil.

Discovery About Rare Nitrogen Molecules Offers Clues to Makeup of Other Life-Supporting Planets

A team of scientists using a state-of-the-art UCLA instrument reports the discovery of a planetary-scale “tug-of-war” of life, deep Earth and the upper atmosphere that is expressed in atmospheric nitrogen.

X-Ray Detector for Studying Characteristics of Materials

Modern synchrotron x-ray sources, such as the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron (CHESS), produce x-ray beams with unprecedented capabilities. Scientists and engineers use the beams to study the properties of materials as they are subjected to rapid changes in environmental conditions.

U.S. Department of Energy Honors UW VP Synakowski

Edmund “Ed” Synakowski received the DOE’s Meritorious Service Award Wednesday in a ceremony at UW, “for strong and insightful leadership” as the agency’s associate director of science for the past eight years. He began his work at UW in August.

Study Sheds Light on Turbulence in Astrophysical Plasmas

Theoretical analysis by Nuno Loureiro, an associate professor of nuclear science and engineering and of physics at MIT, and Stanislav Boldyrev, a professor of physics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, uncovers new mechanisms in plasma turbulence.

New Technique Allows Rapid Screening for New Types of Solar Cells

A team at MIT and other institutions has come up with a way to bypass the time-consuming steps currently needed to test new photovoltaic materials.

New Analysis Explains Role of Defects in Metal Oxides

New research from a team at MIT shows that such imperfections in a family of materials known as insulating metal oxides may be key to their performance for a variety of high-tech applications, such as nonvolatile memory chips and energy conversion technologies.

WVU Biochemist Goes Online to X-ray Life-Sustaining Crystals

On August 22, Robart, assistant professor of biochemistry in the WVU School of Medicine, used the powerful Advanced Photon Source at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago via the Internet to zap three types of life-sustaining crystals with X-rays revealing molecular structures that resemble tangles of corkscrew pasta or patterns of daisies.

Turning the Evolutionary Clock Back on a Light-Sensitive Protein

Scientists at Michigan State University show how the two OCP parts interact and create new synthetic versions of that protein. The goal is to use the OCP in synthetic healthcare systems, powered by light.