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

Quantum Material is Promising 'Ion Conductor' for Research and New Technologies

Researchers at Purdue University have shown how to shuttle lithium ions back and forth into the crystal structure of a quantum material, representing a new avenue for research and potential applications in batteries, “smart windows” and brain-inspired computers containing artificial synapses.

Physicists Propose New Model to Study Pairing Properties of Nuclei

A team of Ohio University nuclear physicists has proposed a new theoretical model for calculating pairing properties of atomic nuclei including those found in extreme astrophysical environments.

Future Filters

University of California, Santa Barbara chemical engineers uncover ways to pattern solid surfaces to enhance how water interacts with them.

Once a Performance Barrier, This Material Quirk Could Strengthen Our Telecommunication Connections

Researchers who study and manipulate the behavior of materials at the atomic level have discovered a way to make a thin material that enhances the flow of microwave energy. The advance, which could improve telecommunications, sheds new light on structural traits, generally viewed as static and a hindrance, that, when made to be dynamic, are actually key to the material’s special ability.

ASU Assistant Professor Studies How Living Cells Capture, Process and Store Energy

The work of Abhishek Singharoy, assistant professor in Arizona State University's School of Molecular Sciences and member of the Biodesign Institute’s Center for Applied Structural Discovery, is featured in a recent article published by the Department of Energy on renewable biofuels.

Physicists Race to Demystify Einstein’s ‘Spooky’ Science

According to Andrew Friedman, a research scientist at the University of California San Diego Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences (CASS), “the race is on” around the globe to identify and experimentally close potential loopholes that could still allow alternative theories, distinct from quantum theory, to explain perplexing phenomena like quantum entanglement.

Large-scale Simulations Could Shed Light on the 'Dark' Elements that Make Up Most of Our Cosmos

In an ambitious effort directed by Argonne National Laboratory, researchers at the Biocomplexity Institute of Virginia Tech are now attempting to estimate key features of the universe, including its relative distributions of dark matter and dark energy.

Team's Pic of Crack in the Act Could Prevent Engineering Failures

In work that could help prevent the failure of everything from bridges to dental implants, a team led by a researcher at Texas A&M University has taken the first 3D image of a microscopic crack propagating through a metal damaged by hydrogen.

Next-gen Camera for South Pole Telescope Takes Data on Early Universe

The South Pole Telescope, specially designed to measure the cosmic microwave background, is using its third-generation camera to carry out a multi-year survey to observe the earliest instants of the universe. University of Chicago professor Bradford Benson headed the effort to develop and manufacture new sensors at multiple collaborating universities around the country to build this new, ultra-sensitive camera.

Climatologists Obtain Grant to Develop New Climate Sensitivity Information

Climatologists at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) have received a grant from the United States Dept. of Energy to develop a new method of determining how the Earth’s climate is responding to greenhouse gases that they think will be more accurate than current methods.

Blazes of Light Reveal How Plants Signal Danger Long Distances

Michigan State University was part of a multi-university study that revealed how plant communication systems respond to threats from herbivores. The results, featured in Science, show that once wounded, plants use calcium signals to warn distant tissues of future attacks.

Harnessing Microbial Communities' Division of Labor for Biofuel, Chemical Production

Researchers at the University of Illinois Institute for Genomic Biology aim to understand more about the division of labor in microbial communities in a new project led by IGB faculty Ting Lu, an associate professor of bioengineering, and Yong-Su Jin, a professor of food science and human nutrition.