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

Doping Powers New Thermoelectric Material

Researchers at Northwestern University have found that adding sodium produces material that is more efficient at converting heat to electricity.

A New Tool Developed at MIT Measures the Distance Between Phonon Collisions

Tabletop setup provides more nuanced picture of heat production in microelectronics.

Staying Cool: Saharan Silver Ants

Nanfang Yu, assistant professor of applied physics at Columbia Engineering, and colleagues from the University of Zürich and the University of Washington, have discovered two key strategies that enable Saharan silver ants to stay cool in one of the hottest terrestrial environments on Earth.

Sequestration on Shaky Ground

Study at MIT finds a natural impediment to the long-term sequestration of carbon dioxide.

Anatomy of a Microscopic Wood Chipper: New Observations Reveal How an Individual Cellulase Enzyme Operates

A team of scientists at Vanderbilt University, the National University of Singapore, Rutgers, and The State University of New Jersey are studying enzymes to efficiently transform ethanol made from cellulose into a major new renewable fuel source.

UNH Geologist Identifies New Source of Methane for Gas Hydrates in Arctic

Research led by a University of New Hampshire professor has identified a new source of methane for gas -- hydrates ice-like substances found in sediment that trap methane within the crystal structure of frozen water -- in the Arctic Ocean.

Battery Bounce Test Often Bounces Off Target

Researchers at Princeton University have found that the common test of bouncing a household battery to learn if it is dead or not is not actually an effective way to check a battery's charge.

Chapman University Named as Department of Energy $1.5 Million Grant Recipient Focusing on Climate Change

The grant allows Chapman researchers to participate in the SPRUCE project by investigating the controls of the production and release of the greenhouse gas methane in this ecosystem.

Newfound Groups of Bacteria Are Mixing Up the Tree of Life

University of California, Berkeley, scientists have identified more than 35 new groups of bacteria, clarifying a mysterious branch of the tree of life that has been hazy because these microbes can’t be reared and studied in the lab.

Witness to Chemical Alchemy

Scientists at Tufts University are the first ever to see elements transform at atomic scale, and their research may yield therapies for cancer that are both more powerful and less risky.

Read more about Witness to Chemical Alchemy

Penn Research Simplifies Recycling of Rare-earth Magnets

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have now pioneered a process that could enable the efficient recycling of two of these metals, neodymium and dysprosium. These elements comprise the small, powerful magnets that are found in many high-tech devices.

Greenland Plays Important Role In Polar Ice Research

Geoscientists at Penn State have used computer model experiments to show that the more temperatures increase, the faster the Greenland Ice Sheet will melt.