2016

Study Details Molecular Roots of Alzheimer’s

A new study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis details the structure of TREM2, a protein involved in Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.

Fighting World Hunger: Researchers Use Nuclear Methods to Study Pest Resistance in Corn Plants

Researchers at the University of Missouri, using advanced nuclear methods, have determined the mechanisms corn plants use to combat the western corn rootworm, a major pest threatening the growth of the vital food source.

Scientists Detect a Quantum Crystal of Electrons and “Watch” it Melt

For the first time, MIT physicists have observed a highly ordered crystal of electrons in a semiconducting material and documented its melting, which confirm a fundamental phase transition in quantum mechanics that was theoretically proposed more than 80 years ago but not experimentally documented until now.

Unlocking a Liver Receptor Puzzle

Researchers from Emory University and Scripps Research Institute used X-ray crystallography at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory to further their study of how potential diabetes drugs interact with their target, the protein LRH-1.

Fast-Track Control Accelerates Switching of Quantum Bits

An international collaboration among physicists at the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, McGill University and the University of Konstanz recently demonstrated a new framework for faster control of a quantum bit—the basic unit of information in yet-to-be created quantum computers.

Toward Safer, Long-Life Nuclear Reactors: Metal Design Could Raise Radiation Resistance by 100 Times

In findings that could change the way industries like nuclear energy and aerospace look for materials that can stand up to radiation exposure, University of Michigan researchers have discovered that metal alloys with three or more elements in equal concentrations can be remarkably resistant to radiation-induced swelling.

Jonsson School Scientists Create New Way to Trap Dangerous Gases

A team of researchers at UT Dallas has developed a novel method for trapping potentially harmful gases within microscopic organo-metallic structures.

UO Team Helps Show Peatlands May Hold On to Carbon

Carbon accumulating deep in peat around the world may be less likely to be released into the air by global warming than originally thought, according to new findings by a research team that included University of Oregon contributors.

Warming Global Temperatures May Not Affect Carbon Stored Deep in Northern Peatlands

Florida State University research scientist Rachel Wilson and University of Oregon graduate student Anya Hopple are the first authors on a new study that details experiments suggesting that carbon stored in peat — a highly organic material found in marsh or damp regions — may not succumb to the Earth’s warming as easily as scientists thought.