2016 | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

PPPL Dedicates Upgraded Fusion Reactor, a Powerful New 'Star on Earth'

The National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX-U), a spherical tokamak housed at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory on Princeton's Forrestal Campus, was dedicated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) May 20 following a four-year, $94-million upgrade funded by the DOE Office of Science.

Hot New Solar Cell

A team of MIT researchers has for the first time demonstrated a device based on a method that enables solar cells to break through a theoretically predicted ceiling on how much sunlight they can convert into electricity.

UTA Prepares Titan Supercomputer to Process the Data from Quadrillions of Proton Collisions Generated in the New Large Hadron Collider Experiments

University of Texas at Arlington physicists are preparing the Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility in Tennessee to support the analysis of data generated from the quadrillions of proton collisions expected during this season’s Large Hadron Collider particle physics experiments.

Ivy’s Powerful Grasp Could Lead to Better Medical Adhesives and Stronger Battle Armor

Research from The Ohio State University illuminates the tiny particles responsible for ivy’s ability to latch on so tight to trees and buildings that it can withstand hurricanes and tornadoes.

PROSPECT Experiment will Search for Sterile Neutrinos, Thanks to $3M DOE Grant

Buoyed by a U.S. Department of Energy grant from the Office of High Energy Physics, a Yale University-led experiment will explore key questions about the tiny particles called neutrinos — and potentially improve the way we monitor and safeguard nuclear reactors in the process.

Texas A&M Chemist Says Trapped Electrons to Blame for Lack of Battery Efficiency

An international team led by Texas A&M University chemist Sarbajit Banerjee is one step closer, thanks to new research that has the potential to create more efficient batteries by shedding light on the cause of one of their biggest problems -- a "traffic jam" of ions that slows down their charging and discharging process.

X-Ray Snapshot of Butterfly Wings Reveals Underlying Physics of Color

A team of scientists led by UC San Diego physicist Oleg Shpyrko have visualized the internal nanostructure of an intact butterfly wing and discovered two physical attributes that make those structures so bright and colorful.

UChicago Physicists First to See Behavior of Quantum Materials in Curved Space

Interplay of light and matter is of potential technological interest.

Stanford Research May Lead to More Durable Electronic Devices Such as Cellphones

Materials scientists at Stanford University discovered that the protective layers in chips react differently to pushes and pulls, an insight that could lead to even more durable electronic devices.

TSRI Scientists Stabilize HIV Structure, Design Potential AIDS Vaccine Candidates

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have published two studies that detail how to stabilize an important HIV structure and engineer novel nanoparticles as vaccine candidates.

Perovskite, Potential Solar Cell Material Unsuited for Real-World Use

Solar cells made from perovskites have sparked great excitement in recent years because the crystalline compounds boast low production costs and high energy efficiencies. Now UC Davis scientists have found that some promising compounds — the hybrid lead halide perovskites — are chemically unstable and may be unsuited for solar cells.

Computer Model Demonstrates How Human Spleen Filters Blood

Researchers, led by Carnegie Mellon University President Subra Suresh and MIT Principal Research Scientist Ming Dao, have created a new computer model that shows how tiny slits in the spleen prevent old, diseased or misshapen red blood cells from re-entering the bloodstream.