2018 | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

Physicists Devise Method to Reveal How Light Affects Materials

Physicists at Emory University developed a way to determine the electronic properties of thin gold films after they interact with light.

UW Physicists, CERN Announce Discovery of Higgs Boson Interactions

The international particle accelerator collaboration CERN announced Monday, June 4, that two experiments at the Large Hadron Collider discovered a link between the two heaviest known particles: the top quark and the Higgs boson. University of Wisconsin–Madison physicists are members of the CMS and ATLAS experiments at CERN, which jointly discovered the Higgs boson in 2012.

Scientists See Inner Workings of Enzyme Telomerase, Which Plays Key Roles in Aging, Cancer

Cancer, aging-related diseases and other illnesses are closely tied to an important enzyme called “telomerase.” UCLA researchers report in the journal Cell the deepest scientific understanding yet of this once-mysterious enzyme, whose catalytic core — where most of its activity occurs — can now be seen in near atomic resolution.

Antineutrinos and 'Sterile' Neutrinos: IU Scientists Contribute to New Advances in Particle Physics

Indiana University's place on the front lines of research on the mysterious subatomic particles known as neutrinos was on display June 4 to 9 at the 28th International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics in Heidelberg, Germany.

Putting Excess Carbon Dioxide to Good Use

Professor Joel Rosenthal and his team in UD’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry have discovered that bismuth has an unusual property that can be harnessed to help the environment—as a chemical “spark” or catalyst for converting carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas, into liquid fuels and industrial chemicals.

Is There an End to the Periodic Table? MSU Professor Explores its Limits

As the 150th anniversary of the formulation of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements looms, a Michigan State University professor probes the table’s limits in a recent Nature Physics Perspective.

Northwestern Researchers Predict Materials to Stabilize Record-high Capacity Lithium-ion Battery

A Northwestern University research team has found ways to stabilize a new battery with a record-high charge capacity. Based on a lithium-manganese-oxide cathode, the breakthrough could enable smart phones and battery-powered automobiles to last more than twice as long between charges.

USU Biochemist and Colleagues Imagine World Beyond Fossil Fuel

Utah State University biochemist Lance Seefeldt and other university and national laboratory scientists report on the field of nitrogen activation chemistry and future directions for understanding critical, nitrogen transformation reactions.

Researchers Mimic Comet Moth’s Silk Fibers to Make “Air-conditioned” Fabric

In exploring the optical properties of the Madagascar comet moth’s cocoon fibers, a Columbia Engineering team discovers the fibers’ exceptional capabilities to reflect sunlight and to transmit optical signals and images, and develops methods to spin artificial fibers mimicking the natural fibers’ nanostructures and optical properties.

PROSPECTing for Antineutrinos

The Precision Reactor Oscillation and Spectrum Experiment (PROSPECT), located at the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), has begun taking data to study electron antineutrinos that are emitted from nuclear decays in the reactor to search for so-called sterile neutrinos and to learn about the underlying nuclear reactions that power fission reactors.

A New DNA Editing Toolkit for the Alga Nannochloropsis

Eric Poliner and a team of MSU scientists in the Farre and Benning labs have released a new genetic engineering toolkit for the alga Nannochloropsis. The alga is of interest for the production of biofuels and other oil-based chemicals.

Princeton Senior’s Thesis Project Makes Material Difference in Quest for Fusion Energy

For her senior thesis, Princeton University undergraduate Meagan Yeh worked with researchers to test materials at the University of California-San Diego and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory for possible use in a fusion reactor.