Curated News: Top Hit Stories

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Although electrons usually move in three dimensions, scientists can force electrons to move in two dimensions (2D) by creating ultra-thin materials. In this new work, however, researchers found that by adding superconductivity to 3D electrons in a bulk material, the superconducting electrons form 2D superconducting “puddles.” These puddles of electrons may be a way for some superconductors to reorganize themselves before undergoing an abrupt phase transition into an insulating state.

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New research suggests that targeting autoimmune inflammation associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using two drugs, one of them already approved for multiple sclerosis, could be a promising approach for treatment.

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The cryogenic plant, to be installed a mile underground, will provide the cooling for two large liquid-argon neutrino detectors for the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment.

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Scientists have demonstrated experimentally a long-theorized relationship between electron and nuclear motion in molecules, which could lead to the design of materials for solar cells, electronic displays and other applications that can make use of this powerful quantum phenomenon.

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People who contract COVID-19 but never develop symptoms – the so-called super dodgers – may have a genetic ace up their sleeve. They’re more than twice as likely as those who become symptomatic to carry a specific gene variation that helps them obliterate the virus, according to a new study led by UC San Francisco researchers. 

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Approximately 90,000 Americans, including 1,100 children are currently waiting for a kidney transplant. Tragically, 12 Americans will die today waiting for a kidney. Advocates from the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) are on Capitol Hill today urging Congress to implement reforms that will help maximize access to transplant care for the 37 million Americans living with kidney diseases; the 8th leading cause of death in the United States.

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A new study in mice suggests that having a common form of the flu during pregnancy may affect the next generation by impairing immune function in the gut. The study is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology.

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The recent 2023 DOE CyberForce® Conquer the Hill — Reign Edition inspired the next generation of professionals.

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The lithium-ion batteries used to power electric vehicles are key to a clean energy economy. But their electrodes are usually made using a wet slurry with toxic solvents, an expensive manufacturing approach that poses health and environmental risks.Early experiments at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have revealed significant benefits to a dry battery manufacturing process.

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Over the past decade, teams of engineers, chemists and biologists have analyzed the physical and chemical properties of cicada wings, hoping to unlock the secret of their ability to kill microbes on contact. If this function of nature can be replicated by science, it may lead to products with inherently antibacterial surfaces that are more effective than current chemical treatments.

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Court decisions provide little unifying guidance on food labeling for manufacturers, with judges applying idiosyncratic reasoning to lower-court opinions. That’s why a team from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign analyzed hundreds of court documents and labeling laws to provide a set of guidelines courts can follow for more consistent verdicts, which could, in turn, influence food labeling practices. Their article, published in Loyola Consumer Law Review, was recently cited by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in a product labeling case.

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The International Standards Organization has put its stamp of approval on 18 nuclear analytical chemistry methods at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. These testing and calibration methods have received ISO 17025 accreditation.

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In an effort to discover new 2D materials, a team of scientists from Ames National Laboratory determined the structure of boron monoxide using new NMR methods and previously unavailable analytical tools.

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Idaho National Laboratory intern Jake Guidry has developed a cybersecurity research tool that could improve the security of electric vehicle charging.

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Arlington, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., are the top cities in the 16th annual ACSM American Fitness Index® (Fitness Index) rankings published by the American College of Sports Medicine® (ACSM) and the Elevance Health Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Elevance Health. Arlington was named “America’s Fittest City” for the sixth consecutive year, with top scores in both the personal health and community/environment sub-scores.

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AAI announces new Chief Policy and Program Officer

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BU research highlights how healthcare inequities between urban and rural areas, and vaccine skepticism, played a role in deaths related to COVID.

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Researchers have gained important insights about mysterious structures 1,800 miles below the Earth’s surface—and how they may be connected to volcanoes.

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University of Washington professor Xiaodong Xu studies the properties of single atomic layer semiconductors, looking for new materials and new ways to control electrical conductivity.

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Berkeley Lab and Genentech are collaborating to make the next generation of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) for drug delivery. Combining structural biology with cutting edge pharmaceutical science, the team is designing LNPs that can precisely deliver vaccines and therapeutics to target tissues while improving the product’s shelf life and duration of action.

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Argonne has contracted with J.D. Power to make use of new data sets to understand consumer interest in electric vehicles and charging behavior.

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Press materials are now available for NUTRITION 2023, the annual flagship meeting of the American Society for Nutrition (ASN).

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The neurons in our bodies are dotted with tiny pores that let essential molecules pass in and out of our cells. Neurons need these channels to send the signals that allow us to move, think, and perceive the world around us. Now, structural biologists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have captured never-before-seen images of one of the largest pores in human neurons.

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Experts across varied technology fields gathered at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to collaborate on the future of geospatial systems at the Trillion-Pixel GeoAI Challenge workshop. The third iteration of this event focused on multimodal advances in the field, including progress in artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, high-performance computing and remote sensing.

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A new study that aims to resolve uncertainty in projections of future changes in the U.S. Midwest rainy season projects that while future seasonal mean precipitation will not change significantly, late spring precipitation will increase and late summer rainfall will decrease. The study indicates these changes will be driven by the poleward shift in the North American westerly jet due to climate change. The results may mean an increased risk of late-spring deluges and late-summer droughts for the Midwest.

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As the UK Covid inquiry continues for a fifth week, researchers at the University of East Anglia have created a unique snapshot of lockdown life.

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Nazia Zakir talks about her role as Environment, Safety and Health (ESH) senior director at Argonne National Laboratory.

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In a first-of-its-kind study that controlled for individuals’ biological factors, researchers found that people who lived in multi-family housing, or in areas with higher levels of air pollution and access to public transit, were at a higher risk of hospitalization from COVID-19 in the Denver Metro Area in 2020.

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Argonne engineers secure three GAIN funding awards, propelling advancements in nuclear energy for enhanced safety, efficiency and reliability.

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PNNL’s wide-ranging report maps the current nanobiotechnology landscape, flags potential concerns, and details the need for an organizing body to coordinate currently disparate disciplines.

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Argonne National Laboratory is building one of the nation’s first exascale systems, Aurora. Aurora's Early Science Program, through the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility, tapped 15 research teams to get ready for launch. One team is using computational chemistry to accelerate the discovery of new catalysts.

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Recent research sheds light on the mechanism behind how quantum materials change from an electrical conductor to an electric insulator. Below a critical temperature, strontium doped lanthanum strontium nickel oxide is an insulator due the separation of introduced holes from the magnetic regions, forming “stripes.” These stripes fluctuate and melt at 240K, at which temperature the material should become a conducting metal. Instead, it remains an insulator. This is because of certain atomic vibrations that trap electrons and impede electrical conduction.

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Researchers at SLAC and Stanford found a way to make thin films of an exciting new nickel oxide superconductor that are free of extended defects. This improved the material’s ability to conduct electricity with no loss and revealed that it’s more like superconducting cuprates than previously thought.

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The number of young people in the United States visiting hospital emergency departments for mental health crises increased sharply during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study led by researchers from the Department of Health Care Policy in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School.

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As extreme weather devastates communities worldwide, scientists are using modeling and simulation to understand how climate change impacts the frequency and intensity of these events. Although long-term climate projections and models are important, they are less helpful for short-term prediction of extreme weather that may rapidly displace thousands of people or require emergency aid.

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By adding rain, snow, and rain-on-snow precipitation data to a background model, a new scheme pinpoints local flood risks in order to improve the design of small-scale hydrological infrastructure.

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Scientists from Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University elaborated mathematical model, that imitates the work of neuron networks of brain of patients with COVID -19.

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Argonne was honored with the first Green Fleet Award as the laboratory continues to purchase zero-emissions vehicles.

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Case Western Reserve University chemical engineer Rohan Akolkar is leading a research team working to develop a new zero-carbon, electrochemical process to produce iron metal from ore. If successful, the project could be a first step toward eliminating harmful greenhouse gas emissions by eventually replacing century-old, blast-furnace ironmaking with a new electrolytic-iron production process.