Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will present its ARPA-E projects related to solar power, electric and natural gas vehicles, magnets, and heating and cooling at the 2013 Energy Innovation Summit, Feb. 25-27.
To make fuel cells more economical, engineers want a fast and efficient iron-based molecule that splits hydrogen gas to make electricity. Online Feb. 17 at Nature Chemistry, researchers report such a catalyst. It is the first iron-based catalyst that converts hydrogen directly to electricity. The result moves chemists and engineers one step closer to widely affordable fuel cells.
Meta-analyses of bisphenol A studies show human exposure is likely to be too low for estrogenic effects.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has been awarded $2.8 million to adapt its energy-efficient adsorption chilling system for field military bases. The system could use up to half as much diesel as today’s technology, which could save the lives of soldiers who transport fuel in the battlefield.
A new supercomputer expected to rank among the world’s fastest machines will be ready to run computationally intense climate and biological simulations along with other scientific programs this summer. Atipa Technologies in Lawrence, Kan., will provide the machine to EMSL. The new supercomputer's capacity and speed are expected to rank it among the world's top 20 fastest machines when it comes online.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and University of Washington are forming the Northwest Institute for Advanced Computing to ensure the next generation of computers and the methods used to run them can address the most pressing problems facing science and society.
PNNL’s Will Shaw will describe plans for Reference Facility for Offshore Renewable Energy, a Department of Energy Facility where offshore wind and ocean power technologies will be tested, at the 93rd American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory scientists will discuss improving solar power forecasting, measuring the resources needed to grow algae for biofuel and predicting the environmental impacts of ocean energy at the 2012 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting this week.
Pollution from fossil fuel burning and forest fires reaches all the way to the Arctic, even though it should decay long before it travels that far. Now, lab research can explain how pollution makes its lofty journey: rather than ride on the surface of airborne particles, pollutants snuggle inside, protected from the elements on the way. The results will help scientists improve atmospheric air-quality and pollution transport models.
PNNL research describing new and improved ways to crunch massive amounts of data will be presented at the Supercomputing 2012 conference. Papers to be presented today (Nov. 14) include how to use approximate matching to find similar patterns in different data sets and making parallel computers more efficient with new software that automatically translates MPI code.
A new computer analysis of future climate change that considers emissions reductions together with sunlight reduction shows that such drastic steps to cool the earth would only be necessary if the planet heats up easily with added greenhouse gases.
Battery materials on the nano-scale reveal how nickel forms a physical barrier that impedes the shuttling of lithium ions in the electrode, reducing how fast the materials charge and discharge.
Mass spectrometry protein assays that match sensitivity and accuracy of antibody-based clinical tests might speed drug discovery, basic biology research.
Fresh water from rivers and rain makes hurricanes, typhoons, tropical cyclones 50 percent more intense on average.
A new solid oxide fuel cell system developed by PNNL can achieve a record of up to 57 percent efficiency and is designed to be scaled up to generate electricity for individual homes or neighborhoods.
New simulation study shows that atmosphere warms when pollution intensifies storms.
Treatment for a type of breast cancer more common in young and black women has limited therapy options. Called triple negative breast cancer, this type of cancer is the focus of a 20-month, $8.6-million research project that aims to find new diagnostic tools and options for drugs.
PNNL has developed a nanoporous-based air-cleansing system for the Navy that can rapidly remove high levels of carbon dioxide from a submarine’s air environment. The technology recently won the Federal Laboratory Consortium Interagency Partnership Award for 2012.
O-GlcNAc regulatory system adds complexity in cell regulation, could eventually provide new drug targets
A PNNL biosensor made of fluorescent proteins embedded in the shell of microscopic marine algae called diatoms could help detect chemicals in water samples. The same research could also lead to new, diatom-inspired nanomaterials.
Nanocomposite electrodes being charged with electricity reveal performance advantages that could lead to longer-lasting, cheaper vehicle batteries.
Just as a wine glass vibrates and sometimes breaks when a diva sings the right note, carbon dioxide vibrates when light or heat serenades it. When it does, carbon dioxide exhibits a vibrational puzzle known as Fermi resonance. Now, researchers studying geologic carbon storage have learned a bit more about the nature of carbon dioxide.
Computer simulations revealing how methane and hydrogen pack into gas hydrates could enlighten alternative fuel production and carbon dioxide storage industries.
Emission reductions during Beijing Olympics got help from weather.
A July breast cancer study using patient blood reveals a possible way to reduce the number of false alarms that arise during early screening. Researchers found a panel of proteins shed by breast cancer that are easily detected and can distinguish between real cancer and benign lumps.
New computer modeling work shows that by 2100, if society wants to limit carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to less than 40 percent higher than it is today, the lowest cost option is to use every available means of reducing emissions.
New PNNL research explains how the carbon involved in crop production is unevenly distributed. More populated regions that depend on others to grow their food end up releasing the carbon that comes with those crops, leading those areas to become carbon sources.
Researchers in the Pacific Northwest have developed a new catalyst material that could replace chemicals currently derived from petroleum and be the basis for more environmentally friendly products including octane-boosting gas and fuel additives, bio-based rubber for tires and a safer solvent for the chemicals industry.
A new model of the single-celled marine cyanobacterium Cyanothece could help researchers use blue-green algae to make renewable energy by predicting which of its genes are central to capturing energy from sunlight.
By adding the right amount of heat, researchers have developed a method that improves the electrical capacity and recharging lifetime of sodium ion rechargeable batteries, which could be a cheaper alternative for large-scale uses such as storing energy on the electrical grid.
Atmospheric scientists trying to pin down how clouds curb the amount of sunlight available to warm the earth have found that it depends on the wavelength of sunlight being measured. This unexpected result will help researchers improve how they portray clouds in climate models.
A new study shows that 17 percent of the United States’ imported oil for transportation could be replaced by biofuel made from algae. Researchers also determined that the water needed to grow that algae could be substantially reduced by cultivating it in the nation’s sunniest and most humid regions.
First observation of sub-atomic particles known as hb will provide better understanding of the universe.
A new analysis of sulfur emissions shows that after declining for a decade, worldwide emissions rose again in 2000 due largely to international shipping and a growing Chinese economy. An accurate read on sulfur emissions will help researchers predict future changes in climate and determine present day effects on the atmosphere, health and the environment.
Pine's fresh scent has helped scientists find missing sources of organic molecules in the air -- which, it might turn out, aren't missing after all. In work appearing in this week's PNAS Online, researchers found that particles containing compounds such as those given off by pine trees evaporate more than 100 times slower than expected by current air-quality models.
Six researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
New high resolution images of electrode wires made from materials used in rechargeable lithium ion batteries shows them contorting as they become charged with electricity, according to a paper in this week's issue of the journal Science.
Parkinson's disease, cancer and biofuels production are just a few problems that biochemist Dick Smith has helped untangle in his long career of technological innovation and scientific insight. Now, R&D Magazine has honored Smith as 2010 Scientist of the Year for his many significant contributions to science.
Study findings might help better understand bronchitis, emphysema, other lung diseases.
A new technique that searches blood for the tiniest remnants of broken down proteins has revealed new information about how cells crank up cancer activators called proteases. The results improve researchers' understanding of the mechanics of breast cancer and point to where to look for possible indicators of early disease. Appearing this week in PLoS ONE, the research shows previously unknown contributing factors to protease activation, which helps spread cancer.
A flat sodium-nickel chloride battery could deliver 30 percent more power at lower temperatures than its cylindrical counterpart, making it a viable alternative to lithium-ion batteries for storing wind and solar power on the grid, according to work published by the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in the October 8 issue of ECS Transactions.
As the century warms, tropical forests will be at risk from many threats, especially conversion to cropland to sustain the population. A new report shows that crop productivity improvements and carbon emission limits together could prevent widespread tropical deforestation over the next 100 years.
PNNL scientists are examining how aquatic animals behave around electromagnetic fields similar to those expected to be created by marine power devices.
A two-year, $850,000 study with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Air Force's 59th Medical Wing hopes to find a better indicator of current or past use of illicit drugs. The study will map out compounds made in response to hydrocodone, hoping to lead to a dependency biomarker.
A little wax and soap can help build electrodes for cheaper lithium ion batteries, according to a study in August 11 issue of Nano Letters. The one-step method will allow battery developers to explore lower-priced alternatives to the lithium ion-metal oxide batteries currently on the market.
Like shifting sand dunes, some clouds disappear in one place and reappear in another. New work this week in Nature shows why: Air movement due to rain forms patterns in low clouds that remain cohesive structures even while appearing to shift about the sky, due to a principle called self-organization. These clouds cover much of the open ocean. Understanding how their patterns evolve will eventually help scientists build better models for predicting climate change. This is the first time researchers have shown the patterns cycle regularly and why.
As much as 12 percent of the world’s human-caused greenhouse gas emissions could be sustainably offset by producing the charcoal-like substance biochar, concludes a study published in the journal Nature Communications
Researchers from the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the National Energy Technology Laboratory and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have formed the Clean Energy Partnership to accelerate the development and deployment of emissions reducing technology, and have officially embarked on three research projects as part of a memorandum of understanding signed in 2009.
Researchers from the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory say adding graphene to lithium-ion battery cells could enable electric vehicles, cell phones and even power tools to recharge in minutes instead of hours.
Packaging anti-cancer drugs into particles of chemically modified silica improve the drugs' ability to fight skin cancer in mice, according to new research. Results published May 3 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society online show the honeycombed particles can help anti-cancer antibodies prevent tumor growth and prolong the lives of mice.
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