SLAC/Stanford team discovers new way of switching exotic properties on and off in topological material
A weird feature of certain exotic materials allows electrons to travel from one surface of the material to another as if there were nothing in between. Now, researchers have shown that they can switch this feature on and off by toggling a material in and out of a stable topological state with pulses of light. The method could provide a new way of manipulating materials that could be used in future quantum computers and devices that carry electric current with no loss.
Study Shows Single Atoms Can Make More Efficient Catalysts
Scientists have their first direct, detailed look at how a single atom catalyzes a chemical reaction. The reaction is the same one that strips poisonous carbon monoxide out of car exhaust, and individual atoms of iridium did the job up to 25 times more efficiently than the iridium nanoparticles containing 50 to 100 atoms that are used today.
More Designer Peptides, More Possibilities
A combined experimental and modeling approach contributes to understanding small proteins with potential use in industrial, therapeutic applications.
Novel fiber-optic device lays foundation for quantum-enhanced measurements
Interferometers--instruments that precisely measure the intersection of two beams of light--are useful for both fundamental science studies and practical applications such as gyroscopes and hydrophones. A team of researchers at ORNL developed and tested a new interferometer that shows potential for improved sensitivity at the quantum scale. Their paper was selected as an APS Editor's Pick, a distinction reserved for especially noteworthy publications.
Revealing Hidden Spin: Unlocking New Paths Toward High-Temperature Superconductors
Researchers from the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have discovered that electron spin is key to understanding how cuprate superconductors can conduct electricity without loss at high temperature.
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Physicists Uncover New Competing State of Matter in Superconducting Material
A team of experimentalists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory and theoreticians at University of Alabama Birmingham discovered a remarkably long-lived new state of matter in an iron pnictide superconductor, which reveals a laser-induced formation of collective behaviors that compete with superconductivity.
New Discovery Is Big on Nanoscale
Is it possible to predict what type of material an unidentified element will be in bulk quantities solely based on the properties it exhibits over a limited range of the subnano to nano size regime? It is, according to Argonne scientists.
Scientists Move Quantum Optic Networks a Step Closer to Reality
A crucial step has been achieved in understanding quantum optical behavior of semiconductor nanomaterials.
Best of 2018: Climate models simulate wetter, windier hurricanes
Covered in The Guardian
Best of 2018: DOE Office of Science National Lab News
See news and research from participating DOE National Labs in the DOE Science Channel
Illuminating Nanoparticle Growth with X-rays
Taking part in the worldwide search for fuel cell cathode materials, researchers at the University of Akron developed a new method of synthesizing catalysts from a combination of metals--platinum and nickel--that form octahedral (eight-sided) shaped nanoparticles. While scientists have identified this catalyst as one of the most efficient replacements for pure platinum, they have not fully understood why it grows in an octahedral shape. To better understand the growth process, the researchers at the University of Akron collaborated with multiple institutions, including Brookhaven and its NSLS-II.
New findings reveal the behavior of turbulence in the exceptionally hot solar corona
Astrophysicists are keen to learn why the sun's corona is so hot. Scientists at PPPL have completed research that may advance the search.
Scientists Use Magnetic Defects to Achieve Electromagnetic Wave Breakthrough
In a new study, Argonne scientists have created small regions of magnetic defects. When electromagnetic plane waves interact with these defects, they are converted into helical waves, which encode more information for further materials studies.
New composite advances lignin as a renewable 3D printing material
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have created a recipe for a renewable 3D printing feedstock that could spur a profitable new use for an intractable byproduct: lignin.
Precision experiment first to isolate, measure weak force between protons, neutrons
A team of scientists has for the first time measured the elusive weak interaction between protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom. Through a unique neutron experiment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, experimental physicists resolved the weak force between the particles at the atom's core, predicted in the Standard Model that describes the elementary particles and their interactions.
Argonne develops computer model to explore fuel octane number
Researchers at Argonne have developed a virtual cooperative fuel research engine that will help probe how a fuel's chemical kinetics translates into its octane rating.
Drought Stress Changes Microbes Living at Sorghum's Roots
Scientists explore how drought-tolerant plants communicate to nearby microorganisms, suggesting ways to engineer more resilient bioenergy crops.
Greener Days Ahead for Carbon Fuels
A discovery by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis shows that recycling carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals and fuels can be economical and efficient - all through a single copper catalyst.
GlueX Completes First Phase
An experiment that aims to gain new insight into the force that binds all matter together has recently completed its first phase of data collection. The Gluonic Excitations Experiment, or GlueX, is designed to produce and study hybrid mesons, which are particles that are built of the same stuff as ordinary protons and neutrons: quarks bound together by the "glue" of the strong force. But unlike ordinary mesons, the glue in hybrid mesons behaves differently by actively contributing to the particles' properties.
How to Get Nuanced Details at the Top of the World
Scientists devise new approach that gathers data on the interplay between permafrost, soil, and vegetation.
Defining Quality Virus Data(sets)
In Nature Biotechnology, as more and more researchers continue to assemble new genome sequences of uncultivated viruses, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) led a community effort to develop guidelines and best practices for defining virus data quality.
Ice Formed by Contact Freezing: Pressure Matters, Not Just Temperature
Distortion of water droplet surface may increase the likelihood of the droplet freezing.
Future Loss of Arctic Sea-Ice Cover Could Contribute to the Substantial Decrease in California's Rainfall
A new modeling framework helps understand the consequences of future sea-ice loss in the Arctic.
Tangled magnetic fields power cosmic particle accelerators
Magnetic field lines tangled like spaghetti in a bowl might be behind the most powerful particle accelerators in the universe. That's the result of a new computational study by researchers from the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, which simulated particle emissions from distant active galaxies.
Argonne scientists maximize the effectiveness of platinum in fuel cells
In new research from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and published in Science, scientists have identified a new catalyst that uses only about a quarter as much platinum as current technology by maximizing the effectiveness of the available platinum.