Latest News from: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

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Newswise: SLAC scientists explain: What is inertial fusion energy?
Released: 21-Feb-2024 2:05 PM EST
SLAC scientists explain: What is inertial fusion energy?
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Following ignition demonstrations at the National Ignition Facility, the prospect of developing a fusion energy source using lasers looks brighter than ever. Here, SLAC experts weigh in on what it will take to develop the science and technology toward that aim and how the lab and its partners will contribute.

Newswise: A battery’s hopping ions remember where they’ve been
Released: 15-Feb-2024 1:15 PM EST
A battery’s hopping ions remember where they’ve been
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Scientists discover that ions hopping through a battery electrolyte can reverse direction in response to a jolt of voltage and briefly return to their previous positions – .the first indication that the ions remembered, in a sense, where they had just been.

Released: 24-Jan-2024 12:05 PM EST
Researchers add a ‘twist’ to classical material design
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Researchers with the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University and the DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) grew a twisted multilayer crystal structure for the first time and measured the structure’s key properties.

Newswise: Researchers release solar power data software to increase clean energy generation
Released: 17-Jan-2024 1:05 PM EST
Researchers release solar power data software to increase clean energy generation
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

The software tool sorts through messy data to reveal what’s really going on with solar panels on cloudy and sunny days.

Released: 5-Jan-2024 12:05 PM EST
A day in the life of a mountaintop telescope builder
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Margaux Lopez is one of a team of engineers preparing the Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile for the arrival of the largest digital camera ever built for astrophysics and cosmology.

Newswise: SLAC brings rapid-fire laser and target expertise to national fusion energy research hubs
Released: 7-Dec-2023 3:05 PM EST
SLAC brings rapid-fire laser and target expertise to national fusion energy research hubs
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

The lab will partner in two collaborations – one led by Colorado State University and the other by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory – as part of a DOE-funded effort to speed up progress in fusion energy science and technology.

Newswise: Researchers show an old law still holds for quirky quantum materials
Released: 30-Nov-2023 2:05 PM EST
Researchers show an old law still holds for quirky quantum materials
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

An 170-year-old law describing the ratio of heat conductivity to electronic conductivity in metals was thought not to apply to quantum materials. Now theoretical physicists suggest that the Wiedemann-Franz law does, in fact, apply to one class of quantum materials -- the copper oxides, or cuprates.

Newswise: How tiny hinges bend the infection-spreading spikes of a coronavirus
Released: 14-Nov-2023 9:05 AM EST
How tiny hinges bend the infection-spreading spikes of a coronavirus
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Far from being stiff and pointy, a coronavirus’s infectious spikes are shaped like chicken drumsticks with the meaty part facing out, and the meaty part can tilt every which way on its slender stalk. A tiny hinge makes that bendiness possible, and scientists say disabling that hinge could be a good way to thwart infection.

Released: 13-Nov-2023 2:05 PM EST
Researchers aim to make cheaper fuel cells a reality
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

The team reduced the amount of expensive platinum group metals needed to make an effective cell and found a new way to test future fuel cell innovations.

Newswise: Physicists ask: Can we make a particle collider more energy efficient?
Released: 3-Nov-2023 1:05 PM EDT
Physicists ask: Can we make a particle collider more energy efficient?
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

The future of experimental particle physics is exciting – and energy intensive. SLAC physicists are thinking about how to make one proposal, the Cool Copper Collider, more sustainable.

Released: 1-Nov-2023 12:05 PM EDT
Harold Hwang awarded 2024 McGroddy Prize for discovering exotic new materials
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

The American Physical Society recognized the SLAC and Stanford physicist for decades of groundbreaking work studying the strange behavior of electrons at the interfaces between materials.

Newswise: Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm celebrates revolutionary X-ray laser upgrade at SLAC
Released: 27-Oct-2023 4:05 PM EDT
Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm celebrates revolutionary X-ray laser upgrade at SLAC
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

The Secretary and other U.S. Department of Energy officials spent an afternoon touring SLAC’s energy labs, the superconducting-accelerator-powered Linac Coherent Light Source, and the Legacy Survey of Space and Time Camera. At a celebratory gathering, they commended staff for their vision and dedication in bringing LCLS-II “first light” to fruition.

Newswise: Renewed support for high power laser facilities will benefit discovery science and inertial fusion energy research at SLAC
Released: 26-Oct-2023 11:05 AM EDT
Renewed support for high power laser facilities will benefit discovery science and inertial fusion energy research at SLAC
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

LaserNetUS funding will allow scientists to take advantage of the Matter in Extreme Conditions instrument and ultrabright X-rays at the Linac Coherent Light Source to explore fundamental plasma science and inertial fusion energy research and technology.

Newswise: SLAC scientists shed light on potential breakthrough biomedical molecule
Released: 24-Oct-2023 11:05 AM EDT
SLAC scientists shed light on potential breakthrough biomedical molecule
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Developing a new, light-activated method to produce the molecule opens doors for future biomedical applications.

Newswise: Researchers probe molten rock to crack Earth’s deepest secrets
Released: 23-Oct-2023 2:05 PM EDT
Researchers probe molten rock to crack Earth’s deepest secrets
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

New research focused on the quantum structure of elements under extreme conditions has implications for understanding Earth's evolution, interpreting unusual seismic signals, and even the study of exoplanets for insights into habitability.

Released: 6-Oct-2023 11:05 AM EDT
Researchers catch protons in the act of dissociation with SLAC’s ultrafast 'electron camera'
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Proving the technique works puts scientists one step closer to unraveling the mysteries of hydrogen transfers.

Newswise: Groundbreaking Study Shows Defects Spreading Through Diamond Faster Than the Speed of Sound
Released: 5-Oct-2023 2:45 PM EDT
Groundbreaking Study Shows Defects Spreading Through Diamond Faster Than the Speed of Sound
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Researchers have discovered that linear defects can propagate through a material faster than sound waves do. This gives scientists a new appreciation of the damage they might do to a broad range of materials in extreme conditions

Newswise: Q&A with SLAC Lab Director John Sarrao
Released: 2-Oct-2023 4:05 PM EDT
Q&A with SLAC Lab Director John Sarrao
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

A materials scientist who specializes in superconductors, Sarrao brings a deep background in national lab leadership and the evolution of SLAC science.

Newswise: Testing, testing, testing: How SLAC researchers make sure the LSST Camera is the best it can be
Released: 29-Sep-2023 12:05 PM EDT
Testing, testing, testing: How SLAC researchers make sure the LSST Camera is the best it can be
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Three SLAC scientists explain what they do to ensure the world's largest digital camera for astronomy is ready for the big time.

Released: 22-Sep-2023 12:05 PM EDT
Dinosaur feathers contain traces of ancient proteins, study finds
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Powerful X-rays generated at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory help researchers shed new light on feather evolution.

Newswise: SLAC fires up the world’s most powerful X-ray laser: LCLS-II ushers in a new era of science
14-Sep-2023 5:05 PM EDT
SLAC fires up the world’s most powerful X-ray laser: LCLS-II ushers in a new era of science
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

The newly upgraded Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory successfully produced its first X-rays, and researchers around the world are already lined up to kick off an ambitious science program. 

Released: 15-Sep-2023 12:05 PM EDT
Jim Sebek wins 2023 Lytle Award for decades of synchrotron problem solving and dedication
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Jim Sebek, an electrical engineer and physicist at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, will receive this year’s Farrel W. Lytle Award for countless contributions towards building, maintaining and operating the synchrotron for nearly four decades.

Newswise: ‘Computer vision’ reveals unprecedented physical and chemical details of how a lithium-ion battery works
Released: 13-Sep-2023 11:50 AM EDT
‘Computer vision’ reveals unprecedented physical and chemical details of how a lithium-ion battery works
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Looking at X-ray movies with computer vision gives researchers an incredible new view of how nanoparticles in a lithium-ion battery electrode work during charging and discharging.

Released: 7-Sep-2023 4:05 PM EDT
DOE awards a SLAC-led research team $12 million to help improve response time to dangerous pathogens
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Researchers with the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and other institutions have been awarded $12 million in funding to help accelerate society’s response to emerging pathogens by improving X-ray science technology and processes.

Newswise: Angel Garcia-Esparza wins 2023 Spicer Young Investigator Award for studying catalysts in action
Released: 17-Aug-2023 4:25 PM EDT
Angel Garcia-Esparza wins 2023 Spicer Young Investigator Award for studying catalysts in action
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Angel Garcia-Esparza wins 2023 Spicer Young Investigator Award for studying catalysts in action. The award is part of SLAC SSRL's annual users' meeting in September.

Newswise: SLAC researchers take important step toward developing cavity-based X-ray laser technology
Released: 15-Aug-2023 5:05 PM EDT
SLAC researchers take important step toward developing cavity-based X-ray laser technology
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Researchers used diamond mirrors to guide X-ray laser pulses around a rectangular racetrack inside a vacuum chamber. It’s an important step toward developing cavity-based X-ray free-electron lasers, or CBXFELs, to make X-ray laser pulses brighter and cleaner – more like regular lasers are today.

Newswise: Electrons now moving through the superconducting accelerator that will power SLAC’s X-ray laser
Released: 7-Aug-2023 4:05 PM EDT
Electrons now moving through the superconducting accelerator that will power SLAC’s X-ray laser
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

After more than a decade of work, electrons are now flying through a new superconducting accelerator at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, preparing to power the world’s most powerful X-ray free electron laser. This project – named the Linac Coherent Light Source II (LCLS-II) – is now steps away from releasing X-ray flashes that will open a new era in scientific research at that atomic level.

Newswise: Researchers show how to increase X-ray laser brightness and power using a crystal cavity and diamond mirrors
Released: 2-Aug-2023 1:20 PM EDT
Researchers show how to increase X-ray laser brightness and power using a crystal cavity and diamond mirrors
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

At particle accelerator facilities around the world, scientists rely on powerful X-rays to reveal the structure and behavior of atoms and molecules. Now, researchers from the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have calculated how to make X-ray pulses at X-ray free-electron lasers (XFEL) even brighter and more reliable by building a special cavity chamber and diamond mirrors around an XFEL.

Newswise: New catalyst could dramatically cut methane pollution from millions of engines
Released: 20-Jul-2023 11:05 AM EDT
New catalyst could dramatically cut methane pollution from millions of engines
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Today's catalysts for removing unburnt methane from natural-gas engine emissions are either inefficient at low, start-up temperatures or break down at higher operating temperatures. A new single-atom catalyst solves both these problems and removes 90% of the methane.

Newswise: A foundation that fits just right gives superconducting nickelates a boost
Released: 12-Jul-2023 11:00 AM EDT
A foundation that fits just right gives superconducting nickelates a boost
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

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.

Released: 6-Jul-2023 1:45 PM EDT
Humidity – not just light – causes color degradation in historical paintings, researchers discover
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

When you look at a painting in a museum, the colors that you see are likely less bright than they were originally, something that had previously been attributed mainly to light exposure. Now, researchers have discovered a new cause of color degradation: humidity.

Newswise: Q&A: On the road toward cleaner batteries
Released: 22-Jun-2023 1:05 PM EDT
Q&A: On the road toward cleaner batteries
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Batteries come in many shapes and sizes, but their materials can be hard to source. SLAC researchers are trying to build them with more abundant and ethically mined elements.

Released: 18-May-2023 1:30 PM EDT
First SuperCDMS detector towers journey from SLAC to SNOLAB
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

After years of pioneering work, researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have completed the detector towers that will soon sit at the heart of the SuperCDMS SNOLAB dark matter detection experiment.

Released: 5-May-2023 1:30 PM EDT
Scientists capture elusive chemical reaction using enhanced X-ray method
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Researchers at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory captured one of the fastest movements of a molecule called ferricyanide for the first time by combining two ultrafast X-ray spectroscopy techniques. They think their approach could help map more complex chemical reactions like oxygen transportation in blood cells or hydrogen production using artificial photosynthesis.

Newswise:Video Embedded researchers-capture-elusive-missing-step-in-the-final-act-of-photosynthesis
VIDEO
1-May-2023 3:10 PM EDT
Researchers capture elusive missing step in the final act of photosynthesis
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Photosynthesis plays a crucial role in shaping and sustaining life on Earth, yet many aspects of the process remain a mystery. One such mystery is how Photosystem II, a protein complex in plants, algae and cyanobacteria, harvests energy from sunlight and uses it to split water, producing the oxygen we breathe. Now researchers from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, together with collaborators from Uppsala University and Humboldt University and other institutions have succeeded in cracking a key secret of Photosystem II.

Newswise: Researchers develop clever algorithm to improve our understanding of particle beams in accelerators
Released: 1-May-2023 10:05 AM EDT
Researchers develop clever algorithm to improve our understanding of particle beams in accelerators
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Whenever SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory’s linear accelerator is on, packs of around a billion electrons each travel together at nearly the speed of light through metal piping. These electron bunches form the accelerator’s particle beam, which is used to study the atomic behavior of molecules, novel materials and many other subjects.

Newswise: New SLAC-Stanford Battery Center targets roadblocks to a sustainable energy transition
Released: 13-Apr-2023 11:05 AM EDT
New SLAC-Stanford Battery Center targets roadblocks to a sustainable energy transition
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

The Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University today announced the launch of a new joint battery center at SLAC. It will bring together the resources and expertise of the national lab, the university and Silicon Valley to accelerate the deployment of batteries and other energy storage solutions as part of the energy transition that’s essential for addressing climate change.

Newswise: Researchers devise new system for turning seawater into hydrogen fuel
Released: 11-Apr-2023 2:45 PM EDT
Researchers devise new system for turning seawater into hydrogen fuel
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

The SLAC-Stanford team pulled hydrogen directly from ocean waters. Their work could help efforts to generate low-carbon fuel for electric grids, cars, boats and other infrastructure.

Released: 3-Apr-2023 2:40 PM EDT
Galaxy clusters yield new evidence for standard model of cosmology
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

A new study probing the structure and evolution of galaxy clusters shows good agreement with the predictions of standard cosmological models.

Newswise: Researchers find new molecule that shows promise in slowing SARS-CoV-2
Released: 28-Mar-2023 1:45 PM EDT
Researchers find new molecule that shows promise in slowing SARS-CoV-2
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Researchers have designed a molecule that slows the effects of one of SARS-CoV-2's more dangerous components – an enzyme called a protease that cuts off the immune system's communications and helps the virus replicate. While much more needs to happen to develop a drug, scientists can begin to imagine what that drug could look like – thanks to new images of the molecule bound to the protease.

Newswise: Q&A: How to make computing more sustainable
Released: 22-Mar-2023 12:55 PM EDT
Q&A: How to make computing more sustainable
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

SLAC researcher Sadasivan Shankar talks about a new environmental effort starting at the lab – building a roadmap that will help researchers improve the energy efficiency of computing, from devices like cellphones to artificial intelligence.

Newswise: SLAC, Stanford researchers make a new type of quantum material with a dramatic distortion pattern
Released: 22-Feb-2023 12:30 PM EST
SLAC, Stanford researchers make a new type of quantum material with a dramatic distortion pattern
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

The resulting distortions are 'huge' compared to those in other materials, and represent the first demonstration of the Jahn-Teller effect in a layered material with a flat, planar lattice, like a high-rise building with evenly spaced floors.

Newswise: SLAC theorist Lance Dixon receives Galileo Galilei Medal
Released: 16-Feb-2023 12:25 PM EST
SLAC theorist Lance Dixon receives Galileo Galilei Medal
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Lance Dixon, professor of particle physics and astrophysics at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University, will receive the 2023 Galileo Galilei Medal for his contributions to theoretical physics. The award was announced by the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) on Feb. 15 – the 459th birthday of Galileo.

Newswise: Researchers take a step toward novel quantum simulators
Released: 1-Feb-2023 12:55 PM EST
Researchers take a step toward novel quantum simulators
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

If scaled up successfully, the team's new system could help answer questions about certain kinds of superconductors and other unusual states of matter.

Newswise:Video Embedded slacstanford-researchers-discover-how-a-nano-chamber-in-the-cell-directs-protein-folding
VIDEO
7-Dec-2022 12:45 PM EST
SLAC/Stanford researchers discover how a nano-chamber in the cell directs protein folding
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

A landmark study by researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University reveals how a tiny cellular machine called TRiC directs the folding of tubulin, a human protein that is the building block of microtubules that serve as the cell’s scaffolding and transport system.

Newswise: Flameproofing lithium-ion batteries with salt
Released: 7-Dec-2022 11:50 AM EST
Flameproofing lithium-ion batteries with salt
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

A polymer-based electrolyte makes for batteries that keep working – and don’t catch fire – when heated to over 140 degrees F.

Newswise: Chi-Chang Kao to Step Down as SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Director
Released: 27-Oct-2022 1:05 PM EDT
Chi-Chang Kao to Step Down as SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Director
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Chi-Chang Kao has decided to return to research after serving 10 years as director of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. He will continue in the lab director role until a replacement is found.

Released: 26-Oct-2022 6:05 PM EDT
Blaine Mooers Wins 2022 Lytle Award for Decades of Synchrotron Leadership and RNA Research
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Blaine Mooers, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, has won this year’s Farrel W. Lytle Award for advancing synchrotron science and RNA editing research at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The annual award recognizes dedicated staff members and users of the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL), a DOE Office of Science user facility.

Newswise: Mysterious soil virus gene seen for first time
Released: 20-Sep-2022 8:05 AM EDT
Mysterious soil virus gene seen for first time
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Until now, scientists have wondered whether some AMG proteins play a role in critical soil processes, like carbon cycling. To find out more about soil AMGs, researchers determined the atomic structure of a protein that is expressed by a particular AMG.

Newswise:Video Embedded researchers-at-slac-use-purified-liquid-xenon-to-search-for-mysterious-dark-matter-particles
VIDEO
Released: 15-Sep-2022 11:05 AM EDT
Researchers at SLAC use purified liquid xenon to search for mysterious dark matter particles
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

An enormous vat of pure liquid xenon will help scientists at SLAC and around the globe learn more about the universe.



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