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Despite popular conceptions as an offshoot of the environmental movement, much of the field of ecology evolved to meet the needs of the federal government during the Atomic Age. The Department of Energy’s national laboratories played a key role, from developing fundamental theories to computer models. The contributions from the institutions that became Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory still influence the field today.

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Tracking movements of individual particles provides understanding of collective motions, synchronization and self-assembly.

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Bottom-up synthesis of tunable carbon nanoribbons provides a new route to enhance industrial, automotive reactions.

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More atomic bonds is the key for performance in a newly discovered family of cage-structured compounds.

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A twisted array of atomic magnets were driven to move in a curved path, a needed level of control for use in future memory devices.

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Simple, economical process makes large-diameter, high-performance, thin, transparent, and conductive foils for bendable LEDs and more.

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Enhanced stability in the presence of water could help reduce smokestack emissions of greenhouse gases.

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New material based on common iron ore can help turn intermittent sunlight and water into long-lasting fuel.

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The universe is stretching out ever more rapidly – a phenomena known as cosmic acceleration – and scientists don’t know why. Understanding the “dark energy” that is causing this expansion would help them put together a clearer picture of the universe’s history. Scientists supported by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science are using massive telescopes to chart how dark energy has influenced the structure of the universe over time.

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Scientists are devising ways to protect plants, biofuels and, ultimately, the atmosphere itself from damage caused by an element that sustains life on earth.

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Research reveals that giant viruses acquire genes piecemeal from others, with implications for bioenergy production and environmental cleanup.

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Researchers find a grass gene affecting how plants manage water and carbon dioxide that could be useful to growing biofuel crops on marginal land.

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Teamwork provides insight into complicated cloud processes that are important to potential environmental changes in the Arctic.

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Plants and soil microbes may be altered by climate warming at different rates and in different ways, meaning vital nutrient patterns could be misaligned.

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For the first time, scientists pinpointed how often storms topple trees, helping to predict how changes in Amazonia affect the world.

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A newly discovered metabolic process linking different bacteria in a community could enhance bioenergy production.

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Today U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry announced that six leading U.S. technology companies will receive funding from the Department of Energy’s Exascale Computing Project (ECP) as part of its new PathForward program, accelerating the research necessary to deploy the nation’s first exascale supercomputers.

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In some of the coldest places in the world, scientists supported by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science are studying how permafrost thaws. Using both field and laboratory data, these researchers are collaborating with modelers to improve our understanding of future climate change.

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Researchers create materials with controllable electrical and magnetic properties, even at room temperature.

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Novel electrode materials have designed pathways for electrons and ions during the charge/discharge cycle.

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First observation of “quantum” heat transport uncovers the ultimate limits for nanoscale devices.

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Researchers made a sheet of boron only one atom thick with the potential to change solar panels, computers, and more.

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New well-packed organic glass better resists changes when exposed to light.

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Scientists devised a new synthesis route to produce a catalyst that doubles the conversion rate compared to the best previously reported catalyst.

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A new device design allows ten-fold increase in spin currents, laying the path to use in computing and high-efficiency electronics.

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Researchers perform first spectroscopic measurements on antihydrogen in pursuit of one of our biggest scientific mysteries: why is there so little antimatter in the universe?

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New work seeks to explain a strange phenomenon occurring in fusion reactor materials.

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A new type of lens improves the focusing precision at the world’s most powerful X-ray light sources.

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Scientists devised method that could help scientists learn new ways to boost photovoltaic efficiency.

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Nanoscale images by Molecular Foundry researchers yield surprise that could push solar cell efficiency to 31 percent.

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New Fresh-slice scheme provides customizable X-rays for studies needed to build more efficient electronics and cleaner energy.

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Scientists surprised by discovery that copper embedded in carbon nano-spikes can turn carbon dioxide into ethanol.

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Neutron-scattering studies reveal surprising formation of ammonia after acetonitrile is turned into graphitic polymer, opening doors for catalyst-free industrial reactions at room temperature.

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Oleo Sponge could make oil spill cleanup more efficient.

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Researchers invent a new single-step approach to constructing electromagnetic metamaterials uses tiny self-assembled pillars in composite films.

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Researchers invent a low-tech, solution-based route to high-performance carbon nanotube thin films.

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Scientists coax simple molecules into forming complex three-dimensional structures for faster, more energy-efficient electronics.

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This is one in a ongoing series of profiles on the directors of the Department of Energy Office of Science-stewarded user facilities.These scientists lead a variety of research institutions that provide researchers with the most advanced tools of modern science including accelerators, colliders, supercomputers, light sources and neutron sources, as well as facilities for studying the nano world, the environment, and the atmosphere.

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Designed molecules will provide positive impacts in energy production by selectively removing unwanted ions from complex solutions.

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Enhanced software tools will accelerate gene discovery and characterization, vital for new forms of fuel production.

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Computer calculations by the Center for Solar Fuels, an Energy Frontier Research Center, shed light on nebulous interactions in semiconductors relevant to dye-sensitized solar cells.

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Researchers at Nanostructures for Electrical Energy Storage, an Energy Frontier Research Center, take advantage of nature-made materials and structure for energy storage research.

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Water table depth and groundwater flow are vital to understanding the amount of water that plants transmit to the atmosphere.

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A new computational technique greatly simplifies the complex reaction networks common to catalysis and combustion fields.

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A new material from the Inorganometallic Catalyst Design Center, an Energy Frontier Research Center, facilitates the production of key industrial supplies.

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It’s the classic plot of a buddy movie. Two struggling bodies team up to drive the plot and do good together. That same idea, when it comes to metals, could help scientists solve a big problem: the amount of energy consumed by making chemicals.

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New materials, designed by researchers at the Center for Excitonics, an Energy Frontier Research Center, can reduce energy consumption with the flip of a switch.

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Scientists at the ANSER Energy Frontier Research Center designed a two-component layer protects a sunlight-harvesting device from water and heat.

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Scientists at the Photosynthetic Antenna Research Center (PARC), an Energy Frontier Research Center, discovered a way that life could regulate solar energy transfer

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Researchers at Energy Dissipation to Defect Evolution (EDDE) Energy Frontier Research Center