Getting Metal Under Graphite's Skin
Some metals need to be protected from the atmosphere. Exposure leads to damage that ruins their unique properties. Controllably forming metal islands just under the surface of graphite protects the metals. This allows these metals to take on new roles in ultrafast quantum computers. It also means new roles in magnetic, catalytic, or plasmonic materials.
Atomically Packed Boundaries Resist Cracking
Scientists devised specialized X-ray mapping techniques. They determined that boundaries associated with regions where atoms are closely packed together most readily resist cracking. This analysis revealed that when a crack encounters such a boundary, it's deflected to a less direct path and crack growth is slowed.
End-run Spreads Lithium Throughout Battery Electrodes
Scientists used chemically sensitive X-ray microscopy to map lithium transport during battery operation.
Knowledgebase Is Power for Nuclear Reactor Developers
Six new nuclear reactor technologies are planned to commercially deploy between 2030 and 2040. ORNL's Weiju Ren heads a project managing structural materials information. This conversation explores challenges and opportunities in sharing nuclear materials knowledge internationally.
Excited Atoms Rush Independently to New Positions
How atoms react to a sudden burst of light shows scientists how the larger material might act in sensors, data storage devices, and more.
Chaos Ensues When Lasers and Plasma Meet
Warp+PXR dramatically improves the accuracy of the simulations compared to those typically used in plasma research. Now, researchers can simulate lasers' interactions with plasma with much higher precision.
This Superconductor Does Not Take Light Lightly
Superconductors are materials that show no resistance to electrical current when cooled. Recently, scientists discovered a new superconducting material. Now, scientists have found that when exposed to low-energy ultraviolet light, the material acts as a superconductor at higher temperatures.
Nuclear Physics Detector Tech Used in Cancer Treatment Monitoring System
The OARtrac(r) system includes technologies that are based on a novel application of scintillating material in fiber form. Doctors can insert these scintillating fibers into the human body via a catheter to monitor the radiation that cancer patients receive in a range of hard-to-reach areas.
Machine Learning Helps Create Detailed, Efficient Models of Water
A team devised a way to better model water's properties. They developed a machine-learning workflow that offers accurate and computationally efficient models.
Cultivating the Assembly Landscape
For the first time, a team determined and predictably manipulated the energy landscape of a material assembled from proteins. Designing materials that easily and reliably morph on command could benefit water filtration, sensing applications, and adaptive devices.
A Change in Structure for a Superheavy Magnesium Isotope
A recent measurement exploring the structure of magnesium-40 has shown a surprising change in the structure relative to expectations. This unanticipated change could be pointing to physics missing from our theories, such as the effects of weak binding between particles.
Bursts of Light Shape Walls Between Waves of Charge
To better store data, scientists need ways to change a material's properties suddenly. For example, they want a material that can go from insulator to conductor and back again. Now, they devised a surprisingly simple way of flipping a material from one state into another, and back again, with flashes of light. A single light pulse turns thin sheets of tantalum disulfide from its original (alpha) state into a mixture of alpha and beta states. Domain walls separate the two states. A second pulse of light dissolves the walls, and the material returns to its original state.
New Geometric Model Improves Predictions of Fluid Flow in Rock
Supercomputer validates mathematical approach for describing geological features.
Deep Learning Reveals Mysteries of Deep Space
How do you determine the measurable "things" that describe the nature of our universe? To answer that question, researchers used CosmoFlow, a deep learning technique, running on a National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center supercomputer. They analyzed large, complex data sets from 3-D simulations of the distribution of matter to answer that question. The team showed that CosmoFlow offers a new platform to gain a deeper understanding of the universe.
At DOE's Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, science drives next-gen creations
American ingenuity is providing radical productivity improvements from advanced materials and robotic systems developed at the Department of Energy's Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
High-Fidelity Multiphysics Simulations to Improve Nuclear Reactor Safety and Economics
Engineers can model heat distribution in reactor designs with fewer or no approximations.
Tiny Vortices Could One Day Haul Microscopic Cargo
The behavior of active magnetic liquids suggests new pathways to transport particles across surfaces and build materials that self-heal.
How Does Mother Nature Tackle the Tough Triple Bond Found in Nitrogen?
Researchers demystify how the nitrogenase enzyme breaks bonds to learn a better way to make ammonia.
A Detailed View of the Ancestor of Photosynthesis
The symmetrical light-gathering, energy-producing complex offers insights into how modern photosystems evolved.
Unique Interface and Unexpected Behavior Help Explain How Heavy Metals Act
Three types of water molecules form around a platinum-based ion, offering insights for waste processing and metal refining.
Maximizing Ozone Signals
New technique enables more efficient and precise estimates of trends in ozone and other atmospheric constituents within selected geographical regions and timeframes.
How Much Water Does the World Use?
Global data set shows monthly water use by irrigation, manufacturing, and other uses, helping researchers to analyze water use by region and season.
Get to the Root: Tiny Poplar Roots Extract More Water than Their Larger Counterparts after Drought
Researchers link root water uptake to root traits and assess (poor) performance of common models.
Ions on the Edge
Ions at the edge of water, exposed to air, don't separate like they do when surrounded by water, offering insights for desalination and corrosion.
First Observation of Methane's Increasing Greenhouse Effect at the Earth's Surface
Predictions of the direct impacts of greenhouse gases must account for local temperature and humidity conditions.