Conservation Mind Game
A new study led by Kathryn Caldwell, an assistant professor of psychology at Ithaca College, demonstrates that homeowners can be encouraged to make changes to their energy use with a simple education plan and some helpful tricks from the world of social psychology.
X-Rays Reveal 'Handedness' in Swirling Electric Vortices
Scientists used spiraling X-rays at Berkeley Lab to observe, for the first time, a property that gives left- or right-handedness to swirling electric patterns - dubbed polar vortices - in a layered material called a superlattice.
Breaking Bad Metals with Neutrons
By combining the latest developments in neutron scattering and theory, researchers are close to predicting phenomena like superconductivity and magnetism in strongly correlated electron systems. It is likely that the next advances in superconductivity and magnetism will come from such systems, but they might also be used in completely new ways such as quantum computing.
ORNL Researchers Use Titan to Accelerate Design, Training of Deep Learning Networks
For deep learning to be effective, existing neural networks to be modified, or novel networks designed and then "trained" so that they know precisely what to look for and can produce valid results. This is a time-consuming and difficult task, but one that a team of ORNL researchers recently demonstrated can be dramatically expedited with a capable computing system.
Dark Energy Survey Publicly Releases First Three Years of Data
At a special session held during the American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington, D.C., scientists on the Dark Energy Survey (DES) announced today the public release of their first three years of data. This first major release of data from the Survey includes information on about 400 million astronomical objects, including distant galaxies billions of light-years away as well as stars in our own galaxy.
Ingredients for Life Revealed in Meteorites That Fell to Earth
A detailed study of blue salt crystals found in two meteorites that crashed to Earth - which included X-ray experiments at Berkeley Lab - found that they contain both liquid water and a mix of complex organic compounds including hydrocarbons and amino acids.
Rewritable Wires Could Mean No More Obsolete Circuitry
An electric field switches the conductivity on and off in atomic-scale channels, which could allow for upgrades at will.
Research Outlines the Interconnected Benefits of Urban Agriculture
a team of researchers led by Arizona State University and Google has assessed the value of urban agriculture and quantified its benefits at global scale. They report their findings in "A Global Geospatial Ecosystems Services Estimate of Urban Agriculture," in the current issue of Earth's Future.
Filtering Water Better than Nature
Water passes through human-made straws faster than the "gold standard" protein, allowing us to filter seawater.
Machine Learning Provides a Bridge to the Texture of the Quantum World
Machine learning and neural networks are the foundation of artificial intelligence and image recognition, but now they offer a bridge to see and recognize exotic insulating phases in quantum materials.
A Rare Quantum State Realized in a New Material
A revolutionary material harbors magnetism and massless electrons that travel near the speed of light--for future ultrasensitive, high-efficiency electronics and sensors.
Discovering Secrets of Superfluids
Observed atomic dynamics helps explain bizarre flow without friction that has been puzzling scientists for decades.
An Exotic State of Matter Discovered in 2-D Material
Electrons are forced to the edge of the road on a thin sheet of tungsten ditelluride.
Going Organic
Using Argonne's Advanced Photon Source, researchers analyzed how organic solar cells' crystal structures develop as they are produced under different conditions. With the APS, researchers learned how certain additives affect the microstructures obtained, providing new insights that can improve the cells' efficiency.
New Catalyst for Making Fuels From Shale Gas
Methane in shale gas can be turned into hydrocarbon fuels using an innovative platinum and copper alloy catalyst, according to new research led by UCL (University College London) and Tufts University.
Ten Stories in 2017 You May Have Missed, Plus a Bonus
Article lists 10 PPPL stories, plus a bonus, that readers may have missed in 2017.
Surprising Result Shocks Scientists Studying Spin
Scientists analyzing results of spinning protons striking different sized atomic nuclei at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) found an odd directional preference in the production of neutrons that switches sides as the size of the nuclei increases.The results offer new insight into the mechanisms affecting particle production in these collisions.
Real World Native Biocrusts: Microbial Metabolism
Specific compounds are transformed by and strongly associated with specific bacteria in native biological soil crust (biocrust) using a suite of tools called "exometabolomics." Understanding how microbial communities in biocrusts adapt to harsh environments could shed light on the roles of soil microbes in the global carbon cycle.
Story Tips From the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, January 2018
Study identifies microbes to diagnose endometriosis without surgery; brain-inspired device can quickly classify data; neutrons "see" how water flows through fractured rock; new method could help with demand for electric vehicle charging stations; bio-based, shape-memory material could replace today's conductors; novel approach for studying material's magnetic behavior could boost quantum computing
A Fossil Fuel Technology That Doesn't Pollute
Engineers at The Ohio State University are developing technologies that have the potential to economically convert fossil fuels and biomass into useful products including electricity without emitting carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Researchers Discover Higher Environmental Impact From Cookstove Emissions
Millions of Asian families use cookstoves and often fuel them with cheap biofuels to prepare food. But the smoke emitted from these cookstoves has a definite, detrimental environmental impact, particularly in India. New research from Washington University in St. Louis offers a clearer picture of the topic's true scope.
New Study Visualizes Motion of Water Molecules, Promises New Wave of Electronic Devices
An Oak Ridge National Laboratory-led research team used a sophisticated X-ray scattering technique to visualize and quantify the movement of water molecules in space and time, which provides new insights that may open pathways for liquid-based electronics.
Alaskan Microgrids Offer Energy Resilience and Independence
The electrical grid in the contiguous United States is a behemoth of interconnected systems; if one section fails, millions could be without power. Remote villages in Alaska provide an example of how safeguards could build resilience into a larger electrical grid. These communities rely on microgrids -- small, local power stations that operate autonomously. Nine articles in the recent issue of the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, provide the first reviews of energy technologies and costs for microgrids in Alaska.
A Catalytic Balancing Act
Scientists have recently used a new and counterintuitive approach to create a better catalyst that supports one of the reactions involved in splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. By first creating an alloy of two of the densest naturally occurring elements and then removing one, the scientists reshaped the remaining material's structure so that it better balanced three important factors: activity, stability and conductivity.
Feathering the Plasma Nest: Tiny Structures Help Prevent Short Circuits in Plasma Devices
Article describes method of preventing plasma from causing short circuits in machines such as spacecraft thrusters.