Bright Thinking Leads to Breakthrough in Nuclear Threat Detection Science
Taking inspiration from an unusual source, a Sandia National Laboratories team has dramatically improved the science of scintillators -- objects that detect nuclear threats. According to the team, using organic glass scintillators could soon make it even harder to smuggle nuclear materials through America's ports and borders.
What's On Your Skin? Archaea, That's What
It turns out your skin is crawling with single-celled microorganisms - (break)and they're not just bacteria. A study by the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the Medical University of Graz has found that the skin microbiome also contains archaea, a type of extreme-loving microbe, and that the amount of it varies with age.
Magnetic Particles that Flock Like Birds
Tracking movements of individual particles provides understanding of collective motions, synchronization and self-assembly.
'On Your Mark, Get Set' Neutrons Run Enzyme's Reactivity for Better Biofuel Production
Producing biofuels like ethanol from plant materials requires various enzymes to break down the cellulosic fibers. Researchers from ORNL and NC State used neutrons to identify the specifics of an enzyme-catalyzed reaction that could significantly reduce the total amount of enzymes used, improving production processes and lowering costs.
Magnetic Curve Balls
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.
New "Gold Standard" for Flexible Electronics
Simple, economical process makes large-diameter, high-performance, thin, transparent, and conductive foils for bendable LEDs and more.
Microbe Mystery Solved: What Happened to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Plume
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 is one of the most studied spills in history, yet scientists haven't agreed on the role of microbes in eating up the oil. Now a research team at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has identified all of the principal oil-degrading bacteria as well as their mechanisms for chewing up the many different components that make up the released crude oil.
New Class of 'Soft' Semiconductors Could Transform HD Displays
New research by Berkeley Lab scientists could help usher in a new generation of high-definition displays, optoelectronic devices, photodetectors, and more. They have shown that a class of "soft" semiconductors can be used to emit multiple, bright colors from a single nanowire at resolutions as small as 500 nanometers. The work could challenge quantum dot displays that rely upon traditional semiconductor nanocrystals to emit light.
Could This Strategy Bring High-Speed Communications to the Deep Sea?
A new strategy for sending acoustic waves through water could potentially open up the world of high-speed communications to divers, marine research vessels, remote ocean monitors, deep sea robots, and submarines. By taking advantage of the dynamic rotation generated as the acoustic wave travels, also known as its orbital angular momentum, Berkeley Lab researchers were able to pack more channels onto a single frequency, effectively increasing the amount of information capable of being transmitted.
2-D Material's Traits Could Send Electronics R&D Spinning in New Directions
Researchers created an atomically thin material at Berkeley Lab and used X-rays to measure its exotic and durable properties that make it a promising candidate for a budding branch of electronics known as "spintronics."
Manipulating Earth-Abundant Materials to Harness the Sun's Energy
New material based on common iron ore can help turn intermittent sunlight and water into long-lasting fuel.
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Ames Lab Scientists' Surprising Discovery: Making Ferromagnets Stronger by Adding Non-Magnetic Element
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory discovered that they could functionalize magnetic materials through a thoroughly unlikely method, by adding amounts of the virtually non-magnetic element scandium to a gadolinium-germanium alloy. It was so unlikely they called it a "counterintuitive experimental finding" in their published work on the research.
Cut U.S. Commercial Building Energy Use 29% with Widespread Controls
The U.S. could slash its energy use by the equivalent of what is currently used by 12 to 15 million Americans if commercial buildings fully used energy-efficiency controls nationwide.
How a Single Chemical Bond Balances Cells Between Life and Death
With SLAC's X-ray laser and synchrotron, scientists measured exactly how much energy goes into keeping a crucial chemical bond from triggering a cell's death spiral.
New Efficient, Low-Temperature Catalyst for Converting Water and CO to Hydrogen Gas and CO2
Scientists have developed a new low-temperature catalyst for producing high-purity hydrogen gas while simultaneously using up carbon monoxide (CO). The discovery could improve the performance of fuel cells that run on hydrogen fuel but can be poisoned by CO.
Study Sheds Light on How Bacterial Organelles Assemble
Scientists at Berkeley Lab and Michigan State University are providing the clearest view yet of an intact bacterial microcompartment, revealing at atomic-level resolution the structure and assembly of the organelle's protein shell. This work can help provide important information for research in bioenergy, pathogenesis, and biotechnology.
A Single Electron's Tiny Leap Sets Off 'Molecular Sunscreen' Response
In experiments at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, scientists were able to see the first step of a process that protects a DNA building block called thymine from sun damage: When it's hit with ultraviolet light, a single electron jumps into a slightly higher orbit around the nucleus of a single oxygen atom.
Researchers Find New Mechanism for Genome Regulation
The same mechanisms that separate mixtures of oil and water may also help the organization of an unusual part of our DNA called heterochromatin, according to a new study by Berkeley Lab researchers. They found that liquid-liquid phase separation helps heterochromatin organize large parts of the genome into specific regions of the nucleus. The work addresses a long-standing question about how DNA functions are organized in space and time, including how genes are silenced or expressed.
The Rise of Giant Viruses
Research reveals that giant viruses acquire genes piecemeal from others, with implications for bioenergy production and environmental cleanup.
Grasses: The Secrets Behind Their Success
Researchers find a grass gene affecting how plants manage water and carbon dioxide that could be useful to growing biofuel crops on marginal land.
SLAC Experiment is First to Decipher Atomic Structure of an Intact Virus with an X-ray Laser
An international team of scientists has for the first time used an X-ray free-electron laser to unravel the structure of an intact virus particle on the atomic level. The method dramatically reduces the amount of virus material required, while also allowing the investigations to be carried out several times faster than before. This opens up entirely new research opportunities.
New Perspectives Into Arctic Cloud Phases
Teamwork provides insight into complicated cloud processes that are important to potential environmental changes in the Arctic.
Illuminating a Better Way to Calculate Excitation Energy
In a new study appearing this week in The Journal of Chemical Physics, researchers demonstrate a new method to calculate excitation energies. They used a new approach based on density functional methods, which use an atom-by-atom approach to calculate electronic interactions. By analyzing a benchmark set of small molecules and oligomers, their functional produced more accurate estimates of excitation energy compared to other commonly used density functionals, while requiring less computing power.
Mountaintop Plants and Soils to Become Out of Sync
Plants and soil microbes may be altered by climate warming at different rates and in different ways, meaning vital nutrient patterns could be misaligned.
If a Tree Falls in the Amazon
For the first time, scientists pinpointed how often storms topple trees, helping to predict how changes in Amazonia affect the world.