With Extra Sugar, Leaves Get Fat Too
Eat too much without exercising and you'll probably put on a few pounds. As it turns out, plant leaves do something similar. In a new study at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, scientists show that retaining sugars in plant leaves can make them get fat too. In plants, this extra fat accumulation could be a good thing.
High-Speed Movie Aids Scientists Who Design Glowing Molecules
In a recent experiment conducted at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, a research team used bright, ultrafast X-ray pulses from SLAC's X-ray free-electron laser to create a high-speed movie of a fluorescent protein in action. With that information, the scientists began to design a marker that switches more easily, a quality that can improve resolution during biological imaging.
Biomass-Produced Electricity in the US Possible, but It'll Cost
If the U.S. wants to start using wood pellets to produce energy, either the government or power customers will have to pay an extra cost, a new University of Georgia study has found.
Scientists Make Atoms-Thick Post-It Notes for Solar Cells and Circuits
In a study published Sept. 20 in Nature, UChicago and Cornell University researchers describe an innovative method to make stacks of semiconductors just a few atoms thick. The technique offers scientists and engineers a simple, cost-effective method to make thin, uniform layers of these materials, which could expand capabilities for devices from solar cells to cell phones.
Titan Helps Researchers Suck Mystery Out of Cell's 'Vacuum Cleaners'
In cancer cells, a membrane transport protein called P-glycoprotein, or Pgp, actively pumps anticancer drugs out of the cell, contributing to multidrug resistance. Recently, a team led by computational biophysicist Emad Tajkhorshid from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) used the Titan supercomputer to uncover new details about Pgp that could help the drug discovery community manipulate Pgp function.
Laser-Free Method of Ion Cooling Has Range of Potential Uses
Prof. Daniel Zajfman's universal ion trap cools to a tenth of a degree above absolute zero. The new method does not depend on the type or the weight of the ion and, thus, might be used to investigate the properties of large biological molecules or nanoparticles, among other things.
Tiny Lasers from a Gallery of Whispers
Whispering gallery mode resonators rely on a phenomenon similar to an effect observed in circular galleries, and the same phenomenon applies to light. When light is stored in ring-shaped or spherical active resonators, the waves superimpose in such a way that it can result in laser light. This week in APL Photonics, investigators report a new type of dye-doped WGM micro-laser that produces light with tunable wavelengths.
Copper Catalyst Yields High Efficiency CO2-to-Fuels Conversion
Berkeley Lab scientists have developed a new electrocatalyst that can directly convert carbon dioxide into multicarbon fuels and alcohols using record-low inputs of energy. The work is the latest in a round of studies coming out of Berkeley Lab tackling the challenge of a creating a clean chemical manufacturing system that can put carbon dioxide to good use.
Solar-to-Fuel System Recycles CO2 to Make Ethanol and Ethylene
Berkeley Lab scientists have harnessed the power of photosynthesis to convert carbon dioxide into fuels and alcohols at efficiencies far greater than plants. The achievement marks a significant advance in the effort to move toward sustainable sources of fuel.
New Evidence for Small, Short-Lived Drops of Early Universe Quark-Gluon Plasma?
UPTON, NY--Particles emerging from even the lowest energy collisions of small deuterons with large heavy nuclei at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC)--a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility for nuclear physics research at DOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory--exhibit behavior scientists associate with the formation of a soup of quarks and gluons, the fundamental building blocks of nearly all visible matter.
New Insights Into Nanocrystal Growth in Liquid
PNNL researchers have measured the forces that cause certain crystals to assemble, revealing competing factors that researchers might be able to control. The work has a variety of implications in both discovery and applied science. In addition to providing insights into the formation of minerals and semiconductor nanomaterials, it might also help scientists understand soil as it expands and contracts through wetting and drying cycles.
Discovery Could Reduce Nuclear Waste with Improved Method to Chemically Engineer Molecules
A new chemical principle discovered by scientists at Indiana University has the potential to revolutionize the creation of specially engineered molecules whose uses include the reduction of nuclear waste and the extraction of chemical pollutants from water and soil.
Biologist Reaches Into Electric Eel Tank, Comes Out with Equation to Measure Shocks
Vanderbilt University researcher Ken Catania stuck his arm into a tank with small electric eel 10 times -- the only way to get accurate measurements of the circuit created by animal, arm and water.
Fungi: Gene Activator Role Discovered
Specific modifications to fungi DNA may hold the secret to turning common plant degradation agents into biofuel producers.
New Study on Graphene-Wrapped Nanocrystals Makes Inroads Toward Next-Gen Fuel Cells
A new Berkeley Lab-led study provides insight into how an ultrathin coating can enhance the performance of graphene-wrapped nanocrystals for hydrogen storage applications.
Getting to the Point (Mutations) in Re-Engineering Biofuel-Producing Bacterial Enzymes
Helping bacteria become more efficient when breaking down fibrous plant waste into biofuel could result in more affordable biofuels for our gas tanks and sustainable products such as bioplastics. One way to achieve this goal is to re-engineer the bacterial enzyme complexes, called cellulosomes, which serve as catalysts in the degradation process. Researchers discuss one method to produce cellulosomes in The Journal of Chemical Physics.
Berkeley Lab Scientists Map Key DNA Protein Complex at Near-Atomic Resolution
Using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), Berkeley Lab scientists have obtained 3-D models of a human transcription factor at near-atomic resolutions. The protein complex is critical to gene expression and DNA repair, and could aid research in targeted drug development.
New Manufacturing Process For SiC Power Devices Opens Market to More Competition
Researchers are rolling out a new manufacturing process and chip design for silicon carbide (SiC) power devices, which can be used to more efficiently regulate power in electronics. The process was developed to make it easier for companies to enter the SiC marketplace and develop new products.
First Look at a Living Cell Membrane
Neutrons provide the solution to nanoscale examination of living cell membrane and confirm the existence of lipid rafts.
High Yield Biomass Conversion Strategy Ready for Commercialization
Researchers convert 80 percent of biomass into high-value products with strategy that's ready for commercialization.
Consequences of Drought Stress on Biofuels
Switchgrass cultivated during a year of severe drought inhibited microbial fermentation and resulting biofuel production.
Physicists Propose New Way to Stabilize Next-Generation Fusion Plasmas
Recent experiments conducted on the DIII-D National Fusion Facility suggest that up to 40 percent of high-energy particles are lost during tokamak fusion reactions because of Alfven waves.
A Sweeter Way to Make Green Products
University of Delaware researchers have invented a more efficient process for extracting sugars from wood chips, corn cobs and other organic waste. This biorenewable feedstock could serve as a cheaper, sustainable substitute for petroleum used to make tons of consumer goods annually.
Clay Minerals and Metal Oxides Change How Uranium Travels Through Sediments
Montmorillonite clays prevent uranium from precipitating from liquids, letting it travel with groundwater.
Tundra Loses Carbon with Rapid Permafrost Thaw
Seven-year-study shows plant growth does not sustainably balance carbon losses from solar warming and permafrost thaw.