Researchers probe molten rock to crack Earth's deepest secrets
New research focused on the quantum structure of elements under extreme conditions has implications for understanding Earth's evolution, interpreting unusual seismic signals, and even the study of exoplanets for insights into habitability.
Itinerant Magnetism and Superconductivity in Exotic 2D Metals for Next-Generation Quantum Devices
The Quantum System Accelerator (QSA) researchers at Berkeley Lab conducted a series of experiments with a new type of layered 2D metal (TMD), finding connections in electronic behavior such as itinerant magnetism and superconductivity, which might potentially help fabricate complex superconducting quantum processors.
Scientists Amplify Superconducting Sensor Arrays Signals Near the Quantum Limit
Conventional sensors usually lack the sensitivity needed for studies of quantum phenomena and other complex cases. One solution is to use superconducting sensors, but amplifying their signals is challenging. Researchers built on advances from quantum computing to add a special type of amplifiers, superconducting traveling-wave parametric amplifiers, to superconducting sensors. These amplifiers are almost noiseless and operate at relatively high temperatures.
Electrons are quick-change artists in molten salts, chemists show
In a finding that helps elucidate how molten salts in advanced nuclear reactors might behave, scientists have shown how electrons interacting with the ions of the molten salt can form three states with different properties.
Signaling Across Kingdoms to Build the Plant Microbiome
In a plant microbiome, the microbial community assembles and changes by exchanging signals between the host plant and the microbes. Researchers have gathered and filtered a large amount of data using a combination of computational approaches to identify new mechanisms in this signaling process. The study discovered a host transport mechanism and a chemical signal that influences beneficial bacterial colonization of plants' roots.
Scientists Find the Potential Key to Longer-Lasting Sodium Batteries for Electric Vehicles
Lithium-ion batteries are useful for electric vehicles but use raw materials that are costly and face potential supply chain issues. The performance of one alternative, sodium-ion batteries, declines rapidly with repeated charges and discharges.
Neutrons see stress in 3D-printed parts, advancing additive manufacturing
Using neutrons to see the additive manufacturing process at the atomic level, scientists have shown that they can measure strain in a material as it evolves and track how atoms move in response to stress.
Cleaner Snow Boosts Future Snowpack Predictions
Less pollution and the odd shapes of snow grains as they pack together should help cut the decline of snowpack later this century.
Plastic production via advanced recycling lowers GHG emissions
Research by the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory reveals that recycling post-use plastic through pyrolysis can reduce GHG emissions by 18-23%. Approach can potentially enhance sustainability by minimizing waste and fossil resource reliance.
Researchers Develop a Novel Method to Study Nuclear Reactions on Short-Lived Isotopes Involved in Explosions of Stars
The nuclear reactions that power stellar explosions involve short-lived nuclei that are hard to study in the laboratory. Researchers used a combination of methods to measure a reaction where a neutron from a deuterium target is exchanged with a proton from a radioactive projectile, a reaction equivalent to a process in exploding stars.
Making Rad Maps with Robot Dogs
Scientists at Berkeley Lab have created multi-sensor systems that can map nuclear radiation in 3D in real-time. Researchers are now testing how to integrate their system with robots that can autonomously investigate radiation areas.
Doubling Down on Known Protein Families
Through a novel approach detailed in Nature, a massive computational analysis of microbiome datasets more than doubled the number of known protein families. This is the first time protein structures have been used to help characterize the vast array of microbial "dark matter."
Tuning a Fundamental Material Property with an Electronic Coating
Researchers have discovered a way to tune some semiconductors to reduce the amount of energy needed to eject electrons. The approach works by placing a bilayer coating of an insulator and graphene on top of the semiconductor then applying a voltage between the semiconductor and graphene. This bilayer approach could improve the efficiency of electromechanical devices and electron accelerators.
Scientists illuminate the mechanics of solid-state batteries
A team led by researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed a framework for designing solid-state batteries, or SSBs, with mechanics in mind. Their paper, published in Science, reviewed how these factors change SSBs during their cycling.
Scientists Discover a New Phase of High-Density, Ultra-Hot Ice
For the first time, scientists have direct evidence of an exotic state of ice that may form inside Uranus, Neptune, and other water-rich gas giants due to extreme temperatures and pressures.
Researchers 3D print moon rover wheel prototype with NASA
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in collaboration with NASA, are taking additive manufacturing to the final frontier by 3D printing the same kind of wheel as the design used by NASA for its robotic lunar rover, demonstrating the technology for specialized parts needed for space exploration.
Researchers catch protons in the act of dissociation with SLAC's ultrafast 'electron camera'
Proving the technique works puts scientists one step closer to unraveling the mysteries of hydrogen transfers.
Scientists Build a Spatial Atlas of the Chloroplast Proteome, the Home of Photosynthesis
Researchers mapped the locations of 1,034 proteins inside the chloroplast of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas. This map is a spatial atlas of the chloroplast proteome--all of the proteins that the organism can produce in the algae's structure that drives photosynthesis.
Groundbreaking Study Shows Defects Spreading Through Diamond Faster Than the Speed of Sound
Researchers have discovered that linear defects can propagate through a material faster than sound waves do. This gives scientists a new appreciation of the damage they might do to a broad range of materials in extreme conditions
Using Artificial Intelligence, Argonne Scientists Develop Self-Driving Microscopy Technique
Argonne researchers have tapped into the power of AI to create a new form of autonomous microscopy.
Using a Gas Jet to Bring Cosmic X-Ray Bursts into the Laboratory
Using a combination of experimental facilities, researchers directly measured a key reaction that takes place in the explosions on the surfaces of neutron stars. This is the first-ever measurement of this reaction. Contrary to expectation, the experimental data agreed with predictions from a common theoretical model used to calculate reaction rates.
Exploring Stellar Hydrogen Burning via Muons and Nuclei
When a muon binds with a deuteron, it forms a system with two neutrons in a process analogous to proton-proton fusion. Nuclear theorists examined this muon capture process to quantify theoretical uncertainty relevant for comparison with experimental data and to test predictions involving proton-proton fusion. The study supports ongoing efforts to enhance the accuracy of muon capture measurements and to apply the same theoretical framework to other processes.
Calculation Shows Why Heavy Quarks Get Caught Up in the Flow
Theorists have successfully calculated the "heavy quark diffusion coefficient," which describes how quickly a melted soup of quarks and gluons transfers its momentum to heavy quarks. The results show this transfer is very fast--at the limit of what quantum mechanics will allow.
Why Is It So Hard to Make Batteries Smaller and Lighter?
Flat lithium-metal coin cell batteries combine solid and liquid components in a way that makes it difficult to see how they fail. In this study, scientists froze a battery, cut it open with a super-fast laser, and took pictures of the interacting components at the microscopic scale.
A Fast, Efficient, and Abundant Catalyst for Carbon Dioxide Reduction
Catalysts are key to turning carbon dioxide into useful fuel products such as hydrocarbons, but most catalysts for this process are either costly or require large amounts of energy. A team of researchers investigated a catalyst made of di-tungsten carbide.