2016 | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

Scientists Boost Catalytic Activity for Key Chemical Reaction in Fuel Cells

A multi-institution team of scientists used the transmission electron microscope at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials to characterize new platinum-based catalysts - catalysts designed with the least amount of platinum and the most stable operation over time – to improve fuel cell efficiency.

Scientists develop a path toward improved high-energy accelerators

Physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), in collaboration with researchers in South Korea and Germany, have developed a theoretical framework for improving the stability and intensity of particle accelerator beams.

Scientists Measure Pulse of CO2 Emissions During Spring Thaw in the Arctic

Findings by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in collaboration with a team of other scientists taking measurements both in the field and in the lab mean the Arctic may be even less of a carbon sink than previously thought.

Water: Finding the Normal Within the Weird

A team of researchers from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have measured properties of water at deeply supercooled temperatures – below freezing but still a liquid – for the first time.

Laser R&D Focuses on Next-Gen Particle Collider

A set of new laser systems and proposed upgrades at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) will propel long-term plans for a more compact and affordable ultrahigh-energy particle collider.

Energy Cascades in Quasicrystals Trigger an Avalanche of Discovery

Scientists at the Argonne National Laboratory looked at quasicrystals – materials with geometrically organized, but never repeating atomic structures – and unexpectedly found redistribution of energy occurs as a chain reaction would in the forked branches of a lightning strike.

Scientists Decipher How Local Weather Can Change Global Climate Patterns

Using the MPAS global variable-resolution atmospheric model, PNNL researchers efficiently simulated how local Asian convection affects the southern hemisphere jet stream thousands of miles away via upscale effects, an important part of understanding weather and climate.

Dark Energy Survey Discovers Potential New Dwarf Planet

Dark Energy Survey (DES) scientists recently reported the discovery of a potential dwarf planet located 92 times farther from the sun than the Earth is, more than twice as distant as Pluto. The new dwarf planet was discovered using the Dark Energy Camera, a scientific instrument built at Fermilab to probe the mystery of dark energy.

New Limits in the Search for Sterile Neutrinos

New searches for sterile neutrinos, hypothetical particles that do not directly “talk to” any particles in the Standard Model, significantly narrow the remaining regions where these particles may be hiding.

Neutrons Identify Key Ingredients of the Quantum Spin Liquid Recipe

Neutron scattering studies of a rare earth metal oxide have identified fundamental pieces to the quantum spin liquid puzzle, revealing a better understanding of how and why the magnetic moments within these materials exhibit exotic behaviors such as failing to freeze into an ordered arrangement even near absolute zero temperatures.

Jefferson Lab–NVIDIA Collaboration Uses Titan to Boost Subatomic Particle Research

Jefferson Lab researchers and Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility teams are using the Titan supercomputer to gain unprecedented insight into subatomic particle interactions after refining computer codes for quantum chromodynamic applications to run more efficiently and effectively, achieving speedups ranging from seven-to-tenfold.

Magnetic Reconnection Research Sheds Light on Explosive Phenomena in Astrophysics and Fusion Experiments

Physicists Masaaki Yamada of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and Ellen Zweibel of the University of Wisconsin-Madison have provided a major perspective on four key problems in magnetic reconnection that triggers explosive phenomena throughout the universe.