CommUnique: News from the Office of Science

US Department of Energy Office of Science sent this bulletin at 07/26/2021 11:29 AM EDT

26 July 2021

CommUnique provides a biweekly review of recent Office of Science Communications and Public Affairs work, including feature stories, science highlights, social media posts, and more. This is only a sample of our recent work promoting research done at universities, national labs, and user facilities throughout the country. Please note that some links may expire after time.

CommUnique will be on summer break during the month of August. We will see you again in September!

Scientific illustration of two circles, with connected multicolored links

Mag-neato: Team Advances Understanding, Control of Magnetic Droplets

Drop by drop, magnetism is entering a new phase — one that may point the way to liquid, morphing robotics and other fluid technologies that can do what their solid, static counterparts cannot.

NEWS CENTER

The Office of Science posted 82 news pieces between 7/13/2021 and 7/26/2021.

The ATLAS Collaboration at CERN – for which DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory is the U.S. host laboratory – recently confirmed a key prediction of the Standard Model of Particle Physics. A previous experiment had shown a hint of discrepancy in the way certain particles behaved but this far more precise measurement showed that observation may have been due to a fluctuation.

For the first time, researchers have been able to use CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to successfully breed a type of sugarcane. As sugarcane provides 80 percent of the sugar on Earth, this is a major accomplishment for scientists at the University of Florida at the Department of Energy’s Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation.

The world’s thinnest magnet is only the height of a single atom and operates at room temperature. Researchers at DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory recently developed this magnet, which could enable big advances in memory devices, computing, and quantum physics.

Researchers at New York University Tandon developed a way to increase the speed and efficiency of a key process used in manufacturing perovskite solar cells. These cells have the potential to be cheaper and more efficient than silicon. This advance brings them closer to commercial use.

Researchers using the Advanced Photon Source – a DOE user facility at Argonne National Laboratory – have discovered two existing drugs that may be able to inhibit the virus that causes COVID-19. One of the drugs is currently used to treat cancer, while the other one is an anti-seizure medication.

More record-breaking temperatures will occur in the tropics than polar regions, according to research from the University of Arizona. Looking at the temperature data divided by the year-to-year variations, they found that the tropics - which have a large population - are likely to experience more extremes.

SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

The Office of Science posted four new highlights between 7/13/2021 and 7/26/2021.

Scientists at DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a new system for producing radioactive isotopes (radioisotopes) that emit alpha particles. These isotopes are becoming critical tools for cancer treatment. In particular, alpha particles are more destructive to cancer cells and do less damage to surrounding tissue than current isotope-based treatments. If researchers have access to more of these isotopes, they can develop therapies for a wider range of cancers.

Illustration of a layer of cells with a clump of cells in the middle and two spheres with smaller spheres hitting the clump

Photo of a piece of equipment with a glass tube and a zoom-in showing a chemical structure

There is a new streamlined process to develop Astatine-211 (At-211), an isotope of a very rare element that can be used in drugs for cancer treatment. Because this element decays very quickly, scientists need a fast system that can recover a large yield of the isotope. Researchers at Texas A&M University developed a purification system that results in a high-purity, high-yield recovery of At-211 in about 10 to 20 minutes.

Part of understanding the origins of elements in the universe is understanding the specific processes that create elements heavier than iron. Some of these elements form through particular nuclear reactions inside stars called the s-process. Researchers at Texas A&M University determined the probabilities for two reactions involved in this process.

Illustration of an isotope breaking down into another isotope and then that one breaking into two isotopes

IN THE NEWS

New York Times: Why record-breaking overnight temperatures are so concerning

This article describes how nights are warming faster than days across the U.S. due to climate change and how that affects public health. It quotes Claudia Tebaldiw from DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Science Friday: Research for new battery technology is gaining steam

This segment digs into how researchers are working to make better batteries by improving their chemistry and developing new ways to plug them into the grid. The program interviews DOE Argonne National Laboratory’s Venkat Srinivasan.

Nature: Beyond coronavirus: the virus discoveries transforming biology

This feature looks at the vast increases in knowledge that scientists have gained in the past few years about viruses. It describes Frederik Schulz’s work on giant viruses at DOE’s Joint Genome Institute.

TOP TWEETS

The Office of Science sent out 114 tweets between 7/13/2021 and 7/26/2021. Here are the two most popular:

Tweet with a photo of two men working on a piece of flat equipment, describes the undergrad internship programs

Tweet on Gertrude Scharff Goldhaber with a black and white photo of her

BY THE NUMBERS

DOE Internships Now Open for Applications!

Photo of a man and woman in safety goggles working at a shelf with electronics

DOE and its predecessors have more than 60 years of experience in training and supporting the next generation of scientists, mathematicians, and engineers. DOE’s Office of Science currently hosts two paid undergraduate internship programs: the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships (SULI) program and the Community College Internships (CCI) program. SULI participants can apply to work at one of 17 participating national laboratories and CCI participants can work at one of 16 participating national laboratories. About 4,000 undergraduate interns participate each year. We recently opened applications for the spring 2022 term. The application deadline is October 6, 2021, at 5:00 p.m. ET.

END NOTES

Video: Emerging technologies – Quantum information science

Screenshot of a video with a woman in front of a quantum computer

Quantum information science is a key area of research at DOE’s national labs. Scientists and engineers are working to develop everything from quantum sensors and computers to the quantum internet. Check out this video narrated by Silvia Zorzetti from DOE’s Fermilab on our cutting-edge work on quantum information science.

Please see the Communique archive on Energy.gov for past issues.

No. 62: 26 July 2021