|
 7 September 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.
|
|
|
|
Microelectronic devices are vital to nearly every aspect of our lives—from running a small business to driving the global economy, from tracking our personal health to fighting a pandemic, and from delivering power to our homes to securing our nation’s infrastructure. For decades, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science and the DOE national laboratories have worked with U.S. industry to develop and demonstrate scientific advancements for microelectronics.
Read more about how the DOE's Office of Science is supporting research in microelectronics.
|
|
The Office of Science posted 243 news pieces between 7/26/2021 and 9/7/2021.
|
|
|
A team that includes researchers from DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University has made the first direct observation of how hydrogen atoms in water molecules tug and push neighboring ones when they’re excited with laser light. These results could reveal effects that underpin the origin of water’s strange properties.
|
|
|
Electrifying heavy-duty vehicles and aircraft requires batteries with more energy density. One option would be to take advantage of the anionic reduction-oxidation mechanism in lithium-rich cathodes. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have made a direct observation of this reaction in a lithium-rich battery material for the first time.
|
|
|
|
Scientists at DOE’s Ames Laboratory discovered that an unwanted byproduct of their experiments was an extremely high-quality and difficult-to-obtain substance sought after by scientists researching layered materials. Scientists researching graphene use the material for insulation.
|
|
|
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Argonne National Laboratory have made the most direct observation of a key intermediate formed when hydrocarbons break down in combustion and the atmosphere. This discovery could help scientists design fuels that burn more efficiently.
|
|
|
|
Sotrovimab, the newest COVID-19 antibody therapy, neutralizes all known SARS-CoV-2 strains. Scientists did much of the fundamental work to understand how the natural antibody they discovered binds to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein at DOE’s Advanced Light Source and Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Light Source user facilities. This work allowed the wider team to advance the most promising antibody contenders to cell culture- and animal-based studies.
|
|
University of Southern California researchers have recently developed a variety of computer models that can help assess how contaminants disperse, move through, and affect water. These models can help health professionals evaluate the risk after a chemical spill to groundwater and drinking water sources. |
|
The Office of Science posted 13 new highlights between 7/26/2021 and 9/7/2021.
|
|
|
Tokamak devices use strong magnetic fields to confine and shape the plasma that contains the fuel that achieves fusion. At these extreme temperatures, the device must control and minimize interactions between the plasma and the walls of the power reactor. Researchers from the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center found that a certain shape of plasma results in far fewer interactions with the walls than other shapes. Using this shape could reduce damage to the device’s walls and make them last longer.
|
|
|
|
Smithsonian Magazine: Did the Nazis use this uranium cube in their failed nuclear program?
DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has a small cube of uranium in their collections that’s long been suspected to originally be from the Nazis’ work on atomic weapons. Scientists at the lab are using nuclear forensics techniques to investigate its history.
|
|
The Office of Science sent out 398 tweets between 7/26/2021 and 9/7/2021. Here are the two most popular:
|
|
DOE National Laboratories Contribute to the Latest IPCC Report
|
|
|
The new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change describes how human-induced climate change is creating shifts that are unprecedented over thousands of years. It states that global temperatures will continue rising until 2050 and extreme weather events such as droughts and floods will increase along with them. Researchers at the DOE’s national laboratories played key roles in providing data and analysis for the report. Earth systems models supported by DOE provided essential information on the effects of climate change in the present and future. Scientists at DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory drew upon their expertise and research as contributors and co-authors on the report’s chapters. In addition, research supported by DOE’s Office of Science can help the nation move towards zero and negative carbon pathways to avoid the most severe effects of climate change.
|
|
|
Video: Technologies of the Future
|
|
|
The Office of Science is supporting critical research today to build the foundation for the technologies of the future. From AI to low-carbon technologies, discovery science is essential to make tomorrow’s breakthroughs possible. Learn more about how we’re investing in those technologies in a new video.
|
|
|
|
|
