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 16 May 2022
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U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm issued the following statement on the U.S. Senate confirmation of Dr. Asmeret Berhe with a bipartisan vote to serve as Director of the Office of Science at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE):
“I am so grateful to the Senate for confirming Dr. Asmeret Berhe to serve as DOE’s Director of the Office of Science. Dr. Berhe has been ahead of the curve over her entire career as a biogeochemist, and we need her leadership in scientific collaboration and climate science now more than ever. In her role, she will be leading DOE’s efforts to strengthen America’s national security, competitiveness, and economy through deep investment in scientific research. I am very grateful for Dr. Berhe’s willingness to serve the American people and I’m so excited to welcome her into the DOE family.”
Read more about Dr. Berhe’s background and scientific career.
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New Platform for Qubits: A team led by researchers from DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory has created a new platform for qubits, the building blocks of quantum computers. The scientists froze neon gas into a solid, sprayed electrons onto the solid, and trapped an electron on it. |
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Next Step Towards Launching LCLS-II: DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has installed their new superconducting particle accelerator, one of the last milestones before completing the upgrade to the Linac Coherent Light Source. The accelerator is cooled to -456 degrees F and will enable the LCLS-II to produce X-ray pulses that will arrive up to one million times a second. |
Producing Ammonia from Wastewater: Scientists from Rice University, Arizona State University, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory developed a catalyst that can pull ammonia from industrial wastewater and polluted groundwater. It has 100 percent efficiency. It both cleans the water and provides an alternative to the energy-intensive process to produce ammonia for fertilizer. |
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Protein Movement on Minerals: Researchers from DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the University of Washington tracked how protein nanorods moved on a mineral surface. This research can help scientists create custom materials inspired by nature. |
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The Office of Science posted six new highlights between 5/3/22 and 5/16/22.
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Improving Rain Formation in Climate Models: Many climate models produce light rain too often in warm, low-level clouds over the ocean. Research from Colorado State University combined field observations with machine learning to create new ways to estimate light rain more accurately. The new models performed significantly better than previous ones while not using substantially more computer time. Much of the field data was from a campaign run by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement DOE Office of Science user facility. |
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C&EN: Podcast: There’s more to James Harris’s story
James Harris was the first Black scientist to be credited with co-discovering an element. This podcast digs into the history of his nuclear chemistry research at DOE’s Berkeley Lab.
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Facility for Rare Isotope Beams Opens Its Doors to Discovery
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We’re thrilled to welcome the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) to our group of operating user facilities! FRIB had a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 2, with DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm attending. The facility was completed in January, ahead of schedule and on budget.
Located at Michigan State University, FRIB houses the world’s most powerful heavy-ion accelerator. It will allow researchers to access more than 1,000 new rare isotopes, many of which have never been produced on Earth. Supporting a community of 1,600 scientists from around the world, it is enabling researchers to make discoveries about how the universe formed, while advancing innovation in medicine, nuclear security, environmental science, and more. FRIB’s first scientific-user experiments just started on May 9. Check out coverage of the event in Nature.
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Video: Office of Science 101
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As the nation’s largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences, the steward of 10 national laboratories, and the lead federal agency supporting fundamental research for energy production and security, our job is keeping America at the forefront of discovery. Check out our Office of Science 101 video overview of our mission, people, and resources.
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CommUnique provides a review of recent Office of Science Communications and Public Affairs stories and features. This is only a sample of our recent work promoting research done at universities, national labs, and user facilities throughout the country.
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