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22 April 2024
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You may have flown a flight simulator in a computer game or at a science museum. Landing without crashing is always the hardest part. But that’s nothing compared to the challenge that engineers are facing to develop a flight simulation of the very large vehicles necessary for humans to explore the surface of Mars. The Red Planet poses innumerable challenges to astronauts, not the least of which is getting there. That’s where the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science’s user facility supercomputers come in. Researchers at DOE’s Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility are working with NASA engineers and scientists to simulate the process of slowing down a huge spacecraft as it moves towards Mars’ surface.
Learn more about how DOE’s supercomputers are enabling NASA to plan for future missions to Mars.
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Poplar genome: Genes in microbes and plants interact with their environment to affect how organisms express those genes. That gene expression then has further effects on the surrounding environment. Researchers at DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Joint Genome Institute released a dataset that connects molecular information from microbes in poplar tree roots to processes on the ecosystem level. It is the first such dataset. The data could help us bioengineer trees that are better sources of biofuels. |
Spin information: A team of researchers, including those at University at Buffalo, transferred information encoded in the spin of electrons into polarized light. They used an electrical pulse to transfer the information from electrons into photons (particles of light). The photons could potentially carry the information at very high speeds across very long distances. This achievement could enable major improvements in ultrafast communication and quantum technologies. |
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Fuel cell catalysts: Catalysts for current fuel cells use platinum group metals, which are very expensive. Researchers at DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Purdue University are studying a more affordable alternative to these metals. Using the National Synchrotron Light Source II user facility, they analyzed the electronic structure of this alternative material. This work will support the search for a viable, low-cost alternative. |
Dark matter: Scientists at the University of Chicago and DOE’s Fermilab are leading a new dark matter experiment, Broadband Reflector Experiment for Axion Detection (BREAD). The collaboration has released its first results. The results narrowed the constraints for where to look for dark matter. It also demonstrated a new approach to searching for dark matter, which could make the process faster and less expensive. Three other DOE national laboratories are also part of the collaboration. |
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Deep learning: There are more than a million scientific articles published each year, most of which include complex images. Researchers at DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern University have developed the EXSCLAIM! software tool to help sort through these images. Using deep learning, it extracts images with specific content from papers and creates descriptive labels for them. The team tested it on a set of electron microscopy images for materials science. |
Peatbogs: Peatlands store about twice as much carbon as the world’s forests. A team led by researchers from Duke University studied peatlands that are part of the SPRUCE experiment run by DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. They found that under conditions similar to future climate change – higher temperatures and elevated carbon dioxide – protists in the peatland changed how much carbon dioxide they gave off. |
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The Office of Science posted five new highlights between 4/9/24 and 4/22/24.
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Data on nuclei: Research in nuclear physics and astrophysics relies on scientists having access to reliable, accurate information about the basic properties of nuclei. The NUBASE library has experimental data for all known nuclei. It includes mass, quantum numbers, half-life, decay modes, and branching intensities. |
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Yahoo! Finance: Exclusive: Fusion reactor promises limitless energy
The Yahoo! Finance team toured the DIII-D fusion research facility, a DOE Office of Science user facility where scientists are conducting research to bring us closer to commercial fusion energy.
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Atmospheric Data Inform Planning for Offshore Wind
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When planning an offshore wind farm, companies want to ensure that they are placing the turbines in just the right place to maximize the energy the turbines will produce. Engineers use computer simulations of how wind and water will move in these places. To improve these models, DOE's Wind Energy Technologies Office and NOAA are supporting a wind observation field campaign off the coast of Massachusetts. But this campaign isn’t starting from scratch. Instead, it’s building upon data gathered during a previous campaign run more than a decade ago by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement DOE Office of Science user facility. This field campaign in 2012 and 2013 measured particles in the atmosphere and how they influence droplet formation in clouds. The observations that scientists took from both on the ground and in planes during the older campaign are providing a valuable baseline for the current campaign. |
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Empowering Women to Explore Nuclear Physics
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Nuclear physicists work to understand the fundamental building blocks of matter. The work can range from improving theories to evaluating datasets that inform nuclear medicine. Members of Stony Brook University’s Women in Science and Engineering program got a chance to sample this wide range as part of a recent program at DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory. They completed hands-on activities with scientists, including a scavenger hunt for everyday objects that emit low doses of radioactivity. The program helped students learn more about nuclear physics as a whole as well as the opportunities specifically available at Brookhaven Lab. |
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Research News Update 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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Please see the archive on Energy.gov for past issues.
No. 117: 22 April 2024
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