U.S. Department of Energy Research News

17-Apr-2013
Hidden dangers in the air we breathe
Berkeley Lab researchers are working on new building standards after discovering previously unknown indoor air pollutants.

4-Dec-2012
Berkeley Lab applies US tools and technologies to spur low-carbon cities in China
With nearly 25 years experience analyzing energy use in China, the China Energy Group has tailored a variety of resources to help local Chinese officials turn government mandates into practical how-to guides for understanding their energy usage and reducing their carbon dioxide emissions.

21-Aug-2012
Berkeley Lab scientists develop new way to study inner workings of algae cells
Berkeley Lab scientists have developed a way to send molecules and proteins across the cell wall of algae, a feat that opens the door for a new way to study and manipulate these tiny organisms. The research could advance the development of algae-based biofuels, pharmaceuticals, and other useful compounds.

26-Oct-2011
Berkeley Lab project in India to measure impact of pollution on cool roofs
With the aid of rooftop instruments, satellite images, an airplane and a balloon, Berkeley Lab scientists are conducting the first-ever study to determine how pollution impacts the efficacy of white roofs in cooling the planet. The yearlong project in northern India will also be the first to take physical measurements to characterize the cooling and climate effects of white roofs.

10-Dec-2010
Berkeley Lab scientist walks the walk -- produces more electricity than he consumes
Energy management engineer Steve Greenberg bikes three miles uphill to work every day, rain or shine. He refuses to use a desktop computer, insisting on a less energy-intensive laptop. And to avoid using paper towels each time he visits the bathroom, he keeps a hand towel in his office. Those are only a few of the things he does to reduce his carbon footprint�and that's just at work.

23-Jun-2010
How a summer internship -- or a weekend lecture -- can change a life
Many students come away from a Berkeley Lab summer internship -- or just a weekend lecture -- infected by the scientists' passion for their work and with a sharper focus on their own academic and career path.

6-May-2010
A robot called WANDA
Berkeley Lab scientists have established a revolutionary nanocrystal-making robot, capable of producing nanocrystals with staggering precision. This one-of-a-kind robot, named WANDA, provides colloidal nanocrystals with custom-made properties for electronics, biological labeling and luminescent devices. Since this robot is controlled by software protocols, novice users can direct WANDA to perform complex workflows that traditionally require extensive chemistry experience.

23-Jun-2009
Green chemistry: Using lasers to detect explosives and hazardous waste
Berkeley Lab scientists are pioneering laser ablation techniques that can detect explosives and hazardous waste in seconds, with no chemical waste. The technology can save the lives of soldiers, keep children safe from toys illegally coated with lead paints, and protect workers from chemical poisoning.

24-Feb-2009
How 10 trillion bits per square inch assemble themselves perfectly
Two chemically different polymers linked together to form self-assembling block copolymers can have the potential to vastly improve the properties and manufacturing processes of nanostructured materials. Using crystal structures as a template, researchers at Berkeley Lab and the University of Massachusetts Amherst have created perfect arrays of nanoscopic block-copolymer domains, packing 10 trillion bits to the square inch and extending over several square centimeters.

8-Jan-2009
A better way to make nanotubes
A doughnut-shaped molecule synthesized by Berkeley Lab scientists could enable the targeted development of carbon nanotubes, which hold promise for faster electronic devices and other advanced technologies.

2-Dec-2008
Mother of pearl secret revealed
Advanced Light Source scientists Andreas Scholl and Nobumichi Tamura were part of a team that used beams from the PEEM-3 and x-ray diffraction microscopes to reveal new secrets behind the mysterious formation of mother of pearl, or nacre, the inner lining of the shells of abalone and certain other mollusks.

23-Sep-2008
BOSS: the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey
One of the most crucial components of the new program of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and its 2.5 m, wide-field telescope in New Mexico is a unique kind of dark-energy probe called BOSS, the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, led by Berkeley Lab physicists.

7-May-2008
Dark Energy's 10th Anniversary, Part III
The third in a three-part history celebrating the 10th anniversary of the discovery of dark energy, recounting the Supernova Cosmology Project's pioneering efforts to overcome skepticism and prove that indeed it was possible to measure the expansion rate of the universe by using Type Ia supernovae as standard candles. The unexpected results stunned astronomers and physicists alike.

7-May-2008
Dark Energy's 10th Anniversary, Part II
The second in a three-part history celebrating the 10th anniversary of the discovery of dark energy, recounting the Supernova Cosmology Project's pioneering efforts to overcome skepticism and prove that indeed it was

7-May-2008
Dark Energy's 10th Anniversary, Part I
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the discovery of dark energy, this three-part history recounts the Supernova Cosmology Project's pioneering efforts to overcome skepticism and prove that indeed it was possible to measure the expansion rate of the universe by using Type Ia supernovae as standard candles. The unexpected results stunned astronomers and physicists alike.

26-May-2007
Berkeley Lab, EPA studies confirm large public health and economic impact of dampness and mold
A pair of studies to be published in the journal Indoor Air have quantified the considerable public health risks and economic consequences in the United States from building dampness and mold.

24-Sep-2003
Supernovae shape up for cosmology
A collaboration among the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the European Southern Observatory, and the University of Texas has yielded the discovery that Type 1a supernovae do not explode spherically. This discovery marks the first time that the intrinsic polarization of a normal Type 1a supernova has been detected.

19-May-2003
Secrets of drug resistance revealed
Scientists from the DOE Office of Science's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley have obtained high-resolution images that offer insight on how bacteria survive attacks from antibiotics. The images were published in the May 9, 2003, issue of Science.

28-Apr-2003
Phylogenetic shadowing: Apes and monkeys are helping scientists to understand the human genome
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed a new technique called "phylogenetic shadowing" that helped them identify a gene, found only in primates, that indicates the risk of heart disease.

27-Jan-2003
Best rookie year ever for a supernova search facility
Researchers at the Nearby Supernova Factory, based at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, have discovered 34 supernovae during the system's first year of operation. This discovery was announced at the 201st meeting of the American Astronomical Society in January 2003.

4-Nov-2002
Taking structural biology to a new plateau
As part of a new multidisciplinary structural biology program, scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory unexpectedly discovered a protein interface they call the Rad50 "zinc hook," used by an essential protein complex to link broken DNA strands. These first results from the new program were published in the August 1, 2002, issue of Nature.

10-Sep-2002
A thousand years of climate change
Scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) have just completed a 1,000-year run of a powerful new climate system model on a supercomputer at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

1-Jul-2002
Biosig finds new meaning in microscope images
A team of computer scientists working with cell biologists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has created BioSig, a web-based bioinformatic system that links collections of microscope images to a wide variety of quantitative experimental data. The new program can be used by multiple researchers to answer questions and test hypotheses about protein expression, cell morphology, and cellular organization in tissues and cell cultures.

27-May-2002
The Milano mutation: A rare protein mutation offers new hope for heart disease patients
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have discovered the mechanism by which an extremely rare protein mutation shields people from cardiovascular disease. The discovery could lead to more potent drug therapies that target both cholesterol deposition and prevent future accumulation. Results were reported in the February 12, 2002, issue of the journal Biochemistry.

13-May-2002
Two years of SNO prove the case: Solar neutrinos really do change
Most solar neutrinos undergo a metamorphosis during their 93-million-mile journey to Earth, according to results from the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO). This contradicts the predictions of the Standard Model, but explains why experimenters have been able to measure far fewer solar neutrinos than expected.