U.S. Department of Energy Research News

Public Release: 31-Jul-2013

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Berkeley Lab researchers discover universal law for light absorption in 2D semiconductors
Berkeley Lab researchers have demonstrated a universal law of light absorption for 2D semiconductors. This discovery not only provides new insight into the optical properties of 2D semiconductors and quantum wells, it should also open doors to exotic new optoelectronic and photonic technologies.

US Department of Energy Office of Science, National Science Foundation

Public Release: 29-Jul-2013

Nano Letters
Tetrapod nanocrystals light the way to stronger polymers
Berkeley Lab researchers have developed advanced opto-mechanical stress probes based on tetrapod quantum dots (tQDs) that allow precise measurement of the tensile strength of polymer fibers with minimal impact on the polymer's mechanical properties. These fluorescent tQDs could lead to stronger, self-repairing polymer nanocomposites.

US Department of Energy Office of Science

Public Release: 25-Jul-2013

PLOS ONE
Microbial who-done-it for biofuels
A multi-institutional collaboration led by researchers with the Joint BioEnergy Institute and Joint Genome Institute has developed a promising technique for identifying microbial enzymes that can effectively deconstruct biomass into fuel sugars under refinery processing conditions.

US Department of Energy Office of Science

Public Release: 10-Jul-2013

Science Translational Medicine
Of aging bones and sunshine
Berkeley Lab researchers have shown that deficiencies in vitamin D -- the sunshine vitamin -- accelerates the aging of bone, reducing the quality and making it more susceptible to fracturing.

US Department of Energy Office of Science

Public Release: 27-Jun-2013

Science
This image could lead to better antibiotics
Berkeley Lab scientists have created an atomic-scale structure of a bacterial ribosome attached to a molecule that controls its motion. The image is also a possible roadmap to better antibiotics. Somewhere in its twists and turns could be a weakness that a new antibiotic can target.

Public Release: 20-Jun-2013

Mutagenesis
Berkeley Lab confirms thirdhand smoke causes DNA damage
A study led by researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has found for the first time that thirdhand smoke -- the noxious residue that clings to virtually all surfaces long after the secondhand smoke from a cigarette has cleared out -- causes significant genetic damage in human cells.

Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program

Public Release: 19-Jun-2013

Molecular Systems Biology
Expressly unfit for the laboratory
A new Berkeley Lab study challenges the orthodoxy of microbiology, which holds that in response to environmental changes, bacterial genes will boost production of needed proteins and decrease production of those that aren't. The study found that for bacteria in the laboratory there was little evidence of adaptive genetic response.

US Department of Energy

Public Release: 19-Jun-2013

Astronomy & Astrophysics
Unusual supernova is doubly unusual for being perfectly normal
Type Ia supernovae are indispensable milestones for measuring the expansion of the universe. With definitive measures of Supernova 2011fe, the "Backyard Supernova" that thrilled amateur and professional astronomers alike in the summer of 2011, the Nearby Supernova Factory led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory demonstrates that this unusually close-by Type Ia is such a perfect example of its kind that future Type Ia's -- and models meant to explain their physics -- must be measured against it.

US Department of Energy Office of Science, Moore Foundation, CNRS/IN2P3, INSU, PNCG, TRR33/DFG

Public Release: 14-Jun-2013

International Society for Microbial Ecology Journal
Berkeley Lab team uncovers secrets of biological soil crusts
A team of Berkeley Lab researchers has performed molecular level analysis of desert biological soil crusts -- living ground cover formed by microbial communities -- to reveal how long-dormant cyanobacteria become activated by rainfall then resume dormancy when the precipitation stops.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Public Release: 10-Jun-2013

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics
Testing artificial photosynthesis
Berkeley Lab researchers, working at the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, have developed the first fully integrated microfluidic test-bed for evaluating and optimizing solar-driven electrochemical energy conversion systems. This test-bed system has already been used to study schemes for photovoltaic electrolysis of water, and can be readily adapted to study proposed artificial photosynthesis and fuel cell technologies.

US Department of Energy Office of Science

Public Release: 5-Jun-2013

Indoor Air
More fresh air in classrooms means fewer absences
If you suspect that opening windows to let in fresh air might be good for you, a new study by scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has confirmed your hunch. Analyzing extensive data on ventilation rates collected from more than 150 classrooms in California over two years, the researchers found that bringing classroom ventilation rates up to the state-mandated standard may reduce student absences due to illness by approximately 3.4 percent.

California Energy Commission

Public Release: 5-Jun-2013

Nature Communications
Increased NMR/MRI sensitivity through hyperpolarization of nuclei in diamond
Berkeley Lab researchers have demonstrated the first magnetically-controlled nearly complete hyperpolarization of the spins of carbon-13 nuclei located near synthetic defects in diamond crystals. This spin hyperpolarization, which can be carried out with refrigerator-style magnets at room temperature, enhances NMR/MRI sensitivity by many orders of magnitude.

US Department of Energy Office of Science

Public Release: 4-Jun-2013

Journal of the American Ceramic Society
Roman seawater concrete holds the secret to cutting carbon emissions
At Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Advanced Light Source, scientists analyzed samples from a Roman breakwater submerged in the Bay of Naples for over two millennia, revealing the secrets of crystal chemistry that allow Roman seawater concrete to resist chemical attack and wave action for centuries. Materials and processes for manufacturing extraordinarily durable Roman maritime concrete released much less carbon than most modern concrete, presenting important opportunities for better quality and reduction of atmospheric carbon.

KAUST, Harvard/Loeb Classical Lib Foundation, US Department of Energy Office of Science

Public Release: 3-Jun-2013

Nature Cell Biology
Berkeley Lab researchers unlock mystery behind dormant breast tumor cells that become metastatic
Berkeley Lab researchers have identified the microenvironment surrounding microvasculature as a niche where dormant cancer cells may reside, and the sprouting of microvasculature blood vessels as the event that transforms dormant cancer cells into metastatic tumors.

NIH/National Cancer Institute, US Department of Defense

Public Release: 30-May-2013

Science
Atom by atom, bond by bond, a chemical reaction caught in the act
Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley have produced remarkable images of carbon atoms and the bonds among them. Resembling glowing textbook diagrams, hydrocarbon molecules are shown in high resolution for the first time before and after bond-breaking, rearrangement, and reforming of bonds during a complex chemical reaction.

Office of Naval Research, Department of Energy Office of Science, National Science Foundation, European Research Council

Public Release: 26-May-2013

Physical Review Letters
Models from big molecules captured in a flash
The structures of most of the two million proteins in the human body are still unknown, even at low resolution. A new algorithm developed by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and their colleagues solves the convoluted shapes of large molecules by using images of numerous individual samples, all caught simultaneously in a split-second flash of x-rays from a free-electron laser. The technique promises efficient information about the shapes of many more large biological molecules in their native, fluid state.

Department of Energy Office of Science, Human Frontier Science Program, National Science Foundation, University of Wisconsin, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Public Release: 21-May-2013

Nature Nanotechnology
Whirlpools on the nanoscale could multiply magnetic memory
Research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Advanced Light Source promises four-bit magnetic cells instead of the two-bit magnetic domains of standard magnetic memories. Magnetic vortices are whirlpools of magnetic field, in which electron spins point either clockwise or counterclockwise. In the crowded center of the whirlpool the spins point either down or up. These four orientations could represent separate bits of information in a new kind of memory, if controlled independently and simultaneously.

US Department of Energy Office of Science, European Regional Development Fund, Czech Republic Grant Agency

Public Release: 16-May-2013

Nano Letters
Artificial forest for solar water-splitting
Berkeley Lab researchers have created the first fully integrated artificial photosynthesis nanosystem. While "artificial leaf" is the popular term for such a system, the key to this success was an "artificial forest."

US Department of Energy Office of Science

Public Release: 9-May-2013

Nature Communications
Flawed diamonds promise sensory perfection
By extending the coherence time of electron states to over half a second, a team of scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of California at Berkeley, and Harvard University has improved the performance of one of the most potent sensors of magnetic fields on the nanoscale -- a diamond defect no bigger than a pair of atoms called a nitrogen vacancy center. The achievement is important news for nanoscale sensors and quantum computing.

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, National Science Foundation, Israeli Ministry of Defense, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Science for Peace

Public Release: 9-May-2013

Biotechnology for Biofuels
New advance in biofuel production
Joint BioEnergy Institute researchers have developed an enzyme-free ionic liquid pretreatment of cellulosic biomass that makes it easier to recover fermentable sugars for biofuels and to recycle the ionic liquid.

US Department of Energy Office of Science

Public Release: 5-May-2013

Nature Geoscience
As climate changes, boreal forests to shift north and relinquish more carbon than expected
New Berkeley Lab research maps how Earth's myriad climates -- and the ecosystems that depend on them -- could move from one area to another as global temperatures rise. The approach foresees big changes for one of the planet's great carbon sponges. Boreal forests will likely shift north at a steady clip this century. Along the way, the vegetation will relinquish more trapped carbon than most current climate models predict.

Public Release: 30-Apr-2013

Nature Communications
Does antimatter fall up or down?
Theory and observations support the view that antimatter experiences gravity just as ordinary matter does, but the evidence so far has been indirect. Indeed, some theorists speculate that antimatter is antigravitational, that it may fall "up" instead of "down."

Department of Energy Office of Science, ALPHA Collaboration

Public Release: 29-Apr-2013

Nature Methods
Comparing proteins at a glance
A revolutionary X-ray analytical technique enables researchers at a glance to identify structural similarities and differences between multiple proteins under a variety of conditions and has already been used to gain valuable new insight into a prime protein target for cancer chemotherapy.

US Department of Energy Office of Science, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 25-Apr-2013

Nature
Bold move forward in molecular analyses
New metrics for analyzing data from small angle scattering experiments should dramatically improve the ability of scientists to study the structures of macromolecules such as proteins and nanoparticles in solution.

US Department of Energy Office of Science, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 24-Apr-2013

Nature Communications
Speeding the search for better methane capture
Systematic in silico studies have identified several zeolite compounds that show technological promise for capturing methane, the main component of natural gas, that can serve as an ally or an adversary in combating global climate change.

US Department of Energy Office of Science