Public Release: 13-Aug-2012
Nature Photonics
Nano, photonic research gets boost from new 3-D visualization technology
For the first time X-ray scientists have combined high-resolution imaging with 3-D viewing of the surface layer of material using X-ray vision in a way that does not damage the sample. This new technique expands the range of X-ray research possible for biology and many aspects of nanotechnology, particularly nanofilms, photonics, and micro- and nano-electronics. This new technique also reduces "guesswork" by eliminating the need for modeling-dependent structural simulation often used in X-ray analysis.
US Department of Energy

Public Release: 13-Aug-2012
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Fresh water breathes fresh life into hurricanes
An analysis of a decade's worth of tropical cyclones shows that when hurricanes blow over ocean regions swamped by fresh water, the conditions can unexpectedly intensify the storm. Although the probability that hurricanes will hit such conditions is small, ranging from 10 to 23 percent, the effect is potentially large: Hurricanes can become 50 percent more intense, researchers report in a study appearing this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
US Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, National Science Foundation of China

Public Release: 7-Aug-2012
Nature Communications
Molecular economics: New computer models calculate systems-wide costs of gene expression
Bioengineers at the University of California, San Diego have developed a method of modeling, simultaneously, an organism's metabolism and its underlying gene expression. In the emerging field of systems biology, scientists model cellular behavior in order to understand how processes such as metabolism and gene expression relate to one another and bring about certain characteristics in the larger organism.
NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, US Department of Energy