NEWS RELEASES

DOE Funded News

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 19-Oct-2026 13:17 ET (19-Oct-2026 17:17 GMT/UTC)

Building better solar tech, a crystal at a time

Princeton University, Engineering School
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Perovskites, manufactured crystals used in solar cells, have long promised to boost solar power, but internal defects have blunted their potential. Now, researchers at Princeton Engineering have corrected the defects by adding a novel combination of chemicals during fabrication.

Journal: Science

Listening for trouble

University of Pittsburgh

A team of University of Pittsburgh researchers at the Swanson School of Engineering, in partnership with Pittsburgh startup Sensible Photonics, has developed a fiber-optic ultrasonic acoustic-sensing system that can detect corrosion and cracking in steel nuclear fuel storage canisters. The team recently field-tested the system at the Idaho National Laboratory, demonstrating its feasibility.

New platform tackles critical material risks in electric motors

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Business Announcement

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed Motor Decide, a Super Intelligence-driven platform that helps manufacturers compare electric motor technologies based on performance, material availability, supply chain stability, technology maturity and resilience to changing market conditions.

Warmer climate could reshape hurricane risk and its relationship with El Niño around Hawaiʻi

University of Hawaii at Manoa
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study examining how tropical cyclone activity near Hawai‘i could change in a warmer future finds a shift toward stronger storms, even though substantial uncertainty remains about whether the total number of storms near the islands will increase.

Journal: Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology

A temporary melting liquid could help build better perovskite solar cells and LEDs

University of California - San Diego
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers developed a new way to make perovskite solar cells — a promising next-generation solar technology — more efficient and durable. Their crystallization technique produced more uniform perovskites with fewer defects, which boosted the performance of lab-made solar cells and LEDs.

Journal: Science

Study finds mechanism regulating nitrogen fixation in microbes

University of Arkansas
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Understanding how this nitrogenase functions could have huge implications for the more efficient and biologically-based production of ammonia, a crucial component of common fertilizers.

Journal: Nature

Researchers find hidden spiral structure in crystal material

University of Texas at Dallas
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A University of Texas at Dallas scientist and her colleagues have discovered an unusual atomic pattern in a uranium-based material that gives it a rare combination of magnetic properties, a finding that could open new pathways for designing advanced electronic and computer memory devices.

Journal: Nature
Funder: Office of Naval Research, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Army Research Office

Power plants: Engineering biomass crops as oil factories

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment

In this commentary, researchers from the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) explore recent breakthroughs in plant engineering that enable crops to store unprecedented amounts of oil in their leaves and stems, not just in seeds. This innovation could revolutionize sustainable fuel production for aviation and shipping and power both rural economic development and energy independence.

Journal: One Earth

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