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Study finds that future deployment of distributed solar hinges on electricity rate design

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Future distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment levels are highly sensitive to retail electricity rate design, according to a newly released report by researchers from Berkeley Lab. The study also explores the feedback effects between retail electricity rates and PV deployment, and suggests that increased solar deployment can lead to changes in PV compensation levels that either accelerate or dampen further deployment.

Funder: DOE/SunShot Initiative

Sensitive and specific: A new way of probing electrolyte/electrode interfaces

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers have developed a new technique that enables sensitive and specific detection of molecules at the electrode/electrolyte interface. This new method uses diffraction from graphene gratings to overcome key difficulties associated with traditional optical spectroscopy that employs infrared probing of buried interfaces.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research

Scientists drive tiny shock waves through diamond

DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Researchers have used an X-ray laser to record, in detail never possible before, the microscopic motion and effects of shock waves rippling across diamond. The technique, developed at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, allows scientists to precisely explore the complex physics driving massive star explosions, which are critical for understanding fusion energy, and to improve scientific models used to study these phenomena.

Autonomous taxis would deliver significant environmental and economic benefits

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Imagine a fleet of driverless taxis roaming your city, ready to pick you up and take you to your destination at a moment's notice. While this may seem fantastical, it may be only a matter of time before it becomes reality. And according to a new study from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, such a system would both be cost-effective and greatly reduce per-mile emissions of greenhouse gases.

Journal: Nature Climate Change
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

Opening a new route to photonics

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Berkeley scientists have developed a technique for effectively controlling pulses of light in closely packed nanoscale waveguides, an essential requirement for ultrahigh density, ultracompact integrated photonic circuitry.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: Office of Naval Research

Orange is the new red

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Berkeley Lab researchers discovered that a photoprotective mechanism in cyanobacteria is triggered by an unprecedented, large-scale movement from one location to another of the carotenoid pigment within the Orange Carotenoid Protein.

Journal: Science
Funder: US Department of Energy's Office of Science

Berkeley Lab scientists to develop better way to screen chemicals for cancer-causing effects

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Berkeley Lab scientists are developing a cell culture that could help researchers better identify chemicals that increase breast cancer susceptibility. The scientists will grow the culture using adult stem cells obtained from breast tissue. Their test will show if a chemical causes a breakdown in cell-to-cell communication, a fundamental defect of cancer.

New 'molecular movie' reveals ultrafast chemistry in motion

DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists for the first time tracked ultrafast structural changes, captured in quadrillionths-of-a-second steps, as ring-shaped gas molecules burst open and unraveled. Ring-shaped molecules are abundant in biochemistry and also form the basis for many drug compounds. The study points the way to a wide range of real-time X-ray studies of gas-based chemical reactions that are vital to biological processes.

SLAC research resumes at upgraded Large Hadron Collider

DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Research with the Large Hadron Collider has officially resumed: The world's largest particle accelerator at CERN began on June 3 to collect data at a new record energy that could hold the key to new scientific discoveries. To keep up with the boost in performance, researchers at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have developed new technologies for ATLAS -- one of two experiments involved in the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson.

A new look at surface chemistry

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A multi-institutional team of researchers, including scientists from Berkeley Lab have used a new scanning electron microscopy technique to resolve the unique atomic structure at the surface of a material. This new technique holds promise for the study of catalysis, corrosion and other critical chemical reactions.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: US Department of Energy's Office of Science