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The brittleness of aging bones -- more than a loss of bone mass

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A Berkeley Lab study shows that at microscopic dimensions, the age-related loss of bone quality can be every bit as important as the loss of quantity in the susceptibility of bone to fracturing. While medical treatments to date have focused on age-related loss of bone mass, the age-related loss of bone quality is an independent factor.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: National Institutes of Health

Berkeley Lab scientists unveil an X-ray technique called HARPES

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Berkeley Lab researchers led the development of a technique called HARPES, for Hard X-ray Angle-Resolved PhotoEmission Spectroscopy, that enables the study of electronic structures deep below material surfaces, including the buried layers and interfaces in nanoscale devices. This could pave the way for smaller logic elements in electronics, novel memory architectures in spintronics, and more efficient energy conversion in photovoltaic cells.

Journal: Nature Materials
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

Berkeley scientists discover an 'instant cosmic classic' supernova

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A supernova discovered August 24 is closer to Earth -- approximately 21 million light-years away -- than any other of its kind in a generation. Astronomers believe they caught the supernova within hours of its explosion, a rare feat made possible with a specialized survey telescope and state-of-the-art computational tools.

Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy, NASA

Beams to order from table-top accelerators

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Laser plasma accelerators could create powerful electron beams within a fraction of the space required by conventional accelerators and light sources -- and at a fraction of the cost. But fulfilling the promise of "table-top accelerators" requires the ability to tune stable, high-quality beams through a range of energies. Berkeley Lab scientists have demonstrated a two-stage, tunable laser plasma accelerator that meets the goal.

Journal: Nature Physics
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

Permafrost could release vast amounts of carbon and accelerate climate change by end of century

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Billions of tons of carbon trapped in permafrost may be released into the atmosphere by the end of this century as the Earth's climate changes, further accelerating global warming, a new computer modeling study led by a Berkeley Lab scientist indicates. The study also found that soil in high-latitude regions could shift from being a sink to a source of carbon dioxide by the end of the 21st century as the soil warms in response to climate change.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

LLNL researcher awarded $2.4 million from NIH for bio weapon mitigation

DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Grant and Award Announcement

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researcher Pejman Naraghi-Arani has been awarded $2.4 million by the National Institutes of Health under the Partnerships for Biodefense Program, which aims to develop various tools that can be applied to detect, mitigate the effects of or protect against an attack by a biological weapon.

Lessons learned from the 2 worst oils spills in US history

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

One year after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and two decades after the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound, the scientific lesson is clear -- microbes matter! Despite vast differences in the ecosystems and circumstances of these two worst oil spills in US history, oil-degrading microorganisms played a significant role in reducing the overall environmental impact of both spills, a Berkley Lab scientist reports.

Journal: Environmental Science & Technology
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

Moon and Earth may be younger than originally thought

DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New research using a technique that measures the isotopes of lead and neodymium in lunar crustal rocks shows that the moon and Earth may be millions of years younger than originally thought.

Journal: Nature

DNA construction software saves time, resources and money

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Berkeley Lab scientists have developed the first software package for automating DNA construction that not only makes the process faster and more efficient but -- with an eye on the economics of scientific discovery -- also identifies which construction strategy would be the most cost-effective.

Journal: Interface
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

First data from Daya Bay: Closing in on a neutrino mystery

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Berkeley Lab physicists have played a leading role in designing and building the international Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment in southern China, which has just begun collecting data on the elusive final measurement needed before the masses of the different kinds of neutrinos can be determined

Journal: Nature
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy