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Unpeeling atoms and molecules from the inside out

DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The first published scientific results from the world's most powerful hard X-ray laser, located at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, show its unique ability to control the behaviors of individual electrons within simple atoms and molecules by stripping them away, one by one -- in some cases creating hollow atoms.

Journal: Nature
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

For platinum catalysts, smaller may be better

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Berkeley Lab researchers studied platinum catalysts at the atomic scale under actual industrial reaction conditions and discovered why nanoparticle clusters of platinum potentially can out-perform the single crystals of platinum now used in fuel cells and catalytic converters.

Journal: Science
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

Testing the best-yet theory of nature

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley have tested one of the major theoretical pillars of quantum field theory, the spin-statistics theorem. With a confidence level of 100 billion to one, they found that photons really are perfect bosons.

Journal: Physical Review Letters
Funder: National Science Foundation

How not to blow up a molecule

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Can single-shot imaging with femtosecond X-ray pulses from powerful new free electron lasers really work, or will the beam damage the sample too quickly? Pulse length is the key. A new study reveals that "frustrated absorption" explains why ultrashort pulses, even if their peak power is greater, do less damage to molecules than longer pulses.

Journal: Physical Review Letters
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

How a summer internship -- or a weekend lecture -- can change a life

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Many students come away from a Berkeley Lab summer internship -- or just a weekend lecture -- infected by the scientists' passion for their work and with a sharper focus on their own academic and career path.

Quantum simulations uncoverhydrogen's phase transitions

DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe and is a major component of giant planets such as Jupiter and Saturn. But not much is known about what happens to this abundant element under high-pressure conditions when it transforms from one state to another.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Enzyme trio for biosynthesis of hydrocarbon fuels

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists with the Joint BioEnergy Institute have identified a trio of bacterial enzymes that can catalyze key steps in the conversion of plant sugars into hydrocarbon compounds for the production of green transportation fuels.

Journal: Applied and Environmental Microbiology
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

Peering into the never-before-seen

DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists can now peer into the inner workings of catalyst nanoparticles 3,000 times smaller than a human hair within nanoseconds.

Journal: ChemPhysChem

Data acquisition and coordination key to human microbiome project

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The Human Microbiome Project seeks a better understanding of the community of microbes that outnumber the human cells in our bodies by a 10:1 ratio and are critical to our health and physical well being. A key to the success of this project will be data acquisition and coordination, an effort spearheaded by Berkeley Lab scientists.

Journal: Science
Funder: National Institutes of Health

Applied nuclear physics for biomedicine, nuclear security and basic science

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Grant and Award Announcement

The Applied Nuclear Physics program in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Nuclear Science Division takes equipment created for basic research and develops it into tools that can address practical needs like cancer therapy and homeland security. The program has received two new grants to support improved gamma-ray detectors. One via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act concentrates on gamma-ray imaging for ion-beam therapy.

Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy