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Researchers measure high-pressure lattice dynamics of molybdenum

DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

For the first time, a group of Livermore researchers have been able to pin down the high-pressure lattice dynamics of the transition metal molybdenum by mapping its phonon energies under extremely high pressure.

Changes in agricultural practices in existing crops show cooling temperatures

DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Farmers who plant more crops, increase irrigation coverage and till the land less can have a profound effect on climate.

Journal: Geophysical Research Letters

The 'oxygen imperative'

DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

It's common knowledge that humans and other animals couldn't survive without oxygen. But scientists are now learning a good deal more about the extent of our evolutionary debt to a substance that was once a deadly poison. New research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Boston University shows that many of the complex biochemical networks that humans and other advanced organisms depend on for their existence could not have evolved without oxygen.

Journal: Science
Funder: DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Synthesis and characterization of a new class of metal nitrides

DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Business Announcement

New research shows that a novel class of nitrides made from "noble" metals can be synthesized under extreme conditions and are likely to have unusual or even unique properties that would be useful in semiconductor, superconductor and corrosion-resistant devices.

Journal: Science

Flow of high-pressure form of ice tells tales of interiors of giant icy moons

DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Everyday ice used to chill that glass of lemonade has helped researchers better understand the internal structure of icy moons in the far reaches of the solar system.

Journal: Science

Nanoscale tubing assembles itself instantly

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers from Berkeley Lab's National Center for Electron Microscopy and the University of Kiel have found a completely new way to form complex networks of nanotubes. Extensive hexagonal networks of tubes, intricately branched and connected and having the cross section of a pitched roof, form spontaneously on the surface of certain layered crystals. Applications may include networks of pipes for transporting minute quantities of materials or templates for the fabrication of nanowire networks.

Journal: Physical Review Letters
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy, German National Science Foundation

At Berkeley: Intelligently designed molecular evolution

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Evolutionary paths to new therapeutic drugs, as well as a wide assortment of other enzyme products, have been created through, of all things, intelligent design. A team of researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley have developed a technique in which the evolution of an important class of proteins is steered towards a desired outcome.

Journal: Nature
Funder: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Mimicking nature's crystalline structures

DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Scientists and engineers have long envied nature's ability to design crystalline structures whose properties are often superior to those of similar synthetic materials. Through a process called biomineralization, proteins orchestrate the growth processes of many natural minerals into designs that confer exceptional properties.

Volcanic signatures persist in oceans

DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Ocean temperatures may have risen even higher during the last century if it weren't for volcanoes that spewed ashes and aerosols into the upper atmosphere. Further, these eruptions offset a large percentage of sea level rise caused by humans.

Journal: Nature

Berkeley researchers lay groundwork for cell version of DNA chip

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new technique in which single strands of synthetic DNA are used to firmly fasten biological cells to non-biological surfaces has been developed by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley. This technique holds promise for a wide variety of applications, including biosensors, drug-screening technologies, the growing of artificial tissues and the design of neural networks.

Journal: Angewandte Chemie
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy