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When the moon threw its shadow on the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory during the Aug. 21 partial solar eclipse, it created the perfect backdrop for the 45th annual SLAC Summer Institute (SSI). This year, the program was all about the fascinating universe. The two-week summer institute attracted an international crowd of 123 participants, mostly graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, who discussed 'cosmic opportunities' in particle physics and astrophysics research with world-renowned experts in the field.

Berkeley Lab researchers have developed a new method of analyzing the molecular-scale structure of organo-lead halide perovskites, a promising class of materials that could energize the solar cell industry. They combined advanced X-ray spectroscopy measurements with calculations based on fundamental, 'first principles' theory to obtain an atomic-scale view of the material.

A new way of operating the powerful X-ray laser at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has enabled researchers to detect and measure fluctuations in magnetic structures being considered for new data storage and computing technologies.

The American Physical Society has recognized Blair Ratcliff, an emeritus physicist at SLAC and Stanford University, with the 2017 Division of Particles and Fields Instrumentation Award 'for the development of novel detectors exploiting Cherenkov radiation' -- an advance that greatly enhanced BABAR's capabilities and influenced the design of other experiments.

Lawrence Livermore scientists, in collaboration with researchers at Northeastern University, have developed carbon nanotube pores that can exclude salt from seawater. The team also found that water permeability in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with diameters smaller than a nanometer (0.8 nm) exceeds that of wider carbon nanotubes by an order of magnitude.

Kathryn Hastie, staff scientist at The Scripps Research Institute, has spent the last decade studying how the deadly Lassa virus -- which causes up to half a million cases of Lassa fever each year in West Africa -- enters human cells via a cell surface receptor.