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Novel metric examines the role of organic matter and microbes in ecological communities

DOE/US Department of Energy

Individual features in a community, like microbes or types of chemicals, affect the overall community’s development and help determine the similarity of different communities over time and space. Scientists developed a novel ecological metric, called βNTIfeat, that helps to investigate the roles of different features in community development. The resulting information can inform models of how ecosystems respond to disturbances such as climate change.

Journal: Frontiers in Microbiology

Department of Energy announces $11.7 million for research on quantum computing

DOE/US Department of Energy
Grant and Award Announcement

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $11.7 million in funding for six collaborative projects to improve our understanding of whether, when, and how quantum computing might advance the frontiers of computational science.

A nickle-platinum nanoscale core with a platinum shell cracks oxygen molecules into useful ions

DOE/US Department of Energy

Researchers have modified the surface of nickel-platinum nanoparticles to improve their ability to act as catalysts to make reactive oxygen ions. Using a specialized X-ray scattering imaging technique, the researchers examined the modified nanoparticles and discovered a platinum-rich outer layer. This layer increases the platinum concentration at the surface of the nanoparticles more than other nickel-platinum materials. This could contribute to more efficient and less expensive future fuel cells and metal air batteries.

Journal: Nano Letters

DOE announces $33 million to advance energy research across America

DOE/US Department of Energy
Grant and Award Announcement

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $33 million to support 14 clean-energy research projects as part of a program to ensure the Department’s research funding is reaching pockets of the country that traditionally have received disproportionally low amounts of Federal scientific funding. The projects will cover a range of topics—including grid integration, renewable solar and wind energy, and advanced manufacturing. Today’s funding will help ensure all regions of the country share in the ownership of priority research that advances science and addresses energy and environmental issues as the country moves ahead to reach the Biden-Harris Administration’s ambitious climate goals.

Department of Energy announces $4.6 million for research on public-private partnership awards to advance fusion energy

DOE/US Department of Energy
Grant and Award Announcement

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $4.6 million in funding for 18 projects at national laboratories and U.S. universities. The awards are provided through the Innovation Network for Fusion Energy, or INFUSE, program, which was established in 2019. The program is sponsored by the Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) program office within DOE’s Office of Science and is focused on accelerating fusion energy development through public-private research partnerships.

Taming undomesticated bacteria with a high-efficiency genome engineering tool

DOE/US Department of Energy

Genetic engineers use synthetic biology to provide novel functions in microbes by introducing new genes. A new method called Serine recombinase-Assisted Genome Engineering (SAGE) borrows components from bacterial viruses to aid the stable insertion of genes into bacterial chromosomes. This new tool has the potential to work well in many species of bacteria, including newly discovered bacteria that must grow outside controlled laboratory conditions. These features will help accelerate synthetic biology research for bioenergy.

Journal: Science Advances

Department of Energy releases draft request for proposals for the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Management and Operating Contract Competition

DOE/US Department of Energy
Business Announcement

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the release of a Draft Request for Proposals (RFP) for the selection of a management and operating (M&O) contractor for the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL).

Engineering new metabolic pathways that function across microbial kingdoms

DOE/US Department of Energy

Microbes have enormous potential to produce metabolites with potential industrial applications. To do so, microbes use groups of genes called biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) that code for the sets of necessary enzymes. Scientists have computationally predicted the products of hundreds of thousands of BGCs, but have experimentally confirmed fewer than 2,000 of them. Researchers have now developed a computational and experimental strategy to redesign BGCs and determine the natural chemical products they create.

Journal: Cell

Researchers achieve interdimensional superconductivity

DOE/US Department of Energy

Although electrons usually move in three dimensions, scientists can force electrons to move in two dimensions (2D) by creating ultra-thin materials. In this new work, however, researchers found that by adding superconductivity to 3D electrons in a bulk material, the superconducting electrons form 2D superconducting “puddles.” These puddles of electrons may be a way for some superconductors to reorganize themselves before undergoing an abrupt phase transition into an insulating state.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

The legacy of past disturbance shapes coastal forest soil stability

DOE/US Department of Energy
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Coastal forests are increasingly exposed to the effects of climate change and sea level rise. New experimental research examined how soils change when transplanted between parts of a tidal creek that differed in salinity. Scientists found that soils with a history of salinity and inundation by seawater were more resistant to changes in water conditions, suggesting that soils learn from their history of inundation.

Journal: Soil Biology and Biochemistry

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