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High-pressure systems favor sea-breeze convection over southeastern Texas

DOE/US Department of Energy

In the summer, sea- and bay-breeze circulations are important drivers of the weather in southeastern Texas. This research used machine learning techniques to unpack how these circulations interact with larger-scale weather systems to affect how thunderstorms form in the Houston area. These insights are helping researchers focus their study of aerosol and cloud life cycle, aerosol-cloud interactions, and air quality during the TRACER field campaign in the Houston area in 2021 and 2022.

Journal: Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres

Building bridges and ladders in astrophysics: Theory and experiment inform the equation of state

DOE/US Department of Energy

Researchers are combining experimental, theoretical, and observational data on neutron stars to constrain the equation of state (EOS) and to glean the composition of their interiors. Different techniques probe the EOS at different densities, thereby creating a “density ladder” that aims to connect the various rungs. The findings indicate a possible phase transition in the interior of neutron stars.

Journal: Physical Review Letters

Decoding the proton’s response to an external electromagnetic field

DOE/US Department of Energy

The proton is the only composite building block of matter that is stable in nature, making its properties key to understanding the formation of matter. A team of physicists measured the proton’s electric polarizability, which characterizes the proton’s susceptibility to deformation, or its “stretchability,” in the presence of a photon’s electromagnetic field. The results reveal a puzzling new structure – a bump in the polarizability that nuclear theory cannot explain.

Journal: Nature

Deblurring can reveal 3D features of heavy-ion collisions

DOE/US Department of Energy

When the nuclei of atoms are about to collide in an experiment, their centers never perfectly align along the direction of relative motion, leading to complex collisions. A deblurring algorithm from optics can help nuclear physicists examine the pattern of emissions from these collisions as if the initial nuclear centers were under tight control.

Journal: Physical Review C

Department of Energy announces $35 million to build research capacity, infrastructure, and expertise at institutions historically underrepresented in science

DOE/US Department of Energy
Grant and Award Announcement

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $35 million to build research capacity, infrastructure, and expertise at institutions historically underrepresented in science, including minority serving institutions (MSIs) and emerging research institutions (ERIs). FAIR will enhance research at these institutions on clean energy, climate, and additional topics spanning the Office of Science portfolio. This investment will help develop a diverse, vibrant, and excellent scientific workforce and contribute to the science innovation ecosystem.

DOE announces $32 million in research opportunities for underrepresented groups

DOE/US Department of Energy
Grant and Award Announcement

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced 41 awards totaling $32 million to 37 institutions to support historically underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and diversify American leadership in the physical sciences, including energy and climate. The funding, through the DOE Office of Science’s Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (RENEW) initiative, will support internships, training programs, and mentor opportunities at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), and other research institutions. Ensuring America’s best and brightest students have pathways to STEM fields will be key to achieving President Biden’s energy and climate goals, including achieving a net-zero carbon economy by 2050.

To make valuable bioproducts, pick the right solvent pretreatment

DOE/US Department of Energy

Lignin in plant cell walls can be broken down into component polymers that can in turn be converted into valuable bioproducts, but deconstructing lignin is difficult. Researchers have now showed that some solvents are more effective than others at getting between the cellulosic and lignin polymers in switchgrass variants. This allows them to be separated and partially deconstructed. The study showed that combinations of specific solvents and switchgrass genetic variations generate lignin extracts of differing forms, suited for distinct uses.

Journal: ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering

Three techniques, three species, different ways to fight drought

DOE/US Department of Energy

To understand how plants respond to drought condition, researchers combined three cutting-edge metabolomic and imaging technologies at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory. The study revealed that different species of plants use different strategies to survive drought conditions.

Journal: Environmental Science & Technology

Department of Energy announces $11.24 million for research on nuclear theory topical collaborations

DOE/US Department of Energy
Grant and Award Announcement

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $11.24 million for five topical theory collaborations in nuclear physics (NP). These projects bring together leading nuclear theorists to collaboratively focus on solving challenging problems central to advancing knowledge in nuclear physics.

Scientists narrow the anchor point in a quantum chromodynamics critical point search

DOE/US Department of Energy

Heavy ion collisions using gold nuclei found a phase of nuclear matter with freely moving quarks and gluons, the Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP). Scientists are aiming to establish if a critical point exists in the phase diagram of nuclear matter, where the QGP would coexist with a gas of protons, neutrons, and other particles. Research at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider indicates that if this critical point exists, it is between energies of 3 and 20 giga-electron volts.

Journal: Physics Letters B

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