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Spotting accelerator-produced neutrinos in a cosmic haystack

DOE/US Department of Energy

Physicists working at the MicroBooNE detector at Fermilab have developed new tools to help tune out “noise” from cosmic rays when searching for signs of neutrinos. This method combines data-sifting techniques with image reconstruction methods similar to CT scans to make signals of neutrinos produced by a particle accelerator stand out against the tracks produced by cosmic rays. The approach should work at all surface-based neutrino detectors.

Journal: Physical Review Applied

Blowing dust to cool fusion plasmas

DOE/US Department of Energy

Tokamak fusion reactors will generate huge amounts of heat that can damage reactor walls. Injecting impurities in the form of gases into the plasma can radiate away excess heat, but there is a limited range of gases that can be injected, and some gases react poorly with hydrogen fusion fuel. A new approach uses impurities in powder form, which allows researchers to introduce a considerable amount of material directly into the exhaust system for more efficient heat control.

Journal: Nuclear Materials and Energy

Physicists uncover the secret behind the behavior of unique superconducting materials

DOE/US Department of Energy

Scientists using the Summit supercomputer to study superconductors found that negative particles in the superconductors interact strongly with phonons in the materials. This interaction leads to sudden changes in the materials’ behavior, explaining how certain copper-based superconductors work. The findings may lead to a new class of superconducting materials that work at relatively warm temperatures for efficient future electronic devices.

Journal: Physical Review Letters

The carbene is seen! Unstable intermediate finally found with mass spectrometry

DOE/US Department of Energy

Pyruvic acid is one of the few organic molecules destroyed in the Earth’s inner atmosphere by solar radiation rather than by reactions with highly reactive free radicals. In this study, scientists obtained the first experimental evidence that the primary degradation products are carbon dioxide and the carbene methylhydroxycarbene. This finding is important for synthetic chemistry and scientific understanding of atmospheric chemistry.

Journal: Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics

Flipping electrons with light

DOE/US Department of Energy

Controlling the spin of a single unpaired electron is no easy task. In this research, scientists show that visible light can be used to influence a relative orientation of an unpaired electron in a molecule in a magnetic field. This process can potentially be applied across a class of small molecules and is an important step toward novel technologies such as quantum computers and quantum sensors.

Journal: Journal of the American Chemical Society

The U.S. Department of Energy announces $125 million for small business research and development

DOE/US Department of Energy
Grant and Award Announcement

In support of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to build the American economy back better, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $125 million for small businesses pursuing clean energy research and development (R&D) projects. The projects range from grid modernization and carbon removal to renewable energy and energy storage.

No honor among copper thieves

DOE/US Department of Energy

Microbes interact with each other in many ways, including theft. Methanotrophs, methane-consuming microbes, need copper to convert methane and have evolved strategies to collect copper by producing a special compound. But some methanotrophs actively “steal” this compound from others. This makes them more competitive and controls how the overall community consumes methane.

Journal: Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Department of Energy announces $1.5 million for research development and partnership pilots

DOE/US Department of Energy
Grant and Award Announcement

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced plans to provide $1.5 million for new grants to colleges and universities that are underrepresented in DOE’s climate, Earth, and environmental science investments to help provide technical assistance to build capacity and achieve the goal of broadening institutional participation.

Department of Energy announces $110 million for small business research and development grants

DOE/US Department of Energy
Grant and Award Announcement

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced awards totaling $110 million for diverse small businesses in 27 states. Many of the 87 projects are focused on developing advanced scientific instruments for conducting climate research and developing advanced materials as well as technologies for clean energy conversion and storage.

Investigating an antimatter imbalance in the proton

DOE/US Department of Energy

Researchers have examined the antimatter makeup of the proton sea for a wide range of quark momenta with higher precision than ever before. This research found that there are, on average, 1.4 down antiquarks for every up antiquark. This finding will help scientists better understand the fundamental forces that keep the proton together.

Journal: Nature

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