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Yongjae Lee, a postdoctoral fellow in the Physics Department at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, has won the 2002 Alvin Van Valkenburg Award for his work on a newly discovered class of materials that expand under pressure.

The idea that obese people eat too much because they find food more palatable than lean people do has gained support from a new brain-imaging study at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The study reveals that the parts of the brain responsible for sensation in the mouth, lips, and tongue are more active in obese people than in normal-weight control subjects.

Research by physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory provides new insight into why some materials made of stacks of metallic planes are conductors in the direction of the planes and are insulators in the direction perpendicular to the planes. Such behavior is in marked contradiction with scientists' traditional understanding of metallic conductivity, where the electrical current is carried by electrons in every direction.

A team of scientists has provided new insight into the superconductivity of magnesium diboride (MgB2), an unusual superconductor discovered only last year.

Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham today announced that the department plans to proceed with a center for nanoscale science research at its Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island.

In a new study at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, scientists have found that the mere sight/smell of food spikes levels of a brain "pleasure" chemical called dopamine. The study is reported in the June 1, 2002, issue of the journal Synapse.

Research by physicists at Brookhaven National Laboratory provides new insight into why some materials can be both conductors and insulators. Such behavior is in marked contradiction with scientists' traditional understanding of metallic conductivity. Understanding materials that are both conducting and insulating will help scientists gain new insight into superconductors -- materials that conduct electricity with no energy loss.

Using data from one of the most comprehensive U.S. air pollution studies ever conducted, scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory have identified specific volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as key sources of excess ozone smog in industrial areas of Houston, Texas -- which appear to be different from traditional sources of ozone pollution in typical urban areas around the country.

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have found that the mere display of food -- where food-deprived subjects smell and taste their favorite foods without actually eating them -- causes a significant elevation in brain dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with feelings of pleasure and reward. This activation of the brain's dopamine motivation circuits is distinct from the role the brain chemical plays when people actually eat, and may be similar to what addicts experience when craving drugs.

Physicists at the Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory reveal that interactions among proteins at the cellular level are not random, but well organized. The results of this study are published in the May 3, 2002, issue of Science.