Where on Earth Did the Water Come From?
Earth’s supply of water is incredibly important for its ability to sustain life, but where did that water come from? Was it present when Earth…
DOE
Triggering Room-Temperature Superconductivity With a Flash of Light
Scientists discover that triggering superconductivity with a flash of light involves the same fundamental physics that are at work in the more stable states needed…
Department of Energy’s “Fairly Simple” Breakthrough Makes Accessing Stored Hydrogen More Efficient
A new catalyst from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory and collaborators extracts hydrogen from hydrogen storage materials easily and efficiently. The process occurs…
Science Made Simple: What Is Burning Plasma?
Sustained, ongoing fusion reactions like those in our Sun rely on burning plasmas. Plasma, one of the four fundamental states of matter, consists of a…
Scientists Discover a Mysterious Transition in an Exotic Electronic Crystal
Thermal span in a layered compound promises applications in next-generation electrical switches and nonvolatile memory. When temperature changes, many materials undergo a phase transition,…
Science Made Simple: What Is Microbiology?
Microbiology is the study of microorganisms that are usually too small to be visible with the human eye without a microscope. Microorganisms (also known as…
Progress in Hybrid Algorithms Makes Small, Noisy Quantum Computers Viable
Hybrid algorithms can accommodate limited qubits, lack of error correction for real-world tasks. As reported in an article in Nature Reviews Physics, instead of waiting…
Atomic Armor for Next-Generation, Electron-Beam Accelerators
Advancement in single-atom layer graphene coatings improves accelerator electron source lifespans. Protective coatings are common for many things in daily life that see a lot…
Science Made Simple: What Are Clouds and Aerosols?
Clouds are an essential part of the Earth’s climate. Clouds block the sun and shade the ground, cooling the planet’s surface and the atmosphere. They…
Science Made Simple: What Is Exascale Computing?
Exascale computing is the next major milestone in the development of supercomputers. Able to process information much faster than today’s most powerful supercomputers, exascale computers…
Just a Few Common Bacteria Gobble Up Most of the Carbon in Soil
Bacterial Carbon Cycling in Soil Is Not a Shared Effort Scientists can capture valuable demographic data about soil microbes with a tool called quantitative stable…
Artificial Photosynthesis: New Device Advances Commercial Viability of Solar Fuels
Discovery significantly improves stability in ethylene and hydrogen production via artificial photosynthesis. A research team has developed a new artificial photosynthesis device component with remarkable…
Science Made Simple: What Is Deuterium-Tritium Fusion Reactor Fuel?
Fusion energy has the potential to supply safe, clean, and nearly limitless power. Although fusion reactions can occur for light nuclei weighting less than iron, most elements…
Crystallography for Misfit Crystals: Advanced Algorithms Reveal Material Structures
Advanced algorithms plus an exceptional X-ray laser can reveal the structures of not-so-neat-and-tidy materials unattainable by other techniques. Francis Crick, who famously co-discovered the shape…
Harvesting Fusion Energy on Earth With a Boost From a Common Household Cleaner
Scientists have found that adding a common household cleaning agent – the mineral boron contained in such cleaners as Borax – can vastly improve the…
Pandora Mission To Study Stars and Exoplanets Passes Crucial Step
The Pandora mission, co-led by a national laboratory and a NASA flight center, has passed a crucial step on its path to study stars and…
Innovative New Algorithms Advance the Computing Power of Early-Stage Quantum Computers
A group of scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory has developed computational quantum algorithms that are capable of efficient and highly accurate…
Quantum Breakthrough: How To Transform Vacancies Into Quantum Information
Team’s findings could help the design of industrially relevant quantum materials for sensing, computing, and communication. “Vacancy” is a sign you want to see when…
