display Latest news from Department of Energy, Office of Science on News en-us Copyright 2025 News 115 31 / /images/newswise-logo-rss.gif /articles/oxygen-tweaking-may-be-the-key-to-optimizing-particle-accelerators/?sc=rsin /articles/oxygen-tweaking-may-be-the-key-to-optimizing-particle-accelerators/?sc=rsin Tue, 01 Apr 2025 20:10:47 EST Many particle accelerators rely on superconducting radiofrequency components made of niobium. Nuclear physicists found that dissolving oxygen atoms a few micrometers into niobium greatly improves the performance of components made of the metal. Now, the researchers are perfecting a model using different processes for adding oxygen. The model helps to predict and optimize component performance. Department of Energy, Office of Science /articles/molecular-modeling-reveals-how-nanocrystals-take-shape/?sc=rsin /articles/molecular-modeling-reveals-how-nanocrystals-take-shape/?sc=rsin Mon, 31 Mar 2025 19:50:11 EST The shape of nanoparticles depends on the choice of solvent and temperature during their growth, but the seed particles that form first are too small to measure accurately. Researchers have developed a new approach to successfully model seed particles with 100 to 200 atoms. Department of Energy, Office of Science /articles/in-an-advance-for-promethium-production-researchers-get-a-new-view-of-the-element-s-properties/?sc=rsin /articles/in-an-advance-for-promethium-production-researchers-get-a-new-view-of-the-element-s-properties/?sc=rsin Fri, 28 Mar 2025 19:25:08 EST Promethium's short half-life and lack of stable isotopes makes it difficult to study. In addition, promethium is difficult to separate from other lanthanide elements because of these elements' similarity. In this study, scientists created a pure sample of the isotope promethium-147 and used X-ray absorption spectroscopy to examine the way it chemically bonds. Department of Energy, Office of Science /articles/new-approach-to-materials-synthesis-with-quick-validation-by-a-robotic-lab/?sc=rsin /articles/new-approach-to-materials-synthesis-with-quick-validation-by-a-robotic-lab/?sc=rsin Thu, 27 Mar 2025 17:35:34 EST To make inorganic materials such as catalysts, industry mixes precursor powders and fires them in an oven. This often produces a mix of compositions and structures. In this study, researchers developed a new way to select precursors to increase yield and quickly validated their results using a robotic lab. The new recipe selection process obtained higher purity for 32 of the 35 target materials. Department of Energy, Office of Science /articles/new-precise-calculation-of-nuclear-beta-decays-paves-the-way-to-uncover-physics-beyond-the-standard-model/?sc=rsin /articles/new-precise-calculation-of-nuclear-beta-decays-paves-the-way-to-uncover-physics-beyond-the-standard-model/?sc=rsin Wed, 26 Mar 2025 21:30:22 EST Through the weak nuclear force, one quark flavor can transmute into another. However, current data and theory indicate that the probabilities of quark flavor transmutation do not add up to 100%, as predicted by the Standard Model of Particle Physics. To understand whether this is due to physics beyond the Standard Model or underestimated uncertainties, nuclear theorists laid out a new framework needed to extract the up-down quark flavor mixing with a precision of a few parts in ten thousand from certain nuclear beta decays. Department of Energy, Office of Science /articles/can-electricity-flow-without-electrons/?sc=rsin /articles/can-electricity-flow-without-electrons/?sc=rsin Fri, 21 Mar 2025 18:20:40 EST Scientists have long held that electricity is carried by individual electrons with discrete charges moving in a metal, even in the case of electrons clumped into quasiparticles. However, "strange metals" fail to obey this paradigm. Researchers have observed a radical quantum blurring of electrons in strange metal into a featureless liquid, potentially pointing toward a new theory of electrical transport. Department of Energy, Office of Science /articles/testing-the-possible-doubly-magic-nature-of-tin-100-researchers-study-the-electromagnetic-properties-of-indium-isotopes/?sc=rsin /articles/testing-the-possible-doubly-magic-nature-of-tin-100-researchers-study-the-electromagnetic-properties-of-indium-isotopes/?sc=rsin Wed, 19 Mar 2025 20:25:12 EST Atomic nuclei with "magic numbers" of protons or neutrons in their nuclear shells are extremely stable. Nuclear physicists are especially interested in nuclei with doubly magic numbers--those that have full shells for both protons and neutrons. One example is the tin isotope Sn-100, which has 50 protons and 50 neutrons. To prepare for future work on Sn-100, researchers studied the properties of isotopes of indium as they approached 50 neutrons. This helps to demonstrate how adding single particles changes the properties of a nucleus. Department of Energy, Office of Science /articles/doe-s-office-of-science-is-now-accepting-applications-for-fall-2025-undergraduate-internships/?sc=rsin /articles/doe-s-office-of-science-is-now-accepting-applications-for-fall-2025-undergraduate-internships/?sc=rsin Tue, 18 Mar 2025 10:50:26 EST Applications are currently being accepted for the Fall 2025 term of two undergraduate internship programs offered by the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science: the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships (SULI) program and the Community College Internships (CCI) program. The application deadline is May 21, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. EDT. Department of Energy, Office of Science /articles/unlocking-the-passcodes-to-manipulate-natural-bacterial-communities/?sc=rsin /articles/unlocking-the-passcodes-to-manipulate-natural-bacterial-communities/?sc=rsin Mon, 17 Mar 2025 19:50:59 EST Bacteria commonly produce toxins that are lethal to themselves, but also produce the required antitoxins. These toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems may be useful in modifying bacteria for biotechnology applications, but the systems have unpredictable behavior. A new study of communities instead of individual species makes TA systems easier to understand and use. Department of Energy, Office of Science /articles/nuclear-physicists-create-scalable-quantum-circuits-to-simulate-fundamental-physics/?sc=rsin /articles/nuclear-physicists-create-scalable-quantum-circuits-to-simulate-fundamental-physics/?sc=rsin Fri, 14 Mar 2025 21:05:50 EST Simulations of equations from the Standard Model of particle physics are too difficult for classical supercomputers. In this research, scientists for the first time created scalable quantum circuits to prepare a simulation of the starting state for a particle accelerator collision to test aspects of strong interactions. The researchers first determined these circuits for small systems using classical computers, then scaled the quantum circuits to a large system on more than 100 qubits of IBM's quantum computers. Department of Energy, Office of Science /articles/heavy-ligands-unravel-new-chemistry-for-heavy-elements/?sc=rsin /articles/heavy-ligands-unravel-new-chemistry-for-heavy-elements/?sc=rsin Wed, 12 Mar 2025 20:50:07 EST The transplutonium actinides are highly radioactive and rare, making them difficult to study. To examine their chemical properties, researchers typically use non-radioactive lanthanides as surrogates. In this study, scientists streamlined the synthesis of transplutonium actinide compounds, which allowed for more accurate direct comparisons of lanthanides and heavy actinide compounds, showing that transplutonium actinides have truly unique properties. Department of Energy, Office of Science /articles/nsf-doe-vera-c-rubin-observatory-installs-lsst-camera-on-telescope/?sc=rsin /articles/nsf-doe-vera-c-rubin-observatory-installs-lsst-camera-on-telescope/?sc=rsin Wed, 12 Mar 2025 10:25:16 EST NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, has achieved a major milestone with the installation of the LSST Camera on the telescope. Department of Energy, Office of Science /articles/scientists-take-an-important-step-toward-mitigating-errors-in-analog-quantum-simulations-of-many-body-problems/?sc=rsin /articles/scientists-take-an-important-step-toward-mitigating-errors-in-analog-quantum-simulations-of-many-body-problems/?sc=rsin Tue, 11 Mar 2025 09:10:40 EST Simulations of quantum many-body problems are a challenge for even the most powerful conventional computers. Quantum computing has the potential to solve this challenge using an approach called an analog quantum simulation. To succeed, these simulations need theoretical approximations of how quantum computers represent many-body systems. In this research, nuclear physicists developed a new framework to analyze these approximations and minimize their effects. Department of Energy, Office of Science /articles/doe-s-office-of-science-is-now-accepting-applications-for-office-of-science-graduate-student-research-awards/?sc=rsin /articles/doe-s-office-of-science-is-now-accepting-applications-for-office-of-science-graduate-student-research-awards/?sc=rsin Fri, 07 Feb 2025 18:00:50 EST The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science is pleased to announce that the Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program is now accepting applications for the 2025 solicitation 1 cycle. Applications are due on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. ET. Department of Energy, Office of Science /articles/u-s-department-of-energy-announces-early-career-research-program-for-fy-2025/?sc=rsin /articles/u-s-department-of-energy-announces-early-career-research-program-for-fy-2025/?sc=rsin Fri, 17 Jan 2025 19:30:24 EST Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced it is accepting applications for the 2025 DOE Office of Science Early Career Research Program to support the research of outstanding scientists early in their careers. The program will support over 80 early career researchers for five years at U.S. academic institutions, DOE national laboratories, and Office of Science user facilities. Department of Energy, Office of Science /articles/louvers-on-the-sparc-fusion-device-should-exhaust-gases-as-hot-as-a-star/?sc=rsin /articles/louvers-on-the-sparc-fusion-device-should-exhaust-gases-as-hot-as-a-star/?sc=rsin Fri, 17 Jan 2025 18:50:15 EST New studies have found that using louvers at the bottom of a fusion device creates local conditions that can reduce the temperature of the edge plasma, ensuring the plasma is not hot enough to damage the device. Specifically, the louvers allow the hot plasma to "detach" from the walls of the device, spreading out the heat. The work, on the SPARC machine, aids in progress toward fusion energy production. Department of Energy, Office of Science /articles/u-s-department-of-energy-announces-selectees-for-107-million-fusion-innovation-research-engine-collaboratives-and-progress-in-milestone-program-inspired-by-nasa/?sc=rsin /articles/u-s-department-of-energy-announces-selectees-for-107-million-fusion-innovation-research-engine-collaboratives-and-progress-in-milestone-program-inspired-by-nasa/?sc=rsin Thu, 16 Jan 2025 19:25:50 EST The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $107 million in funding for six projects in the Fusion Innovative Research Engine (FIRE) Collaboratives, and that several privately funded fusion companies have completed early critical-path science and technology (S&T) milestones in the Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program ("the Milestone Program"). Both programs, administered by DOE's Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) program in the Office of Science, are cornerstones of DOE's fusion strategy to accelerate the viability of commercial fusion energy. Department of Energy, Office of Science /articles/department-of-energy-announces-71-million-for-research-on-quantum-information-science-enabled-discoveries-in-high-energy-physics/?sc=rsin /articles/department-of-energy-announces-71-million-for-research-on-quantum-information-science-enabled-discoveries-in-high-energy-physics/?sc=rsin Thu, 16 Jan 2025 19:05:06 EST Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $71 million in funding for 25 projects in high energy physics that will use the emerging technologies of quantum information science to answer fundamental questions about the universe. Department of Energy, Office of Science /articles/illuminating-the-elements-under-our-feet/?sc=rsin /articles/illuminating-the-elements-under-our-feet/?sc=rsin Thu, 16 Jan 2025 17:15:33 EST Using a unique measurement tool, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have expanded our knowledge of the elements in soil and plants. Department of Energy, Office of Science /articles/tuning-magnetism-with-voltage-opens-a-new-path-to-neuromorphic-circuits/?sc=rsin /articles/tuning-magnetism-with-voltage-opens-a-new-path-to-neuromorphic-circuits/?sc=rsin Wed, 15 Jan 2025 21:10:34 EST Lanthanum strontium manganite (LSMO) is a quantum material that is magnetic and conducts electricity at low temperature but is nonmagnetic and an insulator at room temperature. Researchers discovered that applying voltage to LSMO in its magnetic phase causes the material to split into regions with distinct magnetic properties whose properties depend on the applied voltage. This means that both resistance and magnetism can be tuned in LSMO, creating a new path toward neuromorphic devices. Department of Energy, Office of Science