News from 2023


STAR Physicists Track Sequential ‘Melting’ of Upsilons

Scientists use the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), a Department of Energy user facility, to recreate and study the hot particle soup that existed in the very early universe.


Directly Imaging Quantum States in Two-Dimensional Materials

When some semiconductors absorb light, excitons (or particle pairs made of an electron bound to an electron hole) can form.


Fusion Simulations Reveal the Multi-Scale Nature of Tokamak Turbulence

Creating efficient, self-sustaining fusion power requires good confinement of the heat in the plasma.


DOE Announces Over $21 Million to Advance Commercialization of Clean Energy Solutions

Release: New Investments Will Increase Access to Clean Energy Technologies and Support America’s Transition to a Clean Energy Economy


New nontoxic powder uses sunlight to quickly disinfect contaminated drinking water

A low-cost, recyclable powder can kill thousands of waterborne bacteria per second when exposed to sunlight.


Landmark yeast study provides framework for understanding biodiversity, applications

Better understanding of the family responsible for nearly all bread, fermented drinks, and biofuels creates a path to finding new strains with potentially useful traits.


Clemson University team leads sustainable energy research

A group of Clemson University researchers led a study that was recently published in the journal Nature Communications and is aimed at developing advanced materials for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and building a clean and sustainable energy future.


A Nanocrystal Shines On and Off Indefinitely

In 2021, lanthanide-doped nanoparticles made waves—or rather, an avalanche—when Changwan Lee, then a PhD student in Jim Schuck’s lab at Columbia Engineering, set off an extreme light-producing chain reaction from ultrasmall crystals developed at the Molecular Foundry at Berkeley Lab.


Scientists report world’s first X-ray of a single atom in Nature

Ateam of scientists from Ohio University, Argonne National Laboratory, the University of Illinois-Chicago, and others, led by Ohio University Professor of Physics, and Argonne National Laboratory scientist, Saw Wai Hla, have taken the world’s first X-ray SIGNAL (or SIGNATURE) of just one atom.


Graduate Student Selected for DOE Research Program at Sandia National Lab

The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Science has selected physics graduate student Adam Christensen from The University of Texas at Austin to participate in the Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Program.


Treatment creates steel alloys with superior strength and plasticity

A new treatment tested on a high-quality steel alloy produces extraordinary strength and plasticity, two traits that must typically be balanced rather than combined.



Rice U. grad student wins DOE research award

The goal of the program is to prepare graduate students for science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) careers critically important to the DOE Office of Science mission by providing graduate thesis research opportunities through extended residency at DOE national laboratories.


What did Energy Department publish on June 23?

The US Energy Department published a two page notice on June 23, according to the U.S. Government Publishing Office.


Layers of self-healing electronic skin realign autonomously when cut

Human skin is amazing. It senses temperature, pressure, and texture.


UVA-Led Discovery Challenges 30-Year-Old Dogma in Associative Polymers Research

A University of Virginia-led study about a class of materials called associative polymers appears to challenge a long-held understanding of how the materials, which have unique self-healing and flow properties, function at the molecular level.


Energy Department discusses Combined Notice of Filings #1 on June 23

The US Energy Department published a two page notice on June 23, according to the U.S. Government Publishing Office.


Laboratory for Laser Energetics joins team to develop commercial fusion energy

The US Department of Energy program partners private companies with national laboratories and universities to design the first commercial fusion power plant.


Researchers Demonstrate Secure Information Transfer Using Spatial Correlations in Quantum Entangled Beams of Light

Researchers at the University of Oklahoma led a study recently published in Science Advances that proves the principle of using spatial correlations in quantum entangled beams of light to encode information and enable its secure transmission.


Energy Department discusses Transmission System Planning Performance Requirements for Extreme Weather on June 23

The US Energy Department published a two page rule on June 23, according to the U.S. Government Publishing Office.