- Number 306 |
- March 1, 2010
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How life’s smallest motor powers cellular engines
Inside cells, kinesin is the little engine that could, a protein that shuttles cargo within cells and helps cells divide. Microtubules are tube-shaped structures that form a cell’s skeleton; fueled by energy-giving ATP, a kinesin protein motors along a microtubule like a train on a railroad track. -
Smart windows: Energy efficiency with a view
Researchers at DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory are trying to do the high-tech equivalent of putting sunglasses on buildings with a new generation of insulated "dynamic windows" that change color to modulate interior temperatures and lighting. Buildings consume 40 percent of the nearly 100 quadrillion Btus (quads) of energy the United States consumes annually. -
Studying cesium to seize soil cleanup
Scientists at DOE's Lawrence Livermore Lab have developed soil clean-up methods at Bikini Atoll and other islands to the east where nuclear tests were conducted in the early 1950s. Studies show that when it rains, a portion of soluble cesium-137 (137Cs) is transported to the groundwater about three meters below the soil surface. -
Cracking China's building efficiency code
Scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have worked with more than 140 implementation and enforcement professionals in China to develop building energy code and efficiency strategies. These strategies and associated research can assure that new construction employs cost-effective and energy-efficient technologies, minimizing carbon-based energy use in both nations.
