- Number 303 |
- January 18, 2010
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Fool’s gold proves valuable to scientists studying uranium
Under some contaminated sites, microbes and the mineral pyrite or fool’s gold can seriously alter uranium’s travel plans, according to a new study by DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory. This study, which used resources at DOE’s EMSL and the Integrated Field Challenge Site in Colorado, provided the first-ever evidence that pyrite and uranium interact in alluvial sediments with active microbial communities. -
INL facility a world leader in nuclear graphite testing
Graphite’s not just for pencils. Many of tomorrow’s nuclear reactors, including the Next Generation Nuclear Plant, will count on the material to keep their cores cool and their fission reactions proceeding at the proper pace. These are tough jobs performed in tough environments, and the Carbon Characterization Lab at DOE's Idaho National Laboratory is helping nuclear scientists learn just how graphite will do. -
Center explores low-cost carbon fiber
A new, stimulus-funded research center at DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory could help strengthen the very 'fiber' of America's automotive and energy industries. The Carbon Fiber Technology Center will enable the development and commercialization of low-cost carbon fiber for use in composite materials. -
Scientists unite to solve mysteries of the plasma universe
If a total solar eclipse is the most breathtaking spectacle that nature accords humans, then not far behind are the aurora borealis and, to the astronomers able to observe them, the eruption of a solar flare. For more than a century, scientists have known that the aurora and magnetism were inextricably linked.
