- Number 310 |
- April 26, 2010
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MINOS neutrino experiment continues race
Scientists working on the MINOS neutrino experiment at DOE’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory have set tighter constraints on the last neutrino mixing angle that still eludes experimental detection. Measuring this angle, known as theta-one-three, could help answer questions regarding the abundance of matter over antimatter in our universe.
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Secrets of attosecond science
Many advances in energy, green chemistry, and human health will have to start with an intimate understanding of how electrons move—knowledge that will depend on time-resolved spectroscopy and frame-by-frame movies of how molecular bonds change during chemical reactions, or the correlated behavior of electrons in complex materials like high-temperature superconductors. Catching electrons in the act means freezing time within a few quintillionths of a second, using ultrashort pulses of laser light.
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Quieting your data
Noisy or irrelevant data can distract scientists and consume expensive storage space and computing time, especially when studying ultra-large, dynamic, incomplete climate data sets to predict how regulations will influence the global climate. Scientist at DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, along with a host of collaborators, created a new approach that can discern between noise and nonlinear events.
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INL research helps turn waste grease to fuel
While oil companies drill ever deeper for increasingly hard-to-find petroleum, research by chemists at DOE's Idaho National Laboratory is helping tap legions of mini-gushers right on the surface. Many businesses, such as restaurants and potato processing plants, produce loads of waste grease.
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Safer nuclear reactors could result from Los Alamos research
Self-repairing materials within nuclear reactors may one day become a reality as a result of research by Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists.
In a paper appearing in the journal Science, Los Alamos researchers report a surprising mechanism that allows nanocrystalline materials to heal themselves after suffering radiation-induced damage.