Science Highlights
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 30-Jun-2025 22:10 ET (1-Jul-2025 02:10 GMT/UTC)
19-Jun-2025
Supercomputer simulations show how to speed up chemical reaction rates
DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Using the now-decommissioned Summit supercomputer, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory ran the largest and most accurate molecular dynamics simulations yet of the interface between water and air during a chemical reaction.
- Journal
- JACS
5-Jun-2025
MIT researchers use Frontier to model the density, pressure inside neutron stars
DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
For astrophysicists, neutron stars stand out as objects of irresistible fascination — perhaps, in part, because of how difficult they are to decipher. But calculations conducted on the Frontier supercomputer, located at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, have revealed new clues about the inner workings of neutron stars.
- Journal
- Physical Review Letters
12-May-2025
Scientists track tiny structures key to advanced electronics
DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
As demand for energy-intensive computing grows, researchers at ORNL have developed a new technique that lets scientists see how interfaces move in promising materials for computing and other applications. The method, now available to users at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences at ORNL, could help design dramatically more energy-efficient technologies.
- Journal
- Small Methods
12-May-2025
Scientists track tiny structures key to advanced electronics
DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
As demand for energy-intensive computing grows, researchers at ORNL have developed a new technique that lets scientists see how interfaces move in promising materials for computing and other applications. The method, now available to users at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences at ORNL, could help design dramatically more energy-efficient technologies.
- Journal
- Small Methods
1-Apr-2025
Oxygen tweaking may be the key to optimizing particle accelerators
DOE/US Department of Energy
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.
- Journal
- Journal of Applied Physics
31-Mar-2025
Molecular modeling reveals how nanocrystals take shape
DOE/US Department of Energy
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. They found that the shapes of the tiny particles depend on the solvent composition and temperature in unexpected ways.
- Journal
- ACS Nano
28-Mar-2025
In an advance for promethium production, researchers get a new view of the element’s properties
DOE/US Department of Energy
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. This information will lead to better separation methods and increased promethium production.
- Journal
- Nature