Science Highlights
Can proteins bind based only on their shapes?
DOE/US Department of EnergyProteins bind together through a complex mix of chemical interactions. What if some proteins bind due to their shapes, a much simpler process? Researchers used the Summit supercomputer to model a type of interaction that requires proteins to chemically “fit” precisely. The team found that among a sample of 46 protein pairs that bind to one another, 6 often assembled based on their shapes.
- Journal
- Soft Matter
Scientists zoom in on the atomic structure of artificial proteins
DOE/US Department of EnergyScientists have created crystalline sheets one molecule thick using a synthetic molecule called a polypeptoid. Scientists take images of these nanosheets using electron microscopes, but until recently these images were blurry. This new study used machine learning to process about 500,000 independent images to produce the first clear image of individual atoms in a synthetic soft material.
- Journal
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Tropical rainfall pattern will increase rainfall variability in Pacific Northwest
DOE/US Department of EnergyThe Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) is a tropical rainfall pattern that excites waves of air that can affect weather outside of the tropics. New research shows that warming temperatures will cause the “teleconnection” that allows the MJO to affect non-tropical weather to extend further over the North Pacific than it now does. This change will increase the variability of rainfall in California.
- Journal
- Nature Climate Change
Turbulence can help activate aerosol particles to form clouds
DOE/US Department of EnergyTo form, cloud droplets need aerosol particles and humidity in the atmosphere. Scientists previously believed cloud droplets formed only when the humidity rose above 100%. Now, new research found that if the humidity falls below 100%, the primary driver of cloud formation involves small changes in humidity caused by turbulence.
- Journal
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Creating and studying radioactive molecules advances nuclear structure and fundamental symmetry studies
DOE/US Department of EnergyResearchers performed the world’s first measurement of how the size of the radium nucleus modifies the structure of molecules containing different radium isotopes. Violations of fundamental symmetries help explain why there is more matter than antimatter in the universe. Radioactive molecules containing isotopes of heavy elements like radium are ideal for studying violation of fundamental symmetries.
- Journal
- Physical Review Letters
ORNL fusion scientists are working to make measurements of plasma disruption mitigation methods more accurate
DOE/Oak Ridge National LaboratoryA team of fusion researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory used datasets from measurements on the Joint European Torus, or JET, tokamak to model an improved method for quantifying the amount of plasma-radiated power during a disruption of normal operations.
- Journal
- Review of Scientific Instruments
- Funder
- DOE/US Department of Energy
Fast flows prevent buildup of impurities on the edge of tokamak plasmas
DOE/US Department of EnergyImpurities in the plasmas in tokamaks can reduce performance. These impurities are from interactions between the hot plasma and tungsten tokamak walls. This experiment found that tokamak magnetic fields that rotate clockwise direction can remove these impurities. This is the opposite direction from normal and the same direction the plasma current moves.
- Journal
- Nuclear Materials and Energy