Feature Articles

Department of Energy art contest entry illuminates how IDREAM scientists pivoted during pandemic to accomplish critical nuclear research.

Fast charging could recharge an electric vehicle battery in minutes rather than hours, but doing so can rapidly age a battery. The key word, though, is “can.” Batteries react differently to fast charging because of design, material and manufacturing variations. Early detection and classification of battery aging during fast charging would benefit researchers studying how to improve batteries, battery makers, and eventually the public by helping to ensure batteries last and improving battery safety. Now, a new technique developed by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) researchers makes it easier to spot possible battery troubles earlier than ever before.

A team of atmospheric scientists from around the nation is descending on the Houston, Texas, area for the next 14 months to seek answers to a vexing question: Do tiny specks of soot, dust, smoke, and other particles suspended in Earth’s atmosphere help determine the severity of thunderstorms? The knowledge gained may make weather forecasts more accurate and provide crucial data for improving predictions about how aerosols may affect Earth’s future climate. It will also give scientists a unique opportunity to explore the effects of industry, vehicle emissions, and the built environment on weather and climate.

Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories and their collaborators have developed a new membrane, whose structure was inspired by a protein from algae, for electrodialysis that could be used to provide fresh water for farming and energy production.

Atmospheric scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have deployed a unique method of collecting climate data in cities, aiming to address infrastructure and energy needs across the Nation. Rather than relying on stationary instruments, researchers at Brookhaven’s Center for Multiscale Applied Sensing (CMAS) have integrated sophisticated research tools into a pickup truck, creating a mobile observatory that captures precise, local data on wind, temperature, rain, and clouds across entire cities.

Accelerator scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility have developed a model for a cheaper and easier preparation method for getting better performance from particle accelerators. Preliminary tests show the model may soon provide scientists the ability to predict the best material preparation method for specific performance goals. The results were recently published in Applied Physics Letters.

Theoretical and computational physicist Greg Hammett, a leader in advancing understanding of the complex turbulence that controls the performance of fusion plasmas and a dedicated educator, has been named a 2021 Distinguished Scientist Fellow by the DOE’s Office of Science.

A multidisciplinary team of scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has applied a laser-interference structuring, or LIS, technique that makes significant strides toward eliminating the need for hazardous chemicals in corrosion protection treatments. The novel application of the LIS method answers a call from the U.S. Department of Defense for research projects that explore nonchemical alternatives for corrosion protection in military vehicles and aircraft systems.

Ken Andersen is the associate laboratory director of the Spallation Neutron Source and the High Flux Isotope Reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. This is a continuing profile series on the directors of the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facilities. These scientists lead a variety of research institutions that provide researchers with the most advanced tools of modern science.

The Compact Advanced Tokamak (CAT) concept uses physics models to show that by carefully shaping the plasma and the distribution of current in the plasma, fusion plant operators can suppress turbulent eddies in the plasma. This would reduce heat loss and allow more efficient reactor operation. This advance could help achieve self-sustaining plasma and smaller, less expensive power plants.