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As part of an investigation to boost agricultural yields and develop crops that are resilient to climate change, Berkeley Lab scientists have introduced RhizoNet, a computational tool that harnesses the power of AI to transform how we study plant roots and root behavior under various environmental conditions. A paper describing their innovative deep-learning approach, combined with a unique hydroponic device that facilitates in-situ plant imaging, was published June 5 in Scientific Reports.

Researchers have demonstrated a new method that could enable the large-scale manufacturing of optical qubits. The advance could bring us closer to a scalable quantum computer. 

Héctor García Martín, a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), is working to expedite and refine the R&D landscape of synthetic biology by applying artificial intelligence and the mathematical tools he mastered during his training as a physicist. The ability to predict biological systems using trained algorithms, combined with automated laboratories, could transform the fields of medicine, chemical manufacturing, and energy.

Ammonia is the starting point for the fertilizers that have secured the world’s food supply for the last century. It’s also a main component of cleaning products, and is even considered as a future carbon-free replacement for fossil fuels in vehicles. But synthesizing ammonia from molecular nitrogen is an energy-intensive industrial process, due to the high temperatures and pressures at which the standard reaction proceeds. Scientists at Berkeley Lab have a new way to produce ammonia that works at room temperature and pressure.

Homes and public places where people smoke may have high levels of harmful trace metals from cigarettes, even after smoking stops, Berkeley Lab researchers have found. These metals include cadmium, arsenic, and chromium, and the levels may be above safety limits set by California.

Berkeley Lab scientists have achieved record-high energy and power densities in microcapacitors made with engineered thin films, using materials and fabrication techniques already widespread in chip manufacturing. Their work paves the way for advanced on-chip energy storage and power delivery in next-generation electronics. 

Unlike most materials, the new alloy keeps its shape and resists cracking at both high and low temperature extremes, making it potentially suitable for demanding applications like high-efficiency aerospace engines