Feature Articles

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

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Updates every hour. Last Updated: 21-Jun-2026 12:16 ET (21-Jun-2026 16:16 GMT/UTC)

Argonne-led research team highlighted in special issue on quantum systems

DOE/Argonne National Laboratory

A team led by Argonne and UChicago have published an article in Nature Reviews Materials that lays out a blueprint for solid-state spin defects in materials for use in qubits.

Journal: Nature Reviews Materials

$1.2 million award helps Argonne steer manufacturers toward supercomputing

DOE/Argonne National Laboratory

Argonne National Laboratory received nearly $1.2 million in funding from the Department of Energy to support four manufacturing and materials development projects that have the potential to improve energy efficiency.

Scott chambers searches for new materials, one atomic layer at a time

DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Scott Chambers creates layered structures of thin metal oxide films and studies their properties, creating materials not found in nature. He will soon move his instrumentation and research to the new Energy Sciences Center.

First-person science: Jacqueline Chen on modeling combustion engines

DOE/US Department of Energy

Jacqueline Chen harnesses some of the nation’s most powerful computers to model the complex interactions in combustion engines. Her research illustrates how much our computing power and understanding of these processes has evolved over decades of work.

The Advanced Quantum Testbed propels quantum information technologies and talent

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Since its foundation, the collaborative research culture of AQT at Berkeley Lab has incorporated scientists from different backgrounds and fields to advance quantum computing. David I. Santiago, AQT's technical lead, shared his perspectives about this fast-growing field and his journey growing up and studying physics in Puerto Rico.

Quick detection of uranium isotopes helps safeguard nuclear materials

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Analytical chemists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a rapid way to measure isotopic ratios of uranium and plutonium collected on environmental swipes, which could help International Atomic Energy Agency analysts detect the presence of undeclared nuclear activities or material.

Journal: Analytical Chemistry
Funder: US Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration

Jose Rodriguez named fellow of the American Vacuum Society

DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory

José Rodriguez, a chemist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and an adjunct professor in the departments of Chemistry and Materials Science and Chemical Engineering at Stony Brook University, has been named a 2021 Fellow of the American Vacuum Society (AVS). The award recognizes Rodriguez for his contributions in the field of catalysis.

Greening the gray: Fighting floods with restoration versus riprap

DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Incorporating green infrastructure into flood protection plans alongside gray infrastructure can shield communities, reduce maintenance, and provide additional social and environmental benefits.

Why skyrmions could have a lot in common with glass and high-temperature superconductors

DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Spawned by the spins of electrons in magnetic materials, these tiny whirlpools behave like independent particles and could be the future of computing. Experiments with SLAC’s X-ray laser are revealing their secrets.

Journal: Scientific Reports

Rule-following molecules provide the first direct confirmation of a half-century-old theory

DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

More than half a century after the Woodward-Hoffmann rules, an important set of organic chemistry rules, were formulated, SLAC scientists imaged a reaction and observed how a molecule transforms as predicted by these rules, directly confirming the theory for the first time.

Journal: Science