Feature Articles

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

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Updates every hour. Last Updated: 23-Apr-2026 09:16 ET (23-Apr-2026 13:16 GMT/UTC)

QSA quantum technologies advance insights into materials physics

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

QSA scientists have advanced major quantum computing technologies based on superconducting qubits, trapped ions, and neutral atoms. These different technologies can be applied in quantum science to study fundamental phenomena and advance new materials. The scientific and technological progress in materials physics led by QSA facilitates the understanding and design of novel properties in superconductors, quantum spin liquids, magnetism, and topological materials.

Exploring quantum materials for a new generation of technology

DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory

A technique called resonant inelastic X-ray scattering, or RIXS, is particularly suited for probing samples as thin as one atomic layer and material states that change very rapidly. With recent technological developments, researchers expect this technique to enable studies that were unthinkable only five years ago. This progress gave Mark Dean and three colleagues — Matteo Mitrano, Steven Johnston, and Young-June Kim — the impetus to chart where the field is going as a whole. So, they summarized the technique’s state of the art and how they expect the field to progress in a Perspective paper, recently published in Physical Review X.

Journal: Physical Review X

The US Department of Energy announces Xander Newlun as the 2025 Conquer the Hill Command Competition winner

DOE/Argonne National Laboratory

Argonne National Laboratory announced Xander Newlun from the University of Texas at San Antonio won the 2025 Conquer the Hill® Command competition.

Scientists lay out vision for AI-based ‘labs of the future’

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

A workshop led by scientists at ORNL sketched a road map toward a longtime goal: development of autonomous, or self-driving, next-generation research laboratories.

Quantum career fair celebrates 100 years of quantum mechanics

DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Quantum Information Science (QIS) Research Centers hosted the fourth annual QIS Career Fair on Jan. 22, 2025.

Dialing in scientific and operational performance

DOE/Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility

Jefferson Lab’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning professionals ensure optimal operation of operational and scientific facilities through their technical expertise.

Germanium detectors help ORNL physicists unlock the mysteries of the universe

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Relying on leading-edge germanium detectors developed by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the scientific community pursues elusive nuclear processes to unlock persistent mysteries. Answers to questions they hope to resolve hold the potential to redefine the universe itself.

Funder: US Department of Energy Office of Science (Office of Nuclear Physics)

What is quantum coherence?

DOE/Argonne National Laboratory

What is of quantum coherence and how it is used for quantum sensing and quantum computing applications?

Nuclear fusion: WEST beats the world record for plasma duration!

DOE/Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

On 12 February, the CEA’s WEST machine was able to maintain a plasma for more than 22 minutes. In doing so, it smashed the previous record for plasma duration achieved with a tokamak. This leap forward demonstrates how our knowledge of plasmas and technological control of them over longer periods is becoming more mature, and offers hope that fusion plasmas can be stabilised for greater amounts of time in machines such as ITER.

INL’s enduring mission: How high-flux thermal irradiation testing became a foundation for US nuclear leadership

DOE/Idaho National Laboratory

Seventy-five years ago, the sweeping landscape of the Idaho desert over the Snake River Aquifer was a land of sagebrush, brown grass and lava rock. Today, the desert site facilities of Idaho National Laboratory are still home to sagebrush, brown grass and lava rock but also to of some of the world’s most cutting-edge nuclear fuel research and reactor prototype development.

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