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Golden scales

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

There's a new "gold standard" in the senstivity of weighing scales. Using the same technology with which they created the world's first fully functional nanotube radio, Berkeley Lab researchers have fashioned a nanoelectromechanical system that can function as a scale sensitive enough to measure the weight of a single atom of gold. This NEMS scale could prove especially useful for measuring the mass of proteins and other molecules which don't fare well in mass spectrometry.

Journal: Nature Nanotechnology
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

A phonon floodgate in monolayer carbon

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The first scanning tunneling spectroscopy of graphene flakes equipped with a "gate" electrode has found an unexpected gap-like feature in the energy spectrum of electrons tunneling into graphene's single layer of atoms. Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley who performed the research believe the peculiar feature arises from the interaction of the tunneling electrons with phonons, the quantized vibrations of the 2-D graphene crystal.

Journal: Nature Physics
Funder: US Department of Energy's Office of Science

Projected California warming promises cycle of more heat waves, energy use for next century

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

As the 21st century progresses, major cities in heavily air-conditioned California can expect more frequent extreme-heat events because of climate change. This could mean increased electricity demand for the densely populated state, raising the risk of power shortages during heat waves, said Norman Miller, an earth scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and geography professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and Katharine Hayhoe, a climate researcher at Texas Tech University.

Journal: Journal of Applied Meteorology

Researchers distinguish waves from mine collapses from other seismic activities

DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers have devised a technology that can distinguish mine collapses from other seismic activity.

Journal: Science

A stress meter for fault zones

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists from Rice University, the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have measured how changes in stress in rocks near an active fault affect changes in the speed of seismic waves at depths where earthquakes begin. The measurements could lead to a "stress meter" for better understanding how fault-zone stress is related to earthquakes.

Journal: Nature
Funder: National Science Foundation

Visualizing atomic-scale acoustic wavesin nanostructures

DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Acoustic waves play many everyday roles -- from communication between people to ultrasound imaging. Now the highest frequency acoustic waves in materials, with nearly atomic-scale wavelengths, promise to be useful probes of nanostructures such as LED lights.

Journal: Physical Review Letters

US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute announces new genome sequencing projects

DOE/Joint Genome Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In the continuing effort to tap the vast, unexplored reaches of the earth's microbial and plant domains for bioenergy and environmental applications, the DOE Joint Genome Institute has announced its latest portfolio of DNA sequencing targets. The 44 projects, culled from nearly 150 proposals received through the Community Sequencing Program, represent over 60 billion nucleotides of data to be generated through this biodiversity sampling campaign -- roughly the equivalent of 20 human genomes.

Funder: U.S. Department of Energy Rapid Manufacturing Institute (award number DE-EE0007888) and by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences

New electrostatic-based DNA microarray technique could revolutionize medical diagnostics

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Berkeley Lab researchers have invented a technique in which DNA assays -- the key to personalized medicine -- can be read and evaluated with no need of elaborate chemical labeling or sophisticated instrumentation. Based on electrostatic repulsion that yields images visible to the naked eye, the technique could revolutionize the use of DNA microarrays for both research and diagnostics.

Journal: Nature Biotechnology
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

LLNL researchers peer into water in carbon nanotubes

DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers have identified a signature for water inside single-walled carbon nanotubes, helping them understand how water is structured and how it moves within these tiny channels.

Journal: Nano Letters

A look into the nanoscale

DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers have captured time-series snapshots of a solid as it evolves on the ultra-fast timescale.

Journal: Nature Photonics