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Physicists build ultra-powerful accelerator magnet

DOE/Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

The next generation of cutting-edge accelerator magnets is no longer just an idea. Recent tests revealed that the United States and CERN have successfully co-created a prototype superconducting accelerator magnet that is much more powerful than those currently inside the Large Hadron Collider.

Six weighty facts about gravity

DOE/SLAC/Fermilab

Gravity: we barely ever think about it, at least until we slip on ice or stumble on the stairs. To many ancient thinkers, gravity wasn't even a force -- it was just the natural tendency of objects to sink toward the center of Earth, while planets were subject to other, unrelated laws.

Putting it all together: Fermilab assembles first cryomodule for LCLS-II

DOE/Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

In February, a Fermilab team came together to witness a moment they'd looked forward to for over a year. Crew members parted the plastic sheeting at one end of a cleanroom and rolled out on narrow tracks a long string of eight accelerating cavities. It was the first cavity string for LCLS-II, which will greatly increase the power and capacity of SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source.

Argonne continues to pave way for improved battery performance testing

DOE/Argonne National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists at the US Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have demonstrated that the placement and type of a tiny measurement device called a reference electrode enhances the quantity and quality of information that can be extracted from lithium-ion battery cells during cycling.

Journal: Journal of The Electrochemical Society
Funder: Vehicle Technologies Office, United States Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Vehicle Technology Office

Moving microswimmers with tiny swirling flows

DOE/Argonne National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory have discovered a way to use a microscopic, swirling flow to rapidly clear a circle of tiny bacteria or swimming robots.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy, National Institutes of Health

Bump in LHC data has physicists electrified

DOE/Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

In December, the ATLAS and CMS experiments reported what could be the first hint of a new massive particle that spits out two photons as it decays. Now, physicists are presenting their latest analyses at the Moriond conference in La Thuile, Italy, including a full investigation of this mysterious bump. After carefully checking, cross-checking and rechecking the data, both experiments have come to the same conclusion -- the bump is still there.

Dusting for the fingerprint of inflation with BICEP3

DOE/SLAC/Fermilab

BICEP3, the upgraded version of BICEP2, began collecting data yesterday. The first observations using the fully updated equipment will run through November.

(Rain)cloud computing: Researchers work to improve how we predict climate change

DOE/Argonne National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

At Argonne National Laboratory, two scientists work on simulations that project what the climate will look like 100 years from now. Last year, they completed the highest-resolution climate forecast ever done for North America, dividing the continent into squares just over seven miles on a side -- far more detailed than the standard 30 to 60 miles.

Journal: Climate Dynamics
Funder: US Department of Defense's Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program

Fermilab scientists discover new 4-flavor particle

DOE/Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

Scientists on the DZero collaboration at the US Department of Energy's Fermilab have discovered a new particle -- the latest member to be added to the exotic species of particle known as tetraquarks.

A new recipe for biofuel: Genetic diversity can lead to more productive growth

DOE/Argonne National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A team of national laboratory and university researchers led by the Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory is growing large test plots of switchgrass crops with the farmer in mind. For the first time, researchers have mixed different genetic varieties of switchgrass on production-size plots, hypothesizing this could increase yield by extending the growing season, varying the size of the switchgrass plants to produce a fuller crop and potentially reducing the crop's vulnerability to weather fluctuations.