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Feature Stories

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 29-Apr-2025 15:08 ET (29-Apr-2025 19:08 GMT/UTC)

Brookhaven's Top 10 Discoveries of 2024

DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory

UPTON, N.Y. — With one-of-a-kind research facilities leveraged by scientists from across the nation and around the world, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory is a veritable city of science. Each year brings discoveries, from the scale of subatomic particles to the vastness of Earth’s atmosphere and the cosmos, that have the potential to power new technologies and provide solutions to major societal challenges. Here, the Lab presents, in no particular order, its top 10 discoveries of 2024 … plus a few major Brookhaven Lab milestones.

Argonne physicist receives Feynman Prize for excellence in nanotechnology experimentation

DOE/Argonne National Laboratory

The Foresight Institute is recognizing Argonne Physicist Saw Wai Hla with the 2024 Feynman Prize for his research on molecular machines and motors, atomically precise rotation of rare-earth complexes and analysis of a single atom with X-rays.

SEED EF: Powering advanced innovation in renewable energy and decarbonization

Lehigh University

A combination of good timing, great advice, and a novel opportunity changed Dawson Berger's career trajectory. He is now a full-time PhD student in mechanical engineering and one of the first participants in the NSF-funded Stakeholder Engaged, Equitable, Decarbonized Energy Futures Training Program (SEED EF) at Lehigh University.

Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

Pennington Biomedical conducts study to test efficacy of diabetes medication for cancer-related weight loss

Pennington Biomedical Research Center

Pennington Biomedical Research Center is hosting a research trial to determine if the drug Pioglitazone can also be used to treat cachexia, or muscle weakness and weight loss associated with certain cancers. Pioglitazone is commonly used to lower blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. The trial is underway now and will recruit participants through March 2025. Pennington Biomedical invites patients with non-small cell lung cancer, or gastrointestinal cancers including colorectal, liver, gallbladder, stomach or bile duct cancers to apply.

Harvesting plant data with robotics, sensors and advanced computing

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory recently demonstrated an autonomous robotic field monitoring, sampling and data-gathering system that could accelerate understanding of interactions among plants, soil and the environment.

Funder: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy

PolyU project develops a library of polarized vdW heterobilayers for advancing computing applications supported by NSFC / RGC Collaborative Research Scheme

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Discovering emerging nanomaterials and their potential can drive innovation for advancing computing applications. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) scientist has proposed to generate a library of van der Waals (vdW) heterobilayers with specific properties, which are essential for the next generation of nanoelectronics, photonics, and spintronics. This project has received support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Research Grants Council (RGC) Collaborative Research Scheme (CRS) 2024/25.

Development of a BIM and VR-based noise and vibration impact simulator for deep excavation blasting

National Research Council of Science & Technology

Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) announced that it has developed the nation's first BIM (Building Information Modeling) and VR (Virtual Reality) based noise and vibration impact simulator for deep excavation blasting, aimed at expanding underground transportation infrastructure that citizens can use safely and comfortably.

Funder: Ministry of Science and ICT

Researchers address material challenges to make commercial fusion power a reality

DOE/Ames National Laboratory

Researchers from the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) Ames National Laboratory and Iowa State University are leading efforts to overcome materials challenges that could make commercial fusion power a reality.

Argonne training series helps prepare a new generation of AI-ready researchers

DOE/Argonne National Laboratory

Argonne’s student training series, Intro to AI-driven Science on Supercomputers, is preparing a new generation of researchers to harness the power of AI to accelerate scientific discoveries.

Nashville housing research earns geography award

University of Tennessee at Knoxville

Professor Madhuri Sharma and co-author Mikhail Samarin from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, are receiving the Wrigley-Fairchild Award for the best paper published in the Geographical Review in 2024. Their research examined the experience of immigrants in the Nashville housing market.

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