Berkeley Lab scientists have captured real-time, high-resolution videos of liquid structures taking shape as nanoparticles form a solid-like layer at the interface between oil and water. Their findings could help advance all-liquid robotics for targeted cancer drug delivery and other applications.
Discoveries at the Edge of the Periodic Table: First Ever Measurements of Einsteinium
News Release Julie Chao •
Since element 99 – einsteinium – was discovered in 1952 at Berkeley Lab from the debris of the first hydrogen bomb, scientists have performed very few experiments with it because it is so hard to create and is exceptionally radioactive. A team of Berkeley Lab chemists has overcome these obstacles to report the first study characterizing some of its properties, opening the door to a better understanding of the remaining transuranic elements of the actinide series.
A Detailed Look Inside Tsetse Flies
Science Snapshots Glenn Roberts Jr. •
To better understand the unique reproductive biology of tsetse flies, which are carriers of the parasites that cause a deadly infection known as African sleeping sickness, researchers explored the intact organs and tissues of tsetse flies using a powerful 3D X-ray imaging technique at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source.
A 1-Atom-Deep Look at a Water-Splitting Catalyst
Science Snapshots Glenn Roberts Jr. •
X-ray experiments at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) revealed an unexpected transformation in a single atomic layer of a material that contributed to a doubling in the speed of a chemical reaction – the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. This process is a first step in producing
New Research Technique Sheds Light on Least Understood Part of Lithium Batteries
Science Snapshots Julie Chao •
One of the aspects of lithium-ion batteries least understood by scientists has now been elucidated by a new research approach, opening the door to major improvements in battery performance, according to a new study by Berkeley Lab scientists. Their study, recently published in the journal Joule, used a technique developed by Berkeley Lab battery scientists
Shine On: Avalanching Nanoparticles Break Barriers to Imaging Cells in Real Time
News Release Theresa Duque •
A new material called “avalanching nanoparticles” co-designed by Berkeley Lab could lead to simple, high-resolution bioimaging in real time.
Two Berkeley Lab Scientists Honored with the Lawrence Award
News Release Julie Chao •
The Department of Energy has announced that Susannah Tringe and Dan Kasen, two scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), will receive the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award, one of DOE’s highest honors. Additionally, former Berkeley Lab scientist M. Zahid Hasan was also named as one of the eight recipients.
The Odd Structure of ORF8: Scientists Map the Coronavirus Protein Linked to Immune Evasion and Disease Severity
News Release Aliyah Kovner •
A team of biologists who banded together to support COVID-19 science determined the atomic structure of a coronavirus protein thought to help the pathogen evade and dampen response from human immune cells. The structural map – which is now published in the journal PNAS, but has been open-access for the scientific community since August – has laid the groundwork for new antiviral treatments and enabled further investigations into how the newly emerged virus ravages the human body.
Unique X-Ray Microscope Reveals Dazzling 3D Cell Images
News Release Aliyah Kovner •
A team based at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source is making waves with its new approach for whole-cell visualization, using the world’s first soft X-ray tomography (SXT) microscope built for biological and biomedical research. In its latest study, published in Science Advances, the team used its platform to reveal never-before-seen details about insulin secretion in pancreatic cells taken from rats.
Speeding Toward Improved Hydrogen Fuel Production
News Release By Rachel Berkowitz •
A new material developed by a team led by Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry will help to make hydrogen a viable energy source for a wide range of applications, including stationary power and portable power applications.