Grab some popcorn: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) scientists have succeeded in capturing a more detailed picture than ever of the steps in the reaction mechanisms in photosynthesis, the process by which plants use sunlight to split water and produce oxygen while making the carbohydrates that sustain life on Earth.
Scientists Present New Clues to Cut Through the Mystery of Titan’s Atmospheric Haze
Experiments at Berkeley Lab have helped scientists to zero in on a low-temperature chemical mechanism that may help to explain the complex molecular compounds that make up the nitrogen-rich haze layer surrounding Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.
Toward a New Light: Advanced Light Source Upgrade Project Moves Forward
The Advanced Light Source (ALS), a scientific user facility at Berkeley Lab, has received federal approval to proceed with preliminary design, planning and R&D work for a major upgrade project that will boost the brightness of its X-ray beams at least a hundredfold. The upgrade will give the ALS, which this year celebrates its 25th anniversary, brighter beams with a more ordered structure – like evenly spaced ripples in a pond – that will better reveal nanoscale details in complex chemical reactions and in new materials, expanding the envelope for scientific exploration.
Berkeley Quantum to Accelerate Innovation in Quantum Information Science
Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley today announced the formation of Berkeley Quantum, a partnership designed to accelerate and expand innovation in quantum information science (QIS). Participants in Berkeley Quantum projects will contribute by bringing their strengths in QIS research, theory, algorithms, and applications to help solve, together, some of the most difficult problems in quantum science.
Berkeley Lab to Build an Advanced Quantum Computing Testbed
The U.S. Department of Energy announced today that Berkeley Lab will receive $30 million over five years to build and operate an Advanced Quantum Testbed. Researchers will use the testbed to explore superconducting quantum processors and evaluate how these emerging quantum devices can be utilized to advance scientific research. As part of this effort, Berkeley Lab will collaborate with MIT Lincoln Laboratory to deploy different quantum processor architectures.
Getting a Charge Out of MOFs
Researchers at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley have made a MOF with the highest electron charge mobilities ever observed, along with a technique to improve the conductivity of other MOFs.
Infrared Beams Show Cell Types in a Different Light
By shining highly focused infrared light on living cells, scientists at Berkeley Lab hope to unmask individual cell identities, and to diagnose whether the cells are diseased or healthy.
Light-Emitting Nanoparticles Could Provide a Safer Way to Image Living Cells
A research team has demonstrated how light-emitting nanoparticles, developed at Berkeley Lab, can be used to see deep in living tissue. Researchers hope they can be made to attach to specific components of cells to serve in an advanced imaging system that can pinpoint even single cancer cells.
Scientists ‘Squeeze’ Nanocrystals in a Liquid Droplet Into a Solid-Like State – and Back Again
A team led by scientists at Berkeley Lab found a way to make a liquid-like state behave more like a solid, and then to reverse the process.
New Competition for MOFs: Scientists Make Stronger COFs
Hollow molecular structures known as COFs suffer from an inherent problem: It’s difficult to keep a network of COFs connected in harsh chemical environments. Now, a team at the Berkeley Lab has used a chemical process discovered decades ago to make the linkages between COFs much more sturdy, and to give the COFs new characteristics that could expand their applications.
