Scientists have a new way to use data from high-energy particle smashups to peer inside protons. Their approach uses quantum information science to map out how particle tracks streaming from electron-proton collisions are influenced by quantum entanglement inside the proton.
Tag: DOE national labs
Imaging Nuclear Shapes by Smashing them to Smithereens
Scientists have demonstrated a new way to use high-energy particle smashups at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) to reveal subtle details about the shapes of atomic nuclei. The method is complementary to lower energy techniques for determining nuclear structure. It will add depth to scientists’ understanding of the nuclei that make up the bulk of visible matter.

Reaction Conditions Tune Catalytic Selectivity
Chemists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a new theoretical framework for more accurately predicting the behavior of catalysts. The study reveals how conditions such as temperature and pressure can change a catalyst’s structure, efficiency, and even the products it makes — and can potentially be used to control reaction outcomes.

Brookhaven’s Computing Center Reaches 300 Petabytes of Stored Data
The Scientific Data and Computing Center (SDCC) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory now stores more than 300 petabytes of data. That’s far more data than would be needed to store everything written by humankind since the dawn of history — or, if you prefer your media in video format, all the movies ever created.
Atmospheric Observatory Opens for Operation in Bankhead National Forest
With help from scientists at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories, DOE’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility has established a cutting-edge atmospheric observatory in Alabama’s William Bankhead National Forest.

Juan Jimenez Named Blavatnik Regional Awards Finalist
The Blavatnik Family Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences have recognized chemical engineer Juan Jimenez as a Finalist in the 2024 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists. Jimenez’s catalysis science research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory opens doors for turning climate change-driving gases into industrially useful materials.

VENUS rising: A new dawn for AI-powered atomic-scale 3D imaging
The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory added a new neutron scattering instrument to its powerhouse of discovery at the Spallation Neutron Source, charting new territory for neutron imaging through artificial intelligence. In July, DOE’s Office of Science approved the final commissioning of the Versatile Neutron Imaging Instrument, or VENUS.

Instrumental: Brookhaven’s Alabama-Bound Spectrometer
What populates Alabama’s William Bankhead National Forest? Trees might be the first thing that come to mind — or maybe deer. But a lot of sophisticated scientific instruments are joining the natural forest occupants thanks to a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) research facility being set up there to study connections between the forest and atmosphere.
Battelle Names Anibal Boscoboinik ‘Inventor of the Year’
Anibal Boscoboinik, a materials scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, has been named an “Inventor of the Year” by Battelle Memorial Institute for his work on noble gas trapping technology with applications in industry and environmental health.
Catalyst for ‘One-Step’ Conversion of Methane to Methanol
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and collaborating institutions have engineered a highly selective catalyst that can convert methane, a major component of natural gas, into methanol, an easily transportable liquid fuel, in a single, one-step reaction.

New Heaviest Exotic Antimatter Nucleus
Scientists studying the tracks of particles streaming from six billion collisions of atomic nuclei at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) — an “atom smasher” that recreates the conditions of the early universe — have discovered a new kind of antimatter nucleus, the heaviest ever detected.

Mary Bishai Named Distinguished Scientist Fellow
Physicist Mary Bishai of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory has been named a 2024 DOE Office of Science Distinguished Scientist Fellow.

Elke Arenholz Named Director of the National Synchrotron Light Source II at Brookhaven Lab
UPTON, N.Y. — Elke Arenholz, a renowned scientist known for her expertise in magnetic materials and X-ray spectroscopy, scattering, imaging, and instrument development, has been named director of the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility at DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, effective August 2024.
Scientists Make and Test Efficient Water-Splitting Catalyst Predicted by Theory
Scientists have developed a new efficient catalyst for the most challenging part of “water splitting,” a series of two simultaneous electrochemical reactions that generate hydrogen gas, a green energy source, from water. The new catalyst was designed based on theoretical predictions and validated in laboratory tests and industrially relevant demonstrations.
Study Reveals Reversible Assembly of Platinum Catalyst
Chemists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, Stony Brook University (SBU), and their collaborators have uncovered new details of the reversible assembly and disassembly of a platinum catalyst. The new understanding may offer clues to the catalyst’s stability and recyclability.

Scientists Discover Mechanism of Sugar Signaling in Plants
A paper in the journal Science Advances describes how the moving parts of a particular plant protein control whether plants can grow and make energy-intensive products such as oil — or instead put in place a series of steps to conserve precious resources. The study focuses specifically on how the molecular machinery is regulated by a molecule that rises and falls with the level of sugar — plants’ main energy source.

Brookhaven Lab Biophysicist F. William Studier Awarded Merkin Prize in Biomedical Technology
F. William Studier, a senior biophysicist emeritus at the U.S. Department of Energy’s ‘Brookhaven National Laboratory, has won the 2024 Richard N. Merkin Prize in Biomedical Technology for his development in the 1980s of an efficient, scalable method of producing RNA and proteins in the laboratory.

Giving Local Business a ‘Boost’ with National Lab Technology
Jefferson Lab has teamed up with New Mexico’s Sandia National Laboratories to bring the Boost Platform to Hampton Roads, kicking off the partnership with a well-attended workshop in Newport News. The DOE initiative, led by Sandia Labs, brings national labs, startups, academia and entrepreneurs together to find solutions to big, community-based energy and technology challenges.
High-resolution Lidar Sees Birth Zone of Cloud Droplets
Scientists have made the first-ever remote observations of the fine-scale structure at the base of clouds. The results show that the air-cloud interface is a transition zone where aerosol particles suspended in Earth’s atmosphere give rise to the droplets that ultimately form clouds.
Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider Begins Run 24
Today marks the startup of the 24th run of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility for nuclear physics research at DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory.
United Kingdom Invests in DOE’s Electron-Ion Collider Project to Understand Matter at the Smallest Scale
The UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), through the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Infrastructure Fund, has announced its commitment to support UK personnel involved in research, development, and major equipment contributions towards the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC).
Recyclable Reagent and Sunlight Convert Carbon Monoxide into Methanol
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (UNC) have demonstrated the selective conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) into methanol using a cascade reaction strategy. The two-part process is powered by sunlight, occurs at room temperature and at ambient pressure, and employs a recyclable organic reagent that’s similar to a catalyst found in natural photosynthesis.
Protecting the Protector Boosts Plant Oil Content
Biologists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have demonstrated a new way to boost the oil content of plant leaves and seeds.
Direct View of Tantalum Oxidation that Impedes Qubit Coherence
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have used a combination of scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and computational modeling to get a closer look and deeper understanding of tantalum oxide.
France’s National Center for Scientific Research and U.S. Department of Energy Sign ‘Statement of Interest’ on EIC Collaboration
Representatives of France’s National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have signed a new “Statement of Interest” in future cooperation on the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), a unique facility for exploring the building blocks of matter and the strongest force in nature.
Cathy Sue Cutler Named Chair of Isotope Research and Production Department
Cathy Sue Cutler, who has served as director of the Medical Isotope Research and Production (MIRP) program at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory since 2015, has been tapped to lead a newly created Isotope Research and Production (IP) Department at the Laboratory.
Unlocking Sugar to Generate Biofuels and Bioproducts
Plant biologists at Brookhaven National Laboratory have engineered enzymes to modify grass plants so their biomass can be more efficiently converted into biofuels and other bioproducts.
At the root of bulked-up plants
Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists identified a gene “hotspot” in the poplar tree that triggers dramatically increased root growth. The discovery supports development of better bioenergy crops and other plants that can thrive in difficult conditions while storing more carbon belowground.
New Oak Ridge National Lab director emphasizes mission impact
Stephen Streiffer began his tenure as director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory with a focus on enabling staff members, an awareness of the laboratory’s rich history and a commitment to addressing the most significant scientific and technical challenges.

Toshifumi Sugama Honored for Contributions to Geothermal Industry
Toshifumi Sugama–a chemist in the Interdisciplinary Science Department at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory who designs, develops, and evaluates materials for geothermal wells–received the Outstanding Research Award from Geothermal Rising, a non-profit organization advocating for the advancement of geothermal energy around the world.
High-performance, Earth-friendly Materials for Geothermal Wells
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced funding for a new research center at Brookhaven National Laboratory focused on exploring the chemical and mechanical properties of cement composites and other materials used in enhanced geothermal systems (EGS).
SLAC fires up the world’s most powerful X-ray laser: LCLS-II ushers in a new era of science
The newly upgraded Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory successfully produced its first X-rays, and researchers around the world are already lined up to kick off an ambitious science program.

European Physical Society Honors Daya Bay Collaboration
The Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment collaboration, an international team of researchers measuring key properties of ghostlike particles called neutrinos, is a co-recipient of the European Physical Society’s (EPS) 2023 High Energy and Particle Physics Prize.
Four Brookhaven Scientists Receive Early Career Research Awards
Four scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have been selected by DOE’s Office of Science to receive significant funding through its Early Career Research Program.

First Direct Visualization of a Zero-Field Pair Density Wave
Scientists directly observed a pair-density wave (PDW) in an iron-based superconducting material with no magnetic field present. This state of matter, which is characterized by coupled pairs of electrons that are constantly in motion, had been thought to only arise when a superconductor is placed within a large magnetic field. This exciting result opens new potential avenues of research and discovery for superconductivity.

New Driver for Shapes of Small Quark-Gluon Plasma Drops?
New measurements of how particles flow from collisions of different types of particles at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) have provided new insights into the origin of the shape of hot specks of matter generated in these collisions. The results may lead to a deeper understanding of the properties and dynamics of this form of matter, known as a quark-gluon plasma (QGP).
Direct Photons Point to Positive Gluon Polarization
A new publication by the PHENIX Collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) provides definitive evidence that gluon “spins” are aligned in the same direction as the spin of the proton they’re in. The result, just published in Physical Review Letters, provides theorists with new input for calculating how much gluons—the gluelike particles that hold quarks together within protons and neutrons—contribute to a proton’s spin.

Zinc Transporter Has Built-in Self-regulating Sensor
Scientists at Brookhaven Lab have determined the atomic-level structure of a zinc-transporter protein, a molecular machine that regulates levels of this crucial trace metal micronutrient inside cells. The structure reveals how the cellular membrane protein shifts its shape to move zinc from the environment into a cell, and temporarily blocks this action automatically when zinc levels inside the cell get too high.

Calculation Shows Why Heavy Quarks Get Caught up in the Flow
Theorists have calculated how quickly a melted soup of quarks and gluons—the building blocks of protons and neutrons—transfers its momentum to heavy quarks. The calculation will help explain experimental results showing heavy quarks getting caught up in the flow of matter generated in heavy ion collisions.
RHIC Gets Ready to Smash Gold Ions for Run 23
The start of this year’s physics run at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) also marks the start of a new era. For the first time since RHIC began operating at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory in 2000, a brand new detector, known as sPHENIX, will track what happens when the nuclei of gold atoms smash into one another at nearly the speed of light. RHIC’s STAR detector, which has been running and evolving since 2000, will also see some firsts in Run 23.
Promising Medical Isotope Made and Processed at Brookhaven Lab
Thanks to a recent upgrade to the medical isotope facilities at Brookhaven National Laboratory, actinium-225 (Ac-225), an isotope that shows great promise for treating cancer, can now be produced, purified, and shipped ready for use directly from the Lab. The first shipment left Brookhaven in mid-March.

JoAnne Hewett Named Director of Brookhaven National Laboratory
The Board of Directors of Brookhaven Science Associates (BSA) has named theoretical physicist JoAnne Hewett as the next director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and BSA president. BSA, a partnership between Stony Brook University (SBU) and Battelle, manages and operates Brookhaven Lab for DOE’s Office of Science.
Structure of ‘Oil-Eating’ Enzyme Opens Door to Bioengineered Catalysts
Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory have produced the first atomic-level structure of an enzyme that selectively cuts carbon-hydrogen bonds—the first and most challenging step in turning simple hydrocarbons into more useful chemicals. The detailed atomic level “blueprint” suggests ways to engineer the enzyme to produce desired products.

Scientists Map Changes in Soot Particles Emitted from Wildfires
We need a better understanding of the particles emitted by wildfires, including how they evolve, so we can improve our predictions of their impacts on climate, climate change, and human health. Atmospheric scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory and collaborating institutions recently published a study that suggests the global climate models aren’t getting the full picture. Their data could change that.
Meet the INL experts supporting TerraPower’s advanced reactor development
The city of Kemmerer, Wyoming, home to a coal-fired power plant that is slated for retirement in 2025, has found itself in the spotlight as the center of a new kind of clean energy project.

Clear Sign that QGP Production ‘Turns Off’ at Low Energy
Physicists report new evidence that production of an exotic state of matter in collisions of gold nuclei at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) can be ‘turned off’ by lowering the collision energy. The findings will help physicists map out the conditions of temperature and density under which the exotic matter, known as a quark-gluon plasma (QGP), can exist and identify key features of the phases of nuclear matter.
How a Record-Breaking Copper Catalyst Converts CO2 Into Liquid Fuels
Since the 1970s, scientists have known that copper has a special ability to transform carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals and fuels. But for many years, scientists have struggled to understand how this common metal works as an electrocatalyst, a mechanism that uses energy from electrons to chemically transform molecules into different products.
Ionic Liquids’ Good Vibrations Change Laser Colors with Ease
Scientists have found a variety of ways to convert one color of laser light into another. In a study just published in the journal Physical Review Applied, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory demonstrate a new color-shifting strategy that’s simple, efficient, and highly customizable.

Data Reveal a Surprising Preference in Particle Spin Alignment
Given the choice of three different “spin” orientations, certain particles emerging from collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), an atom smasher at Brookhaven National Laboratory, appear to have a preference. Recent results reveal a preference in global spin alignment of particles called phi mesons.
New Type of Entanglement Lets Scientists ‘See’ Inside Nuclei
Nuclear physicists have found a new way to use the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC)—a particle collider at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory—to see the shape and details inside atomic nuclei. The method relies on particles of light that surround gold ions as they speed around the collider and a new type of quantum entanglement that’s never been seen before.