Top Ten Scientific Discoveries
- Six Nobel Prizes,
five in physics and one in chemistry (for more information:
- Courant-Snyder strong focusing principle, critical to the design of
all modern particle accelerators
- The Green-Chasman lattice, a design for electron storage rings that
was first implemented at Brookhaven’s National Synchrotron Light Source
and since adopted by many of the world’s synchrotron radiation
facilities
- Theories and experiments to determine the mechanisms underlying
high-temperature superconductors
- Study of the effects of radiation on biological systems, important
to cancer treatment and prevention and to human space travel
- A way to produce vast quantities of gene products, using a virus
known as T7
- Development of fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose, or FDG-18, now used in
nearly every clinical positron emission tomography scan done in
hospitals around the world
- Important studies of the brain, including those uncovering the roots
of psychiatric disorders, brain metabolism and drug addiction
- Large-scale studies of the effect of increased carbon dioxide on
ecosystems
- At Brookhaven’s Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, discovery of a
perfect liquid – a type of matter thought by scientists to have existed
microseconds after the Big Bang.
Biomedical Sciences
Advances in nuclear medicine, including:
- The development of technetium-99m,
now used to diagnose heart disease and other ailments in over
11 million Americans each year. BNL researchers have also developed
a simple-to-use kit to allow doctors to easily label blood with
Tc-99m; this kit is used over 200,000 times a year.
- The development of thallium-201, now
used in hundreds of thousands of heart stress-tests each year.
- The development of tin-117m, a promising
agent for easing the pain of bone cancer without sedation.
Discoveries to aid pharmaceutical design,
including:
- Structural studies of the Lyme disease
protein used in a new, effective vaccine
- Development of a technique to study
viral and bacterial proteins while they are embedded in the cellular
membrane.
- X-ray and neutron scattering facilities
that have made possible countless studies of molecular structures
important to disease.
- Development of an effective database
to store structural information about biomolecules that can be
accessed by researchers in academia and industry to "rationally"
design pharmaceuticals.
Development of novel medical therapies
and concepts, including:
- Boron neutron capture therapy, currently
showing promise for the treatment of brain tumors in a clinical
trial.
- Use of L-dopa for the treatment of
Parkinson's disease (still the gold standard for treatment)
- X-ray angiography for non-invasive
heart imaging
- Link between salt and hypertension
- Studies on radiation-induced malignancies
and DNA repair
Important tools for biomedical research,
including:
- A way to produce vast quantities of
gene products, using a virus known as T7
- Tritiated thymidine, a way to tag
molecules with short-lived radioactivity for easier examination
- Methods for attaching heavy metal
atoms to important molecules, such as antibodies, for easier
imaging using electron microscopes
- Techniques for sequencing large segments
of DNA rapidly
- Method for synthesizing insulin, paving
the way for production of insulin by recombinant DNA
Advances in medical imaging, and the
use of imaging in research, including:
- Development of some of the first agents
for positron emission tomography scanning; one BNL-developed
agent, 18-FDG, is now used in nearly every clinical PET scan
done in hospitals around the world
- Important studies of the brain, including
the roots of drug addiction (e.g. first image of cocaine in the
brain, discovery of enzyme deficit in smokers' brains), psychiatric
disorders, and brain metabolism
Environmental Sciences
- Response of plants and trees to radiation
exposure
- Metal hydrides for better hydrogen
storage in fuel cells
- Building and studying of demonstration
houses with alternative-energy and energy-saving features
- Invention of better, cleaner, more
efficient oil burners and devices to aid clean and efficient
oil burning
- Development of chemically inert tracers
and detectors to track the environmental impact of power plants
- Better, safer, more convenient natural
gas storage options for alternative-fuel vehicles
- Facilities that allow studies of environmental
technologies and phenomena: polymers used to clean up oil spills,
examination of sandstone porosity for more efficient oil-field
exploration, and the effect of cosmic radiation on tissue
- Large-scale studies of the effect
of increased carbon dioxide on ecosystems
- Oceanographic studies of plankton
populations to gauge ocean health and climate change potential;
also research into the cause of mysterious "brown tide"
algae blooms
- Harnessing natural bacteria to clean
up environmental pollution and purify crude oil
- Studies of air pollution, including
smog and particulates
- Computer models of atmospheric radiation
(important for climate change), groundwater movement, and energy
use impact in developing nations
- New techniques for encapsulating hazardous
waste for storage and disposal, including glass, plastic and
concrete
Technology &
Energy
Advanced technology basic research and
development, including:
- Basic research on superconductors
for better communications technology
- Advanced computer chip design
- Better batteries using advanced electrolyte
materials
- Magnetically levitated trains
- Advanced coatings for corrosion prevention
- Polymer composite materials for construction
and road repair
- Facility for testing the resistance
of satellite computer circuits to cosmic ray damage
- Polyplanar video display screen
- World’s first video game
Nuclear safety achievements, including:
- Assistance to former Soviet states
for safeguarding of nuclear materials
- Reactor safety analysis, including
safety systems and human error
- Assistance to former Soviet states
for reactor safety
- Important early research on reactor
physics that led to development of light-water reactors
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Top Ten Consumer-Oriented Discoveries
- Technetium-99m, the leading radiotracer used in the diagnosis of
heart disease and other ailments in millions of people each year
- Synthetic insulin
- Thallium-201, used in heart stress tests
- Use of L-dopa to treat Parkinson’s disease
- Link between salt and hypertension
- Magnetically levitated trains
- Environmentally cleaner, more efficient oil burners and devices to
aid clean and efficient oil-burning
- Advanced coatings for corrosion prevention
- Advanced computer chip design
- World’s first video game?
Physical Sciences
Discoveries that shaped our understanding
of the atom and the universe, including:
- Precise measurement of the anomalous magnetic moment of the
muon, or "muon g-2". The value of
muon g-2 is a very sensitive test of the validity of the
Standard Model of particle physics.
- First evidence for the exotic meson,
a new breed of subatomic particle whose existence helps validate
the central theory of modern physics, called the standard model.
- Detection of a rare kaon decay, thought
to happen only once or twice in every 10 billion decays and perhaps
an indicator of new phenomena that cannot be explained by the
Standard Model.
- Pioneering solar neutrino studies
that sought an answer to the mystery of the "missing"
neutrinos from our solar system's sun, and neutrino bursts from
supernovae. BNL researcher Raymond Davis Jr.'s work in this area led to a
Nobel Prize in 2002.
- Discovery of the muon neutrino, which
opened a new field of study and which won the Nobel
Prize in 1988.
- Discovery of CP violation, which showed
a flaw in the belief that the universe is symmetrical, and which
won the Nobel Prize in 1980.
- Co-discovery of the J/psi particle,
which won the Nobel Prize in 1976
- Theoretical work on parity violation,
based on data from BNL's
Cosmotron, which won the
Nobel
Prize in 1957
- First examples of three dynamical
symmetries in atomic nuclei, which opened up a new approach to
studying the structure of the atomic nucleus.
- First application of computing to
study systems with many degrees of freedom, for studies of radiation
damage to crystal structures and studies of magnetism.
- Development of Monte Carlo methods
for exploring the interaction of atoms and particles, and other
systems with many variables.
- First direct evidence for the existence
of "glueballs"
- Discovery of the K meson and the first
vector meson.
- Discovery of the Omega-minus particle
in 1964.
- Discovery of the charmed baryon particle
in 1975.
- Discovery of the neutral and negative
sigma baryons.
- Experimental confirmation of the theory
of associated production of strange particles.
- Discovery of the phi vector meson
- Discovery of the the antiparticles
anti-Xi-minus and anti-Xi-zero
- At Brookhaven’s Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, discovery
of a perfect liquid – a type of matter thought by scientists to
have existed microseconds after the Big Bang.
Important contributions to the development
of accelerator technology for worldwide use in physics and other
fields, including:
- The Courant - Snyder strong focusing
principle, crucial to the existence of the Alternating Gradient
Synchrotron, and all modern circular accelerators.
- The Green - Chasman lattice that optimizes
photon source parameters, first implemented at the
- National Synchrotron Light Source
and since adopted by many of the world's state-of-the-art synchrotron
radiation facilities.
- The Palmer two-in-one magnet design
has been chosen for the Large Hadron Collider, now under construction
at CERN
- The laser-photocathode RF gun developed
at the Accelerator Test Facility, which has become a world-wide
standard of high-brightness electron guns.
Work that helped humankind understand
and exploit the properties of existing and new solid materials,
including:
- Discovery of a new class of materials,
called colossal magnetoresistive materials, that exhibit dramatic
changes in electrical resistance when exposed to a magnetic field.
- Theories and experiments to determine
the mechanisms underlying high-temperature superconductors
- Techniques for studying magnetism
with X-rays and neutrons
- Studies of metal hydrides and other
organometallic compounds for various industrial uses, including
storage of hydrogen gas for alternative-fuel vehicles
- Structural studies of materials under
extreme conditions
- Pioneering work using X-rays and neutrons
to study biological specimens, leading to the modern science
of structural biology
Important contributions to chemistry
research, including:
- Surface studies on metallic layers,
adhesives, and more
- Studies of chemical reactions using
super-fast lasers
- Studies of hydrogen bonding in biological
molecules
- Development of techniques for radiodating
of art and artifacts using neutron activation
Understanding of and uses for radiation,
including:
- Development of early irradiation facilities
for food safety, plant breeding, and medical supply sterilization
- Testing of the spaceworthiness of
satellite and spacecraft parts with heavy ions produced in BNL
accelerators
- Studies of the effect of radiation
on biologial systems important to manned space travel, and to
cancer treatment and prevention
- Measurement of radiation sensitivity
and damage in metals, crystals, and living plant and animal tissue
- Measurements of wear in engine parts,
which led to the development of multi-grade motor oils such as
10W-30
- Development of radionuclides for the
life sciences and medicine
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