All News Highlights

Lanthanum chromium oxide's energetic dance with light

Experimental measurements and modeling resolve two decades of debate

Released: February 14, 2013

Scientists used EMSL’s molecular beam epitaxy system to help determine how a particular oxide material interacts with visible and ultraviolet light. Their findings could lead to a safe, secure and environmentally friendly energy source.

Adding natural elements to synthetic catalysts speeds hydrogen production

Scientists show how adding amino acids far from a catalyst's center can rev it up

Released: February 13, 2013

EMSL resources helped scientists study how adding amino acid molecules to a nickel-based catalyst improves its efficiency and could potentially result in catalysts made from abundant, rather than scarce elements.

Laskin named EMSL research fellow

2013 Wiley Research Fellow selected

Released: February 12, 2013

EMSL has appointed Julia Laskin a 2013 Wiley Research Fellow for her significant contributions to the user facility and collaborative research.

Baer organizes AAAS symposium

Seminar explores direct images and diffraction patterns of nanostructures

Released: February 12, 2013

Don Baer, EMSL, and Eric Stach, Brookhaven National Laboratory, co-organize a symposium on the direct imaging of atomic structures for the AAAS 2013 Annual Meeting Feb. 15 in Boston.

Placing protons in the right spot lets catalysts avoid wasting time and energy on profligate reactions

Released: February 11, 2013

EMSL computing resources help scientists gain a better understanding of how efficiently protons move in different configurations of a common catalyst.

EMSL and DOE-JGI announce a joint call for exploratory collaborations

Letters of intent accepted Feb. 11-April 8

Released: February 08, 2013

EMSL and the DOE Joint Genome Institute launch a call for pilot projects to address biofuels production and carbon cycling.

Protein probes

New protein probes find enzymes for biofuel production

Released: February 05, 2013

New protein probes and proteomics tools at EMSL are helping scientists find the best biomass-to-biofuel production enzymes that nature has to offer.

Seeing a common catalyst with new eyes

Chemical imaging microscope shows corrugated gamma-alumina surface

Released: February 05, 2013

Scientists used EMSL’s microscopy capabilities to create ultrahigh-resolution images of the surface of gamma-alumina nanoparticles, which could lead to improved catalysts for reducing refineries' energy demands or vehicle emissions.

See the light

Ultrafast chemical imaging lights the way to monolayer and nanometer spatial resolution

Released: February 01, 2013

EMSL user Markus Raschke, University of Colorado at Boulder, partnered with EMSL staff to develop the infrared scattering type scanning near-field microscope, or IR s-SNOM, that delivers imaging capabilities with near single-molecule sensitivity.

License will lead to faster-charging batteries for phones, electric vehicles

Cell phone batteries could be charged in minutes

Released: February 01, 2013

Researchers are developing the next generation of batteries using various materials, including graphene – ultra-thin sheets of carbon atoms. EMSL capabilities allow scientists to study these new materials at the atomic level.

Batteries lose in game of thorns

Scientists see how and where disruptive structures form and cause voltage fading

Released: January 31, 2013

Scientists used EMSL’s scanning/transmission electron microscope to study a specialized lithium battery and discovered why it gradually releases less energy with each charge/discharge cycle.

The great repression

Biochemical studies provide insight into an RNA silencing pathway

Released: January 29, 2013

New studies using Arabidopsis thaliana and mass spectrometry tools at EMSL are offering insight about genetic and biochemical processes that govern gene regulation and development in plants—an understanding relevant to biomass-to-biofuel production.

Attention postdocs – EMSL accepting nominations

EMSL’s M. T. Thomas Award call for applications open

Released: January 29, 2013

Nominations are due March 31 for the M. T. Thomas Award acknowledging outstanding accomplishments by postdoctoral fellows who conduct their research at EMSL.

The biology of plague

Systems approach used to investigate strains of Yersinia

Released: January 28, 2013

Researchers using EMSL capabilities studied two strains of the bacteria genus Yersinia – a highly lethal pathogen and its less-virulent form – to discover how they differ.

New supercomputer coming to EMSL this summer, supplied by Atipa Technologies

Lab expects PNNL-based supercomputer to rank in world's top 20 fastest machines

Released: January 24, 2013

EMSL's new supercomputer expected to rank among the world's fastest machines will be ready to run computationally intense climate and biological simulations along with other scientific programs this summer. Read the PNNL news release.

An unexpected pairing of frustrated molecules

Scientists at PNNL explain how separated molecules get together to split hydrogen

Released: January 23, 2013

Research, done in part at EMSL, on frustrated Lewis pairs showed how combining theoretical and experimental studies can answer fundamental questions necessary to achieve sustainable energy production and storage.

Cotton-ball clouds contained

New modeling method captures clouds' shading effects

Released: January 21, 2013

EMSL computer resources help researchers update a weather computer model that provides improved climate forecasts and better cloud prediction.

The ETEM in EMSL’s Quiet Wing

Released: January 18, 2013

Scientist Libor Kovarik explains the capabilities of the environmental transmission electron microscope in EMSL’s Quiet Wing.

Metabolomics key to identifying disease pathway

Research reveals lactic acid's role in lung disease

Released: January 17, 2013

University of Rochester scientists used EMSL capabilities to gain a better understanding of cellular metabolism in the cause and development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

The UHV LT SPM in EMSL’s Quiet Wing

Released: January 14, 2013

Scientist Igor Lyubinetsky explains the features of the ultra-high vacuum, low-temperature scanning probe microscope in EMSL’s Quiet Wing.

Chemical probe finds fungal organism function

Activity-based protein profiling suggests how fungus becomes pathogenic

Released: January 10, 2013

Scientists working at EMSL are using multiplexed activity-based protein profiling for the chemical probes used to study a common fungus that causes severe lung infections in people with weakened immune systems.

Soft landing and particle coverage key to keeping or losing charge on surfaces

New results may aid rational design of materials for sustainable energy

Released: January 07, 2013

Creating the next generation of catalysts will require precise control over the size, charge state and density of the metal clusters applied to surfaces. Researchers working at EMSL are discovering how to do it.

Visit EMSL – virtually!

Check out the virtual tour for a new perspective of EMSL

Released: January 04, 2013

Can’t visit EMSL? Then take a virtual tour of four of its laboratories housing state-of-the-art instrumentation. The tour includes lab and instrument overviews available through text, images, video and web pages.

iDirector interview with Liz Alexander

Released: January 03, 2013

EMSL director Allison Campbell talks to Liz Alexander about the new laser ablation capability in EMSL.