An Express Train to Crescent Junction
In the 1950s, one of the largest uranium deposits in the U.S. was found near Moab, Utah. The Department of Energy began cleaning up the uranium mill tailings from the Moab Site in April 2009, using steel containers to transport more than five million tons of tailings for safe disposal near Crescent Junction, Utah. In this May 2012 photo, one of the trains is shown on the Union Pacific Railroad in Utah, passing a butte capped by a familiar southwest U.S. rock formation known as Navajo Sandstone.
Image: Department of Energy
Date taken: 2013-01-04 09:00
I, Robot Olympics
Last week, students from dozens of local Tennessee high schools gathered at Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Manufacturing Demonstration Facility to check out the game field that they'll be working with in the next six weeks. This year, the young engineers' challenges include building robots that can throw discs and climb pyramids.
Image: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Date taken: 2013-01-11 09:00
Controlling Chaos with Magnetic Fields
This artistic rendition of "spin vortices" illustrates tiny magnetic vortices that spin according to the polarization of each disk's vortex core. At Argonne National Laboratory, scientists are using alternating magnetic fields to control the behavior of these spin vortices, which are small dots made of iron and nickel. The experiments will help to create new, more efficient magnetic devices -- like the random access memory (RAM) in the device you are using to look at this very photo.
Image: Sander Munster, Dresden University of Technology
Date taken: 2013-01-18 09:00
Inside the 60-Inch Cyclotron
In this 1939 photo, Eric and Margaret Lawrence are sitting inside the tank of something called the 60-inch cyclotron -- a machine invented by their father, Ernest Lawrence. The cyclotron is a unique circular particle accelerator, which Lawrence himself referred to as a "proton merry-go-round." In reality, the cyclotron specialized in smashing atoms. Fun facts: this cyclotron contains a magnet that weighs 220 tons, and experiments conducted on this very machine led to the discovery of plutonium and Nobel Prizes for researchers Glenn Seaborg and Melvin Calvin.
Image: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Date taken: 2013-01-25 09:00
What Do Airborne Radioactive Particles Taste Like?
At Sandia National Laboratories, researchers have developed pods that can survey and "taste" radioactive particles without exposing a human crew to nuclear hazards. The three pods, when attached to aerial vehicles, can collect and analyze airborne radioactive particles to track and source gases that can identify a nuclear bomb’s origins.
Image: Randy Montoya/Sandia National Laboratories
Date taken: 2013-02-08 09:00
Repurposing the Xbox
At Brookhaven National Laboratory, scientists have developed a custom-built machine that can grow special lenses, one atomic layer at a time. The machine is as long as an entire room, and scientists use a reprogrammed Xbox controller to direct a transport car through the vacuum-sealed chamber (pictured). The transport car collects plasma-borne particles that form the lenses that will eventually be used to focus high-intensity x-ray beams to reveal the details of nano material structures. <a href="http://1.usa.gov/12pXCFV" target="_blank">Learn more about the deposition chamber</a>.
Image: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Date taken: 2013-02-15 09:00
Students from Roosevelt Middle School win Argonne's 2013 Regional Science Bowl
Each year, the National Science Bowl brings together thousands of middle and high school students from across the country to compete in a range of science disciplines, including biology, chemistry, earth science, physics, astronomy and math. The members of the winning team, from Roosevelt Middle School of River Forest, Illinois, competed against 14 other teams from across the Midwest in one of the regional competitions in the 23rd Annual U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl. This April, the winning teams from each region will compete for a national title in Washington, D.C. View a full gallery of <a href="http://www.anl.gov/photos/2013-argonne-regional-science-bowl">photos from the 2013 Regional Science Bowl at Argonne</a>. | Photo courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory.
Image: Argonne National Laboratory
Date taken: 2013-02-25 09:00
Photo of the Week: Women in STEM Introducing Girls to Engineering
This Friday, March 8, marks International Women's Day, and the recognition of women's achievements all over the world. At the Energy Department and each of the National Laboratories, some of the nation's top women scientists and engineers attend events to urge girls to open their minds to careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). In this February 2012 photo, a group of eighth grade girls were invited to Argonne National Laboratory to participate in events during the annual Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day. Division director Amanda Petford-Long and other Argonne mentors are pictured observing a trial run of race cars built by the eighth grade students.
Image: George Joch/Argonne National Lab
Date taken: 2013-03-04 12:00
Photo of the Week: The Alternating Gradient Synchrotron
Since 1960, the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) has been one of the world's premiere particle accelerators, well known for the three Nobel Prizes won as a result of research performed there. The AGS name is derived from the concept of alternating gradient focusing, in which the field gradients of the accelerator's 240 magnets are successively alternated inward and outward, permitting particles to be propelled and focused in both the horizontal and vertical plane at the same time. In this 1958 photo, giant magnets await installation into the AGS accelerator ring tunnel at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Image: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Date taken: 2013-03-11 06:30
More than One Way to Hammer a Nail
Last week, Argonne National Laboratory hosted the 18th annual Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, which gathered nine high school teams in a competition to build a series of simples tasks, combining the principles of physics and engineering. By using common objects like marbles and bicycle parts, the students were assigned to build a machine that takes at least 20 steps to hammer a nail. In this photo, members of a Hoffman Estates High School team works on assembling a Toyland-themed Rube Goldberg machine.
Image: Argonne National Laboratory.
Date taken: 2013-03-18 16:00
Women in STEM -- Elaine Zworykin
In celebration of Women’s History Month, the Department of Energy is honoring some of the nation's best and brightest women in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) community. In this 1949 photo, U.S. Geological Survey mineralogist Elaine Zworykin is shown with an electron microscope, a piece of technology developed by her father, Vladimir Zworykin. Elaine had been assigned to RCA laboratories to teach researchers how to use the microscope.
Image: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Acc. 90-105 - Science Service, Records, 1920s-1970s
Date taken: 2013-03-25 16:58
RoHAWKtics at Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam signs the robot of Hardin Valley Academy's FIRST robotics team during the dedication of DOE's Carbon Fiber Technology Facility, located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The RoHAWKtics team (named after their school mascot) spent an intense six weeks constructing the robot, using design, engineering, and problem-solving skills. The team will be moving on to a national competition in April.
Image: Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Date taken: 2013-04-01 09:00
Laser Beats Rock
On August 5, 2012, the Curiosity rover touched down on the surface of Mars. The ChemCam instrument package, developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, is a device mounted on the Mars Curiosity rover that uses two remote sensing instruments: the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectrometer (LIBS) and a Remote Micro-Imager (RMI). The LIBS fires a powerful laser that determines chemical compositions of rock and soil samples, while the RMI takes photos of the samples within the rover's vicinity. In this photo, the ChemCam is being prepared in the clean room prior to the launch of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission.
Image: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Date taken: 2013-04-08 09:00
Boosting Solar Technology
Concentrated solar panels are getting a power boost. This summer, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) will be testing a new concentrated solar power system -- one that can help natural gas power plants reduce their fuel usage by up to 20 percent. PNNL has developed a system that uses a thermochemical conversion device to convert natural gas and sunlight into a more energy-rich fuel called syngas. By installing the pictured device in front of a concentrating solar power dish, power plants can burn less fuel.
Image: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Date taken: 2013-04-17 09:00
What You Needed to Contain 100 Million Degree Plasma for 100 Millionths of a Second… in 1974
In the early years of magnetic fusion, there was talk among scientists of controlling nuclear energy to create useful power. To do this, scientists heated plasma to temperatures as high as 100 million degrees Celsius -- ten times hotter than the center of the sun. Controlling such high levels of energy required the construction of large machines that could withstand these extremely high energy levels. In this 1974 photo, laboratory scientists are shown working on Scyllac, one of the largest machines used for magnetic fusion experiments, located at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Scyllac filled a 100-by-100-foot building from wall to wall, and used 12 miles of one-inch cables and 3,000 capacitors to contain hot plasma the size of a small garden hose for just 100 millionths of a second.
Image: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Date taken: 2013-04-23 09:00
National Science Bowl Participants on the Fast Track to a Future in STEM
After months of training and preparation, regional Science Bowl champions gathered in Washington, D.C. to compete for the national title at the 2013 National Science Bowl. Some of the nation's best and brightest high school and middle school students spent the past few days showing off their science, technology and engineering skills by completing a series of tasks, including the construction of a miniature electric car, using only household items and a lithium-ion battery. In this photo, Yaniel Ramirez from Colegio Catolico Notre Dame in Caguas, Puerto Rico launches his team's electric car down the test track.
Image: Jack Dempsey, Department of Energy
Date taken: 2013-05-02 09:00
Converting Solar Energy into Fuel
In this photo, Brookhaven scientist Dmitry Polyansky examines a vial containing a specialized catalyst designed to help convert solar energy into fuel. Producing clean-burning hydrogen fuel from just sunlight and water requires custom-built catalysts for water oxidation -- the part of the water-splitting process that generates oxygen atoms. A tiny amount of the solid catalyst, developed in collaboration with the University of Houston, dissolves and turns the water that lovely shade of blue.
Image: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Date taken: 2013-05-09 13:00
Rain or Shine, Preparing for the 2013 Hurricane Season
President Barack Obama listens to Acting Energy Secretary Daniel B. Poneman during a meeting with electric utility CEOs and trade association representatives at the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C., May 8, 2013. The group met to discuss lessons learned during the response to Hurricane Sandy, as well as the ongoing preparations for 2013 hurricane season, which begins June 1. | Official White House Photo by Pete Souza.
Date taken: 2013-05-15 09:00
White House Leadership Summit on Women, Climate and Energy
This week, newly sworn-in Secretary of Energy Dr. Ernest Moniz delivered welcoming remarks at the White House Leadership Summit on Women, Climate and Energy. The event gathered 100 of the nation's top women in climate and energy to discuss priorities and solutions to challenges in these fields. They spent the day talking about the crucial roles women play in science, energy and climate to improve communities, workplaces, and schools all over the world. In this photo, Secretary Moniz is joined by former astronaut and Acting Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Dr. Kathy Sullivan (center) and Department of Energy Senior Advisor Melanie Kenderdine (right).
Date taken: 2013-05-24 09:00
70s Supercomputer Style
What may appear to be a jumble of wires is actually the CDC 7600, one of the fastest supercomputers in the world between 1969 and 1975. With its first installation at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the CDC 7600 continued to lead in computing and custom-software development for nuclear design and plasma simulations. It had 5,000 times the computing power of the UNIVAC, and connected researchers at remote workstations to the CDC 6600s and 7600s, creating one of the first -- and the largest -- such networking systems. Photo courtesy of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Date taken: 2013-05-31 09:00
Improving Power Plant Technology… in 3-D
This week, Secretary Ernest Moniz experienced the 3-D visualizations at the Consortium for the Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL), one of the Department's Energy Innovation Hubs. The facility, located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, develops computer models that simulate nuclear power plant operations. The researchers at CASL are developing technology that could accelerate upgrades at existing nuclear plants while improving the plants' reliability and safety. Photo courtesy of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Date taken: 2013-06-06 09:00
Lego Rendition of SLAC National Laboratory's Linear Particle Accelerator
At two miles long, SLAC's linear particle accelerator is a monster of a machine. But now, thanks to an old collection of Legos and some creative work by SLAC graphic designer Greg Stewart, the two-mile accelerator has been drastically reduced in size. After happening upon his Legos at home one night, Stewart decided to spend his evening designing, building and photographing this Lego diorama homage to the inside of the SLAC linac, a place that's 20 feet underground and not often seen by anyone besides the accelerator engineers who work there. SLAC's safety officers will even be pleased to see the Lego workers wearing their "PPE" (personal protective equipment, in this case helmets). See an actual photo of the SLAC linac. Photo courtesy of Greg Stewart, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
Date taken: 2013-02-04 09:00
The Energy Systems Integration Facility
This week, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) opened the Energy Systems Integration Facility, a new research center in Golden, Colorado, that will help boost the integration of clean energy technologies into the electricity grid. In the photo, NREL scientists Michael Crowley and Antti-Pekka Hynninen display some of the formulas they developed to speed calculations done by the software tool CHARMM by several orders of magnitude. Using NREL's new petascale supercomputer housed in the Energy Systems Integration Facility, they can simulate the motions of thousands of atoms, leading to greater understanding of how molecular models work. | Photo by Dennis Schroeder, NREL.
Image: Dennis Schroeder, NREL
Date taken: 2013-06-21 09:00
The Eagle Has Landed
While our National Laboratories and other research centers across the U.S. house some of the nation's most advanced technology and research facilities, the Department of Energy is also working to preserve the wildlife and ecosystems surrounding these locations. This image from 1992 is from another remarkable science and innovation center, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. This photo is in a series of remarkable shots documenting the daily lives of two of the most famous residents: the southern bald eagles that inhabit an enormous nest on the Kennedy Parkway North. Each fall, eagles take up residence in the nest to breed a new generation. That year, a rare and unique event was captured by a camera hidden in the tree -- a second clutch of eggs was laid, even though a healthy eaglet was born just one month earlier. While it is impossible to determine if it is the same eagles returning each year, the continued tolerance shown by this pair to the human presence seems to indicate that they are the same couple. | Photo courtesy of NASA.
Image: NASA
Date taken: 2013-07-03 09:58
An Incredible Journey -- Transporting a 600-ton Magnet
The Muon g-2 (pronounced gee minus two) is an experiment that will use the Fermilab accelerator complex to create an intense beam of muons -- a type of subatomic particle -- traveling at the speed of light. The experiment is picking up after a previous muon experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory, which concluded in 2001. In this photo, the massive electromagnet is beginning its 3,200-mile journey from the woods of Long Island to the plains near Chicago, where scientists at Fermilab will refill its storage ring with muons created at Fermilab’s Antiproton Source. The 50-foot-diameter ring is made of steel, aluminum and superconducting wire. It will travel down the East Coast, around the tip of Florida, and up the Mississippi River to Fermilab in Illinois. Transporting the 600-ton magnet requires meticulous precision -- just a tilt or a twist of a few degrees could leave the internal wiring irreparably damaged.
Image: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Date taken: 2013-07-11 16:51
The Mirror Fusion Test Facility
This 1981 photo shows the Mirror Fusion Test Facility (MFTF), an experimental magnetic confinement fusion device built using a magnetic mirror at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The MFTF functioned as the primary research center for mirror fusion devices. The design consisted of a 64-meter-long vacuum vessel fitted with 26 coil magnets bonding the center of the vessel and two 400-ton yin-yang magnet mirrors at either end. The first magnet produced a magnetic field force equal to the weight of 30 jumbo jets hanging from the magnet coil. | Photo courtesy of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Image: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Date taken: 2013-07-19 16:00
Faster than the Speed of Light
If you've ever heard the thunderous sound of a sonic boom, you've experienced the shock waves in the air created by an object traveling faster than the speed of sound. But what happens when an object travels faster than the speed of light? At Jefferson Laboratory, construction is underway to upgrade the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) and the CEABF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS12) at Hall B. During the experiments, the accelerator will shoot electrons at speeds faster than the speed of light, creating shock waves that emit a blue light, known as Cherenkov light -- this light is equivalent to the sonic boom. By recording data from Cherenkov light, scientists will be able to map a nucleon's three-dimensional spin. The device will use 48 ellipsoidal mirrors assembled into one circular, 8-foot diameter mirror to capture this light. Pictured here is the web-like component that will support the mirrors in the accelerator itself.
Image: Jefferson Laboratory
Date taken: 2013-07-25 15:11
A Storm in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Did you know: a typical bolt of lightning is about 3 miles long and heats the air immediately surrounding the bolt to over 20,000 degrees Celsius? That's three times hotter than the surface of the sun. For many Americans, summer isn't complete without an exciting thunderstorm to break up the heat. This electrifying photo was taken by Sandia Labs photographer Randy Montoya during a summer storm on July 21, 2013. The lightning illuminated the Redstone rocket that stands in front of the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Image: Randy Montoya, Sandia National Laboratory
Date taken: 2013-07-31 12:00
Eye-to-Eye with a Wind Turbine
At the National Renewables Energy Laboratory (NREL), scientists use the Insight Center Collaboration Room to examine and interact with their data. In this simulation, the room is converted into a virtual wind tunnel, allowing scientists to study the complex, turbulent flow fields around wind turbines. Pictured here, NREL Senior Scientist Kenny Gruchalla examines the velocity field surrounding a wind turbine, using a 3-D model projected onto the center's 16-by-8 foot wall. The simulation helps scientists better understand flow patterns, and further, how turbines can better avoid gearbox failures.
Image: Dennis Schroeder, NREL
Date taken: 2013-08-08 12:48
Alaska's Future in Renewable Energy
In Alaska's rural villages, many families struggle with the impact of high energy costs -- often times, almost half of a family's income is spent on fuel to power a home. To face this, the Department of Energy's Office of Indian Energy works closely with tribal nations, state government, NGOs, and the private sector to help tribes develop the energy resources that exist on tribal lands. NANA is an organization that operates in northwest Alaska -- the region pictured in the pastoral landscape above. Through building businesses and using smart development of Alaskan resources, NANA's strategic energy plan involves expanding sources of renewable energy, with the goal of reducing the region's dependence on fossil fuels by 50 percent by the year 2025.
Image: NANA, Arend.
Date taken: 2013-08-13 12:11
Mapping the Link between Invasive Plants and Wildfire in the Mojave Desert
Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are using predictive tools to understand ecological changes driven by frequent fires due to invasive plant species in California’s Mojave Desert. In collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey, scientists are integrating recent advances in fire science and remote sensing tools to characterize the relationship between non-native invasive plant species and wildfire in the desert under current and changing climate conditions. The satellite image shown here is of the Mojave Desert transformed to principal components highlighting geologic formations, land use and vegetation cover.
Image: PNNL scientist Jerry Tagestad and the U.S. Global Land Cover Facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Date taken: 2013-08-21 12:00
Inside the Super HILAC
Super HILAC (Super Heavy Ion Linear Accelerator) was one of the first particle accelerators that could accelerate heavier elements to “atom-smashing” speeds. The device was built in 1972 and played a significant role in four decades of scientific research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In addition to being the launchpad for a variety of major experiments, the Super HILAC was crucial in the discovery of five superheavy elements. In this photo, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Bob Stevenson and Frank Grobelch are sitting inside the Super HILAC’s poststripper. The maze of piping behind them is meant to circulate cooling water through the accelerator.
Image: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
The Olympus Supercomputer
Fun fact: Most systems require air conditioning or chilled water to cool super powerful supercomputers, but the Olympus supercomputer at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is cooled by the location's 65 degree groundwater. Traditional cooling systems could cost up to $61,000 in electricity each year, but this more efficient setup uses 70 percent less energy. PNNL's scientists use the Olympus supercomputer to conduct advanced research in areas such as energy storage and future power grid development. This supercomputer has the ability to compute as fast as about 20,000 typical personal computers combined.
Image: PNNL
Date taken: 2013-09-05 14:30
How to Grow Superconducting Crystals
Many of the materials that scientists work with at Brookhaven National Laboratory are too small and too precise for traditional tools. In cases like these, the labs grow materials instead of building them. Brookhaven physicist Genda Gu pioneered techniques that grow some of the largest single-crystal high-temperature superconductors in the world. The glowing chamber in this photo grows superconducting crystals. To do so, the furnace focuses infrared light onto a rod, melting it around 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Under just the right conditions, the liquefied material recrystallizes as a single uniform structure, which is highly sensitive and takes about one month to form.
Image: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Date taken: 2013-09-13 11:42
AVIDAC at Argonne
In this photo, two Argonne researchers are pictured with Argonne's first digital computer, AVIDAC. Designed and built by Argonne's Physics Division for $250,000, it began operations on January 28, 1953. AVIDAC stands for "Argonne Version of the Institute's Digital Automatic Computer" and was based on architecture developed by mathematician John von Neumann. Groundbreaking as it was, today's smartphones are far more sophisticated and powerful than this machine.
Image: Argonne National Laboratory
Date taken: 2013-09-19 09:00
Identifying and Protecting Alaskan Fishery Habitats
This aerial photo shows open water and floating ice on ponds, lakes and river channels in the Sagavanirktok River Delta in Alaska’s North Slope. PNNL scientists employed satellite technology to understand the impacts of oil development activities on the environment. Using satellite radar to “see” through the ice, scientists detected critical fish overwintering habitats by identifying where ice was grounded and where it was floating. Utilizing this information on critical habitats, fishery managers can suggest locations for energy development activities that increase the sustainability of fishery resources and minimize environmental impacts. Research was funded by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Image: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Date taken: 2013-09-26 09:00
Reactive Ion Etching
Have you ever heard of Laue lenses? These multilayer lenses are used to focus high-intensity x-ray beams to show the details of nano material structures. In this photo, the drop-like domes were carved through a process called reactive ion etching, which produced the striped bubbles you see in the Laue lens. The prototype in this image helped scientists perfect the process of creating lenses so precise that scientists are able to focus x-rays to within a single nanometer.
Image: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Date taken: 2013-10-17 13:42
Oak Ridge in 1942
James Edward Westcott was one of the only people permitted to have a camera at the Oak Ridge site during the Manhattan Project and the Cold War. He documented the lives of many of the residents and workers in the “Atomic City,” in the days before Oak Ridge National Laboratory was actually Oak Ridge National Lab. In this February 1945 photo, a young woman is welding in the prefabricaton shop building, part of the K-25 uranium separation facilities at the Oak Ridge site. Many of the men and women who worked on these projects still live in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, today.
Image: James Edward Westcott, courtesy of DOE & the National Archives
Date taken: 2013-10-23 16:31
The Longest Building in the World
The DOE's SLAC linear accelerator, or "linac," stretches in a straight line for two miles across the hills of Stanford University in Menlo Park, California. The building shown in the photo -- known as the "klystron gallery" because it houses machines called klystrons that power the accelerator -- is the longest modern building in the world. The particle accelerator itself is a copper tube roughly 20 feet below ground and has been used to accelerate electrons and positrons for over 50 years of world-leading scientific experiments.
Image: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Date taken: 2013-11-01 12:45
I, Robot Rodeo
This past summer, Sandia National Laboratories hosted the 2013 Robot Rodeo – a 10-event technical challenge that determines the best robot designs for diffusing dangerous situations. The rodeo is a free event that usually includes entries from police departments and military bases in nearby states. By developing these technologies, robots could potentially remove the danger to humans from the first response to unknown or dangerous situations. Challenges typically include diffusing a trip wire or boring a hole through a wall to peer through with an electronic eye. In this photo, a robot investigates a bomb threat challenge at an arcade. The operators are not allowed to turn on the lights or turn off the machines, complicating the challenge.
Image: Randy Montoya, Sandia National Laboratories
Date taken: 2013-11-07 16:59
Bright Ideas
This week, the Energy Department's digital team has been focusing on the rivalry between two of history's most important energy-related engineers: Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. Edison and Tesla's developments in electric power generation and distribution made possible many later breakthroughs. This 1951 photo shows a simple string of four 100-watt light bulbs powered by the first useful electricity ever produced by nuclear power, generated on December 20, 1951, by Argonne's Experimental Breeder Reactor 1.
Image: Argonne National Laboratory
Date taken: 2013-11-21 16:01
The First Energy-Efficient Dual-Paned Windows
Researchers at Berkeley Lab helped develop the first energy-efficient dual-paned windows, now used in buildings and homes worldwide for billions of dollars in energy savings. Current windows research in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division at Berkeley Lab is aimed at developing new glazing materials, windows simulation software and other advanced high-performance window systems. The building shown here, located at Berkeley Lab, is a windows testing facility.
Image: Roy Kaltschmidt, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Date taken: 2013-12-05 12:00
Scouting for Valuable Lessons in Energy
During National Energy Action Month, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts visited the Energy Department in Washington, D.C., to learn about energy and earn merit badges and patches. In this photo, a Boy Scout watches light shine on a solar panel that’s powering a hydrogen fuel cell system, showing how photovoltaic panels work and energy systems can be integrated.
Image: Matty Greene, Energy Department.
Date taken: 2013-12-11 12:00
Studying the Rhizosphere
Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory study the microbial interactions in the plant root systems, the rhizosphere. The rhizosphere represents a critical zone where plant roots, microbes and minerals interface, and where biogeochemical weathering provides nutrients to plants. This research program will broaden our understanding of the biogeochemistry of plant-microbe-soil interactions. Shown are the spores of an opportunistic soil fungus Penicillium sp. that associates with plant roots, microbial biofilms and soil minerals.
Image: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Date taken: 2013-12-18 12:41
Real-Life Laser Device or Star Trek Set?
Both! The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is a large research device located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The NIF uses powerful lasers to heat and compress hydrogen fuel to the point where nuclear fusion reactions take place. It is currently the largest and most energetic inertial confinement fusion device in the world. Researchers use the NIF to ensure the safety of nuclear weapons, explore the potential of fusion as a safe energy source, and understand how the universe was created. In this photo, NIF Team members Bruno Van Wonterghem (left), Jim Nally (pointing) and Rod Saunders watch through a newly installed viewing window, which allows the NIF team and visitors to see inside the chamber while it is vacuum-sealed for experiments. Fun fact: NIF was also used as the set for the starship Enterprise’s warp core in the movie Star Trek Into Darkness.
Image: Jacqueline McBride, LLNL.
Date taken: 2013-12-27 12:45