Bay Area Methane Emissions May Be Double What We Thought
January 17th, 2017Emissions of methane, a potent climate-warming gas, in the San Francisco Bay Area may be roughly twice as high as official estimates, with most of it coming from biological sources, such as landfills, but natural gas leakage also being an important source, according to a new study from Berkeley Lab.
$5M Foundation Gift to Help Support US-China Energy Center at Berkeley Lab
January 18th, 2017In 2015, Berkeley Lab, UC Berkeley, and Tsinghua University in Beijing formed the Berkeley Tsinghua Joint Research Center on Energy and Climate Change to develop scientifically based clean energy solutions and the next generation of leaders to champion those solutions. Now, that effort has received welcome support from Jim and Marilyn Simons in the amount of a $5 million donation.
Chemistry on the Edge: Study Pinpoints Most Active Areas of Reactions on Nanoscale Particles
January 11th, 2017Defects and jagged surfaces at the edges of nanosized platinum and gold particles are key hot spots for chemical reactivity, researchers confirmed using a unique infrared probe.
Filling in the Nuclear Data Gaps
December 21st, 2016Berkeley Lab’s Nuclear Data Group is conducting new experiments to address common data needs in nuclear medicine, nuclear energy and fusion R&D, security, and counterproliferation work.
Berkeley Lab Awarded $4.6 Million for Transformational Agriculture Technologies
December 20th, 2016ARPA-E has awarded Berkeley Lab $4.6 million for two projects to “see” into the soil and ultimately develop crops that take carbon out of the atmosphere. One technology aims to use electrical current to image the root system. The other will use neutron scattering to measure the distribution of carbon and other elements in the soil.
New Leaf Study Sheds Light on ‘Shady’ Past
December 19th, 2016A new study led by a Berkeley Lab research scientist highlights a literally shady practice in plant science that has in some cases underestimated plants’ rate of growth and photosynthesis, among other traits.
New Graphene-Based System Could Help Us ‘See’ Electrical Signaling in Heart and Nerve Cells
December 16th, 2016Scientists have enlisted the exotic properties of graphene to function like the film of an incredibly sensitive camera system in visually mapping tiny electric fields. They hope to enlist the new method to image electrical signaling networks in our hearts and brains.