2009 Argonne News Releases and Features

News release archives: 2006 | 2007 | 2008

Feature: Pulling the plug on hybrid vehicle myths

Nov. 19, 2009 — Whether you call them myths, urban legends, fables or old wives' tales, there's a lot of misinformation out there about plug-in electric hybrid vehicles. Argonne engineer Forrest Jehlik tackles six persistent myths. More »

Argonne to construct $95 million energy research facility

ARGONNE, Ill. (Nov. 17, 2009) — The DOE is providing $8 million to Argonne for detailed design work for a new, world-class energy research facility. This is the first step in beginning work on what is expected to be a $95 million construction project. More »

Argonne recognized for "green computing" in 2009 HPCwire Readers’ Choice Awards

PORTLAND, Ore. (Nov. 16, 2009) — Argonne has been awarded the HPCwire Readers' Choice Award for Best Application of Green Computing. The award was presented by Tomas Tabor, publisher of HPCwire, at the annual Supercomputing Conference (SC09), currently ongoing in Portland, Ore. More »

First ARRA-funded transuranic waste shipment leaves Argonne for disposal

ARGONNE, Ill. (Nov. 16, 2009) — Argonne has been removing transuranic waste from its site for three years, but the Oct. 15 shipment of radioactive material to a disposal facility near Carlsbad, New Mexico marked the first time the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act picked up the tab. More »

Feature: Argonne "homegrown" hybrid solar cell aims for low-cost power

Nov. 10, 2009 — Scientists at Argonne have refined a technique to manufacture solar cells by creating tubes of semiconducting material and then "growing" polymers directly inside them. The method has the potential to be significantly cheaper than the process used to make today’s commercial solar cells. More »

Argonne, partners to receive $7 million in Recovery Act funds for solar energy projects

ARGONNE, Ill. (Nov. 5, 2009) — DOE awarded Argonne nearly $2.7 million in ARRA funding for three solar-energy related research projects. In addition, Argonne will share another $5 million in ARRA funding for projects with Commonwealth Edison Co., GridPoint and the University of Illinois Sustainable Technology Center. More »

Feature: Bacteria mix it up at the microscopic level

Nov. 2, 2009 — In studies of the motion of tiny swimming bacteria, scientists at Argonne found that the microscopic organisms can stir fluids remarkably quickly and effectively. As a result, the bacterial flagella could act like tiny motors to mix chemicals in biomedical kits, among other applications. More »

Mark Peters named Argonne's new deputy lab director for programs

ARGONNE, Ill. (Nov. 2, 2009) — Mark Peters was recently appointed deputy director for programs for Argonne. More »

Feature: New Theory & Computing Science building to foster collaboration

Nov. 2, 2009 — No longer mere tools in the search for technical knowledge, computers have become essential to almost every aspect of science and engineering. More »

Argonne scientists awarded Bonner Prize in nuclear physics

ARGONNE, Ill. (Oct. 29, 2009) — Steven Pieper and Robert Wiringa, senior scientists at Argonne, have won the 2010 Tom W. Bonner Prize in nuclear physics. More »

Particle passion: Argonne physicist honored with HENAAC award

ARGONNE, Ill. (Oct. 28, 2009) — For a scientist who studies the paths traveled by neutrinos, Mayly Sanchez has blazed a bright one of her own. Sanchez, a particle physicist at Argonne, received an Outstanding Technical Achievement Award from the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award Corporation (HENAAC). More »

Argonne dedicates new microscopy facility at Center for Nanoscale Materials

ARGONNE, Ill. (Oct. 22, 2009) — The Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne dedicated its new scanning probing microscopy building recently during its annual users conference. The new building will house a new scanning probe microscope that measures spin-polarized electrons on surfaces. More »

Argonne scientists find new set of multiferroic materials

ARGONNE, Ill. (Oct. 20, 2009) — The trail to a new multiferroic started with the theories of an Argonne scientist and ended with a multidisciplinary collaboration that created a material with potential impact on next generation electronics. More »

DOE to explore scientific cloud computing with Argonne, Lawrence Berkeley labs

ARGONNE, Ill. (Oct. 14, 2009) — A new program funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the U.S. Department of Energy will examine cloud computing as a cost-effective and energy-efficient computing paradigm for scientists to accelerate discoveries in a variety of disciplines, including analysis of scientific data sets in biology, climate change and physics. More »

Argonne partners with Kentucky to promote clean energy

ARGONNE, Ill. (Oct. 14, 2009) — Argonne will play a key role in the commonwealth of Kentucky’s comprehensive energy plan designed to develop clean, reliable, affordable energy sources that will improve energy security, reduce carbon emissions and provide economic prosperity. More »

Argonne's Advanced Photon Source lit the way to chemistry Nobel

ARGONNE, Ill. (Oct. 7, 2009) – All three recipients of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry published papers on their award-winning work based on data collected at Argonne National Laboratory. More »

DOE labs take pride in award-winning IBM Blue Gene series

ARGONNE, Ill. (October 7, 2009) — The IBM Blue Gene series of energy-efficient supercomputers, central to breakthrough scientific research around the world, will be singled out by President Barack Obama as a Medal of Technology and Innovation award-winner on October 7 in Washington, D.C. More »

New Idaho National Lab collaboration tackles nuclear fuel recycling science

IDAHO FALLS (Sept. 25, 2009) — A new research project at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and Argonne National Laboratory will use an innovative approach to learn how to get more use from nuclear fuel. More »

Feature: Argonne helps high-schoolers reach for the stars

Sept. 22, 2009 — It doesn't take a telescope the size of a barn to make a meaningful contribution to astronomy – just dedication and a few fresh pairs of eyes. With assistance from Argonne, Rockford high school teacher Dallas Turner and his students will be able to observe distant supernovas that larger installations typically pass over. More »

National Press Club Newsmaker: Science Beyond the Stimulus

Wash., D.C. (Sept. 15, 2009)—Argonne Director Eric Isaacs spoke today at the National Press Club on the need to support basic research, the engine that drives economic growth, and to "reignite the innovation ecology " by rebuilding connections between industry and basic research in the universities and national laboratories. More »

Feature: Argonne opens new chapter in battery research: Li-Air

Sept. 14, 2009—Argonne National Laboratory has engaged in battery research and development for more than 40 years. In a natural progression, Argonne is now pursuing research into lithium-air batteries, which hold the promise of increasing energy density by as much as five to 10 times over current lithium-ion batteries. More »

Federal Recovery Act funding used to clean up past, hire new Argonne employees

ARGONNE, Ill. (Sept. 8, 2009) — The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has enabled Argonne to initially hire 30 new employees to assist in the safe removal of transuranic radioactive waste materials from several scientific research facilities. More »

Argonne researchers develop method that aims to stabilize antibodies

ARGONNE, IL (Sept. 3, 2009) — Researchers at Argonne have developed a systematic method to improve the stability of antibodies. The technique could lead to better biosensors, disease therapeutics and diagnostic reagents and non-laboratory applications, including environmental remediation. More »

Argonne receives $29 million in additional Recovery Act funds for upgrades, research

ARGONNE, Ill. (Aug. 25, 2009) — Argonne has received an additional $29.1 million in DOE Office of Science funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for a range of improvements and upgrades to major scientific facilities and other projects. More »

Argonne scientist named one of the world's top innovators

ARGONNE, Ill. (Aug. 21, 2009) — Elena Shevchenko, nanoscientist at Argonne National Laboratory, has joined a select list of the world's youngest top innovators chosen by Technology Review magazine for her work at Argonne's Center for Nanoscale Materials. More »

Argonne, University of Chicago scientists develop targeted cancer treatment using nanomaterials

ARGONNE, Ill. (Aug. 19, 2009) — Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago's Brain Tumor Center have developed a way to target brain cancer cells using inorganic titanium dioxide nanoparticles bonded to soft biological material. More »

Feature: Argonne joins in Naperville’s proposed Green Fuels Depot

August 18, 2009 — A newly proposed collaboration between the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and the City of Naperville, Illinois would convert "landscape waste"—essentially, grass and leaf trimmings—into one of several different environmentally friendly fuels, including ethanol, bioelectricity and hydrogen. More »

Argonne, North Dakota universities to form regional research partnership

FARGO, N.D. (Aug. 12, 2009) – Argonne National Laboratory, the University of North Dakota and North Dakota State University announced today that they are developing a regional partnership to explore complementary scientific research efforts. More »

Feature: Roadsides, contaminated fields could be unlikely solutions to fuel shortages, water pollution

August 11, 2009 — The lonely, weed-choked roadsides along America's highways may turn out to be an unexpected solution to two of the biggest issues facing the U.S. today—potential fuel shortages and water pollution. More »

Argonne to showcase science and technology at community open house

ARGONNE, Ill. (August 3, 2009) — Argonne will open its gates to the community on Saturday, August 29, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for a day of discovery and fun for the whole family. The event is free and open to the public. More »

Feature: Seeking efficiency, scientists run visualizations directly on supercomputers

July 30, 2009 — If you wanted to perform a single run of a current model of the explosion of a star on your home computer, it would take more than three years just to download the data. In order to do cutting-edge astrophysics research, scientists need a way to more quickly compile, execute and especially visualize these incredibly complex simulations. More »

Argonne attains ISO 9001, 14001 certifications

ARGONNE, Ill. (July 28, 2009) — Argonne has been certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 international standards for business practices and environmental management, respectively, after nearly two years of work on the part of hundreds of employees. More »

Feature: Argonne welcomes summer interns

July 28, 2009 — This summer, 250 students from around the country will work to solve some of the nation’s most pressing scientific issues. More »

Argonne's Midwest Center for Structural Genomics determines 1,000th protein structure

ARGONNE, Ill. (July 27, 2009) — For nearly a decade, researchers at the Midwest Center for Structural Genomics have been patiently cracking the genetic code of important proteins. This summer, they deposited their 1,000^th structure into the Protein Database. More »

Argonne chemist wins AWIS Innovator Award for nanoparticle research

ARGONNE, Ill. (July 21, 2009) — The Chicago chapter of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS) granted its third annual Innovator Award to Tijana Rajh. More »

Argonne scientists win five R&D awards

ARGONNE, Ill. (July 20, 2009) — Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory received four R&D 100 awards, as judged by R&D Magazine. More »

Argonne develops program for cyber security “Neighborhood Watch”

ARGONNE, Ill. (July 16, 2009) — U.S. Department of Energy laboratories fight off millions of cyber attacks every year, but a near real-time dialog between these labs about this hostile activity has never existed – until now. More »

Researchers image crucial anthrax protein

ARGONNE, Ill. (July 14, 2009) — Anthrax, long feared for its potential as a biological weapon, has lost some of its mystery. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, in collaboration with scientists at the University of Chicago, have determined the structure of a protein crucial to the virulence of anthrax bacteria. More »

Argonne partners with Turkey to promote clean energy technologies

ARGONNE, Ill. (July 8, 2009) — The U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory will play a key role in a Clean Energy Partnership recently announced between Turkey’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. More »

Argonne recognized during visual celebration of great science

ARGONNE, Ill. (June 24, 2009) — Argonne National Laboratory received two of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (OASCR) Awards for visualizations produced by using Argonne’s energy-efficient supercomputer, Intrepid, along with Eureka, one of the world's largest graphics processing units. More »

Argonne, UChicago scientists reach milestone in study of emergent magnetism

ARGONNE, Ill. (June 18, 2009) — Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago have reached a milestone in the study of emergent magnetism. More »

Argonne technology enables high-speed data transfer

ARGONNE, Ill. (June 17, 2009) — GridFTP, a protocol developed by researchers at Argonne National Laboratory, has been used to transfer unprecedented amounts of data over the Department of Energy's Energy Sciences Network, which provides a reliable, high-performance communications infrastructure to facilitate large-scale, collaborative science endeavors. More »

Argonne wins Golden Family Award for outstanding support of family issues

ARGONNE, Ill. (June 15, 2009) — The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has won the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Golden Family Award. More »

Feature: Argonne partners with Chicago's Active Transportation Alliance to allow employees to ride bicycles around laboratory

June 11, 2009 — The U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory has launched an onsite bike-sharing program to provide employees with a more healthy and green way of getting around. More »

Argonne's lithium-ion battery technology to be commercialized by BASF

ARGONNE, Ill., and FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (June 3, 2009) – The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and BASF, the world's largest chemical company, have signed a world-wide licensing agreement to mass produce and market Argonne's patented composite cathode materials to manufacturers of advanced lithium-ion batteries. More »

Feature: Argonne Anti-Jet-Lag Diet helps summer travelers beat jet lag

June 2, 2009 – As the summer travel season begins, many vacation and business travelers will beat jet lag with the Anti-Jet-Lag Diet developed at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory. More »

Argonne scientist earns Francis M. Pipkin Award for work with radioactive atomic species and applications

ARGONNE, Ill. (May 28, 2009) — U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory senior physicist Zheng-Tian Lu has received the 2009 Francis M. Pipkin Award of the American Physical Society. More »

Argonne scientist wins prestigious L'Oreal Fellowship for work in materials science

ARGONNE, Ill. (May 27, 2009) — U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory scientist Tiffany Santos has been awarded a L'Oreal USA Fellowship for Women in Science for her work in materials science at the Center for Nanoscale Materials. More »

Argonne awards Arthur Compton Award for X-ray science discoveries

ARGONNE, Ill. (May 13, 2009) — The U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory and the APS Users Organization announced the 2009 Arthur H. Compton Award was awarded jointly to Simon Mochrie, Mark Sutton, and Gerhard Grübel for their pioneering efforts in X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy. More »

Matthew Howard named Argonne's top communicator

ARGONNE, Ill. (May 11, 2009) – Matthew Howard, a veteran communicator with broad expertise in strategic communications and both new and social media, was appointed director of Communications and Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory. More »

Argonne scientists receive tech transfer award for battery R&D

ARGONNE, Ill. (May 8, 2009) – Three scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have won an Excellence in Technology Transfer Award for a battery system expected to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as America's dependence on imported oil. More »

Argonne researcher wins 2009 U.S. Particle Accelerator School Prize

ARGONNE, Ill. (May 5, 2009) — U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory researcher John W. Lewellen was named a recipient of the U.S. Particle Accelerator School Prize in Accelerator Physics and Technology. More »

Three Argonne mathematicians recognized as SIAM Fellows

ARGONNE, Ill. (May 01, 2009) — Sven Leyffer, Jorge Moré and Hans G. Kaper, all researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, have been named Fellows of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. More »

DOE to establish two Energy Frontier Research Centers at Argonne

ARGONNE, Ill. (April 28, 2009) – The U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory will be home to two of 46 new multi-million-dollar Energy Frontier Research Centers announced today by the White House in conjunction with a speech by President Barack Obama at the annual meeting of the National Academy of Sciences. More »

Argonne's Monica Regalbuto recognized as one of 25 Outstanding Hispanic Women in Business

ARGONNE, Ill. (April, 23, 2009) — HispanicBusiness.com has honored Argonne National Laboratory's Monica Regalbuto as one of 25 outstanding Hispanic women in America. More »

Feature: Argonne research makes every day Earth Day

April 22, 2009 — Argonne National Laboratory is involved in a wide array of research and development projects aimed at advancing alternative energy sources and other “green” technologies in an effort to reduce greenhouse gases and ameliorate climate change, as well as to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and promote energy independence for the United States. More »

Annual conference encourages young women to pursue technical careers

ARGONNE, Ill. (April 20, 2009) — Marie Curie discovered radioactivity and won two Nobel Prizes. Rosalind Franklin played an instrumental part in determining the structure of DNA. Though research science has for many years attracted the interest of mostly men, a recent event sought to encourage young women to build a strong tradition of female scientists and engineers. More »

Feature: Argonne's Leadership Computing Facility working to get more science per watt

April 14, 2009 — Cooling a supercomputer consumes more electricity than is required to run the machine, even machines as powerful as the IBM Blue Gene/P—called Intrepid—at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory. Though Intrepid is one of the fastest and most energy-efficient computers in the world, researchers at Argonne's Leadership Computing Facility are continually looking for ways to further reduce the power needed to operate the machine. More »

Feature: Leading-edge data analytics and visualization enable breakthrough science on Argonne's Blue Gene/P

April 10, 2009 — Most science research programs that run on high-performance computers like the IBM Blue Gene/P Intrepid at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF) generate enormous quantities of data that represent the results of their calculations. But scientists can also use the ALCF to visualize, explore and communicate their findings as highly accurate simulations and often beautiful images. More »

Kentucky, Argonne partner to help build domestic battery industry

ARGONNE, Ill. (April 8, 2009) – The Commonwealth of Kentucky, and the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville are partnering with Argonne National Laboratory to establish a national Battery Manufacturing R&D Center to help develop and deploy a domestic supply of advanced battery technologies for vehicle applications that will aid in securing U.S. energy independence, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help in strengthening the economy. More »

New high-energy cathode material can significantly increase safety, life of lithium batteries

ARGONNE, Ill. (April 7, 2009) – A new high-energy cathode material that can greatly increase the safety and extend the life-span of future lithium batteries has been developed through the close international collaboration of researchers led by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and Hanyang University in South Korea. More »

DOE awards Argonne $99 million to clean up past, pave way for future research, construction activities

ARGONNE, Ill. (April 3, 2009) – The U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory will receive $99 million in additional funding as part of President Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The funds will be used to clean up several of Argonne's former nuclear research facilities and pave the way for future construction and research activities at the lab. More »

Nimbus and cloud computing meet STAR production demands

ARGONNE, Ill. (April 2, 2009) — The advantages of cloud computing were dramatically illustrated last week by researchers working on the STAR nuclear physics experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Working with technology developed by the Nimbus team at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, the STAR researchers were able to dynamically provision virtual clusters on commercial cloud computers and run the additional computations just in time. More »

Feature: Research could lead to more comprehensive flu vaccines

March 27, 2009 — New findings from research performed on the influenza virus using X-rays generated by the Advanced Photon Source at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory may help pave the way for the development of a new, more effective vaccine that could combat a wide range of strains of the common and frequently deadly illness. More »

Argonne cloud computing helps scientists run high energy physics experiments using AliEn grid services

ARGONNE, Ill. (March 24, 2009) — A novel system is enabling high energy physicists at CERN in Switzerland to make production runs that integrate their existing pool of distributed computers with dynamic resources in "science clouds." The work was presented at the 17th annual conference on Computing in High Energy and Nuclear Physics, held in Prague, Czech Republic, March 21-27. More »

New RFID technology tracks and monitors nuclear materials

ARGONNE, Ill. (March 24, 2009) — Radio frequency identification (RFID) devices have been widely used for tracking for years; recently, scientists from U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have developed a unique tracking technology that also monitors the environmental and physical conditions of containers of nuclear materials in storage and transportation. More »

Argonne to receive $13 million for infrastructure upgrades

ARGONNE, Ill. (March 23, 2009) – The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory announced today that it will receive $13.1 million in funds from President Obama's American Reinvestment and Recovery Act for improvements to its electrical infrastructure that will permit an eventual upgrade of the laboratory's central campus. More »

New combustion strategy accelerates hydrogen-engine development

ARGONNE, Ill. (March 13, 2009) — Car manufacturers aspire to create hydrogen-powered vehicles that could one day allow energy-efficient, cost-effective travel that emits no greenhouse gases or other pollutants. To further that effort, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have devised new combustion strategies for hydrogen engines. More »

Argonne scientists discover new platinum catalysts for the dehydrogenation of propane

ARGONNE, Ill. (March 13, 2009) — The process to turn propane into industrially necessary propylene has been expensive and environmentally unfriendly. That was until scientists at U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory devised a greener way to take this important step in chemical catalysis. More »

Argonne scientists reveal interaction between supersonic fuel spray and its shock wave

ARGONNE, Ill. (March 12, 2009) — Shock waves are a well tested phenomenon on a large scale, but scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and their collaborators from Wayne State University and Cornell University have made a breakthrough that reveals the interaction between shock waves created by high-pressure supersonic fuel jets. More »

Eric Isaacs named director of Argonne National Laboratory

ARGONNE, Ill. (March 11, 2009) – Eric D. Isaacs, a prominent University of Chicago physicist and senior administrator at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, has been selected to become the next director of Argonne. The appointment will be effective May 1, 2009. More »

Early career nuclear engineers invited to 10-day summer school

ARGONNE, Ill. (March 10, 2009) – The Idaho National Laboratory is hosting a 10-day school this summer to provide early-career nuclear engineers with advanced studies in integrated modeling, experimentation and validation to prepare them for some of the key challenges and demands facing the nuclear energy renaissance. More »

Feature: Congressional testimony on the role of science and technology in meeting America 's energy, environmental and economic challenges

March 5, 2009 — George Crabtree, Argonne Senior Scientist, Associate Division Director and Distinguished Fellow, Materials Science Division, testified about the role of science and technology in meeting America's energy, environmental and economic challenges before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. More »

Feature: X-ray nanoprobe pushes observation to ever smaller frontiers

Feb. 27, 2009 — The unparalleled access to state-of-the-art tools and high-intensity X-rays gives researchers at Argonne's Advanced Photon Source the capability to see structural details of cells and materials at smaller scales than ever before. More »

Argonne scientists pinpoint mechanism to increase magnetic response of ferromagnetic semiconductor under high pressure

ARGONNE, Ill. (Feb. 25, 2009) — When squeezed, electrons increase their ability to move around. In compounds such as semiconductors and electrical insulators, such squeezing can dramatically change the electrical and magnetic properties. More »

Argonne named a 'Best Place' to work for postdocs

ARGONNE, Ill. (Feb. 23, 2009) — The U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory was recently ranked as the 13th best place for postdocs to work by The Scientist, a life sciences magazine. The magazine's seventh annual Best Places to Work for Postdocs survey recognizes this year's award winners as trailblazers in bettering postdocs' professional experience among hundreds of labs and institutions. More »

Feature: Neural modeling helps expose epilepsy's triggers

Feb. 13, 2009 — A brain scan of an epileptic seizure reveals fierce electrical storms that pop up seemingly at random, proliferate over large areas of the brain and subside almost as quickly as they arose. Argonne researchers are using high-performance computers to create life-like models of small areas in the brain that cast new light on why seizures occur and propagate. More »

Wilmington High School wins 14th annual Rube Goldberg Machine Contest

ARGONNE, Ill. (Feb. 13, 2009) — A team from Wilmington High School, Wilmington, Ill., today won Argonne National Laboratory's 14th annual Rube Goldberg Machine Contest held at the Chicago Children's Museum on Navy Pier. By winning Argonne's contest, Wilmington advances to the National High School Rube Goldberg Machine Championship to be held Saturday, March 28, at Purdue University. More »

Local high school students to shed some light on the 14th annual Rube Goldberg Contest

ARGONNE, Ill. (Feb. 9, 2009) — How many local high school students does it take to change a light bulb? Find out at the 14th annual Rube Goldberg contest sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, as they replace an incandescent light bulb with a more energy-efficient design in at least 20 steps. More »

Feature: New control of nanoscale 'magnetic tornadoes' holds promise for data storage

Jan. 30, 2009 — At the human scale, the tightly wrapped spinning columns of air in a tornado contain terrifying destructive power that ravages communities. At the nanoscale, however, closely coiled magnetic vortices hold the promise of a new generation of computers. More »

Feature: Photon science opens new frontiers in materials design, healthcare, imaging and basic science

Jan. 16, 2009 — Seen from the air, the storage ring of the Advanced Photon Source (APS) makes up the largest and most distinctive feature of the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory. The symbolism of its geographic prominence underscores the importance of the APS and the research permitted by the hard X-rays that it produces. More »

Argonne scientists prove unconventional superconductivity in new iron arsenide compounds

ARGONNE, Ill. (Jan. 9, 2009) — Scientists at U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory used inelastic neutron scattering to show that superconductivity in a new family of iron arsenide superconductors cannot be explained by conventional theories. More »

Argonne National Laboratory hosts 7th annual Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day

ARGONNE, Ill. (Jan. 6, 2009) — Girls in sixth through eighth grade are invited to learn about career opportunities in science and engineering during the annual Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009, at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory. More »

Argonne scientist Orlando Auciello named AAAS fellow for contributions in materials science

ARGONNE, Ill. (Jan. 5, 2009) — Orlando Auciello of the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory has been awarded the distinction of Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Election as a Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers. More »

Argonne scientists reach milestone in accelerator upgrade project

ARGONNE, Ill. (Jan. 2, 2009) — Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have successfully stopped and then reaccelerated a stable ion through a newly constructed charge-breeder, bringing the Californium Rare Isotope Breeder Upgrade project closer to completion. More »