2008 Argonne News Releases and Features

Biochips can detect cancers before symptoms develop

ARGONNE, Ill. (May 9, 2008) — In their fight against cancer, doctors have just gained an impressive new weapon to add to their arsenal. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have developed a chip that can save lives by diagnosing certain cancers even before patients become symptomatic. More...

Newest GREET model updates environmental impacts of latest transportation fuels, vehicle technologies

ARGONNE, Ill. (May 8, 2008) – The newest version of the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) model from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory will provide researchers with even more tools to evaluate and compare the environmental impacts of new transportation fuels and advanced vehicle technologies. More...

Shpyrko receives APS organization's Young Investigator Award

ARGONNE, Ill. (May 6, 2008) – The Advanced Photon Source Users Organization has named Oleg G. Shpyrko as the recipient of the 2008 Rosalind Franklin Young Investigator Award. More...

Argonne's Crabtree elected to National Academy of Sciences

ARGONNE, Ill. (April 29, 2008) – George W. Crabtree, a senior scientist and administrator at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences for his excellence in original scientific research. More...

Innovative cement helps DOE safeguard nuclear facilities

ARGONNE, Ill. (April 25, 2008) — When Argonne materials scientists Arun Wagh and Dileep Singh initially developed Ceramicrete®, a novel phosphate cement that stabilizes radioactive waste streams, they did not immediately recognize that with one or two extra ingredients, the cement could solve another problem in the nuclear complex. More...

Argonne engineer earns alumni award from Cornell University

ARGONNE, Ill. (April 23, 2008) – Argonne Senior Engineer Roger Poeppel recently received the 2008 Materials Science and Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. More...

Scientists discover how the structure of plutonium nanocluster contaminants increases risk of spreading

ARGONNE, Ill. (April 22, 2008) — For almost half a century, scientists have struggled with plutonium contamination spreading further in groundwater than expected, increasing the risk of sickness in humans and animals. More...

DOE dedicates Argonne Leadership Computing Facility

ARGONNE, Ill. (April 21, 2008) – The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory today celebrated the dedication of the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility during a ceremony attended by key federal, state and local officials. More...

Argonne scientists develop techniques for creating molecular movies

ARGONNE, Ill. (April 15, 2008) — They may never win an Oscar, but scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have developed techniques for creating accurate movies of biological and chemical molecules, a feat only theorized up until now. More...

Newly discovered 'superinsulators' promise to transform materials research, electronics design

ARGONNE, Ill. (April 4, 2008) – Superinsulation may sound like a marketing gimmick for a drafty attic or winter coat. But it is actually a newly discovered fundamental state of matter created by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory in collaboration with several European institutions. This discovery opens new directions of inquiry in condensed matter physics and breaks ground for a new generation of microelectronics. More...

Algae could one day be major hydrogen fuel source

ARGONNE, Ill. (April 1, 2008) — As gas prices continue to soar to record highs, motorists are crying out for an alternative that won't cramp their pocketbooks. Scientists at U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory are answering that call by working to chemically manipulate algae for production of the next generation of renewable fuels – hydrogen gas. More...

Argonne tests find near-zero emissions for BMW Hydrogen 7

ARGONNE, Ill. (March 28, 2008) – Independent tests conducted by engineers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory on the mono-fueled version of the BMW Hydrogen 7 prototype have found that the car's hydrogen-powered engine surpasses the super-ultra low-emission vehicle level, the most stringent emissions performance standard to date. More...

Argonne, DOT open transportation research, computing center

ARGONNE, Ill. (March 25, 2008) — The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration, has announced the opening of the Transportation Research and Analysis Computing Center in suburban Chicago. More...

Pekin H.S. wins 10th annual Illinois State Championship Rube Goldberg machine contest

ARGONNE, Ill. (March 22, 2008) — A team from Pekin High School, Pekin, Ill., today won the 10th annual Illinois State Championship Rube Goldberg Machine, co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, at the Chicago Children's Museum at Navy Pier. More...

Re-greening of Murdock wetlands is a joint effort

ARGONNE, Ill. (March 21, 2008) — In Murdock, Neb., a small village south of Omaha, Argonne planted more than 2,000 trees in 2005. These new flora not only improve the wildlife habitat and provide aesthetic recreational value, but they also play a key role in an integrated plan to take up and degrade the carbon tetrachloride that has contaminated the community's water. More...

Students trade in school books for spatulas for 10th Illinois Rube Goldberg Machine Championship

ARGONNE, Ill. (March 17, 2008) — Students from across the state will flip burgers and toss condiments during the 10th annual Illinois State Championship Rube Goldberg machine contest, co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory. More...

Bioinformatics technology developed at Argonne provides new insight into microbial activities

ARGONNE, Ill. (March 14, 2008) – Scientists may gain a new insight into the relationship between viruses and their environments thanks to a new computational technology developed by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory. This technology has already been used to identify subtle differences in the metabolic processes of microbial communities. More...

Compound removes radioactive material from power plant waste

ARGONNE, Ill. (March 13, 2008) — Strontium 90 is a common radioactive by-product of fission in nuclear power plants. When extracted from the reactor along with other isotopes, a mixture is created made up of the radioactive material and inert ions like sodium and calcium. More...

Argonne's lithium-ion battery technology to be commercialized by Japan's Toda Kogyo

ARGONNE, Ill. (March 13, 2008) — The U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and Toda Kogyo Corp. of Japan have reached a world-wide licensing agreement for the commercial production and sales of Argonne's patented composite cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries, which result in longer-lasting, safer batteries for hybrid-electric vehicles, cell phones, laptop computers and other applications. More...

New crystallization method to ease study of protein structures

ARGONNE, Ill. (March 7, 2007) – Researchers at the Midwest Center for Structural Genomics, the Structural Genomics Consortium and the Structural Biology Center at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have developed a new technique for crystallizing proteins that will ease experimentation into protein structures. More...

Last large piece of ATLAS detector lowered underground

ARGONNE, Ill. (Feb 29, 2008) — Today, researchers in the U.S. ATLAS collaboration joined colleagues around the world to celebrate a pivotal landmark in the construction of the Large Hadron Collider – the lowering of the final piece of the ATLAS particle detector into the underground collision hall at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. More...

Structure of protein collagen seen at unprecedented level of detail

ARGONNE, Ill. (Feb. 22, 2008) — The structure and behavior of one of the most common proteins in our bodies has been resolved at a level of detail never before seen, thanks to new research performed at the Advanced Photon Source at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory. More...

Wilmington High School wins 13th annual Rube Goldberg Machine Contest

ARGONNE, Ill. (Feb. 22, 2008) — A team from Wilmington High School today won Argonne National Laboratory's 13 th annual Rube Goldberg Machine Contest held at Chicago Children's Museum on Navy Pier. More...

Argonne scientist named VP of American Crystallographic Association

ARGONNE, Ill. (Feb. 21, 2008) –Senior Physicist Robert Von Dreele of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has been voted vice president of the American Crystallographic Association. More...

Lensless camera uses X-rays to view nanoscale materials and biological specimens

ARGONNE, Ill. (Feb. 19, 2007) – X-rays have been used for decades to take pictures of broken bones, but scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and their collaborators have developed a lensless X-ray technique that can take images of ultra-small structures buried in nanoparticles and nanomaterials, and features within whole biological cells such as cellular nuclei. More...

New X-ray technique may lead to better, cleaner fuel injectors for automobiles

ARGONNE, Ill. (Feb. 19, 2008) — Standard microscopy and visible light imaging techniques cannot peer into the dark and murky centers of dense-liquid jets, which has hindered scientists in their quest for a full understanding of liquid breakup in devices such as automobile fuel injectors. More...

Argonne transportation expert: U.S. leads world in PHEV battery R&D, lags in capabilities to make them

ARGONNE, Ill. (Feb. 14, 2008)—During opening testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, Argonne's Don Hillebrand noted that while the United States is the dominant player in the development of battery materials and chemistries for hybrid vehicles and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles with the help of progressive research conducted at U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories, including Argonne, the nation lags behind the world in adopting capabilities to make such batteries. More...

Students get grilled on how to build the better burger at the 13th annual Rube Goldberg Machine Contest

ARGONNE, Ill. (Feb. 13, 2008) — The food will be anything but fast as local high school students compete to build a hamburger using at least 20 steps during in Argonne National Laboratory's 13th annual Rube Goldberg Machine Contest on Friday, Feb. 22. More...

New component design could reduce cost of proposed Facility for Rare Isotope Beams

ARGONNE, Ill. (Feb. 8, 2008) — Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have developed new state-of-the-art techniques that will lead to significant improvements in the performance of superconducting niobium cavities. Argonne's superconducting spoke cavities can operate at lower temperatures and at higher magnetic fields than previous designs, translating into a potential savings in the cost of a heavy-ion linear accelerator, such as that required for the proposed Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. More...

Young women explore engineering careers during Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day at Argonne

ARGONNE, Ill. (Feb. 6, 2008)—Young women from throughout the area will learn about opportunities in science and engineering during the annual Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day Thursday, Feb. 21, at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory. More...

Argonne breakthrough may revolutionize ethylene production

ARGONNE, Ill. (Feb. 5, 2008) — A new environmentally friendly technology created by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory may revolutionize the production of the world's most commonly produced organic compound, ethylene. More...

Symposium to focus on next-generation solar energy technology

ARGONNE, Ill. (Feb. 1, 2008) — The future of global energy, next-generation solar cells, artificial photosynthesis and thermoelectric materials are the central topics at the Argonne-Northwestern Solar Energy Research Center's (ANSER) inaugural symposium, to be held Feb. 12-13 at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. More...

Magnetism loses under pressure

ARGONNE, Ill. (Jan. 29, 2008)—Scientists have discovered that the magnetic strength of magnetite—the most abundant magnetic mineral on Earth—declines drastically when put under pressure. More...

Helium-8 study gives insight into nuclear theory, neutron stars

ARGONNE, Ill. (January 25, 2008) — The most neutron-rich matter that can be made on Earth—the nucleus of the helium-8 atom—has been created, trapped and characterized by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory. This new measurement gives rise to several significant consequences in nuclear theory and the study of neutron stars. More...

African-American, Hispanic students to learn science hands-on at Argonne National Laboratory

ARGONNE, Ill. (Jan. 24, 2008) — The discoveries of tomorrow will be made by the students of today, but they first must be exposed to the world of science and technology. More...

Chicago mayor, council honor Argonne physicists for creating innovative science program at city high school

ARGONNE, Ill. (January 23, 2008) — Two physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have been honored for their work in creating one of the nation's premiere science programs for high school students. More...

Six Argonne scientists elected American Physical Society fellows

ARGONNE, Ill. (Jan. 22, 2008) — The American Physical Society (APS) has recently announced new fellows for 2007, and six Argonne scientists have been elected. More ...

Argonne's Blue Gene/P to host large cadre of INCITE researchers

ARGONNE, Ill. (Jan. 17, 2008) — Twenty research projects have been awarded more than 111 million hours of computing time at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility at Argonne National Laboratory. More...

New study may shed light on protein-drug interactions

ARGONNE, Ill. (Jan. 11, 2008) — Proteins, the biological molecules that are involved in virtually every action of every organism, may themselves move in surprising ways, according to a recent study from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory that may shed new light on how proteins interact with drugs and other small molecules. More...

Argonne announces impacts in wake of Omnibus bill

ARGONNE, Ill. (Jan.7, 2008) – The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory today announced the shutdown of its Intense Pulsed Neutron Source (IPNS), one of the most productive neutron scattering facilities in the world, as the result of the fiscal year 2008 spending bill approved by Congress prior to the holidays. Moreover, the lab may have to scale back other operations at its Advanced Photon Source (APS) and High Energy Physics (HEP) Division due to lack of funding. More ...

CNN reports focus on Argonne anti-terror technologies

ARGONNE, Ill. (Jan. 3, 2008) — CNN's "Situation Room" recently focused on Argonne technologies with anti-terrorism applications. Video clips are available online. More...