Feature Stories

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Argonne scientists are creating a virtual network to model the movement of the deadly bacterium MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. (Photo: Dr. Kari Lounatmaa / Science Photo Libary).
 Argonne, University of Chicago scientists chase deadly MRSA bacteria with new models

Argonne senior systems scientist Charles Macal and U of Chicago associate professor Diane Lauderdale received a grant from the Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, to begin a five-year study to mathematically model MRSA outbreaks.

 December 7, 2009
Argonne scientists Brad Orr and Mike Ritsche assemble the Vaisala Present Weather Detector. This device optically measures visibility, present weather, precipitation intensity, and precipitation type. It provides a measure of current weather conditions by combining measurements from three independent sensors; a rain sensor, a temperature sensor, and a visibility sensor.
 ARRA funding to help scientists better understand climate change

The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science provided $60 million in ARRA funding for climate research to the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility, a DOE national user facility that has been operating climate observing sites around the world for nearly two decades.

 December 8, 2009
Argonne scientist Valerii Vinokour (left) with Russian scientists Tatyana Baturina (center) and Nikolai Chtchelkatchev, who discovered why the superinsulators are so good at blocking electric current.
 Argonne scientists discover mechanism behind superinsulation

Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory have discovered the microscopic mechanism behind the phenomenon of superinsulation, the ability of certain materials to completely block the flow of electric current at low temperatures. The essence of the mechanism is what the authors termed "multi-stage energy relaxation."

 December 11, 2009
Argonne researcher Lynn Trahey loads a coin-sized cell on a testing unit used to evaluate electrochemical cycling performance in batteries. Photo by Wes Agresta.
 Argonne advanced battery research driving to displace gasoline

Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory are leveraging their broad and deep understanding of safe, high-energy and long-life Li-ion battery development to leap the high hurdles required for the development of commercially viable Li-air batteries.

 December 18, 2009
This visualization of the Universe as it condenses around fluctuations in the density of dark and ordinary matter is a result from a collaboration between Argonne National Lab and the San Diego Supercomputer Center.
 Argonne streaming visualization sends images across the world

Dealing with data is the specialty of a group of scientists at Argonne National Laboratory. To more easily share and analyze the mountains of data from today's scientific challenges, they are developing software that enables researchers to interact with their results in real-time from across the country.

 January 4, 2010
An animation of the battery charging in the 2011 Chevy Volt. The battery is based on cathode technology invented at Argonne National Laboratory. Photo courtesy General Motors.
 Argonne strikes licensing deals with LG Chem, GM for advanced battery technology

General Motors Co., LG Chem, Ltd. and Argonne National Laboratory announced today they have reached a licensing agreement to use Argonne's patented composite cathode material to make advanced lithium-ion batteries that last longer between charges and can charge at higher voltages.

 January 10, 2010
Argonne gets wind of new energy models

Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory, with support from the Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering of Porto, are developing new wind power forecasting techniques that they hope will allow power system operators and wind power plant managers to more accurately predict the amount of electricity that wind power plants will generate at any given time.

 January 11, 2010
Argonne National Laboratory researcher Gang Cheng conducts an experiment to detect moisture in battery electrolytes at its existing battery testing labs. Moisture is detrimental to the performance and longevity of battery cells. Photo by Wes Agresta.
 Funding to push battery technology from Argonne Laboratory to marketplace

Argonne was awarded $8.8 million in ARRA funding to construct three battery research and development facilities: a Battery Prototype Cell Fabrication Facility, a Materials Production Scale-Up Facility and a Post-Test Analysis Facility.

 January 19, 2010
An elevation plot of the highest energy neutron flux distributions from an axial slice of the reactor is shown superimposed over the same slice of the underlying geometry. This figure shows the rapid spatial variation in the high energy neutron distribution between within each plate along with the more slowly varying, global distribution. The figure is significant since UNIC allows researchers to capture both of these effects simultaneously.
 Using supercomputers to explore nuclear energy

A team of nuclear engineers and computer scientists at Argonne National Laboratory are developing the neutron transport code UNIC, which enables researchers for the first time to obtain a highly detailed description of a nuclear reactor core.

 January 21, 2010
Argonne scientists discover novel materials approach to fighting cancer

Brain cancer is notoriously difficult to treat with standard cancer-fighting methods, so scientists have been looking outside standard medicine and into nanomaterials as a treatment alternative.

 February 8, 2010
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