Feature Stories

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Recently honored with a federal award for energy and water savings, Argonne is lowering its campus energy footprint in creative ways. These hybrid solar- and wind-powered streetlights, which are completely off the grid, adorn Argonne sidewalks. A small solar panel and wind turbine powers the LED light atop the fixture. The light can store energy in batteries for up to three days without sun or wind.
Green goal: Argonne wins federal award for energy savings

Argonne National Laboratory won a 2010 Federal Energy and Water Management Award for its aggressive energy savings plan, which relies on in-house personnel to find creative ways to reduce energy. The lab also employs outside companies for larger projects.

 October 19, 2010
Argonne researcher Roger Johnston finds vulnerabilities in surprising places—including voting machines, GPS and even high-tech security devices that use iris or fingerprint scans.
 The Security Fallacy: Seven myths about physical security

Argonne security experts have revealed the dirty secrets behind electronic voting machines, "high-security" electronic locks, iris and fingerprint scanners and even GPS navigation systems.

 October 26, 2010
Bob Fischetti, senior scientist in Argonne's Biosciences Dvision, stands alongside Glen Nemerow, a professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbial Science at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., and Vijay Reddy, an associate professor in Scripp's Department of Molecular Biology. The Scripps researchers used the APS to answer key questions about a cold virus.
 APS helps answer key questions about common cold virus

Until recently, scientists knew little about the viruses that spread this seasonal nuisance. But that may be changing now that researchers have mapped one virus's atomic structure using the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory.

 November 1, 2010
This film of block copolymers shows the material's characteristic tendency to separate into distinct regions.
 Molecular "stencils" open up new possibilities for solar energy

Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory have begun to use molecular “stencils” to pave the way to new materials that could potentially find their way into future generations of solar cells, catalysts and photonic crystals.

 November 15, 2010
Argonne's Jeff Chamberlain testified before the House Committee on Science and Technology on November 15, 2010.
Congressional Testimony: Jeff Chamberlain

Jeff Chamberlain, head of Electrochemical Energy Storage Research, testified before the Congressional House Committee on Science and Technology about Options and Opportunities for Onsite Renewable Energy Integration.

 November 15, 2010
Argonne researcher Byeongdu Lee has determined that different shapes of gold nanoparticles, above and below, will self-assemble into different configurations when attached to single strands of DNA.
 DNA can act like Velcro for nanoparticles

Argonne researcher Byeongdu Lee and his colleagues at Northwestern University discovered that strands of DNA can act as a kind of nanoscopic "Velcro" that binds different nanoparticles together.

 November 17, 2010
These high core count experimental chips from Intel could provide one path to exascale computing—in which computers would perform one quintillion operations per second. Photo by Intel Corporation.
 New institute to tackle exascale computing

Renowned supercomputing expert Pete Beckman has been named director of a newly created Exascale Technology and Computing Institute at Argonne National Laboratory.

 November 19, 2010
DOE's cloud computing project wins "Best Use of HPC in the Cloud" award

The U.S. Department of Energy’s cloud computing testbed project, known as “Magellan”, has been recognized in the annual HPCwire Readers’ and Editors’ Choice Awards.

 December 1, 2010
Argonne researchers Anand Bhattacharya (left) and Tiffany Santos flank the molecular beam epitaxy instrument, designed to craft materials with close to atomic precision.
 Molecular beam epitaxy facility to design custom materials for scientists

The molecular beam epitaxy facility, located at Argonne National Laboratory, could provide the basis for new materials to improve fuel cells, electronics and batteries.

 December 7, 2010
This T-shaped battery, a replica of the battery used in the Chevy Volt, includes Argonne cathode technology. LG Chem licensed the materials and created the battery. Image courtesy General Motors.
 Argonne battery technology helps power Chevy Volt

This month, thousands of new Chevy Volt owners will begin the real road tests of the first mass-produced plug-in hybrid electric car. While much of the car's engineering is unique, consumers may be unaware that some of its most extraordinary technology is inside the nearly 400-lb. battery that powers the vehicle in electric mode.

 January 1, 2011
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