Feature Stories

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As Deputy Laboratory Director for Programs, Mark Peters leads the development of the long- and short-term strategic plan for Argonne National Laboratory's science and technology mission.
 Peters testifies before Congress

Argonne Deputy Director for Programs Mark Peters testified today before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific during the hearing "What's Next for the U.S.-Korea Alliance".

 June 6, 2012
Quantum physics and plant biology seem like two branches of science that could not be more different, but surprisingly they may in fact be intimately tied.
Scientists uncover a photosynthetic puzzle

Quantum physics and plant biology seem like two branches of science that could not be more different, but surprisingly they may in fact be intimately tied.

Researchers at Argonne and the Notre Dame Radiation Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame used ultrafast spectroscopy to see what happens at the subatomic level during the very first stage of photosynthesis.

 May 21, 2012
The "filling problem," seeks the best way to cover the inside of an object with a particular shape, such as filling a triangle with discs of varying sizes. Image courtesy of the University of Michigan.
 New twist on ancient math problem could improve medicine, microelectronics

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—A hidden facet of a math problem that goes back to Sanskrit scrolls has just been exposed by nanotechnology researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of Connecticut.

 May 14, 2012
In order to cut down on the enormous quantities of water required to operate steam generators at large power stations in the United States, scientists have begun to look for new technologies that could improve their efficiency and reduce the demand for water.
 New nanoparticle technology cuts water use, energy costs

Nuclear and coal power plants are some of the thirstiest machines on earth. The turbines that spin inside of them to generate electricity require tons and tons of steam, and all of that water has to come from somewhere.

Recent studies have estimated that roughly two-fifths of the nation’s freshwater withdrawals and three percent of overall freshwater consumption goes to supplying the steam generators at large power stations in the United States. In order to cut down on the enormous quantities of water required to operate these plants, scientists have begun to look for new technologies that could improve their efficiency and reduce the demand for water.

 April 11, 2012
On April 19, 2012, Argonne's Science Careers in Search of Women Conference (SCSW) will celebrate its 25th anniversary, as the laboratory continues to give young woman first-hand experience with a plethora of different career possibilities available to them. The program welcomes approximately 350 high school students and their teachers or guidance counselors each year and has reached almost 7,500 young women since its inception.
 Program has inspired women in science careers for last 25 years

In 1987, Ronald Reagan shouted "tear down this wall!” urging Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to bring new opportunity, equality and freedom to millions. That same year, the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory started a program to help remove barriers that had prevented young women from starting careers in science and engineering. A quarter-century later, Argonne continues to strengthen its commitment to recruiting, retaining and promoting women researchers in every scientific and technical field.

 April 9, 2012
New research shows how transitions of state work in very simple lattices primarily composed of copper.
Copper-based materials show strange spin states

Just as water, ice, and steam are all phases of the same material that are influenced by temperature and pressure, new research shows how transitions of state work in very simple lattices primarily

 March 27, 2012
Argonne chemist Elena Timofeeva conducts a quality control evaluation of thermal nanofluids.
 Nanofluids improve performance of vehicle components

Argonne researchers are working with two industrial partners to create nanofluids that improve the cooling of power electronics in hybrid electric vehicles.

 March 9, 2012
When most of us think of an atom, we think of tiny electrons whizzing around a stationary, dense nucleus composed of protons and neutrons, collectively known as nucleons. A collaboration between Argonne and Jefferson National Laboratory has demonstrated just how different reality is from our simple picture.
New picture of atomic nucleus emerges

When most of us think of an atom, we think of tiny electrons whizzing around a stationary, dense nucleus composed of protons and neutrons, collectively known as nucleons. A collaboration between Argonne and Thomas Jefferson National Laboratories has demonstrated just how different reality is from our simple picture.

 March 1, 2012
Coloured Transmission Electron Micrograph (TEM) of a section through the bacteria Neisseria. Image courtesy of Pasieka/Science Photo Library.
Big, bad bacterium is an "iron pirate"

Life inside the human body sometimes looks like life on the high seas in the 1600s, when pirates hijacked foreign vessels in search of precious metals. For Neisseria bacteria, which can cause gonorrhea and meningitis, the booty is not gold or silver but plain old iron.

 February 20, 2012
Lead-cooled reactors could prove good candidates for a type of nuclear reactor called a small modular reactor, or SMR.
 Small modular reactor design could be a 'SUPERSTAR'

Though most of today's nuclear reactors are cooled by water, we've long known that there are alternatives.

 February 9, 2012
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