Tag Archives: berkeley lab

Berkeley Lab Study Shows Significantly Higher Potential for Wind Energy in India than Previously Estimated

By Guest PostMarch 29, 2012Environmentamol phadke, berkeley lab, China, electricity, gw, India, jayant sathaye, julie chao, mnre, potential, ranjit bharvirkar, renewable energy, united states, western india, wind energy, wind power

A new assessment of wind energy in India by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has found that the potential for on-shore wind energy deployment is far higher than the official estimates— about 20 times and up to 30 times greater than the current government estimate of 102 gigawatts. This landmark finding may have significant impact on India’s renewable energy strategy as it attempts to cope with a massive and chronic shortage of electricity.

“The main importance of this study, why it’s groundbreaking, is that wind is one of the most cost-effective and mature renewable energy sources commercially available in India, with an installed capacity of 15 GW and rising rapidly,” says Berkeley Lab scientist Amol Phadke, the lead author of the report. “The cost of wind power is now comparable to that from imported coal and natural gas-based plants, and wind can play a significant role in cost effectively addressing energy security and environmental concerns.” (more…)

Better Organic Electronics

By Guest PostMarch 22, 2012Science5tba, allard katan, berkeley lab, conductance, crystal structure, d5tba, derivative, dh5tba, doe, electron, electron diffraction patterns, florent martin, intuition, lynn yarris, metal, miquel salmeron, molecular foundry, molecule, nanometer, nanoscience center, organic electronic device, organic film, organic semiconductor, pentathiophene butyric acid, plastic, polymer electronics, semiconductor, shaul aloni, silicon nitride membrane, tem, trial and error, virginia altoe

*Berkeley Lab Researchers Show the Way Forward for Improving Organic and Molecular Electronic Devices*

Future prospects for superior new organic electronic devices are brighter now thanks to a new study by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Working at the Lab’s Molecular Foundry, a DOE nanoscience center, the team has provided the first experimental determination of the pathways by which electrical charge is transported from molecule-to-molecule in an organic thin film. Their results also show how such organic films can be chemically modified to improve conductance.

“We have shown that when the molecules in organic thin films are aligned in particular directions, there is much better conductance,” says Miquel Salmeron, a leading authority on nanoscale surface imaging who directs Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division and who led this study. “Chemists already know how to fabricate organic thin films in a way that can achieve such an alignment, which means they should be able to use the information provided by our methodology to determine the molecular alignment and its role on charge transport across and along the molecules. This will help improve the performances of future organic electronic devices.” (more…)

The First Spectroscopic Measurement of an Anti-Atom

By Guest PostMarch 11, 2012Scienceafrd, alpha collaboration, anti atoms trapped, antielectrons, antihydrogen, antihydrogen atom, antimatter, astronomy, atomic spectrum, berkeley lab, CERN, charge conjugation, cosmic rays, cpt, electric interaction, electron, emission line, geneva, hydrogen, hydrogen atom, hyperfine splitting, joel fajans, jonathan wurtele, magnetic, magnetic fields, magnetic trap, microwaves, parity, positrons, proton nucleus, quantum state, resonant frequency, simone straka, spectroscopic measurements, spin, symmetrical state, time reversal, trapped hydrogen, universe

*Berkeley Lab scientists helped build and operate the ALPHA antimatter trap at CERN, which has now probed the internal structure of the antihydrogen atom for the first time, taking the first step toward possible new insights into the difference between matter and antimatter*

The ALPHA collaboration at CERN in Geneva has scored another coup on the antimatter front by performing the first-ever spectroscopic measurements of the internal state of the antihydrogen atom. Their results are reported in a forthcoming issue of Nature and are now online.

Ordinary hydrogen atoms are the most plentiful in the universe, and also the simplest – so simple, in fact, that some of the most fundamental physical constants have been discovered by measuring the tiny energy shifts resulting from the magnetic and electric interactions of hydrogen’s proton nucleus with its single orbiting electron. (more…)

Responding to the Radiation Threat

By Guest PostMarch 7, 2012Environment, Scienceactinides, actinium, berkeley lab, biomimetic approach, cancerous, cold war, curium, dahlia an, decontamination, dirty bomb, dtpa, eleanor blakely, event, fukushima daiichi, glenn seaborg, health threats, hopo, hydroxypyridonate ligands, iron, japanese official, kathleen bjornstad, ken raymond, lawrencium, mass contamination, models, multidentate hydroxypyridonate ligands, natural chelators, new york times, nobel laureate, nuclear power plant, nuclear reactor accident, patricia durbin, periodic table, plutonium, radiation exposure, radioactive chemical elements, radioactivity, rebecca abergel, terrorist attack, tokyo metropolitan area, triple meltdown, university of california, uranium

*Berkeley Lab Researchers Developing Promising Treatment for Safely Decontaminating Humans Exposed to Radioactive Actinides*

The New York Times recently reported that in the darkest moments of the triple meltdown last year of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Japanese officials considered the evacuation of the nearly 36 million residents of the Tokyo metropolitan area. The consideration of so drastic an action reflects the harsh fact that in the aftermath of a major radiation exposure event, such as a nuclear reactor accident or a “dirty bomb” terrorist attack, treatments for mass contamination are antiquated and very limited. The only chemical agent now available for decontamination – a compound known as DTPA – is a Cold War relic that must be administered intravenously and only partially removes some of the deadly actinides – the radioactive chemical elements spanning from actinium to lawrencium on the periodic table – that pose the greatest health threats. (more…)

Solving a Spintronic Mystery:

By Guest PostFebruary 29, 2012Scienceberkeley lab, charge carriers, curie temperature, electron acceptors, electronic states, fermi level, ferromagnetic properties, gallium, gallium arsenide, gallium manganese arsenide, jacek furdyna, kin man yu, magneto optical data, margaret dobrowolska, mona berciu, rutherford backscattering facility, semiconductor, silicon, spin, spintronic devices, spintronic potential, spintronic technology, university of notre dame, valence energy band, wladek walukiewicz, xinyu liu

*Berkeley Lab Researchers Resolve Controversy Over Gallium Manganese Arsenide that Could Boost Spintronic Performance*

A long-standing controversy regarding the semiconductor gallium manganese arsenide, one of the most promising materials for spintronic technology, looks to have been resolved. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) in collaboration with scientist from University of Notre Dame have determined the origin of the charge-carriers responsible for the ferromagnetic properties that make gallium manganese arsenide such a hot commodity for spintronic devices. Such devices utilize electron spin rather than charge to read and write data, resulting in smaller, faster and much cheaper data storage and processing. (more…)

Fill ‘Er Up With Tobacco? Berkeley Lab-Led Team Explores New Path to Biofuels

By Guest PostFebruary 26, 2012Environmentarpa-e, berkeley lab, biofuels, capture co2, carbon bottlenecks, carbon into fuel, carbon uptake, cheryl kerfeld, christer jansson, corn ethanol, cyanobacteria, cyanobacteria genes, diesel, energy from sunlight, fuel molecules, gasoline, genetic engineering, hydrocarbon molecules, iconic plant, jet fuel, kris niyogi, microbes, miscanthus, peggy lemaux, plant biochemist, power plant emissions, renewables, switchgrass, tasios melis, tobacco, tobacco leaves, tobacco plants

*ARPA-E funded project aims to produce fuel molecules in plant leaves*

Mention biofuels and most people think of corn ethanol. Some may think of advanced biofuels from switchgrass or miscanthus. But tobacco? Not likely.

That could change. A team of scientists led by a researcher from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is exploring a way to produce gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from the iconic plant of the South. (more…)

Hydrogen from Acidic Water: Berkeley Lab Researchers Develop a Potential Low Cost Alternative to Platinum for Splitting Water

By Guest PostFebruary 12, 2012Scienceacidic, acidic water, artificial photosynthesis, berkeley lab, catalyst, catalytic hydrogen generation, christopher chang, elizabeth montalvo, emission, hemamala karunadasa, hhmi, hydrogen gas, jeffrey long, low cost alternatives, marcin majda, microdomains, molecule, molybdenite, molybdenite crystals, molybdenum disulfide, natural gas, pentapyridyl ligand, petroleum, photocatalytic systems, platinum, py5me2, reduction, sulfur, sulfur dioxide, water, yujie sun

A technique for creating a new molecule that structurally and chemically replicates the active part of the widely used industrial catalyst molybdenite has been developed by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). This technique holds promise for the creation of catalytic materials that can serve as effective low-cost alternatives to platinum for generating hydrogen gas from water that is acidic.

Christopher Chang and Jeffrey Long, chemists who hold joint appointments with Berkeley Lab and the University of California (UC) Berkeley, led a research team that synthesized a molecule to mimic the triangle-shaped molybdenum disulfide units along the edges of molybdenite crystals, which is where almost all of the catalytic activity takes place. Since the bulk of molybdenite crystalline material is relatively inert from a catalytic standpoint, molecular analogs of the catalytically active edge sites could be used to make new materials that are much more efficient and cost-effective catalysts. (more…)

Berkeley Lab Researchers Discover a Rotational Motion of Cells that Plays a Critical Role in Their Normal Development

By Guest PostJanuary 29, 2012Science3d gel, acini, actomyosin, alexandre bruni cardoso, berkeley lab, breast cancer, breast feeding, camo, cell biology, cellular motion, coherent angular motion, component, counterclockwise, cytoskeleton, ecm, embryogenesis, evolutionary phenomena, extracellular matrix, function, hidetoshi mori, human epithelial cell, kandice tanner, laminin, mammary cell, mammary gland, microenvironment, mina bissell, multicellular organism, phenotypic reversion, protein, rana mroue, rotation, spherical structure, tissue polarity

In a study that holds major implications for breast cancer research as well as basic cell biology, scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have discovered a rotational motion that plays a critical role in the ability of breast cells to form the spherical structures in the mammary gland known as acini. This rotation, which the researchers call “CAMo,” for coherent angular motion, is necessary for the cells to form spheres. Without CAMo, the cells do not form spheres, which can lead to random motion, loss of structure and malignancy.

”What is most exciting to me about this stunning discovery is that it may finally give us a handle by which to discover the physical laws of cellular motion as they apply to biology,” says Mina Bissell, a leading authority on breast cancer and Distinguished Scientist with Berkeley Lab’s Life Sciences Division. (more…)