Quantum=cool. In the movie, Avengers: Endgame, entering the “Quantum Realm” was a major plot point that allows the basic laws of physics to be broken in largely fantastical ways.

When a person becomes ill and cannot function in their everyday life, they pay a visit to a doctor to find the problem and get treatment. Some Energy Frontiers Research Centers (EFRCs) act like a hospital for batteries.

In 1947, a new electronic device called the transistor was invented, which threw out the hegemony of previous analogous devices, called vacuum tubes, and set the platform for the entire electronics industry for next half-a-century or so. Transistors, that primarily can amplify electric currents, also provided a means to miniaturize on/off electrical switches.

On July 29th and 30th, hundreds of scientists, including graduate students, postdocs, and principal investigators, from universities and national labs across the country met at the biennial Energy Frontier Research Centers Principal Investigators’ Meeting.

The mission of DOE’s Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences (BES) is to conduct fundamental research to acquire the ability to understand, predict and ultimately control matter and energy at the atomic and molecular levels. BES research provides the basis for new energy technologies and supports DOE missions in energy, environment and national security. Identifying transformative opportunities for research required careful deliberation.

Energy storage is crucial to the long-term viability of renewable energies, like wind and solar power. When the wind isn’t blowing, and the sun isn’t shining, we need to have stored energy from when they were. In Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs), researchers believe that ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents, two classes of materials with unique properties like unusually low melting points, hold the key to the future of energy storage technology.

Every week, all members of Gregory Scholes’ research group at Princeton University receive an e-mail announcing the location and presenter of that week’s “photosynthetic subgroup” meeting. These emails always bear a humorously predictable final line: “X will present and Y will bring snacks.”